TAGGED AS: Fall TV, Netflix, streaming, television, TV

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FALL 2023 TV SURVEY: 30 FAVORITE NETFLIX SHOWS

For Rotten Tomatoes’ annual Fall TV Survey, we asked our users what they’re most looking forward to in the coming TV season and to reflect on the best shows from seasons past. Over 1,000 of them got back to us with their picks for fall.

After winning every year that we’ve included this category in our annual fall TV survey — six years now — Stranger Things may need to be retired from this list, because now the interesting stuff begins happening below No. 1. In 2022, for instance, the almighty horror series from Matt and Ross Duffer was followed by limited series The Queen’s Gambit, drama Ozark (in its final season in 2022), fantasy The Witcher, and thriller Squid Game. This year’s top 5 invites Black Mirror (No. 7 in 2022) to the No. 3 spot and new series Wednesday to the No. 4 spot, while Ozark moves to No. 5. We made some changes this year, removing some limited series and other shows as voting options to make space for new titles like That ’90s Show and XO Kitty, which was — hindsight being 20/20 — perhaps a mistake. (In our defense, write-in voting was an option!) If The Queen’s Gambit is still one of your favorite Netflix shows, and you think it deserved a spot in the top 30, tell us all about it in the comments.

Read on to find out which Netflix series Rotten Tomatoes users voted as their favorite.

Stranger Things (2016)
92%

Synopsis: Mysteries unravel in a small Midwestern town in the 1980s, involving supernatural forces, secret experiments and one strange girl.... [More]

Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard

Directed By: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer, Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen

Black Mirror (2011)
83%

Synopsis: Featuring stand-alone dramas -- sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales that explore techno-paranoia -- "Black Mirror" is a contemporary reworking of "The... [More]

Starring:

Directed By: Annabel Jones, Charlie Brooker

Squid Game (2021)
95%

Synopsis: Hundreds of cash-strapped contestants accept an invitation to compete in children's games for a tempting prize, but the stakes are... [More]

Starring: Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Oh Yeong-su, Wi Ha-joon

Directed By: Hwang Dong-hyuk

Wednesday (2022)
73%

Synopsis: While attending Nevermore Academy, Wednesday Addams attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a killing spree and solve the... [More]

Starring: Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Christina Ricci

Directed By: Tim Burton, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Kayla Alpert

Ozark (2017)
82%

Synopsis: Created by Bill Dubuque ("The Accountant," "The Judge"), this drama series stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, a financial planner... [More]

Starring: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Sofia Hublitz, Skylar Gaertner

Directed By: Jason Bateman, Chris Mundy, Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams

The Umbrella Academy (2019)
86%

Synopsis: On one day in 1989, 43 infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy... [More]

Starring: Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman

Directed By: Steve Blackman, Mike Richardson, Keith Goldberg, Beau Bauman

The Witcher (2019)
80%

Synopsis: The witcher Geralt, a mutated monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world in which people often prove... [More]

Starring: Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Freya Allan, Joey Batey

Directed By: Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, Tomek Baginski, Jarek Sawko, Jason F. Brown

The Crown (2016)
81%

Synopsis: Based on an award-winning play ("The Audience") by showrunner Peter Morgan, this lavish, Netflix-original drama chronicles the life of Queen... [More]

Starring: Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Dominic West

Directed By: Peter Morgan, Suzanne Mackie, Andy Harries, Stephen Daldry

Arrested Development (2003)
75%

Synopsis: Michael Bluth finds himself forced to stay in Orange County and run the family real estate business after his father,... [More]

Starring: Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera

Directed By: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, David Nevins, Mitchell Hurwitz

Mindhunter (2017)
97%

#10

Synopsis: Catching a criminal often requires the authorities to get inside the villain's mind to figure out how he thinks. That's... [More]

Starring: Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv, Joe Tuttle

Directed By: David Fincher, Joshua Donen, Charlize Theron, Ceán Chaffin

Bridgerton (2020)
82%

#11

Synopsis: Bridgerton follows Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the eldest daughter of the powerful Bridgerton family as she makes her debut onto... [More]

Starring: Nicola Coughlan, Luke Newton, Claudia Jessie, Luke Thompson

Directed By: Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Tom Verica, Chris Van Dusen

The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
93%

#12

Synopsis: This modern reimagining of the Shirley Jackson novel follows siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on... [More]

Starring: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Timothy Hutton, Elizabeth Reaser

Directed By: Mike Flanagan, Trevor Macy, Meredith Averill, Justin Falvey

Orange Is the New Black (2013)
90%

#13

Synopsis: Piper Chapman is a public relations executive with a career and a fiance when her past suddenly catches up to... [More]

Starring: Taylor Schilling, Natasha Lyonne, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks

Directed By: Andrew McCarthy, Phil Abraham, Tara Herrmann, Jenji Kohan

Dead to Me (2019)
88%

#14

Synopsis: Jen's husband recently died in a hit-and-run, and the sardonic widow is determined to solve the crime. Optimistic free spirit... [More]

Starring: Christina Applegate, Linda Cardellini, James Marsden, Max Jenkins

Directed By: Liz Feldman, Jessica Elbaum, Christie Smith, Christina Applegate

The Lincoln Lawyer (2022)
85%

#15

Synopsis: Idealistic lawyer Mickey Haller runs practice out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car, taking on cases big and... [More]

Starring: Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole, Angus Sampson

Directed By: David E. Kelley, Ted Humphrey, Michael Connelly, Ross Fineman

The Sandman (2022)
88%

#16

Synopsis: When the Sandman, aka Dream, the cosmic being who controls all dreams, is captured and held prisoner for more than... [More]

Starring: Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook

Directed By: Allan Heinberg, David S. Goyer, Neil Gaiman, Mike Barker

Russian Doll (2019)
97%

#17

Synopsis: Emmy-nominated actress Natasha Lyonne stars in this comedy-drama series as Nadia, a young woman who is on a journey to... [More]

Starring: Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Greta Lee, Annie Murphy

Directed By: Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Leslye Headland

Lucifer (2016)
87%

#18

Synopsis: Based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, this series follows Lucifer, the original fallen angel,... [More]

Starring: Tom Ellis, Lauren German, DB Woodside, Kevin Alejandro

Directed By: Nathan Hope

The Night Agent (2023)
74%

#19

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Matthew Quirk, The Night Agent is a sophisticated, character-based, action-thriller centering on a low level... [More]

Starring: Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Hong Chau, Sarah Desjardins

Directed By: Shawn Ryan, Marney Hochman, Seth Gordon, Julia Gunn

Peaky Blinders (2013)
93%

#20

Synopsis: Britain is a mixture of despair and hedonism in 1919 in the aftermath of the Great War. Returning soldiers, newly... [More]

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Natasha O'Keeffe, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle

Directed By: Otto Bathurst, Anthony Byrne

Emily in Paris (2020)
63%

#21

Synopsis: Chicago marketing executive Emily Cooper is hired to provide an American perspective at a marketing firm in Paris.... [More]

Starring: Lily Collins, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park, Lucas Bravo

House of Cards (2013)
77%

#22

Synopsis: U.S. Rep. Francis Underwood of South Carolina starts out as a ruthless politician seeking revenge in this Netflix original production.... [More]

Starring: Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Jayne Atkinson, Patricia Clarkson

Directed By: Melissa James Gibson, Frank Pugliese, David Fincher, Joshua Donen