Nobody Wants This and the 4 best Netflix shows of 2024

It's been a long year that went by in the blink of an eye, but in the midst of all 2024 had offer, there were so many great Netflix shows for us to binge. Some people like to focus on what we didn't get — new seasons of Stranger Things, Wednesday, You, etc. — but think of what we did get.

In 2024, Netflix ended many fan-favorite series, like The Umbrella Academy, Elite, and Vikings: Valhalla, and kicked off the final season of Cobra Kai. There were new seasons of beloved hit such as Bridgerton, Emily in Paris, and Outer Banks. And to top it all off, Netflix managed to release handfuls upon handfuls of new shows the world couldn't stop binge-watching.

While your picks for the best Netflix shows of 2024 might vary, here are four of our biggest highlights of the year, as well as a short list of more excellent picks!

Nobody Wants This

This year, we really needed a comfort show to escape into, and Netflix delivered with Nobody Wants This. The romantic comedy series from creator Erin Foster and starring 2000s icons Kristen Bell and Adam Brody exists in a delightful world where relationships are healthy and rabbis are hunky. That's all to say that the series brought the perfect mixture of everything we're looking for in a rom-com.

Although it had its critics (everything does, right?), Nobody Wants This was as near-flawless as a modern streaming series first season gets. It leaves you demanding more (and we'll get more in season 2), but you never feel underserved. And obviously, not enough can be said about the next-level chemistry and likability of Bell and Brody, two of the greats still at the very top of their game.

The Diplomat

These days, political series can be a bit of a hard sell... for obvious reasons. But The Diplomat feels as though it exists in a different universe completely than our own, and that's a real testament to its laser-sharp writing and top-notch performances. Somehow, the series managed to get even better in its second season than its already amazing debut season. That's rare, especially for streaming.

Keri Russell devours her role as Kate Wyler, a diplomat juggling too many global dilemmas at once, and the Emmy nominee scores a new on-screen dueling partner in Oscar winner Allison Janney as the vice president. Watching them spar was nothing short of a once in a lifetime television experience. If The Diplomat isn't nominated for Outstanding Drama Series for season 2, something has gone terribly awry.

Girls5eva

It's not often that a comedy series swings for the fences and actually hits the ball out of the park. If that sports metaphor didn't work, it's just to say that Girls5eva has an ambitious comedic sensibility that nails it every single time. You'll be hard pressed to find a comedy series as downright hilarious, heartfelt, and beautifully weird as Girls5eva. (None of that was hyperbole, by the way.)

When Netflix saved Girls5eva from Peacock after two seasons, it felt like a new start for the show. But when season 3 dropped on Netflix, along with its first two seasons, the show remained an underrated darling. In spite of releasing its strongest collection of episodes yet! Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps, and Paula Pell were better than ever in a show that deserves so much more attention and acclaim.

Supacell

So far in our highlights of the four best Netflix shows of 2024, we have a romantic comedy, a political drama, and a musical comedy. It's only fitting to round out that list with one of the most surprising and exciting new Netflix shows of the year: Supacell. The superhero drama brought something new and perhaps unexpected to the superhero genre that was absolutely needed.

Supacell was created by Rapman, who directed half of the episodes and wrote all six. He told this sci-fi story, in which Black South Londoners with family histories of sickle cell disease are given superpowers, through a personal lens that hasn't been explored in the same way before. The series was as entertaining as it was meaningful and quickly connected with viewers, leading to its season 2 renewal. By far, Supacell ranks among the best shows on the streamer this year.

More of the best Netflix shows of 2024:

• 3 Body Problem
• Baby Reindeer
• Black Doves
• Bodkin
• The Brothers Sun
• Eric
• The Gentlemen
• KAOS
• A Man on the Inside
• Ripley