Anyone who is a fan of George R. R. Martin and his novels should tune in to his blog posts on a regular basis. Through his Not A Blog page, the esteemed author posts everything from updates on developing Game of Thrones spin-off projects to charming insights into his personal and professional lives, criticism of other films, books, games, and series that pique his interest, and even introspective analysis of how he wrote some of his best novels. An interesting treat arose in August 2023, when Martin took the time to comment on some TV show episodes he deemed perfect.

Sparked by a Vanity Fair article exploring the best episodes of the past 25 years, in which Martin’s “Blackwater” was included, the novelist wrote to show his gratitude for his inclusion on the list and to highlight his own favorite episodes from other series. With everything from gripping crime thrillers to period piece dramas included, Martin’s selection of television perfection is as good a recommendation as one is ever likely to get.

6

“The Suitcase” (2010)

‘Mad Men’ – Season 4, Episode 7

Image via AMC

There have been few episodes in recent history as lauded for their individual brilliance as Mad Men’s now iconic Season 4 installment, “The Suitcase.” With the firm pressed by a looming deadline, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) insists on Peggy (Elizabeth Moss) staying late to complete work on the Samsonite ad, causing her to miss a birthday dinner with her boyfriend. The episode’s departure from covering a wide range of characters to instead focus intrinsically on Don and Peggy’s relationship proves to be an inspired choice.

As such, “The Suitcase” is widely regarded to be the single best episode of Mad Men and, in the eyes of some, the greatest episode of any series ever released. It does away with ensemble distractions in favor of a two-character emotional brawl, making it a truly creative episode. Vanity Fair may not have gone quite to that extent in their coverage of the episode, but their praise was emphatic. George R. R. Martin listed it first when discussing the episodes that resonated with him most from the article.

5

“Pine Barrens” (2001)

‘The Sopranos’ – Season 3, Episode 11

Image via HBO

Following New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) as he begins secretly seeing a psychiatrist after suffering panic attacks due to his complex work-life balance, The Sopranos is an enduring and medium-defining masterpiece of razor-sharp tension, explosive violence, engrossing drama, and even outbursts of comedy. Season 3’s “Pine Barrens” features all of these qualities in abundance as it focuses on Christopher (Michael Imperioli) and Paulie’s (Tony Sirico) efforts to kill a Russian gangster while romantic woes trouble Tony’s family.

There are certainly episodes of The Sopranos that are more viscerally dramatic, more thematically significant, and play a more substantial role in the overall story, but “Pine Barrens” has long been regarded among the series’ finest installments because it is so ridiculously fun. George R. R. Martin said as much in his blog, saying “The Sopranos had lots of great episodes, but “Pine Barrens” was special.”

4

“Ozymandias” (2013)

‘Breaking Bad’ – Season 5, Episode 14

Image via AMC

Famously standing as the highest-rated episode of any series ever made according to IMDb, and the only episode with more than 1000 votes to score a perfect 10, “Ozymandias” is a testament to the brilliance of Breaking Bad. The third-last episode of the entire series, it is effectively the point in the story where all of Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) grand schemes fall down around him. The fallout is a tapestry of chaos, death, and despair that leaves Walter alienated from his family and on the run from the police. Every action he’s taken finally converges in a spectacular collapse, turning the desert into a graveyard of consequences.

Directed by Rian Johnson and written by Moira Walley-Beckett, the episode is widely regarded to be Breaking Bad’s finest hour, a masterful medley of high drama and pulsating suspense that launches the series to its conclusion. George R. R. Martin seemed to be in complete agreement with Vanity Fair’s decision to include it on their prestigious list, describing “Ozymandias” as “heart-wrenching” in his blog post.

3

“Middle Ground” (2004)

‘The Wire’ – Season 3, Episode 11

Image via HBO

A sprawling crime epic that plunges into the intricacies of the Baltimore drug trade and the inner workings of the city’s police department, The Wire is heralded by many as being one of the greatest masterpieces in television history. As such, The Wire has multiple episodes that could easily be included among the best in recent decades, a point that Martin made in his blog as he advocated for the inclusion of “Middle Ground” while also highlighting how Season 5’s “Clarifications” had a powerful impact on him.

“Middle Ground,” the penultimate episode of Season 3, epitomizes so much of what is great about The Wire. It excels as a compelling and layered story that explores multiple arcs with both efficiency and depth, while multiple characters experience shattering resolutions to their operations. It is elegantly crafted, yet punishing and brutal. While Martin’s point that The Wire “came close to perfection pretty frequently” is a true reflection of its multitude of great episodes, “Middle Ground” still stands as a noteworthy highlight of the series.

2

“San Junipero” (2016)

‘Black Mirror’ – Season 3, Episode 4

Image via Netflix

A pointed marriage of social commentary, offbeat drama, and anxiety-inducing science fiction, Black Mirror has used its anthology approach to explore different visions of dystopian futures. This premise has led to many thought-provoking and faultless Black Mirror episodes that have become ingrained in mainstream pop culture. Season 3’s “San Junipero” has established itself as something of a defining triumph of the series, however, with its romantic heartbeat and tenderness a memorable change of pace for the typically cynical series.

The episode follows the budding romance between the shy and reserved Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) and the more extroverted Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), which transpires in the vice-laden virtual reality of San Junipero. Behind its neon glow and nostalgic soundtrack is a heart-wrenching story that unearths aching questions about consent, aging, and whether eternal life is a gift—or a trap. Such is the brilliance of “San Junipero,” it was selected in Vanity Fair’s article, and George R. R. Martin could hardly have been more emphatic in his agreement, declaring it as “the episode I love to watch over and over.”

1

“Everyone’s Waiting” (2005)

‘Six Feet Under’ (Season 5, Episode 12)

Image via HBO

The series finale to Six Feet Under is an outlier in the context of this list, as it is the one episode George R. R. Martin picked out as being the absolute best of Vanity Fair’s selections. In fact, the writer even went on to state that the episode is “even more perfect than all the others on the list.” A black comedy drama series that ran through the early 2000s, Six Feet Under follows the interpersonal dynamics and in-fighting of a family operating a funeral home business. Each episode begins with a death, framing the show’s premise as a meditation on how the living grapple with loss while professionally catering to it.

“Everyone’s Waiting” is truly a masterpiece as far as television series finales go, given how it plays with the form and style of the series while still offering sharp and conclusive closure concerning every major character. The series at large is something of a hidden gem nowadays, but its sensational five-season arc is well worth seeking out given its brilliant balance of insightful, thought-provoking drama, exploration of mortality, and, of course, the fact that it comes to such a rewarding climax.

There’s something so absolutely blessedly mind-numbing about going all-in on a (usually mediocre and brief) televised psychological thriller. Wealthy women who live on the seashore with dark secrets! The family matriarch and/or patriarch suddenly vanishes without a trace! Pretty young people with their whole bright futures ahead of them find themselves implicated in a vicious murder plot! Whether these stories begin as YA novels or beach reads, they eventually land on a streaming network for us to enjoy. Most recently, Netflix’s Perfect Couple has managed to strike a chord with people looking for something to half-watch on a screen. Unfortunately, as is the case with most of the forgettable thrillers I watch on Netflix (e.g., Behind Her Eyes, Fair Play, The Watcher, Anatomy of a Scandal, Safe), there were no lesbians in it!

So let’s get into some thrillers that do have queer characters. For this list I focused on thrillers that are centered on the relationships between humans impacted by whatever mystery or thrilling situation lies at the heart of the show, rather than thrillers that are centered on law enforcement, government officials, journalists or podcasters investigating a crime that they’d have no relationship to were it not for their vocation, which I think would be a different list. 

Psychological Thrillers About Toxic Romantic Relationships

Tell Me Lies

Hulu // Two seasons // Based on Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering

(Disney/Josh Stringer)

The centerpiece of this soapy thriller set in 2007 at a fictional upstate New York college is the relationship between Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and her absolutely insufferable and transparently toxic on-again-off-again boyfriend Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White). Lucy’s roommate, Macy, is killed in a car accident her first week of school, setting off a twisty little spiral of events that ensnare their whole social group. We’re also transported back and forth in time to a 2015 wedding between two of Lucy’s college buddies. In Season One, Lucy gets a new roommate, Charlie, who’s a lesbian, and although her stay on the series is brief, (spoiler alert) Lucy’s best friend Pippa also turns out to be queer.

Wilderness

Prime Video // Limited Series // Based on Wilderness by B.E. Jones

©Prime UK/David Giesbrecht

British couple Liv (Coleman) and Will (Jackson-Cohen) appear to have it all — a glamorous life in New York far away from their provincial home town, a widely envied marriage — but it all comes crashing down when Liv learns of Will’s affair with Cara (queer actor Ashley Benson). After coping with heartbreak, Liv moves on to revenge, and plans to execute it on a couples road trip to all the National Parks, only to arrive at Yellowstone and find Cara’s already there. Liv is sexually fluid and her best friend, Ash, is a lesbian with a very obvious crush on Liv.

Gypsy

Netflix // One Season

Gypsy Season 1

Still the only television program I’ve found so riveting that I hooked up my phone to my car (not a routine behavior for me in 2017, bear with me here) so I could continue listening to it on my way home from the gym, this objectively bad one-season Netflix show stars Naomi Watts as a psychologist who infiltrates the private lives of her patients. She becomes… entangled with Sidney Pierce (Sophie Cookson), a barista who falls in love with Jean and whose ex-boyfriend is a client of Jean? Also Naomi Watts is married and her husband is Billy Crudup. IDK you’ll have to see for yourself.

Leopard Skin

Peacock // One Season

Describing the plot of Leopard Skin is both challenging and largely irrelevant, as it is entirely its own beast, a very weird and compelling and erotic mystery about Alba (Carla Gugino), a documentarian whose husband let her for a cocktail waitress named Batty (Gaite Jansen), who Alba now lives with for murder-related reasons, and both of them and their housekeeper are held hostage in their mansion by some diamond thieves. “The show feels a bit as if David Lynch were to try his hand at a softcore Cinemax production,” Kayla wrote.

You

Netflix // 4+ Seasons // Based on the You series by Caroline Kepnes

The queer content in You is … meager, to say the least. Shay Mitchell plays Peach Salinger in Season One, a rare character who was queerer in the book than the show. Later seasons see our protagonist falling for a woman who has some lesbian besties. There are also some gay male characters. But this has become, for better or for worse, one of the best-known series in the genre, following Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager who becomes obsessed with the women he loves, manipulating and stalking them into submission — and worse. The fifth and final season is currently in production.

‘Secrets Lurking Beneath Seemingly Idyllic Lives’ Thrillers

The Hunting Wives

Netflix // One Season (so far) // Based on The Hunting Wives by May Cobb

Sophie O’Neill’s husband gets a job in East Texas and thus moves his wife and son there from Cambridge. Sophie quickly finds herself pulled deeply into the world of Margo Banks, the queen bee of a tight clique of gun-toting fancy Southern gals who are sugar and spice on the outside but often a little sexually deviant on the inside. Sophie and Margo’s relationship turns sexual pretty quickly, and then there is MURDER

Harlan Coben’s Shelter

Prime Video // One Season // Based on Shelter by Harlan Coben

I think I’ve watched every televised adaptation of this man’s work (The Stranger, Safe, Fool Me Once, Stay Close, etc), but can’t really remember a single minute of any of them — except this one because it was gay!

Mickey Bolter (Jaden Michael), a teen still recovering from his father’s sudden death, moves in with his aunt in his father’s hometown, and meets a mysterious old woman in a mysterious old house who said his dad isn’t dead. Then he gets a crush on a girl who disappears immediately. These confusing situations and many others in this seemingly picture-perfect town are ripe to be tackled by Mickey and his brand new friends, Spoon (Adrian Greensmith) and queer goth art girl Ema (Abby Corrigan). Honestly what made this series work for me is 90% that it’s really surprisingly gay (keep your eye on Constance Zimmer as Mickey’s aunt!!) and 10% the plot, which has its moments and also has its eye-rolls. Sadly it was cancelled after one season, as so many gay things are.

Apples Never Fall

Peacock // Limited Series // based on Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Based on the book by Liane Moriarty (of Big Little Lies fame), Stan (Sam Neill) and Joy (Annette Benning) are tennis coaches who’ve sold their school and are prepping for a lovely retirement when Joy disappears, sending her family into TUMULT. All eyes are on Savannah (Georgia Flood), a domestic violence survivor who Joy and Stan had invited to live with them some months earlier who turned out to be full of secrets and lies. Savannah is queer, as is Joy’s youngest daughter, Brooke (Essie Randles), a physical therapist engaged to Gina Solis (Paula Andrea Placido). This show is by all accounts not great, but if you can move past that, it’ll eventually hook you!

The Last Thing He Told Me

Apple TV+ // Limited Series // based on The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Hannah’s (Jennifer Garner) husband disappears — right after his tech company falls under investigation for fraud — thus forcing Hannah to have to find a way to connect with her 16-year-old stepdaughter, Bailey, to figure out the truth about who he really was and where the hell he went. Aisha Tyler plays Hannah’s (lesbian) best friend, a San Francisco Chronicle sports journalist who wants to help her friend — she just has to figure out how to do that and her job.

Murder Mystery Psychological Thrillers

Past Lies

Hulu // One Season

Rita (Elena Anaya from Room in Rome) is a successful lesbian film director who returns to her hometown with her girlfriend to settle her mother’s estate, only to find herself there for an unexpected event: the remains of a high school classmate, who disappeared on their senior trip 25 years ago, turns up. Her high school friend group, still intact and in her hometown, are shaken, and old ghosts come rattling to the surface in more ways than one.

A Murder at the End of the World

Hulu // Limited Series

Darby (non-binary actor Emma Corin) is a hacker, author and amateur detective invited to a mysterious and exclusive retreat hosted by a billionaire at an isolated Arctic compound in Iceland in this miniseries from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij. She’s surprised to see a very close estranged friend at dinner on the first night, and even more surprised to when she finds him killed on their first night at the resort.

Teen Drama Psychological Thrillers

Dare Me

USA // One Season // Based on Dare Me by Megan Abbott

This atmospheric mystery thriller based on the Megan Abbott novel finds a group of cheerleaders entangled in a dark web of lies and mysteries when new coach Colette French (Willa Fitzgerald) takes over the squad, coming between best friends Addy (Herizen F. Guardiola) and Beth (Marlo Kelly). After Addy and Beth catching Colette cheating on her husband with her ex, the dominoes begin to fall. Eventually there is in fact a murder! Kayla writes that Dare Me “dresses up its darkness with glitter, but that mask is very intentional, a piercing juxtaposition of the thrills and terror of high school sports.”

Cruel Summer Season One

Freeform // Anthology Series

You have to wait until the literal last episode of Season One to really get your gay payoff (and the link above has a gay spoiler in it so be careful!), but this teen thriller is pretty compelling without it. In 1993 in Skylin, Texas, the beautiful, popular Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt) disappears, and socially awkward Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia) manages to take her place, even getting her boyfriend. In 1995, Jeanette is loathed nationwide after Kate is rescued and Jeanette accuses her of witnessing her abduction and failing to report it. A legal battle ensues but the spiral of secrets has only begun to unravel. Harley Quinn Smith plays queer character Mallory, one of Jeanette’s best friends who then becomes Kate’s best friend.

One of Us Is Lying

Peacock // Two Seasons // Based on the One of Us Is Lying series by Karen M. McManus

Based on a buzzy YA thriller, a disparate group of students find themselves under suspicion after online gossip scourge Simon suddenly dies while they’re all in detention. Simon’s best friend, Janae Matthews, is the unlikely outsider who finds her way into this clique, and who comes into her own as queer and non-binary.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Prime Video // One Season // Inspired by I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan-Arquette

This adaptation of the teen horror movie that was an adaptation of a novel rockets the story into present day Hawaii with the same basic conceit but an otherwise very different story. It’s difficult to describe what happens without giving you spoilers, but for our purposes here: there is a bisexual main character played by Brianne Tju and the lead has some …. bisexual qualities.

Comedy-Mystery-Thrillers

Bad Sisters

Apple TV+ // Two seasons

Wry and warm and funny; this Irish series co-starring and co-created by Sharon Hogan finds four sisters trying desperately to kill John Paul, the insufferable, abusive husband of the fifth sister. Sarah Greene plays second-youngest sister Bibi Garvey, a married lesbian who lost her right eye in a car crash. Although we sadly didn’t write a standalone review of its first season, that was not for a lack of love: Bad Sisters easily made our list of the Best TV Shows of 2022, where it was described as a “MASTERPIECE in television.”

Imposters

Bravo // Two Seasons

Maddie (Inbar Lavi) is a con artist, part of a larger web of similar scammers, who works her way into the romantic lives of men and women before breaking their hearts and stealing all their valuables and money. Then three of her jilted paramours  — Ezra, Richie and Jules — find each other and want revenge. “Imposters is a show about love, sort of,” writes Natalie. “It’s about the different ways in which we fall in love and what that love says about us as individuals.”

The Other Black Girl

Hulu // One Season // Based on The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

With the exception of the horror shows listed below, I mostly avoided shows with any supernatural elements for this list because that would be a whole entire other sort of list! But I made an exception for genre-blending satire / thriller / comedy The Other Black Girl. Nella, a young publishing assistant, is the only Black girl at her publishing office and is stoked when a second Black girl is hired. But her relationship with the new girl, while promising at first, eventually turns suspicious. As Nella digs deeper into her employer’s history with Black writers and employees, she discovers a web of sinister secrets. Nella’s queer best friend, Malaika, is the show’s unsung hero.

Baby Reindeer

Netflix // Limited Series

It’s hard to put this show into any category, and psychological thriller is really only half the story, as is calling it a “comedy.”  Aspiring comic Donny Dunn works as a bartender at a pub where he meets Martha, a woman who immediately becomes obsessed with Donny and begins stalking and harassing him. Donny tells us his own story at his own pace, about the sexual abuse and shame around his bisexuality that drives his present despair and anguish. He also dates Teri, a trans woman played by trans actress Nava Mau. “We need more shows like Baby Reindeer,” wrote Drew. “Challenging work that leads with empathy and a commitment to the many contradictions of our world.

Psychological Horror-Thrillers

Dead Ringers

Prime Video // One Season

Rachel Weisz plays twin gynecologists seeking to revolutionize the way pregnancy and birth are handled in the medical world in “this bloody and horny psychosexual thriller full of body horror, mind games, and sci-fi-ish strangeness.” An adaptation of the 1988 David Cronenberg film, one of the twins is a lesbian, but the other has been known to seduce on her behalf.

Swarm

Prime Video // Limited Series

Donald Glover’s horror series takes a stab at stan culture through unhinged protagonist Dre (Dominique Fishback) whose passion for Ni’Jah, a pop star with a fan club called “the swarm” drives her into making a series of bananas decisions such as “homicide.” Around mid-season she spends some time with a queer cult led by Billie Eilish.While her queerness is a bit apparent in the start, it’s not fully at the surface until the last episode, which also features a queer graduate student named Rashida (Kiersey Clemons).

Ratched

Netflix // One Season //

Sarah Paulson stars as the titular Nurse Ratched, the antagonist from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, in this thoroughly gay series that “takes the original film’s backdrop of queerness and splatters it on the screen in blood.” As Drew writes: “There is so much to chew on, so much to celebrate, so much to critique, and yet the whole thing feels so completely Ryan Murphy it’s hard not to just delight in its very existence.”

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It stands to reason that when one sibling gets the acting bug, another might discover they have a talent for it, too. For this reason, there are many famous acting siblings in Hollywood, like Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Luke and Owen Wilson, Elle and Dakota Fanning, and the three Hemsworth brothers, Chris, Luke, and Liam. Many of these actor siblings have appeared in movies together. But there have been some real-life siblings who appeared on the same TV shows together, too.

In some cases, an actor’s sibling only had a brief guest spot on their brother or sister’s show, like when Zooey Deschanel had a cameo on her sister Emily’s series Bones. But some siblings have starred together in shows in bigger ways, playing off the chemistry they already have for their roles.

10

‘The Suite Life of Zack & Cody’ (2005–2008)

Zack Martin and Cody Martin (Dylan and Cole Sprouse)

Cole and Dylan Sprouse both started as child actors in shows like Friends and movies like Big Daddy. As they grew, the pair finally appeared on screen together, at the same time in different roles, in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. The teen sitcom centers around the twins, playing, of course, twin brothers who live in the suite of a hotel with their lounge singer mother Carey (Kim Rhodes).

The Disney Channel TV show was a massive success, largely thanks to the chemistry of the two boys. It comes as no surprise that the fact that they’re real-life brothers helped ensure the pair were perfectly in sync on camera, too.

9

‘Moesha’ (1996–2001)

Moesha Mitchell and Dorian Long (Brandy and Ray J Norwood)

Moesha centers around the title character, played by R&B singer Brandy, and her life as part of an upper-middle-class Black family. This includes her widowed father and his new wife, who also happens to be the vice principal at Moesha’s school.

Brandy’s real-life brother Ray J didn’t initially star in Moesha, but he joined the cast in its fifth and sixth seasons as Dorian Long, who, fittingly, was Moesha’s long-lost half-brother. The pair got to share on-screen time playing siblings, likely drawing from their real lives for some of the rivalry-type storylines.

Moesha

Release Date

1996 – 2000

Network

UPN

Directors

Henry Chan, Erma Elzy-Jones, Stan Lathan, Terri McCoy, Ken Whittingham, Ted Lange, Shirley Jo Finney

Writers

Mara Brock Akil, Felicia D. Henderson

• 

• 

8

‘Brotherly Love’ (1995–1997)

Joe Roman, Matt Roman, and Andy Roman (Joey, Matthew, and Andrew Lawrence)

Joey Lawrence rose to fame playing Mayim Bialik’s goofy yet handsome older brother in Blossom. After that show ended, he went on to star in Brotherly Love alongside his real-life brothers Matthew and Andrew Lawrence. The story begins when Joe Roman (Joey Lawrence) moves away with his mother following his parents’ divorce. Years later, his dad passes away, and Joe finds himself connecting with his two paternal half-brothers, Matt (Matthew Lawrence) and Andy (Andrew Lawrence).

The sitcom follows the hijinks of the three boys, potentially mirroring their real lives growing up. It aired for two seasons of 40 episodes and reinforced the talents of Lawrence’s younger brothers as well, both of whom continued to act.

Brotherly Love

Release Date

1995 – 1996

Network

NBC, The WB

• 

• 

• 

  Matthew Lawrence

  Matt Roman

• 

  Andrew Lawrence

  Andy Roman

7

‘Sister, Sister’ (1994–1999)

Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell (Tia and Tamera Mowry)

Tia and Tamera Mowry rose to fame on the sitcom Sister, Sister, where they star as identical twins separated at birth and both put up for adoption. Now older, they discover one another while shopping at the mall, and their lives are forever changed. With each now aware that the other exists, Tamera’s father, Ray (Tim Reid), invites Tia and her mother, Lisa (Jackée Harry), to move in with them. He’s a wealthy businessman in the suburbs while Lisa is a struggling single mom in the inner city, so they happily oblige.

Sister, Sister might have an unbelievable premise, but it’s a fun story that brings together these two real-life twin sisters to share the fun on screen. As with real sisters, the characters are at first eager to do everything together, even share a bedroom, until they slowly but surely realize that they have very different personalities. But through the seasons, they learn a lot from one another.

6

‘The King of Queens’ (1998–2007)

Doug Heffernan and Danny Heffernan (Kevin James and Gary Valentine)

The King of Queens stars Kevin James and Leah Remini as married couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan, going through the daily challenges of life together in Queens. Along with their own hijinks, Carrie’s elderly father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller), who lives with them, is often the cause of problems as he gets involved in one scheme after another.

One of the recurring and later main characters on the show is Daniel “Danny” Heffernan, Doug’s cousin, who is played by James’ real-life brother Gary Valentine. Appearing as a recurring character in the first three seasons, then part of the main cast from seasons four through nine, Danny’s funniest storyline involves living with Spence (Patton Oswalt) as a roommate while the two argue like a married couple.

5

‘Arrested Development’ (2003–2019)

Michael Bluth and Nelly (Jason and Justine Bateman)

Originally airing from 2003 through 2006, then returning on Netflix with new episodes in 2013, followed by a new season in 2018 and 2019, fans loved Arrested Development so much that its cult following inspired Netflix to continue the series long after it was canceled, bringing it up to a total of five seasons. Jason Bateman is at the center of the story as the straight man to his quirky family of wealthy yet dysfunctional personalities.

Bateman’s sister, Justine Bateman, guest-starred in one episode as Nelly, a woman Michael (Bateman) thinks could potentially be his mysterious estranged sister. But as it turns out, she’s actually a sex worker. It’s a hilarious, albeit also uncomfortable, angle considering that the pair do share a striking resemblance.

4

‘In Living Color’ (1990–1994)

Various Characters (Damon, Kim, Shawn, Marlon, and Dwayne Wayans)

This hilarious sketch comedy show wasn’t just created by Keenan Ivory Wayans; the whole project was a family affair. Counted among the cast of talented comedic actors on In Living Color are several Wayans siblings, including Damon, Kim, Shawn, and Marlon, with brother Dwayne often appearing as an extra in sketches as well.

The series, arguably one of the best sketch comedy series ever on television, introduced fans to talents like Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, and David Alan Grier as well. Several of the Wayans brothers, meanwhile, went on to achieve success both on their own and working together in various movie and TV projects.

3

‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ (1996–2005)

Ally, Geoffrey, and Michael Barone (Madylin, Sawyer, and Sullivan Sweeten)

While the kids on Everybody Loves Raymond were secondary to the adult characters, mostly seen in the background, fans might not realize that daughter Ally and twin sons Geoffrey and Michael were played by siblings. Of course, actors Sawyer Sweeten and Sullivan Sweeten are twins in real life, but Madylin Sweeten, who plays Ally, is their real-life older sister.

The focus of Everybody Loves Raymond, one of the best ‘90s sitcoms, was mostly on Raymond (Ray Romano) and his interactions with his wife Debra (Patricia Heaton), older brother Robert (Brad Garrett), mother Marie (Doris Roberts), and father Frank (Peter Boyle). The kids were nothing more than plot devices, but playing siblings was presumably easier since they really are related.

2

‘The Walking Dead’ (2010–2022)

Sophia Peletier, Henry (young and older) (Madison, Macsen, and Matt Lintz)

Interestingly, while three siblings all appeared in main roles in The Walking Dead, they didn’t do so at the same time. Madison Lintz was the first, playing Carol’s (Melissa McBride) daughter Sophia, who goes missing while the group is trying to hide from a horde of walkers. The search for her fuels much of Season 2, culminating in the most devastating and heartbreaking death on the show.

Years later, Madison’s younger brother Macsen was hired to play Henry, the young boy that Ezekiel (Khary Payton) takes in as his own and trains to fight, helping turn him into one of the most badass kids on The Walking Dead. For Seasons 9 and 10 of the series, the character is played by the eldest Lintz sibling, Matthew. He’s the actor who is part of the devastating scene when Henry meets his brutal end.

1

‘Schitt’s Creek’ (2015–2020)

David Rose and Twyla Sands (Daniel and Sarah Levy)

They didn’t play siblings in the series, but Daniel Levy and Sarah Levy both starred in Schitt’s Creek. Daniel plays David Rose, the entitled son of Johnny (Eugene Levy) and Moira (Catherine O’Hara), while his real-life sister Sarah plays Twyla Sands, a cheerful waitress at the local diner.

Schitt’s Creek is a Canadian series about a family that loses everything and is forced to live in a motel in a small town that remains the only thing they own. After streaming on Netflix, it earned massive viewership numbers. The show dominated the Emmys, breaking the record for the most Emmy nominations for the final season of a comedy series and sweeping all seven major comedy award categories in the year it ended.

NEXT: Stupid Comedy Shows That Are Actually Ingenious

A defining bastion of modern television and perhaps the single most pivotal brand in the medium’s rise to become a prestige form of dramatic entertainment in recent decades, HBO is a network and production house that has become synonymous with searing quality and creative dare. It is perhaps no great surprise in that case that the pay television service is home to so many of the greatest TV shows of all time.

While HBO has famously presented some of the greatest miniseries of all time and even five-season sensations like The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, this list will focus solely on the network’s catalogue of shows to have gone beyond Season 5. Ranging from crime dramas to satirical comedies, and even to fantasy phenomena, these 10 titles are a testament to HBO’s insatiable appetite for greatness and grandiosity.

10

‘Sex in the City’ (1998–2004)

Created by Darren Star

An icon of its time, Sex and the City has become as famous for the dialogue surrounding it and its central messaging as it has for its acidic wit, its flawed yet resonant characters, and its ability to mix social milieu with satirical mania. It follows the friendship between four driven and intelligent women living in New York City as they combat everything from strange sexual encounters to modern-day feminism, relationship woes, and the trials and triumphs of their respective career trajectories.

While Sex and the City is easy to criticize retrospectively, it remains a groundbreaking triumph of television that normalized conversations surrounding sexuality from a feminine perspective, depicted the complexity of women’s friendships, and de-stigmatized the notion of subverting gender roles in modern society. With its candid and crass style, which can sometimes be more mocking than observational, the series hasn’t aged as elegantly as other titles from its era, but Sex and the City does still stand as a defining icon of ‘90s/early-2000s television.

9

‘True Blood’ (2008–2014)

Created by Alan Ball

The romanticization and even the eroticism of all manner of things that go bump in the night was a piercing trend of the late 2000s-early 2010s era. While titles like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries leaned into this taboo terror with varying degrees of dare, HBO went all out with True Blood. Adapted from Charlaine Harris’ hit novel series, the show transpires in an alternate world where mythical beasts like vampires, shifters, and witches don’t just exist, but live openly alongside humanity, albeit in a strained interspecies harmony. Louisiana bartender Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) finds her life changing when she meets the vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).

While the series does dip in quality in its later seasons, True Blood delivers thrills and spills aplenty with its bloodthirsty and lustful story of civil rights, faith, and the marriage of monsters and humanity. At its best, True Blood is nothing short of addictive, a captivating amalgamation of Southern Gothic allure, blood-drenched horror mania, and socially loaded themes that is as heart-racing as it is hilarious.

true blood

Release Date

2008 – 2014-00-00

Network

HBO Max

8

‘Girls’ (2012–2017)

Created by Lena Dunham

It’s not another Sex and the City, but it does follow a group of four women in New York who rely on their friendship as they navigate career obstacles, romantic angst, and personal discoveries, all while struggling to get by in the rigmarole that is early adulthood. To put it simply, the premise of Girls doesn’t exactly deliver anything new, but its genius resides in how it is able to use this familiar framework to bring fresh insights and a cutting commentary on modern society.

Described by some critics as being an exploration of a post-feminist society, the series isn’t afraid to shirk notions of happiness and fulfilling relationships in its endeavor to showcase a more authentic, grounded, and, at times, unflattering illustration of modern life. Mixing this sense of millennial angst and melancholy with unflinching and explicit observations on sex, Girls makes up for its occasional lack of polish with sheer might. Granted, it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but Girls’ six seasons never waver in quality or dare, making for a series that grasps HBO’s famed appetite for boundary-pushing extravagance with absolute conviction.

Girls

Release Date

2012 – 2016

Network

HBO Max

7

‘Entourage’ (2004–2011)

Created by Doug Ellin

There’s a certain juvenile boyishness to Entourage that makes it somewhat polarizing. To some viewers, it’s a hysterical fantasy of wealth, fame, and friendship that never fails to deliver, while others may regard it as a repetitive and immature whirlwind of shallow comedy. Regardless of where one sits on their evaluation of the series, it rockets along its eight-season stretch following young Hollywood star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his cohort of friends that he has kept with him since his childhood.

Supposedly based on elements of executive producer Mark Wahlberg’s own friends and their misadventures in the City of Angels, Entourage ultimately thrives due to the authentic appeal of its characters and the innate sense of intrigue of the movie star lifestyle. While it did grow oppressively cyclical by its eighth and final season, the series still delivers to be a memorable comedy delight from HBO.

6

‘Oz’ (1997–2003)

Created by Tom Fontana

Premiering in 1997—and thus predating many of HBO’s most pioneering titles of the very late ‘90s and early 2000s—Oz is arguably the true origin point of the golden age of television drama. The grueling prison series follows inmates of an experimental new ward in Oswald Maximum Security Correctional Facility, with hardened criminals from rival gangs being thrust together, the meek getting caught in the crossfire, and the ward manager’s efforts to emphasize rehabilitation over punishment garnering mixed results.

A graphic nightmare of life behind bars, Oz may exaggerate certain aspects of prison life for dramatic effect, but it makes its point with scorching clarity and impact. Disturbing, bleak, confronting, and often deeply upsetting, it is an ultra-violent and unforgiving cautionary tale. And yet, there is plenty of stylistic might and even a few shreds of profound humanity within it. The end result is a compelling and commanding viewing experience that, beyond the bizarre aging pills subplot in Season 4, largely strikes viewers as one of the most sickeningly intense and brutal television series HBO has ever aired.

Oz

Release Date

1997 – 2003-00-00

Network

HBO Max

5

‘Silicon Valley’ (2014–2019)

Created by Mike Judge, John Altschuler, and Dave Krinsky

Co-created by the ever-magnificent and often prescient Mike Judge, Silicon Valley thrives as a piercing and profound parody of the technology industry and fierce entrepreneurial culture of the titular Silicon Valley. It focuses on the career aspirations of Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) and his friends and colleagues, with Richard trying to secure investors for his groundbreaking app while the other programmers navigate the networking minefield of Silicon Valley with little help from their antisocial predispositions.

Armed with Judge’s real-life experience in the industry, Silicon Valley excels as a perfect marriage of relatable characters, succinct, skewering comedy, and deftly explored, high-concept ideas that are presented in a manner that is digestible to all audiences. Each of Silicon Valley‘s six seasons was met with critical acclaim, making the series one of HBO’s most successful and timely forays into comedy.

4

‘Veep’ (2012–2019)

Created by Armando Iannucci

While it did have to overcome a bit of an uncertain start that was restricted to coasting by on Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ brilliance—which, in itself, is a treat to watch—Veep soon finds its feet as a shocking satire of political callousness and conniving. Louis-Dreyfus stars as Selina Meyer, a former U.S. Senator representing the office of Vice President of the United States where she tries to juggle elements from her professional and personal lives all while quelling political catastrophes before they can ruin her current position, and her grander aspirations.

The series’ wit isn’t just acidic, it’s venomous, a vile and toxic tirade of barbed insults and unadulterated ambitions that, combined with the outstanding, award-winning work of the ensemble cast, makes for a viewing experience that is as vicious as it is addictive. Coming to a note-perfect conclusion with its appropriately absurd and brash seventh and final season, Veep is another of HBO’s most defining and divine comedies in recent years.

Veep

Release Date

2012 – 2018

Network

HBO Max

3

‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ (2000–2024)

Created by Larry David

It is curious that so many of HBO’s longest-running series have been comedies. Perhaps the network’s greatest foray into the genre is the instant classic series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. Starring Larry David as an exaggerated and fictionalized version of himself, a successful and semi-retired television producer and writer famous for his work on Seinfeld. Cantankerous and tired of social conventions, Larry often finds himself being swept away on outrageous misadventures with his friends and celebrity figures around Hollywood.

While the series isn’t immune to the occasional lull in quality, it is defined by its greatest moments, its uproarious sequences of unrestrained comic genius that often stem from the actors’ improvisational talents. Following an initial run of eight seasons from 2000 to 2011, Curb Your Enthusiasm returned in 2017 for a one-off ninth season before Seasons 10-12 premiered from 2020 to 2024.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Release Date

2000 – 2024-00-00

Network

HBO Max

Showrunner

Jeff Schaffer

Directors

Robert B. Weide, Larry Charles, David Steinberg, Bryan Gordon, Alec Berg, Andy Ackerman, David Mandel, Barry Gordon, Cheryl Hines, Dean Parisot

2

‘Game of Thrones’ (2011–2019)

Created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss

While many would be quick to dismiss Game of Thrones on account of its calamitous final season, such haste would only serve to overlook the seven seasons of not only exceptional but groundbreaking television that came before it. A fantasy epic based on George R. R. Martin’s novel series, Game of Thrones unfolds as the ruling families of Westeros engage in a ferocious power struggle for the Iron Throne, with the political conniving and cold-blooded ruthlessness imbuing the series with many unbearably intense twists along the way.

Transcending television entertainment, Game of Thrones at its peak was a cultural phenomenon. A mixture of outstanding writing, perfect performances, unrivaled production value and narrative scope, and faultless grasp of fantasy storytelling, the series didn’t just enthrall viewers, it absorbed them completely, with each episode’s first airing being an unmissable spectacle that was often rewatched to be digested anew. The fact that the eight-season show came to such a limp conclusion is unfortunate, but it doesn’t change the fact that Game of Thrones saw HBO ascend to a new height of television popularity and prestige, and did so for an extended period.

1

‘The Sopranos’ (1999–2007)

Created by David Chase

The flagship of HBO’s catalogue, The Sopranos isn’t just in the conversation of being the greatest crime series of all time, it is firmly entrenched among the most brilliant and pioneering shows the medium has ever seen. Following New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) as ongoing stress problems due to his complicated work-life balance lead him to begin seeing a psychiatrist, the series excels as the first true great examination of an antihero in television, one that balances dramatic intrigue and visceral violence with a flair for high-end entertainment and even glimpses of comedy.

The series never wavers throughout its acclaimed six-season run, with the exploration of Tony’s complex psyche always supported by a litany of exceptional side characters who propel the story with their own ambitions. The series’ famous final moments are still a hot topic of conversation almost 20 years on since the episode aired, illustrating not only the unrivaled excellence of The Sopranos, but its enduring presence in pop culture as well.

NEXT: The Best HBO Max Shows That Are Less Than 5 Seasons Long

July is going to be a very good for Netflix subscribers, thanks to some powerhouse TV shows that are on the way.

Although Netflix has perhaps the most impressive lineup of original series on any streamer, all of the really intriguing shows coming in July are from either rival streamers or a premium cable network.

To help you get your binge-watching plans together, the Watch With Us team has selected the three must-watch TV shows coming to Netflix in July.

Our picks include a crime series that used to be a Prime Video original, USA Network’s darkest show, and the second season of a Showtime hit.

Related: 20 Must-See Shows on Netflix Right Now (June 2025)

Netflix‘s dominance often comes down to its steady stream of shows that arrive ready-made for binge-watching. Almost all of the major streamers have deep libraries of TV series to choose from, but Netflix takes it to another level by dropping something new on a nearly weekly basis. Sometimes, that means a network series like Blindspot […]

‘Sneaky Pete’ (2015 – 2019)

We live in strange times when an Amazon Prime Video original series is coming to Netflix. But Sneaky Pete may find an even larger audience on its new home than it ever had on Prime Video. Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston co-created this series and co-stars as Vince Lonigan, a dangerous gangster who wants revenge on the recently incarcerated Marius Josipović (Giovanni Ribisi).

To hide from Vince, Marius steals the identity of his cellmate, Pete Murphy (Ethan Embry), and passes himself off as the real deal to Pete’s family. Pete’s family has their own issues to deal with, but Marius can’t fully disappear into his new life while Vince is holding his brother, Eddie (Michael Drayer), hostage. Somehow, Marius has to come up with a ridiculous amount of money to save Eddie without tipping off Pete’s family about his true identity.

Sneaky Pete will stream on Netflix on July 10.

‘Mr. Robot’ (2015 – 2019)

Just in time for its tenth anniversary, Mr. Robot is making its Netflix debut this summer. Oscar and Emmy-winner Rami Malek does not play the title character, but he is portraying the main character, Elliot Alderson. Elliot is a gifted cybersecurity engineer by day and vigilante hacker by night who has some serious mental health issues.

Related: 16 Must-Watch Drama Shows on Netflix Right Now (June 2025)

It’s too soon to say which shows are going to define Netflix this summer, but we can tell you that mystery and drama are playing really well in June. The returning family drama Ginny & Georgia has stormed to No. 1 on Netflix’s most popular shows list, and it’s found an audience devoted to every […]

Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) sees something special in Elliot and recruits him for fsociety, a group of underground hackers who have big plans to reshape to their liking. Elliot’s decision to join fsociety sends him down a deep rabbit hole that may lead him to questions about himself that he didn’t know he had. This is a mind-bending cyberpunk thriller, and all four seasons will be at your fingertips in early July.

Mr. Robot will stream on Netflix on July 3.

‘Yellowjackets’ (2021 – Present)

Yellowjackets season 1 is already on Netflix, but season 2 is just around the corner. This unexpectedly brilliant series takes place in two time periods. In 1996, an all-girls soccer team survives a plane crash in the wilderness with little hope of immediate rescue. And without meaningful adult supervision, some of these young women are going a bit wild.

In the present, a handful of the crash survivors are eager to keep the secrets about what they did to stay alive three decades earlier. They may even turn on each other if that’s what it takes to maintain their collective silence. Paramount+ with Showtime has all three seasons, if you don’t want to wait. But Netflix subscribers should probably just wait for that season to arrive as well.

Yellowjackets season 2 will stream on Netflix on July 1.

Stargate is one of my all-time favorite movies, but somehow I missed the bus on Stargate SG-1 when it originally aired. Now that the show is easily accessible on streaming services, I’ve slowly worked my way through it—and I’ve been missing out!

While there’s a lot of 90s and early 2000s sci-fi TV cheese here (and I’m here for it) there are some truly standout episodes, and would you look at that I’ve put them in an easy-to-read list.

7

Window of Opportunity (Season 4, Episode 6)

To be blunt, this episode is essentially SG-1’s take on Groundhog Day, but that doesn’t do Window of Opportunity justice. The gist is that Teal’c and O’Neill are caught in a time loop after visiting planet P4X-639. They keep getting looped back to breakfast on the day of the mission, and have to figure out how to break the time loop.

Of course, it’s Jackson and Carter who are the brains of the operation, but they aren’t in the time loop so they can’t retain any memories or information that would let them solve the puzzle. So O’Neill and Teal’c have to painstakingly learn an alien language over several months of their time so that Jackson can help them solve the puzzle of ending the time loop.

What makes this episode great is that the unlucky pair use the time for other things as well, such as learning pottery, and playing a few rounds of golf through the stargate. It’s a very funny episode, and it’s also notable for advancing the romance subplot between Carter and O’Neill with an on-screen smooch—which Sam obviously won’t remember.

I read up a little on the production of this episode, and it turns out that the episode was going to run short, so a lot of the wacky inserts that make it fun and memorable are only there because they needed to stuff the episode with random skits to make it long enough—legendary.

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10 Classic Time Travel Movies That Aren’t ‘Back to the Future’

There’s no time like the present to catch up on time travel films of the past.

6

The Fifth Race (Season 2, Episode 16)

This episode of SG-1 reminds me a lot of The Nth Degree, a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where Lt. Barkley gets his brain upgraded by an alien device that gives him all sorts of new knowledge and abilities, eventually making him construct a mysterious device that leads him to an ancient race. In The Fifth Race O’Neill has his brain upgraded by an alien device, which gives him all sorts of new abilities and makes him construct a mysterious device which leads him to a race of ancient aliens—see what I mean?

All jokes aside, this episode is pretty awesome, and it’s one of the most important ones when it comes to uncovering the deep lore of the show. By the way, the “Fifth Race” is us—human beings—who are apparently almost ready to join some sort of alien federation. Dammit, Trek again?

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I’ve Watched Every Star Trek TNG Episode—These Are the 10 Best

Now with 10% more Riker’s beard.

5

The Torment of Tantalus (Season 1, Episode 10)

This is one of the earliest episodes of SG-1 and really shows off the potential for horror and dread the stargates bring. Dr. Jackson uncovers the fact that the stargate was actually successfully activated once before the events of the original movie, but this leads to a tragic accident where Catherine Langford (the woman who recruits him in the film) loses her lover Ernest in an “accident”. What Catherine didn’t know is that Ernest stepped through the gate, and there was no effort made to retrieve him.

Jackson figures out the address Ernest was sent to by studying the file footage from that day, and they travel through the gate to find Ernest alive, but old and mentally unstable. He’s almost lost the ability to speak, and has been hallucinating that Catherine has been with him all this time. As luck would have it, the place he’s been living in contains important information Jackson wants, but the building is on the verge of falling into the ocean, and the team has to escape, leaving this treasure behind. Luckily Ernest took many notes.

What I like most about this episode are the implications that dawn on you as the story progresses, and how messing with the stargates can go very, very wrong indeed. It’s a good setup for the darker parts of the series down the line.

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5 Sci-Fi Gadgets That Would Be Horrifying in Real Life

These should stay on paper.

4

1969 (Season 2, Episode 21)

You know how in Star Trek there are a few episodes and movies where the crew of the ship go back in time to the 21st century? Yeah? No reason, just asking.

Anyway, in 1969 SG-1 gets sent back to Earth in 1969 due to a freak accident, and then get mistaken for Soviet spies as they try to find a way back to their present. Lots of 60s hijinks. Though weirdly, O’Neill gives his name as “Captain James T. Kirk” when questioned in 1969, which the soldier in question doesn’t seem to recognize. Weird considering TOS came out in 1966, but maybe the guy isn’t a Trekker.

The team hitchhike and catch a ride in a hippie bus with a couple on the way to Woodstock. Spock has to wear a silly bandana to hide the fact that he isn’t human. I mean Teal’c, Teal’c wears a silly bandana.

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The writers might as well have been on strike.

3

2010 (Season 4, Episode 16)

Episode 2010 is directly connected to 1969 except we are now in the future, the distant year 2010. About a decade ahead of the “present” timeline of SG-1. Here we see an Earth blessed with technology and peace, thanks to a race known as the “Aschen” who helped defeat the Goa’uld.

Everything seems to be going great, but (surprise) it turns out that the Aschen aren’t as altruistic as they seem, just very patient. So Sam Carter needs to use the exact same method of time travel we saw in the previous 60s episode to send a warning back to General Hammond, preventing Earth from making contact with the Aschen in the first place.

I like this episode simply because it has a cool alien invasion angle that’s quite smart for a TV series from the 90s, and it’s a great example of the writers just having fun with a “what if” style episode that doesn’t really impact anything. Well, except the meeting with the Aschen happens anyway in a later episode, (2001, Season 5, Episode 10) with a smart callback to the man who was Sam Carter’s husband in this episode. So either way, the dark Aschen future is avoided.

2

Fragile Balance (Season 7, Episode 3)

You know those anime storylines where an adult gets to go through high school again, but they have all the knowledge and skills of being an adult? Well, Fragile Balance ends where those plots begin, but with a lot of twists to get there.

The episode opens with a teenager claiming to be Colonel O’Neill showing up at the secret base, and after a lot of back-and-forth it turns out that he’s a clone, and that he’s dying. The plot thickens when it turns out that an Asgardian named Loki has been abducting people for years, swapping them out with a short-lived clone and then returning them later after doing his research. Except, in this case the clone didn’t age correctly, exposing his whole deal.

Thor, another Asgardian alien, manages to stop the degradation in the O’Neill clone, and that version of O’Neill decides to go back to high school, never to be heard from or mentioned again. Also, all the creepiness of a man in a child’s body ogling high school girls is on full display—hey 2003 was a different time, I guess.

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1

Pretense (Season 3, Episode 15)

What’s a 90s/2000s sci-fi show without a court case episode? While it doesn’t quite rise to the level of TNG’s The Measure of a Man, Pretense is a pretty good episode where we get to see a debate about free will, how humans treat livestock, and who has the right to the body of a boy named Skaara—the host or the parasite? It’s not the most fast-paced episode, but I really like it when a series intersperses all that sexy P90 action with something more cerebral.

There are over 200 SG-1 episodes, so I almost certainly didn’t get your favorite episode, and who knows if my opinion will change with repeated future viewings? One thing I can say is that SG-1 has aged pretty well, in the opinion of someone who didn’t watch it when it was airing. Catching up with this gap in my sci-fi history was daunting, but I’m glad I did it. Maybe I’ll even try to find a physical box set to go with my Star Trek collection.