Exploring the thousands of titles on Netflix can be both exciting and overwhelming. Content of all types abounds, from dramas and comedies to reality shows and documentaries. It’s a good thing there’s a list to help narrow your decision by letting you see the most popular Netflix shows. That’s right, every week, Netflix releases its list of the 10 most-watched TV shows over a recent seven-day period.
Netflix viewers can’t get enough of Baby Reindeer, as Richard Gadd’s drama is now the No. 1 show on the streamer. New shows dominated the middle of the charts, with Killing Eve season 1, The Circle season 6, O.J.: Made in America, The Upshaws part 5, and Our Living World occupying spots three through seven. Below, we have listed the top 10 shows in the U.S. from April 15 to April 21, along with general information about each show, including genre, rating, cast, and synopsis.
We’ve also rounded up the best shows on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best movies on Disney+. For Netflix fans, also check out the 10 most popular movies on Netflix right now.
10. 3 Body Problem season 1 (2024)
In their first show since Game of Thrones, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss team with Alexander Woo to create 3 Body Problem, a sci-fi mystery drama based on Liu Cixin’s popular novel. During China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, astrophysicist Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng as a teen and Rosalind Chao as an adult) witnesses her father get beaten to death.
One day, Ye will make a “fateful decision” that affects the past, present, and future. A group of scientists and a detective in the present day must work together to combat other beings attempting to conquer Earth. The eight-episode series also stars Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Jess Hong, Marlo Kelly, Alex Sharp, Benedict Wong, and Jonathan Pryce.
9. Black Sails season 1 (2014)
Black Sails is the prequel to the events of Treasure Island, the iconic adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. The series focuses on Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), the most notorious pirate in the West Indies. The year is 1715, and Flint and his crew are operating out of the declining New Providence Island.
Facing new threats from Europe, Flint teams with Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New) to find the Spanish treasure galleon, Urca de Lima, and save New Providence Island. Notable pirates include William “Billy Bones” Manderly (Tom Hopper), Anne Bonny (Clara Paget), Jack Rackham (Toby Schmitz), and “Long” John Silver (Luke Arnold).
8. Bad Dinosaurs season 1 (2024)
Netflix is looking for the next hit children’s series to join the likes of CoComelon and Gabby’s Dollhouse. Perhaps that show could be Bad Dinosaurs. Originally created as an online short, Bad Dinosaurs is now a series that follows the adventures of a family of Tyrannosaurus Rexes during a time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
While the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park are frightening, the animals in Bad Dinosaurs are silly and playful. At the center of the series is a mother T. rex and her three babies. Like many babies, the young T. rexes often get into trouble, forcing the mama T. rex to intervene. Bad Dinosaurs plays like a slapstick comedy, as these “terrible” dinosaurs continuously find themselves in awkward situations.
7. Our Living World (2024)
How does life on Earth work? That’s the question at the core of Our Living World, a four-part documentary about the inner workings of an ecosystem. Production on Our Living World took six years, with over 130 shoots in 24 countries. The jaw-dropping visuals in Our Living World are some of the most impressive things you’ll ever see.
Narrated by Academy Award-winner Cate Blanchett, Our Living World captures the ever-changing world and how human activity affects animals and plants. Standout moments in the series include a rhino trotting through the streets of Nepal, banana fiddler crabs racing to mate, a wolverine hunting after a devastating avalanche, and salmon fighting to swim upstream.
6. The Upshaws part 5 (2021)
The Upshaws, a Black working-class family in Indianapolis, return for more hijinks in part 5, the second half of season 3. At the head of the table for the Upshaws is Bennie (Mike Epps), a mechanic who tries his best to support his family any way he can. Bennie’s family includes wife Regina (Kim Fields), daughters Aaliyah (Khali Daniya-Renee Spraggins) and Maya, and son Bennie Jr. (Jermelle Simon). Bennie fathered his son with another woman.
If providing for his family wasn’t hard enough, Ben has to do this all with a cynical sister-in-law (Wanda Sykes), who acts as a thorn in his side. Between financial struggles and health problems, Bennie always knows that, no matter what, family comes first.
5. O.J.: Made in America (2016)
With the recent news of his passing, O.J. Simpson is back in the news as people revisit the landmark documentary, O.J.: Made in America. Directed by Ezra Edelman, O.J.: Made in America uses Simpson to investigate celebrity and race in America starting in the 1960s. The earlier episodes explore Simpson’s football career, highlighted by a Heisman trophy at USC and a 2,000-yard rushing season with the Buffalo Bills.
After football, Simpson became one of the biggest celebrities in America thanks to his television and acting career. Then, it all comes crashing down with the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. “The Trial of the Century” becomes more than a murder trial as race relations between the police and the African American community in Los Angeles come to the forefront. O.J.: Made in America is a must-watch and one of the best documentaries of the last decade.
4. The Circle season 6 (2020)
The Circle, the successful Netflix reality competition, returns for season 6 with an all-new twist. For the first time, the series will include an AI chatbot named Max, who will attempt to catfish his way to victory. Contestants will compete in various social media challenges to prove they have what it takes to become the top social influencer and win $100,000.
Comedian Michelle Buteau returns as the host. Usually filmed in a secluded house in Northern New England, The Circle season 6 was shot in Atlanta. The first four episodes of season 6 premiered on April 17. Four new episodes will be released every Wednesday before the season finale on May 8.
3. Killing Eve season 1 (2018)
Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) is an intelligent analyst with MI5 who lives a mundane life. Looking for some spice in her life, Eve agrees to join the foreign intelligence agency, MI6, and hunt down assassins. First up on the docket is Villanelle (Jodie Comer), a ruthless and vindictive killer who works for a secret organization called The Twelve.
As Villanelle kills more people, Eve gets closer to finding her, setting off a seductive cat-and-mouse game between the two women. Villanelle and Eve eventually become obsessed with each other, culminating in a face-to-face encounter. Killing Eve season 1 is a stylish thriller written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who turns the assassin genre on its head with a feminine twist.
2. Unlocked: A Jail Experiment season 1 (2024)
What would happen if a prison turned its power over to the inmates? Unlocked: A Jail Experiment takes that hypothetical question and puts it to the test. Arkansas Sheriff Eric Higgins had a radical idea for the prisoners at Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility in Little Rock, Arkansas: give them more freedom.
In the experiment, inmates are allowed out of their cells for six weeks. The prisoners are in charge of the structure of their days, which hopefully will create more camaraderie and a sense of community. Unlocked also focuses on rehabilitation, as the inmates are instructed on how to stay out of prison and live a crime-free life.
1. Baby Reindeer (2024)
Richard Gadd adapted his award-winning play Baby Reindeer into a seven-episode Netflix series. The dramedy stars Gadd as Donny, a comedian who works as a bartender to pay the bills. During one of his shifts, Donny meets Martha (Jessica Gunning). At that moment, the vulnerable Martha needs a friend, so Donny shows her kindness. This simple act ignites a strange relationship between the two as Martha begins to stalk Donny incessantly.
The obsession disrupts the lives of both Donny and Martha. It forces Donny to explore a previous tragedy he buried within himself. The genius of Baby Reindeer is it never paints Donny as the victim and Martha as the villain. The show provides empathy and compassion for both characters, with plenty of laughs along the way.
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