The 25 Best TV Shows Streaming On Paramount Plus

Paramount+ might not have the same dominance as Netflix or HBO, but that doesn't mean it isn't one of the better streamers available. The in-house content platform of the newly minted media juggernaut Paramount Skydance draws upon a wealth of intellectual property and original ideas, much of which spawned from owned networks Showtime, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and, most of all, CBS.

Are you a fan of blockbuster science fiction? Paramount+ has long been the home to anything and everything "Star Trek," from "The Original Series" to "Strange New Worlds." What about gritty crime dramas and thrillers? Showtime and Paramount+ original series like "MobLand," "Evil," and the entire "Dexter" franchise have you covered. And it doesn't skimp on the staples, serving up popular sitcoms old and new along with those titillating procedurals we can't live without.

Suffice it to say, Paramount wasn't kidding around when it promised subscribers a "mountain of entertainment." To make sure you don't get lost on your way to the summit, we found the 25 best TV shows currently streaming on Paramount+.

While readers may be surprised to learn that, as of writing, "Yellowstone" is not available to stream on Paramount+, its prequel spin-off series are. And with settings that take viewers back a hundred years before the time of Kevin Costner's John Dutton, they can actually be enjoyed without making the trek through the mothership show.

Those looking to hitch their wagon to Taylor Sheridan's hit western franchise can't find an entry point more fitting than "1883," an origin story of sorts for the entire Dutton clan that takes place in the titular year. Country music icon Tim McGraw gives a remarkably passionate leading performance as James Dutton, a former Confederate soldier and the future great-grandfather of John. He's a desperate man in search of land upon which he can settle with his family — which includes Faith Hill's Margaret Dutton and their willful teenage daughter, Elsa. 

From the moment James decides to make the journey to Oregon under the guidance of world-weary Union veteran Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott), viewers can expect gorgeous rural landscapes, romance, and the constant, unpredictable danger of threats from wilderness and wagon alike. "1883" is a largely self-contained miniseries of just 10 episodes, which began streaming in 2021.

Further down the "Yellowstone" timeline, "1923" is a two-season prequel that takes place after the Duttons have established themselves on the infamous Yellowstone ranch. Taylor Sheridan clearly aimed to fire on all cylinders in his first spin-off, casting Hollywood heavyweights Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford as the leaders of the Dutton clan in the early 1920s.

Though James may be John Dutton's direct ancestor, Ford's Jacob Dutton sets the code by which all of the family's future patriarchs will surely act to protect their land, family, and legacy. Whether on the ranch or on Main Street, he's a formidable figure with a knack for straddling two worlds in conflict with one another. With "1923" exploring how the Duttons came to be such a force in Montana, Jacob intimidates his many enemies with words as much as weapons — though none can cut a threat as sharp as his wife, Cara (Mirren), nor do they have the same ruthless clarity to see it through. 

"1923" is worth watching for their performances alone, with Ford in particular surprising with a scorching dramatic heat.

Released in 2024 as part of the Paramount+ with Showtime line of streaming-exclusive content, "The Agency: Central Intelligence" is a blockbuster spy thriller with action, suspense, and spectacle to rival the modern "James Bond" franchise — in large part because it was co-created and written Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, a British fraternal screenwriting duo who have worked together and independently on films like "Ford v. Ferrari," "Edge of Tomorrow," and the "James Bond" film "Spectre."

Michael Fassbender stars as CIA asset Brandon Colby, a trusted but tired special agent whose loyalty has come into question after a years-long, deep-cover post in Sudan, where he may or may not have gotten himself in too deep by falling in love with a local woman (Jodie Turner-Smith of "Sex Education") who manages to track him down back to London. Her presence forces Colby — codenamed "Martian" — to confront how his life of lies has alienated him from his own humanity, which in turn sparks a dark, explosive fight to reclaim his identity even if it pits him against his handlers at the agency (represented by Jeffrey Wright, Katherine Waterston, and Richard Gere). Halfway through its freshman outing, Showtime renewed "The Agency" for a second season.

Perhaps one of the greatest television programs ever made for a younger audience, "Avatar: The Last Airbender" is a fantasy series adults and children can revisit together now that it's found a home on Paramount+. The popular Nickelodeon animated series ran for three beautifully crafted seasons from 2005 to 2008, after which it spawned a disastrous live-action feature film from M. Night Shyamalan, a slightly less disastrous live-action series from Netflix, and the thankfully solid sequel series "The Legend of Korra." As of writing, a second sequel series from original creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko titled "Seven Havens" is being produced for Nickelodeon.

For those who have yet to venture through the Four Nations, "Avatar" is a fantasy adventure saga that chronicles the journey of Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen), a young boy with the unique ability to wield the powers of all four natural elements — fire, earth, water, and air. In the midst of the Fire Nation's brutal imperial regime, he must covertly travel across dangerous lands to study with great masters, so that he might one day restore balance to the elements and usher in a new era of peace.

We weren't exactly bullish on "Billions" when it first started airing in 2016. But while we had reservations about the Showtime series' lack of originality and contrived story beats, we knew even then that its stock would rise and fall with the audience's appetite for its sharp cat-and-mouse plotting, seductive and morally grey tone, and escapist fantasies of excessive wealth. The so-so first season proved to be an investment that more than paid off for the network, as "Billions" went on to become one of Showtime's most popular programs, running for seven seasons until 2023.

Consolidating the most arresting qualities of the legal, political, and corporate thriller subgenres, the series takes viewers inside the high-stakes world of Bobby Axelrod ("Homeland" and "Band of Brothers" alum Damian Lewis), a charismatic, devil-may-care hedge fund manager whose fast-and-loose attitude toward financial laws puts him in the crosshairs of U.S. attorney general Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti). A dogged and morally unflinching politician, Rhoades is willing to put his career and family on the line to finally uncover how Axe turns millions into billions.

Beginning its life as a web series independently produced and published on YouTube, "Broad City" quickly exploded into one of the most outrageous comedies on television when Comedy Central unleashed it on viewers in 2014. Creators Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson star as absurdly fictionalized versions of themselves, two millennial New Yorkers trying to find themselves and avoid total burnout despite their own hilariously self-sabotaging tendencies.

The series is a quintessential 2010s Comedy Central sitcom — each episode is bizarre, memorable, endearingly scrappy, and entirely written around making the audience laugh as much as possible in 20 minutes. It also benefits from a stacked supporting ensemble that includes comedian Hannibal Buress of "The Eric Andre Show," future "Hacks" co-creator Paul W. Downs, and "The Good Place" breakout star D'Arcy Carden. Glazer and Jacobson spoke to TVLine when they decided to end the series in 2019, revealing that they wanted to preserve it as a time capsule of their 20s. As a result, "Broad City" is a perfect distillation of what it's like to be young, lost, and hopelessly confused in the most chaotic city in America.

The late 2010s and early 2020s saw stand-up comic Dave Chappelle go from one of the most lauded, if controversial, comedians of all time to one of the most divisive. This was in large part due to his 2021 special "The Closer," which was viewed as uncomfortably bitter and bigoted at the time, and subsequently caused Netflix's CEO to make a public statement amid walkouts and protests.

Despite this setback to his popularity, Chappelle might still benefit from the streaming era yet with his undeniably iconic sketch program "Chappelle's Show" now available to stream on Paramount+. A peerless, fearlessly irreverent masterclass in the format, "Chappelle's Show" featured sketches written by Chappelle and his longtime writing partner (and future "Daily Show" contributor) Neal Brennan. Though the sense of humor was consistently transgressive, the style and subject matter ranged wildly – some of our favorite "Chappelle's Show" sketches include "The Player Hater's Ball," "Wayne Brady's Show," and, of course, "Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories."

Over the past decade, Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson have enjoyed a welcome introduction to the mainstream. After landing a meaty recurring role as political aide Richard Splett on the lauded HBO satire "Veep," Richardson became one of the most recognizable recurring guest-stars in TV, even earning a Primetime Emmy Award for playing the vengeful Ghanaian billionaire and football obsessive Edwin Akufo on "Ted Lasso." Robinson, meanwhile, launched his own acclaimed and culturally pervasive sketch comedy series at Netflix titled "I Think You Should Leave," and recently starred opposite Paul Rudd in the A24 comedy "Friendship."

Before this professional leap, however, Richardson and Robinson pitched themselves as clueless marketing specialists on the ridiculous (and ridiculously underrated) Comedy Central series "Detroiters." Everything audiences love about either actor's comedic style (particularly what's showcased on the aforementioned Netflix series) is just as vivid and amusing here, with the duo using the endlessly malleable premise of two best friends trying to create and sell awful advertisements to its fullest extent. It sadly never got the attention it deserved, leading the network to cancel it ahead of its third season. But for now, "Detroiters" still lives on on Paramount+, and is perfect for anyone who laughed at the likes of the "Darmine Doggy Door" or "Coffin Flops."

For a series as endlessly dissected as "Dexter," there's still plenty to discover upon a rewatch today. Michael C. Hall stars in Showtime's 2000s flagship crime thriller, a darkly comedic look inside the mind of a morally-obsessed serial killer who slays Miami's worst criminals to satisfy his uncontrollable urges. It ran for eight seasons, some of which drew acclaim on par with the greatest programs of the era.

If "Dexter" has one fatal flaw, it's that it's rather infamous for its later seasons and series finale, which many have argued created a remarkably disappointing conclusion to a once-beloved television program. Fortunately, the story of the Bay Harbor Butcher has found a second life — and perhaps even a shot at redemption — through the impressive sequel series "Dexter: New Blood" and "Dexter: Resurrection," which both feature Michael C. Hall at the top of his game. These shows, as well as the prequel "Dexter: Original Sin," are all available to stream alongside the original series on Paramount+.

Ironically, for a series with a focus held solely in the past, "Drunk History" was way ahead of its time. Created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner and executive produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, "Drunk History" is a series with a concept tailor-made for viral success — in each episode, Waters sits down for several strong drinks with one of his funniest friends, then asks them to recount a historical event entirely from memory.

As they stumbled, swore, and, often, straight-up lied their way through topics ranging from the Revolutionary War to that time Elvis met U.S. President Ronald Reagan, famous actors would act out the story with full sets and costumes. It began as a web series on Ferrell and McKay's Funny or Die before eventually landing on Comedy Central. Across its seven seasons, stories were told by the likes of Brian Tyree Henry, Bob Odenkirk, Paget Brewster, Dan Harmon, and Lin-Manuel Miranda (recounting, of course, the story of Alexander Hamilton — wasting absolutely zero shots along the way) and featured performances by such actors as Ryan Gosling, Jack Black, John Lithgow, Winona Ryder, and Jason Momoa.

A spin-off of another CBS crime drama worth noting a bit further down, "Elsbeth" is like "Amelie" by way of "Columbo." Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) is a former Chicago defense attorney who once used her unusual wit, unsuspecting genius, and ability to be underestimated to secure victories for her desperate clients in the courtroom. Now, she's on the other side of the law — and in a whole new city.

At the start of the series, Elsbeth arrives in New York City, an obvious outsider whose bright attire and even brighter personality attract skepticism and mistrust from her new surroundings. This is especially true with regard to the New York Police Department, whom Elsbeth has been charged with observing to ensure they follow the letter of the law during arrests. Her mission isn't exactly what it first appears to be, however — and when missable clues begin to catch her eye at every crime scene she observes, she can't help but lend the investigation a needed hand. "Elsbeth" has been a strong performer for CBS ratings-wise, so interested viewers can rest assured that their new crime obsession will lead a trail to follow for years to come.

Before they joined forces for the acclaimed AppleTV+ science fiction series "Severance," Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette collaborated on the 2018 Showtime miniseries "Escape at Dannemora." In this superbly acted, elevated prison-break thriller, Stiller directs Arquette as the anchor of a star-studded ensemble piece about love, manipulation, betrayal, and justice — the circumstances of which were based on a real story that took place at a real prison in 2015.

Arquette's Tilly Mitchell is a dissatisfied employee at the Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security penitentiary that houses career criminals and murderers. Among them are Richard Matt (Benicio del Toro) and David Sweat (Paul Dano), two killers serving life sentences, with whom Tilly becomes infatuated. Together, they plot to use Tilly's connections and the men's criminal expertise to break out of the prison, all the while evading the watchful eyes of prison staff, including Tilly's husband Lyle (Eric Lange).

The brainchild of "Elsbeth" co-creators Michelle and Robert King, "Evil" is a deceptively audacious leap from the legal dramas that made the prolific TV producers famous. Premiering on CBS in 2019 (before making a shrewd switch to streaming for its second season in 2021), the series follows Dr. Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), a forensic psychologist who provides expert witness in court cases involving the criminally insane or those claiming to be so.

Despite her trust in her own science and reason, her world is irreversibly altered when she agrees to assist Catholic priest and paranormal investigator David Acosta ("Luke Cage" star Mike Colter), who has been formally tasked by the Catholic Church with looking into cases of suspected demon possession. Because of the apparent similarity between such spiritual afflictions and psychological ones like psychopathy, he needs Bouchard to help him discern the difference between the two. Challenging, well-written, and surprisingly terrifying at times, "Evil" is a blend of crime procedural and occult thriller that anyone should welcome into their home.

Lauded as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time and potentially even the greatest spin-off series ever produced, "Frasier" is a television classic that has barely aged a day when it comes to its sense of humor. Kelsey Grammer stars as the titular psychiatrist Frasier Crane, reprising the role from the 1982 sitcom "Cheers" (which is also available to stream on Paramount+ as of writing).

Having been abandoned by his wife, Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth), after the former series, Frasier has started to rebuild his life in his hometown of Seattle, Washington, where he works as a radio broadcaster, providing tough but honest life advice to anyone who calls in. The series follows his unpredictable professional life, as well as his complicated relationship with his family — most especially his neurotic younger brother Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce). Paramount+ also carries the short-lived "Frasier" reboot, which was canceled in 2024.

Don't let the fact that it got canceled during its freshman year scare you off — "Freaks and Geeks" is a not-so-hidden gem and a hilarious slice of nostalgia. The NBC teen sitcom was one of the first works of mega-producer Paul Feig, and though it didn't make nearly the same impact as "Bridesmaids" or "Spy" would, it still sticks out so clearly in our minds over two decades later.

This is in no small part due to Feig's ability to stack his cast and creative team with the future of blockbuster comedic talent. Following the day-to-day lives of stereotypically nerdy high school kids and the "freaks" who'd rather be smoking under the bleachers than be caught dead in a classroom, it starred Linda Cardellini, Jason Segel, Seth Rogen, and James Franco, and boasted a behind-the-camera team that included Jake Kasdan, Ken Kwapis, Mike White, and Judd Apatow.

At its peak, "The Good Wife" was proof that some of the best stories were still being told on network television. Julianna Margulies stars in Robert and Michelle King's acclaimed CBS legal drama, playing the skilled but constantly embattled lawyer Alicia Florrick.

In terms of the series' action, Alicia's story begins when her husband Peter — a prominent State's Attorney with lofty political ambitions (played by "Sex and the City" alum Chris Noth) — is caught in a scandal involving infidelity and sex workers, and is subsequently arrested on suspicion of fraud. While braving undeserved public scrutiny for her marriage to Peter, she must come out of retirement to support herself and her family. Over its seven-season run, audiences get to witness Alicia take increasing ownership of her life while navigating fascinating legal battles, including tense conflict with the National Security Agency. By the time the series ended in 2016, it had amassed a whopping 43 Emmy nominations.

No series gets the motor of nostalgia running like "Happy Days." Created in 1974 by Garry Marshall, this ABC comedy series takes viewers back to a glamorous, mostly carefree version of the 1950s, where romance is simple, times are slow, and all that matters at the end of the day is being cool.

"Happy Days" was known for its stable of in-demand young actors, many of whom were able to use the show to cultivate careers and passionate fanbases that exist to this day. Future Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard stars as Richie Cunningham, a quintessential '50s high schooler whose ability to straddle the line between square and burnout made him something of an everyman. He was balanced by (and eventually eclipsed by) Arthur Fonzarelli, better known as the Fonz, a slick greaser played by Henry Winkler. The pair remained relatively close long after the series ended in 1984, even reuniting at Arnold's Diner as recently as 2024.

If one show could rival "Chappelle's Show" for the title of Comedy Central's preeminent sketch program, it would without question be "Key & Peele." First airing in 2012, it was created by comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. The pair have tragically grown apart creatively since the end of the show and the release of their film "Keanu," with Key pursuing acting more seriously and Peele establishing himself as a modern horror master with "Get Out," "Us," and "Nope."

The show's best sketches would frequently transcend the series itself (a sign of any great sketch show), with such bits as the substitute teacher, "I said....," and the East-West Bowl draft lineup breaking out online. Perhaps their most well-known sketch among fans of the series was Luther, the so-called "anger translator" for U.S. President Barack Obama, which gained such popularity after subsequent revivals that Obama invited "Luther" (Key) to join him at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2015.

Like its title character, "Matlock" is much more than it appears to be at first glance. One would reasonably assume given its title that it's only an attempt at rebooting the 1986 Andy Griffith series of the same name (all nine seasons of which are available to stream on Paramount+). In actuality, it's a relatively novel program that uses the format of its predecessor to explore how an outsider might make an impact on the criminal justice system.

Kathy Bates is Madeline "Matty" Matlock, a formerly retired lawyer who earns an associate position at a powerful law firm in New York. Though her much younger bosses — particularly Skye P. Marshall's Olympia Lawrence — are skeptical of folding Matlock into their operation, she quickly proves to be an invaluable asset because of her ability to think differently than the current generation of lawyers. Overall, "Matlock" is a charming and surprisingly subversive series with more than a few twists up its sleeve.

Forty-five years after Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren appeared together in "The Long Good Friday" (in what was the former's feature film debut), the two reunited for another excellent British crime story that proves they might be the only pairing more perfectly partnered than Tom Hardy and the gangster subgenre. Debuting as a Paramount+ original in 2025, "MobLand" centers around the Harrigans, a powerful organized crime family operating in modern-day London.

Brosnan and Mirren portray Conrad and Maeve Harrigan, respectively, a Shakespearean couple whose ruthlessness and clarity of violence would make even the Macbeths shudder. While people are comfortable with knives and pistols, their most effective weapon is their associate, Harry Da Souza (Hardy), a veritable Swiss Army man who earns his keep by shaking the right hands and breaking the rest. The first season kicks off with the ignition of hostilities between the Harrigans and their criminal rivals, and, with the announcement of a second season renewal, the situation in "MobLand" can only get more dangerous.

Comedian. Actor. Reality-bending performance artist. Small-business consultant. Nathan Fielder can truly do it all — and why shouldn't he, given that he graduated from one of Canada's top business schools with "really good grades"?

Before he took on parenthood and the FAA in his HBO series "The Rehearsal" and partnered with Benny Safdie and Emma Stone for the bizarre Showtime satire "The Curse," Fielder was responsible for "Nathan for You," one of the greatest, cringiest comedies to hit Comedy Central in the 2010s. In many ways a predecessor to his recent HBO hit, "Nathan for You" chronicled Fielder's confounding attempts to help struggling businesses reverse their fortunes, almost always through the employment of some outrageous and dubiously legal gimmick. The most notable example of this throughout the entire series was his rebranding of a local coffee house as "Dumb Starbucks," a stunt so public and well-executed that it made national headlines.

Some people review products or services. We here are TVLine review entertainment. Forrest MacNeil reviews everything.

The intrepid and ostensibly fearless host of "Review" (played by Andy Daly) is arguably the most subtly tragic comic figure featured in a Comedy Central series. For all three seasons of the show, fans watched as Forrest put his life, marriage, and happiness on the line just to entertain and educate an audience of fans that regularly treat him with contempt.

His reviews cover a wide range of topics requested by them, including seemingly mundane activities like hunting and quitting a job, emotional experiences like forgiveness and getting revenge, and absolutely insane requests like addiction, leading a cult, and being buried alive. For our part, we remember "Pancakes; Divorce; Pancakes" and "Buried Alive; 6-Star Review; Public Speaking" to be among the series' highlights, with the latter episode in particular showcasing how Daly masterfully turns Forrest's hilarious and horrifying mission into must-watch TV.

Paramount+ has basically been a one-stop shop for "Star Trek" fans for the entirety of its lifespan (even back when it was still called "CBS All Access"). The streamer has almost the entire franchise available to subscribers, stretching all the way back to "Star Trek: The Original Series," Gene Roddenberry's groundbreaking '60s sci-fi hit series that took viewers to the outer reaches of the final frontier.

Fans of the franchise's heyday or those interested in seeing where it all began can binge all three seasons of the first series, as well as follow-ups like "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," and "Voyager." Of course, Paramount+ also offers those "Star Trek" series produced specifically for the platform, the best of which include "Picard," "Strange New Worlds," and the animated comedy series "Lower Decks." Whatever kind of Trekkie you see yourself as, Paramount+ has an intergalactic adventure waiting.

As tragically uneven as it may be remembered, "Twin Peaks" is still a singular work of art that, at its best, stretched the medium of television beyond what audiences had come to expect of genre fare. The late and legendary filmmaker David Lynch created the series with Mark Frost, injecting it with all the surrealism, beauty, and tension that had defined the former artist's storytelling style.

Kyle MacLachlan stars in the series, having previously collaborated with Lynch on the mystery thriller "Blue Velvet" and an infamous adaptation of the sci-fi epic novel "Dune." He plays FBI agent Dale Cooper, a level-headed investigator who gets drawn into a web of unexplained phenomena and disturbing conspiracies when the body of a young woman is discovered in a small Washington town. As the investigation gets stranger and stranger with each new discovery, Cooper is increasingly forced to embrace the supernatural to find justice for the victim — as well as answers for himself.

The only show on this list that could possibly rival the unsettling brilliance of "Twin Peaks" is "The Twilight Zone." Rod Serling's original thriller anthology series remains one of the most famous television programs of all time, a culturally ubiquitous piece of TV history.

For the uninitiated, each episode (hosted by Serling himself, with his unmistakably foreboding baritone guiding viewers to some horrible reality just beyond our own) featured standalone tales of suspense, tragedy, wonder, and horror, usually of normal people encountering something dangerous and paranormal that changes their lives for good. "The Twilight Zone" is so well-remembered and regarded that it was one of the first properties Paramount revisited when they were preparing to launch their streamer, ordering a reboot from none other than Jordan Peele. Though well-intentioned and thought-provoking, not even he could recapture the magic of the original series — but readers can judge for themselves, as both are currently available to stream on "Paramount+."