The year is half over and behind us are already hundreds of series starts that have flooded streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ as well as TV programs. But which shows are even worth your time? Which series blockbusters and insider tips belong on every watch list? We have the 20 best series of the first half of 2023 chosen. Particularly interesting: Netflix only just made it into the top 10 with one series.
How did the list of the 20 best series of 2023 come about?
As with the year-end top lists (here you can find the best series of 2022 and the best films of 2022), the Moviepilot team created individual lists with personal top 10s from the first half of the year. In total 49 different series were nominated. There were a few criteria and rules when evaluating the lists:
The best series of 2023 on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and more – places 20 to 11
Some of the Moviepilot editorial team’s favorite series just missed making it into the top 10. These occupy places 20 to 11 with a narrow gap:
The best series of 2023 – 10th place: Beef
Netflix
beef
The Netflix series beef takes a traffic dispute to a whole new level of escalation. Career woman Amy (Ali Wong) always has to be perfect. Danny’s (Steven Yeun) life, on the other hand, is one big struggle. In their mutual hatred, they find the ideal release valve for the stress they are exposed to every day – and in doing so they drag everyone around them into the abyss. The result inspires as a bitter mix of intense twists, black humor and emotional depth. For us, Beef is the biggest Netflix surprise of the year so far.
The best series of 2023 – 9th place: Extraordinary
Disney+
Extraordinary
With Extraordinary Disney+ shows us what the crowded superhero genre can offer even beyond Marvel and DC when familiar formulas are broken down. The mix of British cringe comedy and hangout sitcom creates a world where everyone gets superpowers. Only twenty-something Jen (Máiréad Tyers) isn’t one of them. With her roommates, she staggers through the life crisis and from one weird situation to the next. The great strength of the series, however, are the curious and often completely unsuitable for everyday superpowers – like the power to turn anything into a PDF.
The best series of 2023 – 8th place: Yellowjackets Season 2
Show time
Yellowjackets
What happens when a girls soccer team crashes their plane in the wilderness and has to survive there for a year and a half? That’s right, moral decay and cannibalism! The mystery thriller series Yellowjackets explores her story across two timelines: the ’90s and the present, as the characters are reeling from the trauma and supernatural experiences of the past. Season 2 delves even deeper into the disturbing mysteries and once again delights with the fantastic cast led by Melanie Lynskey and Christina Ricci.
The best series of 2023 – 7th place: Atlanta season 4
Disney+
Atlanta
One of the best series of recent years has come to an end this year on Disney+. The serial phenomenon invented by Donald Glover Atlanta triumphs again in Season 4 with creative and bizarre stories. Whether it’s a fake documentary about the first black Disney CEO, angry media satire or the surreal finale: every episode is a small work of art. The ease with which Atlanta breaks through genre boundaries is always fascinating.
The best series of 2023 – 6th place: Poker Face
Peacock
Poker Face
bullshit! The catchphrase of Natasha Lyonne’s hobby detective from the hit series Poker Face has burned itself into pop culture memory in recent months. In the best Columbo manner, series creator Rian Johnson created a fantastic Howcatchem crime series after Knives Out and Glass Onion, which evokes a comfortably nostalgic series feeling with its classic case-of-the-week structure. Lyonne’s incarnate lie detector may well continue to delight us for many more seasons to come.
The best series of 2023 – 5th place: Daisy Jones and The Six
Amazon
Daisy Jones and the Six
The fictional music biopic Daisy Jones and The Six illuminates the success story of a rock band in the 1970s from their meteoric rise to their sudden breakup. Accompanied by the authentic and often heartbreaking story of addiction, love and desire. In addition, the careers of music stars Daisy (Riley Keough) and Billy (Sam Claflin) delight with a fantastic catchy soundtrack that months later we still can’t get out of our heads. Another success from Reese Witherspoon’s series empire.
The best series of 2023 – 4th place: Ted Lasso Season 3
AppleTV+
Ted Lasso
The best, funniest and most important feel-good series Ted Lasso ended its story with Season 3. Even if AFC Richmond’s final (for now) Premiere League season doesn’t quite reach the heights of previous episodes, Ted Lasso still inspires with lovable characters and a big one Portion of cordiality and humanity.
The best series of 2023 – 3rd place: Jury Duty
Amazon
Jury Duty
Ronald Gladden actually thought he was doing his civic duty as a jury member in a documentary. And suddenly he finds himself in a bizarre court show. What he doesn’t know is that all those involved in the process are actors – including X-Men star James Marsden. The reality show Jury Duty is not a classic hidden camera show, but surprisingly develops into a funny workplace sitcom in which the performers live their lovingly crafted and odd characters almost 24 hours a day.
The best series of 2023 – 2nd place: The Last of Us
HBO
The Last of Us
With The Last of Us HBO and series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have finally created a video game adaptation more than worthy of the original. Together with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) we roamed the post-apocalyptic USA, were afraid of dangerous cordyceps clickers and had our hearts broken several times. The Last of Us was a serial event that hardly anyone could resist. So far this year there has only been one series for us that could top that.
The best series of 2023 – 1st place: Succession Season 4
HBO
Succession
The HBO drama Succession made television history. After 4 seasons, the intrigues, hostilities and power struggles of the Roy media family ended with bittersweet cruelty and as the characters deserved. The finale delivered one perfect episode after another. And no other series has gotten us so carried away over the past few months as Succession.
Will another series manage to trump this masterful series experience in the coming months?
Podcast: The 20 Best Series Launches of July on Netflix, Amazon and More
Need more fresh streaming tips? You can find the most exciting July series that you can stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and more here in the monthly preview:
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We have checked the long starting lists of the streaming services and present you the 20 big highlights of the month in the Moviepilot podcast stream trawl. There are three big fantasy returnees on Netflix and Amazon as well as a sci-fi epic that hardly anyone knows. In addition to insider tips, there is also a reunion with Futurama and Sylvester Stallone’s own reality show.
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