There are a number of streaming services out there with a host of original and library content, but sometimes it can be hard to see what sets the streaming services apart. When it comes to Hulu, they not only have a robust lineup of original series that are excellent but also a number of library TV shows that you can only find on this particular streaming service, from comedies to animated shows, fantasy to sci-fi.
Below, we highlight the very best shows you can only binge-watch on Hulu—including originals and library content—which should serve as argument enough that if you don’t already have it, it’s well worth signing up for Hulu now.
For more recommendations, check out our list of the best shows on Hulu and best shows to binge-watch across several platforms.
Editor’s note: This article was updated March 2023 to include Fleishman Is in Trouble and Welcome to Chippendales.
Only Murders in the Building (2021-present)
Created by: Steve Martin, John Hoffman
Cast: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Aaron Dominguez, Amy Ryan, Cara Delevingne
Our collective fascination for true crime—and specifically true crime podcasts—comes into comedic focus with Only Murders in the Building. Charles (Steve Martin), a lonely out-of-work actor, Oliver (Martin Short), a washed-up Broadway director, and Mabel (Selena Gomez), a mysterious young woman, find themselves living in the same building when a murder is committed. They decide to investigate themselves and weave their findings into a podcast. Each character has their own motivation for obsessing over the murder and the episodes eke out the mystery with a side of character development, surprise guest stars, and plenty of twists. Only Murders in the Building is a delightful romp that centers its characters, without forgetting that a murder mystery is at the heart of the story. Both Steve Martin and Martin Short are delightful in their roles—Martin’s understated Charles is the voice of reason, while Short’s Oliver hides his true pain beneath his eccentricities. This show is an easy to watch, and you don’t even have to be a true-crime fan to love it. – Monita Mohan
Fleishman Is in Trouble (2022-present)
Creator: Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Claire Danes, Lizzy Caplan, Adam Brody, Josh Radnor
A truly bizarre dark comedy, Fleishman Is in Trouble comes from Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who also wrote the novel on which the series is based. Jesse Eisenberg plays Dr. Toby Fleishman, a forty-something divorcee who finds himself responsible for his two children after his ex-wife (Claire Danes) inexplicably disappears. Fleishman Is in Trouble unravels through a nonlinear experience narrated by Toby’s friend Libby (Lizzy Caplan). Although odd, and at times perplexing, Fleishman Is in Trouble is genuinely entertaining — mostly due to the wonderful supporting characters played by Josh Radnor (Hunters) and Adam Brody (Shazam). – Yael Tygiel
Welcome to Chippendales (2022-2023)
Creator: Robert Siegel
Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Murray Bartlett, Annaleigh Ashford, Juliette Lewis
Welcome to Chippendales is a limited series that chronicles the unbelievable true story of Somen “Steve” Banerjee, the man behind Chippendales. Crafted by Robert Siegel (Pam and Tommy), Welcome to Chippendales stars The Eternals’ Kumail Nanjiani as Banerjee, a dreamer who follows his American Dream to create the famous male revue. Bursting with dancing, drama, drugs, and murder, Welcome to Chippendales is an unforgettable peek under the collar and cuffs. Co-starring Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus), Annaleigh Ashford, and Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets), Welcome to Chippendales is an eight-episode series revealing the tragic circumstances of Banerjee’s successes, as well as his ultimate demise. – Yael Tygiel
Reboot (2022-present)
Creator: Steven Levitan
Cast: Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, Rachel Bloom, Judy Greer, Paul Reiser
From Steven Levitan of Modern Family fame comes Reboot, a meta-filled sitcom about a sitcom reboot. The brilliantly talented Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) stars as a writer determined to reboot a sitcom from the early 2000s. To do so, she must reunite the dysfunctional cast of the original series and continue the story with wittier, more modern humor. Starring in Reboot as the cast of the original series are talented comedians Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, and Judy Greer, with Paul Reiser (The Boys) appearing as the original show’s showrunner. Reboot is playfully entertaining, ludicrous at times, and ultimately, undeniably clever. – Yael Tygiel
Tell Me Lies (2022-present)
Creator: Meaghan Oppenheimer
Cast: Grace Van Patten, Jackson White, Catherine Missal
Based on the novel by Carola Lovering, Tell Me Lies is a dark and thrilling drama about the toll a tumultuous relationship can take when infatuation becomes an addiction. Produced by Emma Roberts, Tell Me Lies holds viewers’ attention with an intoxicating mystery, peeling back layers of the sinister plot over a lengthy entanglement. Star Grace Van Patten (Nine Perfect Strangers) is enigmatic and magnetic as Lucy, inviting the audience to watch the chaos she brings to the story, as well as the passion between Lucy and Stephen (Jackson White). Tell Me Lies is irresistibly messy, full of secrets, twists, and non-stop entertainment. – Yael Tygiel
Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)
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Creator: Dustin Lance Black
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Daisy Edgar-Jones
Andrew Garfield (Spider-Man: No Way Home) shines in Under the Banner of Heaven, a dramatic mystery set within a fundamentalist LDS community in Utah. Garfield continues to hone his talent, becoming indistinguishable from his characters with the role of Detective Jeb Pyre, a man of faith who is tested when he’s called to investigate a vicious murder. Along with Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven stars Sam Worthington (Avatar) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (War of the Worlds). Based on the terrible true story, Under the Banner of Heaven presents an eerie mystery as well as broaching fascinating questions about faith, morality, and humanity. – Yael Tygiel
The Bear (2022-present)
Creator: Christopher Storer
Cast:Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri
The Bear is a drama about a talented young chef, played by Jeremy Allen White (Shameless), who returns home due to a tragedy, leaving the fine-dining world behind to run his family’s small sandwich restaurant. Through unique circumstances presented in an expectedly relatable story, White’s performance as the heartbroken Chef Carmy is stunningly intriguing as he blends devastation and grief with the perceived loss of his own future. The Bear navigates strained family drama with harsh realities and features a stellar supporting cast as the tenacious restaurant staff, including Liza Colón-Zayas (In Treatment) and Ayo Edebiri (Big Mouth). – Yael Tygiel
Reservation Dogs (2021-present)
Created by: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis
One of the most hilarious and fresh new shows,Reservation Dogsis a coming-of-age story centered on four Native American teenagers growing up on a reservation in eastern Oklahoma. It is a winner of an Independent Spirit Award and it is easy to see why as it is an endlessly funny experience that never lets up. Full of nuanced and compelling characters who are all trying to navigate a harsh world, the humor is grounded in a real sense of humanity that makes for a loving portrait of a people. It is a show that deconstructs and pokes fun at the common portrayals of Native American people in media, eschewing stereotypes to move beyond the superficial imagery to find something far more profound. It both earns every laugh and emotional beat, drawing you into every loving detail of its world with an unending charm. – Chase Hutchinson
The Dropout (2022)
Created by: Elizabeth Meriwether
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Naveen Andrews
The story of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos, has become one of the most fascinating fraud cases in the past decade. Based on the hit podcast of the same name, The Dropout chronicles the meteoric rise of Elizabeth Holmes, played by Oscar nominee Amanda Seyfried, and her ultimate downfall. With her distinct deep voice and clad in a black turtleneck, she and her partner Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews) set about trying to change the world through Theranos. Audiences get to know the hidden layers of the once-praised CEO as Seyfried immerses herself as Holmes, peeling back the layers of her hidden insecurities as well as her blatant manipulation. The Dropout is a microcosm of the Silicon Valley startup scene, exposing the questionable nature of “fake it until you make it” work ethic. — Meredith Loftus
Pam & Tommy (2022)
Created by: Robert Siegel
Cast: Lily James, Sebastian Stan, Nick Offerman, Seth Rogen, Taylor Schilling
Pam & Tommy tells the whirlwind romance of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, played by Lily James and Sebastian Stan. It also reveals wild true story of how their infamous sex tape was stolen by a disgruntled handyman (Seth Rogen) and leaked on the Internet, changing celebrity culture and what’s possible on the world wide web forever. In a post-Me Too world, Pam & Tommy highlights the way the media has treated Pamela Anderson, how she faced public ridicule and objectification that negatively affected her career. Lily James is unrecognizable as the former Baywatch star and brings empathy to a woman who was denied that during a humiliating time in her life. The series is equally entertaining, nostalgic, and sobering to what Hollywood culture was like in the 90s and its lingering effects of today. – Meredith Loftus
The Great (2020-present)
Created by: Tony McNamara
Cast: Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Sacha Dhawan, Charity Wakefield, Gwilym Lee, Adam Godley, Douglas Hodge, Belinda Bromilow, Richard Pyros, Bayo Gbadamosi, Sebastian de Souza
Created by Tony McNamara, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of The Favorite, The Great tells the “mostly true” story of Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning). Naïve but ambitious, Catherine optimistically enters into marriage with Emperor Peter III (Nicholas Hoult) of Russia but is quickly disenchanted with the cruel, mercurial nature of the ruler and his court. She begins to collect her own allies in a dangerous scheme to coup the emperor and reform the country. Yet despite their drastically different ideas of leadership, she finds herself drawn to her volatile husband – who can’t help but be charmed by her even in her antagonism. Sharp and wickedly funny, The Great is a rollicking good time with two outstanding performances from Fanning and Hoult. – Mary Kate Carr
Nine Perfect Strangers (2021)
Created by: David E. Kelley
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Asher Keddie, Samara Weaving, Melvin Gregg, Tiffany Boone, Manny Jacinto, Grace Van Patten, Zoe Terakes, Regina Hall, Bobby Cannavale
The latest installment from powerhouse collaborators David E. Kelley, Nicole Kidman, and author Liane Moriarty (some of the masterminds behind Big Little Lies), Nine Perfect Strangers is a trippy, tense character study. Kidman stars as the mysterious Masha, the founder of a wellness resort that brings together an unlikely group of strangers (including Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Regina Hall, and more) for an unforgettable therapeutic experience. Each of the attendees brings their own demons and dark pasts, but no one has more secrets than Masha herself. While the cure may prove to be worse than the disease for her guests, Masha’s past comes back to haunt her in a way that threatens to upend everything she’s built at Tranquillum House. – Mary Kate Carr
The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-present)
Created by: Bruce Miller
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel, Madeline Brewer, Ann Dowd, O. T. Fagbenle, Max Minghella, Samira Wiley, Amanda Brugel, Bradley Whitford, Sam Jaeger
Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a dystopian future following America’s Second Civil War, where sexism and totalitarianism run rampant and staggering rates of infertility have led to the enslavement of fertile women. The story follows June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss), renamed Offred, a Handmaid to Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski), and her struggle to survive in this new world. Dark, brutal, but laced with underlying hope, The Handmaid’s Tale is a frighteningly relevant commentary on religion and societal roles that features compelling characters and a gripping story. – Olivia Fitzpatrick
How I Met Your Father (2022-present)
Created by: Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger
Cast: Hilary Duff, Christopher Lowell, Francia Raisa, Suraj Sharma, Tom Ainsley, Tien Tran, Kim Cattrall
Years after Ted (Josh Radnor) found true love on How I Met Your Mother, Sophie (Hilary Duff), another hopeless romantic New Yorker, begins her own quest for a partner on How I Met Your Father. As her older self (Kim Cattrall) narrates to her future son, the path to meeting “The Father” begins with befriending Jesse (Chris Lowell) and his roommate Sid (Suraj Sharma), eventually forming a new “gang” with Jesse’s sister Ellen (Tien Tran), Sophie’s BFF Valentina (Francia Raisa), and Valentina’s newly-acquired British boyfriend Charlie (Tom Ainsley). While Sophie pursues her happy ending, the new friends have the kind of wacky misadventures that will appeal to HIMYM fans. Even more appealing are the Easter eggs from the original series sprinkled throughout (and even some familiar faces and places revisited at the end of season 1). – Mary Kate Carr
The Mindy Project (2012-2017)
Created by: Mindy Kaling
Cast: Mindy Kaling, Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Anna Camp, Zoe Jarman, Amanda Setton, Stephen Tobolowsky, Ike Barinholtz, Beth Grant, Xosha Roquemore, Adam Pally, Fortune Feimster
The Mindy Project is a love letter to romantic comedies with wall-to-wall jokes. Fans of Mindy Kaling’s character on The Office will easily fall in love with Mindy Lahiri, a somewhat self-centered but lovable single gal who’s also a competent and accomplished OB/GYN. She’s frequently at odds with her handsome coworkers, particularly Dr. Danny Castellano (Chris Messina). Yet the comically weird workplace fosters its own found family – and a few love stories, too. Over the course of its six seasons, the show deftly handles cast turnover and introduces lots of memorable characters, both on the staff of Shulman & Associates as well as in the parade of Mindy’s wacky, attractive boyfriends. – Mary Kate Carr
PEN15 (2019-2021)
Created by: Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman
Cast: Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Mutsuko Erskine, Richard Karn, Taylor Nichols, Melora Walters, Taj Cross, Dallas Liu
Being a teenage girl isn’t easy. And, back in the days of the original TRL and dial-up internet, things were even harder. In PEN15, 30-somethings Ana Konkle and Maya Erskine play fictionalized versions of their 13-year-old selves, best friends Ana Kone and Maya Ishii-Peters. Trough the eyes of these two middle-school outcasts, the show offers us an earnest, unapologetically funny, and sometimes painfully uncomfortable portrayal of early adolescence. Surrounded by actual kids who play their friends, siblings, and classmates, Konkle and Erskine disappear into the skins of Ana and Maya, to a point in which it becomes hard to see them as anything but actual middle-schoolers. After the illusion takes hold, PEN15 sores to heights never before seen in the history of teen shows. The series’ second and final season is sure to bring you to tears just as quickly as it can make you laugh. The supporting cast is also worthy of praise, particularly Mutsuko Erskine, Erskine’s real life mother, who plays Maya’s mom, Yuki, a no-nonsense Japanese immigrant to which the show devotes an entire episode that is by far the most beautiful 30 minutes of television of 2021. – Elisa Guimarães
Veronica Mars (2004-2019)
Created by: Rob Thomas
Cast: Kristen Bell, Percy Daggs III, Teddy Dunn, Jason Dohring, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Francis Capra, Enrico Colantoni, Ryan Hansen, Kyle Gallner, Tessa Thompson, Julie Gonzalo, Chris Lowell, Tina Majorino, Michael Muhney
What if you made a show about a high schooler who was a private eye? And what if that show was packed with film noir references that made the mysteries and investigations all the more exciting? That’s Veronica Marsin a nutshell, and it’s a testament to the characters and Kristen Bell’s winning performance that the show holds up so well to this day. The show initially ran for three seasons, telling one big mystery each season and shifting to college in Season 3, and was revived in 2019 for an all-new fourth season with an all-new mystery all while aging up its characters rather significantly. This is compelling teen TV at its finest with a number of emotional gut-punches to boot.
Castle Rock (2018-2019)
Created by: Sam Shaw
Cast: André Holland, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgård, Jane Levy, Sissy Spacek, Lizzy Caplan, Paul Sparks, Barkhad Abdi, Yusra Warsama, Elsie Fisher, Matthew Alan, Tim Robbins
If you’re into Stephen King, you simply have to watch Castle Rock. This is an anthology series where each season focuses on a different group of characters and story, with the thread being that it all takes place in and around a town called Castle Rock. It’s a remix of many King stories, so the first season is a loose adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption and other King stories, while Season 2 is a mash-up of Misery and Salem’s Lot. It takes the kernel of an idea of these tales and fleshes them out beautifully, with a wonderful ensemble that includes Andre Holland, Lizzy Caplan, Sissy Spacek, and Tim Robbins. It’s spooky, heavy into mythology, and kind of addicting.
Devs (2020)
Created by: Alex Garland
Cast: Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, Jin Ha, Zach Grenier, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Karl Glusman, Alison Pill
In order to see the next mind-bending original story from Annihilation and Ex Machina, you’ll need to check out Devs. This sci-fi series is part of the “FX on Hulu” lineup so in terms of tone and production value, it feels like an FX show. It centers around the insanely secretive “devs” department of a silicon valley tech company, headed up by a charismatic yet enigmatic man played by Nick Offerman. When her co-worker and boyfriend goes missing, a young programmer played by Sonoya Mizuno goes deep into the dark rabbit hole of Big Tech. This is a limited series so you get a satisfying beginning, middle, and end through the show’s eight episodes.
Mrs. America (2020)
Created by: Dahvi Waller
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks, Kayli Carter, Ari Graynor, Melanie Lynskey, Margo Martindale, John Slattery, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tracey Ullman, Sarah Paulson
A fairly new offering from FX on Hulu is the limited series Mrs. America, which chronicles the evolution of the feminist movement throughout the 1970s. What makes this miniseries unique is that Cate Blanchett fills a lead role as Phyllis Schlafly, a staunch opponent of the feminist movement. There are a number of real-life people that appear as characters—Rose Byrne is Gloria Steinem, Margo Martindale is Bella Abzug, Elizabeth Banks is Jill Ruckelshaus—but in using the the fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment as its story backdrop, Mrs. America covers a lot of ground and examines the many different voices in and around the feminist movement. It’s also superbly acted.
