If you’re anything like us, you’ve spent most of the past nine months of quarantine on the couch at night, checking out the latest small-screen hits. And thankfully, there were a lot of them. Despite the production shutdown earlier in the year, Hollywood managed to churn out myriad addictive shows, touching on everything from chess and the royal family to Michael Jordan and yes, a tiger king.
Here, PEOPLE’s 18 favorites series and mini-series of the year, all streaming now. And see more of PEOPLE’s best in music, movies and books in this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.
The Queen’s Gambit
Charlie Gray/Netflix
Small Axe
Lovecraft Country
Lovercraft Country.Joshua Ade/HBO
This series reimagined the gory fantasies of writer H.P. Lovecraft, an avowed racist, in terms of Black experience. If that sounds like a thesis proposal, the result wasn’t. Scary! (HBO)
Mrs. America
Sabrina Lantos/FX
Cate Blanchett gave a fascinating performance — immaculately arch — as conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly, a powerful political operator who thought a woman’s place was in the home. In the end, that irony stings Mrs. Schlafly badly. (FX onHulu)
Ted Lasso
apple tv+
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
HBO
How the late Michelle McNamara — who was comedian Patton Oswalt’s wife — tracked the notorious Golden State Killer. A classic of the cold-case genre. (HBO)
The Crown
Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) in The Crown.Des Willie/Netflix
Season 4 gave us the wedding of guileless fawn Diana (Emma Corrin) and dunderheadPrince Charles(Josh O’Connor). What the public embraced as happily-ever-after was wretched-from-the-get-go. (Netflix)
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
Lockdown’s must-see show was the story of one Joe Exotic, owner of an exotic-animal park, and his nemesis, animal-rescue advocate Carole Baskin. She wound up onDancing with the Stars. (Netflix)
Normal People
Enda Bowe/Hulu
I May Destroy You
Michaela Coel in I May Destroy You.HBO
Michaela Coel, an actress of stunning boldness, also created and wrote this unsettling series about a woman who was drugged and raped. (HBO)
McMillion$
The HBO docuseries about the $24 million McDonald’s Monopoly promotion scam that ran between 1989 and 2001 had unexpected twists at every turn and a charismatic featured interviewee other docuseries could only dream about in FBI agent Doug Mathews, who shares his experience with boundless humor and enthusiasm. (HBO)
The Last Dance
Michael Jordan inThe Last Dance.Courtesy ESPN/Netflix
At 10 hours, this documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls is a mammoth project — a real basketballapalooza — but it’s thoroughly watchable and highly informative. At the center, of course, is the charismatic Jordan, described as “the ultimate sports alpha male.” (Jordan is generally spoken of in the most extravagant terms and never ironically.)Danceis also a fascinating primer on how management operates, how court strategy is developed and how a team is built — and, as its players age out, rebuilt. (Netflix)
Never Have I Ever
Lara Solanki/Netflix
The Undoing
Niko Tavernise/HBO
Nicole Kidman, as a Manhattan therapist with an unusually large wardrobe of brocaded dresses and coats, suspects her husband (Hugh Grant) of murder. An enjoyably improbable but addictive thriller with a bangup finish. (HBO)
Perry Mason
Matthew Rhys inPerry Mason.Merrick Morton/HBO
Ozark
Steve Deitl/Netflix
EssentiallyBreaking Badin a Missouri vacation setting,Ozarkkeeps getting better and better — sharper, more nail-bitingly brutal. Season 3’s climax was a real shocker, and points season 4 in a dangerous new direction. (Netflix)
Love Fraud
Courtesy SHOWTIME
An outlandish docuseries, tawdry but true, about how the victims of a con-man Lothario banded together to confront him and bring him to justice. (Showtime)
An adorable series, very gently broaching serious issues, about a group of enterprising middle school girls. (Netflix)
source: people.com
