1
1923
1923 may be another Yellowstone prequel, but you don’t need any knowledge of the flagship series to enjoy Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren riding horses and shooting shotguns. The spinoff series also breaks out of Montana, taking viewers to see Africa and dangers on the high seas. With Yellowstone, there’s always more on the horizon.
2
Special Ops: Lioness
Starring Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman, Lioness follows a secret CIA program consisting of female operatives who go undercover in vast terrorist organizations. It’s a dangerous gig—making for one of the most stressful shows on television.
3
Halo
Based on the popular video game for Microsoft’s Xbox, Halo follows special soldier Master Chief as he blasts his way through a galactic war against hordes of aliens.
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4
The Family Stallone
He was Rocky. Now, he’s a family man. Alongside his wife Jennifer and their three daughters Sophia, Sistine, and Scarlet, Sly stars is this new Paramount+ reality series.
5
Mayor of Kingstown
Starring Jeremy Renner, this prison drama about a town that revolves around incarceration is dark and unforgiving. Tackling themes of systematic oppression, the series follow Renner’s Mike McLusky, a power broker between the gangs and the prisons. As the “Mayor,” he tries to keep everyone in Kingstown happy. It’s no small task.
6
Tulsa King
Sylvester Stallone is the titular Tulsa King in Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s latest series, which follows a New York mafia capo who is sent to Oklahoma after serving a 25-year prison sentence. Establishing a new base of comical criminal operations, Stallone’s Dwight “The General” Manfredi starts to turn Tulsa into his own little kingdom.
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7
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
We really can’t sing praises for Strange New Worlds enough. “Most of sci-fi TV today suffers from Marvelitis—the sky is always falling, the fate of the galaxy is always at stake,” reads our review of the series. “But the best Trek outing in decades understands the importance of hijinks.” We highly recommend SNW for life-long fans as well as newcomers to the world of Star Trek, alike.
9
Billions
Paramount+ now comes with Showtime, meaning that you can watch Billions with your same Paramount+ subscription. Yes, the criminal drama starring Paul Giamatti is now available. Mind blown.
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10
Yellowjackets
Another modern Showtime hit on Paramount+, Yellowjackets features a twisted and meandering story about a high school soccer team that is stranded in the wilderness following a plane crash. Do the girls eat each other to stay alive? Do they still regret maybe doing it as adults? Time to find out.
11
Dexter
Down for a lovable serial killer? Check out Dexter, the 2000s-era drama starring Michael C. Hall about a forensics expert tasked with solving his own crimes. Paramount+/Showtime also has a revival series, Dexter: New Blood.
12
Homeland
One of Showtime’s largest success stories, Honeland follows a CIA officer played by Claire Danes who seeks to solve an al-Qaeda terrorist attack that she believes will take place on American soil.
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13
Your Honor
After Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston starred in Showtime’s Your Honor as a New Orleans judge who covers up his son’s hit and run accident. It’s no so easy, however, since an organized crime family is involved and angry.
14
The Offer
Ever wonder how The Godfather got made? Well, you can get a answer that’s sort of right in The Offer—a highly dramatized series starring MIles Teller about the experience of putting together the famous Francis Ford Coppola gangster film.
15
Rabbit Hole
Kiefer Sutherland plays a master of deception and corporate espionage in Rabbit Hole, which are two good skills to have when you’re mysteriously framed for murder.
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16
The Good Fight
Coming off the success of The Good Wife, CBS wanted to take a swing with its new streaming service, CBS All Access. While Access wasn’t the most successful venture in its early iterations, the streamer knew it had a gem (even if it remains a relatively under-appreciated one) in The Good Fight. Starring Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald, the legal series is one of the snappiest on television and shines a light on a new chapter for the series and a scrappy up and coming law firm that will draw you in and never let go.
17
Survivor
A phenom that began airing in 2000, the series has now been on for over 20 years, boasting 40 seasons that are all available to watch on Paramount+. A lot has changed over the years (seriously, watch Richard Hatch win season one and then compare it to, literally, almost any other season), but there’s one constant: It’s impossible to ever hear “the tribe has spoken” too many times.
18
The Stand
The Stand is one of Paramount’s early investments, but it boasts incredible names. From the mind of Stephen King, the series follows a pandemic (yikes) into a post-apocalyptic world, with the fate of the world in the hands of a 108-year-old woman (Whoopi Goldberg) (also, rude) and a select group of survivors that include characters played by James Marsden and Greg Kinnear.
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19
Ink Master
There’s something intoxicating about reality television. There’s also something intoxicating about getting a tattoo. So what if you combined the drama of reality TV with the adrenaline rush of tattoos? That’s where Ink Master comes in—all 11 seasons. It’s a brutal sport to watch, but damn if that doesn’t make for good TV.
20
Star Trek Discovery
I mean, who doesn’t love a good space opera? Star Trek Discovery kicks off about a decade before the mission of Captain Kirk, which was the story we got back in the 60s when the OG show premiered. This one is fronted by The Walking Dead‘s Sonequa Martin-Green and is worth the watch.
Justin Kirkland
Writer
Justin Kirkland is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers culture, food, and the South. Along with Esquire, his work has appeared in NYLON, Vulture, and USA Today.
Assistant Editor
Josh Rosenberg is an Assistant Editor at Esquire, keeping a steady diet of one movie a day. His past work can be found at Spin, CBR, and on his personal blog at Roseandblog.com.
