25 of the most popular TV shows on Netflix

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Netflix has become the source for numerous TV and movie viewers who hope to cut the cord with cable companies and redefine how they watch their favorite media. A number of television shows have grown in popularity thanks to the access viewers have to Netflix. The service offers a diverse selection of old and new programs from different countries and regions on demand.

Netflix has allowed shows that may have been unsuccessful, due to bad scheduling or management distrust, to grow a committed online fan base. Many shows like the IT Crowd, Firefly, Doctor Who and Breaking Bad grew in popularity after Netflix introduced viewers to these shows

The influence of Netflix has become so powerful that the company has started creating their own programs, many of which break new ground and can cover diverse topics without advertising influence. Netflix also revived the show Arrested Development, taking it in a different direction than the previous seasons.

Netflix also introduced the viewing habit of binge watching. Many of the original Netflix shows such as House of Cards and Sense8 are arranged with longer set pieces and internal consistency between episodes to cater to binge watchers.

Here is a list of the top 25 TV shows on Netflix

25It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

This irreverent and sometimes dark comedy is about a boisterous family who own a bar and constantly make bad decisions. This show was a launching pad for comedian Charlie Day’s career.

24Firefly

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Despite its short-lived run on the Fox Network. Joss’s whedon’s sci-fi western Firefly captured the imagination of a devoted fanbase. In 2002, Firefly fans calling themselves Browncoats petitioned networks to pick up the show after Fox cancelled it. This movement became an example of fan mobilization’s power online, and helped generate interest in the follow up movie Serenity.

The show follows a rag-tag group of criminals and fugitives in the spaceship Serenity. In an allegory to the Post-civil war America. The show launched the careers of Monica Baccarin and Summer Glau

23Arrested Development

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Another orphan of Fox Network. This comedy aired for three seasons. The fourth season was produced by Netflix’s in house studio. This show was known for its devotion to physical humor, clever, quick edits juxtaposing photographs and old footage with live action, and consistent callbacks to previous jokes.

22Sons of Anarchy

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This action drama features a motorcycle club caught up in the brutal world of crime in California. The high drama plot is also inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

21Black Mirror

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Each episode of this shocking anthology series shows viewers different worlds where technology and social media take over everyone’s life in disturbing ways. This past year’s Christmas Special features Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame.

20Freaks and Geeks

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This short lived NBC series followed two different groups of high school kids as they live through teenage angst and alienation. This show was the launching point for the careers of film writer Judd Apatow and his reliable actors Jason Siegel, James Franco and Seth Rogen.

19How I Met Your Mother

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This CBS comedy follows Ted Mosby telling his children about and his group of friends as he finds love, culminating in meeting the mother ofhis children after nine seasons. The series was a touchstone among young viewers and the antics of Neil Patrick Harris promoted him to a second wind of stardom.

18Bojack Horseman

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The Netflix original animated comedy Bojack Horsemen follows a washed up TV actor trying to fight depression and stay relevant in the entertainment business. Although a comedy, this show pulls no punches as a glance into depression and regret.

See also, the 12 Mistakes Bojack Horseman Makes

17Orange is the New Black

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The creator Jenji Kohan, who had previously made Weeds, created another woman oriented crime show in the Netflix studio Orange is the New Black. This show features a both cynical and sympathetic perspective of the imprisoned women, the guards and administration.

1630 Rock

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This NBC comedy was best known for it’s satire of television production and it’s frequency of jokes. The show uplifted Tina Fey into an intelligent woman’s role model and revived the career of Alec Baldwin.

15Parks and Recreation

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The first seasons of this The Office offshoot floundered, but picked up by Season 2 into an endearing and pertinent sociopolitical comedy. The diverse cast includes Chris Pratt(of Jurassic World fame), Aubrey Plaza, Nick Offerman and Aziz Ansari.

14Community

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This NBC comedy features diverse study group attending Greendale Community College as they study and often get into adventures that reference themselves or other media genres. While the show changed dramatically behind the scenes, the tight-knit friendship between this community endured through its promised six seasons (and a movie, hopefully).

13NCIS

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Originally a spinoff of the military legal drama JAG, NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigation Services. This procedural investigative drama is one of the longest-running TV dramas, second to Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Despite being a traditional procedural series on network television, it remains popular among digital streaming audiences.

12Battlestar Galactica

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This reboot of the 1970s sci-fi show defined science fiction through the late Aughts. A refugee space fleet are on the run from robotic Cylons who wish to exterminate them.

11Peep Show

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This comedy features two Englishmen Mark and Jez, trying to live modern life in London, and often failing. It is called Peep Show because all of the scenes are shot from every character’s point of view.

10Doctor Who

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The 2005 reboot of the classic BBC tv show has fostered a new generation of fans. A long-lived traveler seeking adventure throughout time and space.

9House

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This medical drama features British actor Hugh Laurie as an erratic American medical doctor.

8Sense8

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Created by the Wachowski’s of The Matrix fame, this show follows eight people across the world who shares a mental connection. The characters hail from diverse places such as Mexico, Kenya, India, Germany, Chicago, and Iceland. There is also wide ethnic and sexual diversity among the cast.

7Archer

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This animated action comedy features the missions and adventures of Sterling Archer, his overbearing mother, and a team of crazy spies. (The spy team in the show was formerly known as International Secret Intelligence Service, or ISIS. But the creators changed their name in light of the real life horrors of the terrorist group ISIS)

6Mad Men

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The AMC drama Mad Men sought to capture the 1960s at its most idealized. The show features Don Draper(Jon Hamm), living with his family, a lucrative job at an ad agency, and a secret about his past life.

5House of Cards

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The Netflix produced political drama was adapted from a British show that highlighted power playing in Parliament. Career politician Frank Underwood seethes with single-minded rancor and lust for power. The show’s forth season and is currently filming in the Maryland area.

4Sherlock

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The 2010 BBC remake of Sherlock Holmes updated the classic detective to modern times. This show made Benedict Cumberbatch a household name and raised the profile of Martin Freeman.

3The Walking Dead

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Based on the Dark Horse comic book, The Walking Dead TV show became one of the hallmarks of cable drama alongside Breaking Bad.

2Daredevil

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As a part of the Marvel Comics universe, Daredevil features lawyer Matt Murdock as he becomes a vigilante with heightened senses and special sonar from his eyes in place of sight. He fights crime in the Hell’s Kitchen borough of New York, and fights against industrialist Wilson Fisk.

1 Breaking Bad

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Breaking Bad is likely the most popular TV show of this generation. The show was not as popular in its early seasons, but skyrocketed in worldwide popularity because of viewership on Netflix. The show also revived the career of Bryan Cranston, who had been a comedian on Seinfeld and Malcolm in the Middle before becoming Walter White.