What are the best shows on Hulu to watch right now? When it comes to streaming TV, Hulu is second only to Netflix — and depending on your tastes, its library might even be better.
The streamer, which also has plenty of good movies, features a great mix of some of the best TV shows in its library. The titles include a combination of hits from TV's golden age (the '90s), along with critically acclaimed originals, and contemporary seasons, many of which were made through Hulu's partnership with the cable network FX. With plenty of dramas, anime, and comedies in its library, you're bound to find something to binge if you spend a little time browsing what Hulu has to offer.
But, to help you get started on one of the best streaming services around, here are the 10 best shows you can stream on Hulu right now. Some are new, ongoing series. Others are finished classics. All of them will have you eager to hit "play next episode".
10. The Dropout
Year: 2022
Seasons: 1
Something was in the water in 2022, as there were several shows dramatizing infamous corporations' dramatic rise and fall. Super Pumped was about Uber, WeCrashed was about WeWork, but by far, the best show to come out of this trend was Hulu's The Dropout, which told the story of Theranos.
Amanda Seyfried, who rightfully won Best Actress at the Emmys for her performance, plays Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the biotech company Theranos. Holmes claimed her invention could revolutionize medicine, and the company was valued at billions of dollars. The only problem was that the whole thing was a lie; the technology didn't work. The Dropout is a riveting look at the fraud and Holmes' psyche, and at times, it plays almost like a thriller or even a horror movie.
9. What We Do in the Shadows
Year: 2019
Seasons: 6
Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi exposed the lame mundanity of vampires in a hilarious fashion with their 2014 film What We Do in the Shadows. Clement expanded on the idea with this FX series of the same name.
What We Do in the Shadows is a comedy mockumentary following some vampires who are roommates living in Staten Island (the original movie is set in Clement's native New Zealand). Nandor, Laszlo, and Nadja have been alive for centuries, but if anything, that long supernatural experience has made them especially ill-equipped to handle the modern world. They're also not the best at dealing with the supernatural world, either. Draculas, this trio ain't.
Curious about the movie that started it all? Read our What We Do in the Shadows review for more undead details.
8. Futurama
Year: 1999
Seasons: 12
Simpsons creator Matt Groening's second TV show follows Phillip J. Fry, a hapless pizza delivery boy who accidentally falls into a cryogenic freezer on New Year's Eve, right before the turn of the new millennium, and wakes up a thousand years later in the 31st century. He ends up fitting in pretty well, becoming friends with Bender, an alcoholic robot, and Leela, a one-eyed alien he quickly develops a crush on.
Futurama might not quite exceed The Simpsons' golden era when it comes to comedy, but it's pretty dang close, and there are tons of smart jokes in the show that make sense when you realize how many of the writers have advanced PhDs. Futurama might have a better grasp of its characters, though, as they're allowed to evolve and change, resulting in several episodes that are tear-jerking in addition to being side-splitting.
Read our list of the best shows on Disney Plus if you love The Simpsons and other animated gems.
7. Cowboy Bebop
Year: 1998
Seasons: 2
OK, three, two, one, let's jam. By far the coolest show on this list and one of the best anime series of all time, Cowboy Bebop is an ultra-stylish neo-noir space Western that follows a group of bounty hunters as they have exciting, jazzy adventures.
After making its debut in Japan in the last years of the '90s, Cowboy Bebop would become the first of what would be many anime to air on Adult Swim, and the acclaimed dub helped a new type of anime breakthrough in the West. Now it's streaming on Hulu, so you can get lost in Cowboy Bebop's immaculate vibes all over again or for the first time. Trust us, even if you aren't an anime fan, this is a must-watch!
6. The X-Files
Year: 1993
Seasons: 11
FBI agents Mulder and Scully — a believer and a skeptic, respectively — investigate the bureau's strangest cases, often involving aliens, monsters, or other supernatural entities. A classic of '90s TV that stretched into the early '00s and beyond (thanks to feature films and a revival series), The X-Files is frequently spooky and always immensely entertaining, consisting of a mixture of one-off "monster of the week" episodes that can be enjoyed in a vacuum and "mythology" episodes that build towards an ongoing plot.
During its original run, these mythology episodes were especially riveting TV, as Mulder and Scully slowly uncover an alien conspiracy deep within the US government. Unfortunately, this larger plot gets kind of convoluted at the end, but the initial episodes are still thrilling, and the "monster of the week" episodes, featuring creatures like a fluke-man or a plague of killer bugs, are about as good as TV gets.
Want more classic recommendations? Check out our list of the best shows on Netflix next.
5. 30 Rock
Year: 2006
Seasons: 7
Tina Fey's comedy following the head writer of a Saturday Night Live-esque sketch show and the motley crew of creatives and executives she has to deal with might just be the funniest show on Hulu. Supremely joke-dense and oddly prescient (one episode had a fake reality show called MILF Island that more or less became a real show called MILF Manor on TLC 15 years later), 30 Rock is exceptionally clever.
It's not just jokes, though (although there are a lot of them); the relationship between Fey's Liz Lemon and her boss-turned-friend Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin, arguably at his best) gives the show an earnest 'Odd Couple' dynamic that supports the wackiness and gives it some heart.
Studio magic! Read our list of the best movies on Hulu.
4. The Bear
Year: 2022
Seasons: 3
Every year, there's a debate at the Emmys about whether or not The Bear should be running in the comedy category. There are jokes in the series, which follows Jeremy Allen White as a chef who leaves Michelin-starred restaurants behind to inherit his brother's ragtag, failing Chicago sandwich shop. But as the show progresses it becomes more and more of a drama with deeply realized characters and a smart approach to themes like family, trauma, and creativity.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. Winning performances from the entire talented cast, including Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Ayo Edebiri, make The Bear an entertaining, filling meal of a TV show.
For more on this must-watch, read our in-death The Bear season 3 review.
3. Reservation Dogs
Year: 2021
Seasons: 3
One of the most refreshing and profound shows to grace the screen in recent years, Reservation Dogs follows four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma as they come of age in the wake of their friend's death. As Elora, Bear, Cheese, and Willie Jack get into and out of trouble, they must navigate their community, their own relationships, and challenges — some of which are universal, some of which are deeply specific to the Native American experience.
Featuring a cast and crew that's almost entirely Indigenous, Reservation Dogs isn't like any other comedy-drama on American TV. That's a shame because it's a rare show that's as good as it is important.
Read our list of the best shows on HBO Max for more modern gems that you can't miss.
2. Shōgun
Year: 2024
Seasons: 1
This isn’t the first time that Shōgun, James Clavell's 1975 historical fiction novel, has been adapted for TV. There was a miniseries in 1980, but it wasn't as big a deal nor as good as FX's 2024 take on the story. Part of that is because of how TV has changed; audiences are now used to reading subtitles, which means the struggle between rival daimyos over the future of Japan can play out organically in Japanese — much to the initial confusion of John Blackthorne, an English sailor who has been shipwrecked. Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, who won Emmys for their roles, star.
Shōgun was initially supposed to be a limited series, and the season covers the entirety of Clavell's book. However, the massive critical and commercial success the show has enjoyed prompted FX to make a second season, which should come out sometime in the next couple of years.
If you need more details on this one, head over to our Shogun review before pressing play on this Hulu masterpiece.
1. The Americans
Year: 2013
Seasons: 6
Real ones know that The Americans, which came towards the end of the golden age of "Peak TV", is as good as Breaking Bad and Mad Men. It might even be better — and unlike those other two, it's streaming on Hulu.
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys star as an average, all-American married couple living in the DC suburbs with their two children. Except, they’re actually Soviet KGB spies operating in deep, deep cover (their kids have no idea). It's a high-stakes, thrilling espionage series that is also a deeply cutting marital drama. With six seasons leading up to one of the all-time finales, The Americans is a sublime treat for anybody looking for a new binge.
Dive into streaming with our handy guide explaining the Hulu free trial. Or, for more TV, check out our lists of all the new shows heading our way and the best Amazon Prime shows to watch right now.
