15 Most Binge-Worthy Shows of 2023 (So Far!)

It’s the dog days of summer, which can only mean one thing — the year is halfway over. If you’re anything like I am, that’s hard to believe. It feels like just yesterday Rihanna was performing at the Super Bowl and Everything Everywhere All At Once was sweeping the awards season conversation.

It’s been an interesting year for TV and Streamers already, with a number of long-running favorites coming to an end. The fall season looks to be even more unique, with many scripted series on hold until spring.

With the long hiatus between upcoming seasons, now is the perfect time to play catch-up on some of the best shows of the first half of this year. From comedies to dramas, and thirty-minute quick binges to hour-long intense watches, we’ve found something for everyone.

Here are our picks for the 15 most binge-worthy TV shows of 2023 so far:

1. Daisy Jones & The Six (Prime Video)

Prime Video’s Daisy Jones & the Six has been one of the most anticipated limited series in a long time, and it delivered. Between the Fleetwood Mac-esque soundtrack, the incredibly hot cast, and the 70’s fashion aesthetic, fans couldn’t get enough of this adaptation.

From Riley Keough and Sam Claflin’s swoon-worthy ballads to the powerhouse vocals of Nabiyah Be’s Simone Jackson, the soundtrack will inevitably end up on some of the year’s best-of lists.

Speaking of Nabiyah Be — the way the limited series was able to supplement the text and expand upon Simone Jackson’s journey as a queer artist in the 70s proves that changes from the source material can be a good thing. Couple that with the increased focus on Camila Moronne and Suki Waterhouse’s Camila and Karen, and DJATS was a force for championing female-centric stories.

I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to seeing more Daisy Jones in the future, but for now, all episodes of the limited series are available to binge on Prime Video.

2. XO Kitty (Netflix)

With the same charm as any of Jenny Han’s projects, XO, Kitty allows fans of To All The Boys I Loved Before the chance to get to know one of its characters on a deeper level. Kitty was always on the sidelines of Lara Jean’s adventures, and now she’s off on her own.

And talk about an adventure! The scope of XO, Kitty far surpasses anything that that the TATB series ever achieved. And, it’s a fun and low-stakes way to get acquainted with a brand-new setting and culture — Seoul, South Korea.

Kitty takes after her sister’s romantic tendencies, integrating herself almost immediately into a love triangle at her new boarding school. If you like rom-coms this show is for you. If you like K-Dramas, this show is for you. It’s too sweet to disappoint anyone.

XO, Kitty Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix, and Season 2 is in the works.

3. You (Netflix)

If you thought that after three seasons, You Season 4 would leave you bored, or it would be boring without Victoria Pedretti’s Love, boy you would be wrong. The satisfying thing about You is how easily it reinvents itself with every location change.

The most recent season is no different. Instead of New York, LA, or the suburbs, Joe Goldberg went international this time and became a professor across the pond in London. 

You has always been one of the most binge-able series, specifically because Joe Goldberg has no impulse control. His erratic behavior always leads to some mystery, and as an audience, we’re dying (pun intended!) to know what he’s going to do next.

Sure, some of Joe’s new English friends were insufferable, but that’s the point this season. The supporting characters for his British adventure were some of my favorites since the series’ first season.

I can’t wait to see what happens in You Season 5, which has been announced as the series’ last. All episodes of You are available on Netflix.

4.Jury Duty (Freevee)

I don’t know the last time jury duty has ever been this entertaining. Or the last time that the internet collectively agreed upon one person to fully rally behind like they did Ronald from Amazon Freevee’s reality-experiment show, Jury Duty. 

A mix of other beloved reality series (think Punk’d meets Big Brother), Amazon Freevee puts together one of the year’s most surprising series. The concept is sort of like a fantasy I think we’ve all had in our lives — you get forced into jury duty with a bunch of strangers and one of your favorite stars and become friends along the way. 

What Jury Duty does though, is make everybody “a star” instead of just one person. In a completely fabricated Truman Show-esque situation, the only non-actor is Ronald. Everyone else is playing a part, including America’s sweetheart James Marsden, as himself.

Now that the truth is out there, I don’t know if they’ll ever be able to replicate the success of Jury Duty Season 1 because the next time we all get summoned to jury duty, we’ll be on the lookout for a random star.

Jury Duty is available to stream on Amazon Freevee.

5. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix)

Man, Shonda Rhimes knows how to make a period piece. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story proves that the more time she spends with Regency-era stories, the better she gets. 

The series cleverly keeps the timeline of Bridgerton intact, spanning decades and following the present-day Queen (Golda Rosheuvel) and the newly crowned/married Queen (India Amarteifio). It is easy to completely fall in love with Charlotte once you got to know her backstory before and after she marries King George (Corey Mylchreest).

Amarteifio and Mylchreest went to the Bridgerton School of Chemistry and got straight A’s. They’re dynamic on-screen together, and though their story is nuanced and challenging, you root for them the entire time. My hat’s off to Mylchreest for his performance as the troubled King George.

While it’s not totally necessary to watch Queen Charlotte to keep up with the Bridgerton series, I wholeheartedly recommend it. It will wreck you, but it’s worth it. It has everything you love from Bridgerton — romance, a bit of spice, instrumental covers of pop songs, and Lady Danbury (both old and young).

Queen Charlotte is available to stream on Netflix.

6. Beef (Netflix)

If there’s one show you should go into completely blind, it’s Beef. Nothing about this series is expected, in any way. If you saw any advertising for it in the spring, it was positioned as a story about two people who get into a road rage incident, then keep trying to “one-up” each other.

And it is that. But it’s also a lot more than that.

The last two episodes of Beef Season 1 are some of the wildest story pivots I’ve seen. Ali Wong and Steven Yeun are co-leads of the series, and it’s their chemistry that keeps the series fresh and keeps you playing the next episode.

Beef is an A24 project, which should give you a hint at the overall tone of the dark comedy. Sometimes it’s just cathartic to watch two people do crazier and crazier things to each other, in order to “win.” Beef is the outlet you need for all of your intrusive thoughts.

All episodes of Beef Season 1 are streaming on Netflix.

7. Class of ’07 (Prime Video)

Is there a The Wilds-sized hole in your heart? Is Yellowjackets a little too spooky for your taste? Still looking for a show about a group of women unexpectedly stranded and forced to work together to survive? Prime Video’s Class of ’07 is that series.

The concept itself isn’t unique, but the setting is wholly original. Class of ’07 forces a group of girls together, years after they’d last seen each other, and requires them to coexist in order to survive.

It ends up pretty much exactly how you think it would go, with these women regressing to their past selves. There are some hilarious moments when the girls are trying to adjust to their new normal, and there are some heartwarming moments when they reflect on why they’d lost touch over the years.

Starring Emily Browning, Megan Smart, and Caitlin Stasey (among others), there hasn’t been word yet on a Class of ’07 Season 2, but I’m hopeful. All episodes are currently streaming on Prime Video.

8. The Last Thing He Told Me (Apple TV+)

Every year needs a fun mystery to be sucked into. A contender for this year’s is Apple TV+’s The Last Thing He Told Me. Starring Jennifer Garner, and based on the novel of the same name, the limited series is structured as the perfect binge-watch.

Garner and Angourie Rice lead the series as a mother/step-daughter duo on the hunt for the truth behind the disappearance of their husband and father. I wouldn’t be surprised to see their performances honored in the limited series category this coming awards season.

Once the stakes ramp up, it gets hard to take your eyes away from the action in The Last Thing He Told Me, and you’ll be racing to the end to find out what really happened.

All episodes of The Last Thing He Told Me are available on Apple TV+.

9. The Bear

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say Hulu’s The Bear is one of the greatest shows ever made. The sophomore season of the FX/Hulu series is freshly dropped as of June 2023, but like most fans, I devoured it within days of its release.

It’s more than just a show about chefs at a restaurant in Chicago. It’s about grief, how we process trauma, found family, and, in The Bear Season 2 especially, finding purpose.

While you could argue that Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri’s Carmy and Sydney are the series’ leads, there’s an equitable focus on the entire cast. Three of the best episodes from The Bear Season 2 narrow the series’ scope, focusing on just one character or just one afternoon.

The writing is superb. The cinematography and editing have just enough influence from Chef’s Table to make their dishes feel real. There’s really nothing about The Bear to complain about, other than I wish there were more episodes to savor.

All episodes of The Bear Season 2 are available to stream on Hulu.

10. The Last of Us (HBO/Max)

Coming from someone who doesn’t veer toward horror shows, The Last of Us is a must-watch series. It’s less about the post-apocalyptic setting than it is about the stories that crop up when humans are pushed to their limits.

The Last of Us was everywhere earlier this year, so if you haven’t heard of it by now, kudos to you for escaping its proliferation across pop culture. If you have heard of it but were too freaked out by the creepy fungi monsters to give it a try, let me reassure you — it’s not that scary.

As a self-proclaimed wimp, I was able to make it through the series with minimal jump scares. In fact, the show is less about the mutated monsters than it is about the monsters within humanity. But there are still moments of pure beauty in the bleak series.

I’m sure Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal will stay booked and busy with this story for a while, so it’s best to get started watching it early.

The Last of Us  Season 2 is in the works, and all episodes of The Last of Us  Season 1 are available to stream on MAX.

11. Shrinking (Apple TV+)

If you had told me earlier this year that Harrison Ford was starring in his first television comedy as a series regular in the year 2023, I wouldn’t have believed you. But Shrinking is in fact the first regular comedic gig for the veteran actor.

If you’re mourning the loss of the (kind of controversial) final season of Ted Lasso, Shrinking is the perfect series to fill that void. Partially because the series was created by part of the team that brought Lasso and AFC Richmond to life. Besides the tangible connection, Shrinking is a spiritual sister series to Ted Lasso.

Both are about men having to completely start over in life. Shrinking is just more attuned to the grief that comes with a major life rehaul. And it’s literally about men being in touch with their feelings because the co-leads, Jason Segel and Harrison Ford, play therapists.

Shrinking Season 1 is an example of an incredible freshman season, and that is due to the chemistry of the ensemble that’s been put together. Segel and Ford played off each other wonderfully, but it’s Jessica Williams, Christa Mitchell, Michael Urie, and Lukita Maxwell all bringing their own comedic flair that has made this one to watch.

All episodes of Shrinking Season 1 are available on Apple TV+ and Shrinking Season 2 is on its way.

12. Barry (HBO/Max)

If you aren’t caught up with HBO’s Barry, let me just warn you that the show’s final season takes an unexpected turn halfway through.

Barry Season 4 keeps the same tone you’ve come to know and love, but it recognizes a new level of urgency that only comes when a season is reaching its conclusion.

The characters of Barry will go down in history as some of HBO’s best, and Anthony Carrigan’s NoHo Hank will be at the top of the list. It’s a shame the comedy acting space has been so crowded in the years that Barry has been active because the entire cast has delivered award-worthy performances year after year.

Barry Season 4 continued to showcase their talent, along with the talent of the series’ writers and directors. It won’t fail to make you belly laugh at Hank’s antics, but it also has a surprising heart for a show about hit men and drug kingpins.

Barry can be streamed in its entirety on MAX.

13. Not Dead Yet (Hulu)

Every year there’s at least one new primetime comedy that breaks through the noise and cements itself as the new “It Girl.” This year’s midseason debut, Not Dead Yet, seemed to have earned that status, becoming one of the season’s most-watched, and highest-rated premieres for ABC and Hulu.

And it’s not surprising, considering the caliber of talent involved in the series.

The cast is like the multiverse of late 2010’s comedy. When you throw New Girl‘s Hannah Simone into the mix with Jane the Virgin‘s Gina Rodriguez and Superstore‘s Lauren Ash, you know you’ll end up with a fun final product.

Not Dead Yet is just as funny as it is contemplative. Rodriguez’s Nell has some supernatural connection to the dead and can speak to them while she’s writing their obituaries. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to tug at your heartstrings and make you laugh.

Not Dead Yet Season 2 has been confirmed, and all episodes are streaming on Hulu.

14. Platonic (Apple TV+)

There’s something oddly comforting about watching the same actors collaborate with each other over and over again. While the dynamic duo of Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen might not be the first pair that comes to mind when you think of pairings, Apple TV+’s Platonic is proof that they should be.

As somebody who totally believes in platonic soulmates, this show was made for me.

It’s fun to see Byrne and Rogen in a dynamic different from the one they’ve played before. She’s a married, stay-at-home mom of three, and he’s a recently divorced brewmaster at a fairly popular brewery. Their lives could not be more different, which is probably why they had drifted apart.

They rekindle their friendship at a pivotal point in their lives, and it leads to a lot of hijinks.

Byrne and Rogen are experts at physical comedy, and certain scenes have had me crying with laughter. Other parts of the show are sweetly introspective, taking a look at how friendships evolve over time. It’s the perfect balance for the duo to work with.

Platonic is streaming on Apple TV+.

15. The Diplomat

Raise your hand if you’ve missed Keri Russell on your TV, In Neflix’s The Diplomat, Russell returns to her bread and butter — the political drama.

This time, she plays the titular character, a career diplomat, who suddenly gets thrust into a role she’s not exactly expecting. After years of playing in the fringes, becoming an expert at international politics in her own realm, she gets placed in a high-profile/high-visibility job without much warning.

The twist? Her husband is also a career diplomat and former ambassador. And the role reversal becomes quite the pain point for the couple. 

Russell feels right at home in this role, and her chemistry with on-screen husband Rufus Sewell leads to juicy tension when things inevitably start to devolve. The series creator, Debora Chan, has also been involved in projects like Homeland and The West Wing. With a pedigree like that, you know this series will hold its own.

The Diplomat Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix, and Season 2 is in the works.

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What’s your favorite show from the first half of 2023? Let us know in the comments below! 

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