The 20 Best Peacock Original TV Shows
Peacock launched in mid-2020 largely with the promise of airing reruns of The Office , but it also leveraged NBCUniversal’s muscle and checkbook to create quality original content (“created” is a euphemism for “imported” in some cases).
While the Peacock Originals library is still relatively small, it’s impressively diverse, not just in styles and genres but also in the people they focus on, from an all-Muslim punk band to an indigenous cultural center. Here are the 20 best shows you can watch exclusively on Peacock.
The Day of the Jackal (2024–, renewed for a second season)
Cinematic in scope, this new adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s novel is bolstered by a brilliant cast, with Eddie Redmayne as the Jackal, a cold-blooded and uncompromising international assassin hunted by MI6 agent Bianca Pullman. She’s played by Lashana Lynch, who puts her experience as the new 007 in No Time to Die to good use. I’m not sure there’s anything here that hasn’t been seen in countless other spy thrillers (including, of course, the 1973 and 1997 adaptations), but the acting and direction are top-notch, with each scene acting like a tense mini-movie. The Day of the Jackal can be viewed here .
Poker Face (2023–, two seasons)
After co-writing and starring in one of Netflix’s best original series , Russian Doll , Natasha Lyonne is pulling a similar trick here on Peacock. Poker Face , in which Lyonne is practically the only regular character, pays homage to Columbo in a mystery anthology format: former waitress Charlie Kale, on the run from a ruthless casino magnate, travels the backwaters of North America and encounters murder just about everywhere she goes. Luckily, Charlie has an uncanny ability to tell when people are lying, as well as a very useful penchant for finding undercover work. Like Columbo, viewers are given all the details of the murders up front, so the mystery isn’t so much a whodunit as it is a how-is-Charlie-going-to-solve-it mystery? Knives Out ’s Rainn Johnson created the series and directed several episodes, and the show has a recognizable and welcome style and sense of humor. Lyonne’s humble, honest persona is perfect here, and she’s a perfect match for the cast of A-list guests. You can watch Poker Face here .
Traitors (2023–, renewed for a fifth season)
An American take on the British series (based on the Dutch one), this incredibly addictive reality show gathers a group of celebrities in a Scottish castle and declares some of them secret traitors that only the audience knows about. The “loyal” players are tasked with finding the bad guys before they walk away with an ever-growing prize pool. Cheering and mocking the contestants for their strategy and/or lack thereof is great fun, and host Alan Cumming is a delightfully sardonic compere with some of the best style on TV. (Peacock also broadcasts the show in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.) You can watch Traitors here.
Shafer: The Final Chapters (2022)
Nearly 25 years after it began, and a decade after The Best Man Holiday , this miniseries reunites much of the original cast in middle age, and what a cast it is: Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard, Nia Long, Harold Perrineau, and Melissa DeSouza are back, with even a brief reunion from Monica Calhoun, who played Mia before her character’s untimely death. It’s thrilling to see these titans of ’90s dark romantic comedy (none of whom have aged a damn day) back together. After the first two episodes pick up the threads left over from the film series, the show delves into the everyday lives and struggles of our old friends. You can stream The Best Man: The Final Chapters here .
Twisted Metal (2023 –, two seasons)
The most brutal show on the Peacock block, starring Anthony Mackie as John Doe, is based on the ’90s vehicular combat games your parents probably hated (it’s a lot of wild, demolition derby-style action involving destroying and/or blowing up your opponents). The show does what its name suggests, delivering plenty of frantic car clashes (plus a car with a semi, a car with a hearse, an ice cream truck, etc.). The show’s creators have worked to build its world over two seasons with varying success, but the second season seems to have gotten better, with Anthony Mackie serving as an effective anchor for the chaos; he’s joined by an impressive supporting cast that includes Stephanie Beatriz, Thomas Haden Church, and Neve Campbell. Cars basically go boom, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need — this is a show for the 15-year-old gamer in all of us. Twisted Metal can be listened to here .
Apples Never Fall (2024)
Liane Moriarty’s novels have already been successfully adapted into films: HBO’s Big Little Lies is based on one of her books, as is Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers . The miniseries tells the story of the Delaney family, whose four siblings are forced to confront their family’s dark history after their mother Joy (Annette Bening) disappears, putting their father, Stand (Sam Neill), in the spotlight. The series also stars Alison Brie, Jake Lacy, and Georgie Flood. You can watch Apples Never Fall here .
We Are Lady Parts (2021 – , two seasons)
A comedy import from across the pond, Lady Parts stars Anjana Wasan as Amina, a sweet Muslim girl whose only goals are to finish school (she’s working on a PhD in microbiology) and settle down with her husband. All of that is thrown into question when she meets Saira, Ayesha, Bismua, and Momtaz, the women who make up the titular punk band. The show’s creator, Nida Manzoor, co-wrote the original songs in the show, and the result is arguably the best original soundtrack a sitcom has ever had. What’s more, the show is funny, bolstered by great performances from Wasan and the other lead actors. There’s also a natural tension that the show deftly taps into: the members of an all-female, all-Muslim punk band are naturally outsiders in almost every circumstance; Even within the group, the women have very different goals in life: guitarist Amina is a shy nerd who vomits with excitement at every beat, and her new role in the group is a challenge to her own image as well as societal and familial expectations. There are currently two seasons airing, and it is not yet known whether there will be a third. You can listen to We Are Lady Parts here .
Mrs. Davis (2023)
It’s just a sci-fi comedy about a nun who marries the real Jesus and goes on a quest with her ex-boyfriend to save the world from the artificial intelligence behind the show’s title. To do that, she needs to find the Holy Grail. So yeah, there’s a lot going on in Mrs. Davis — sometimes too much, honestly. But Betty Gilpin holds her own as Sister Simone, playing it straight in an over-the-top world. It’s refreshing to see a show that’s not afraid to take sharp turns, and it works more often than it probably should. While the show was canceled after one season (join us, Mrs. Davis), it ends well enough that, like co-creator Damon Lindelof’s HBO series Watchmen, it’s probably best left as a one-off. You can stream Mrs. Davis here .
Bel-Air (2022–, renewed for a fourth and final season)
While the first season showed promise but received mixed reviews, the Rookie Prince reboot really came into its own in its second and third seasons. Fans of the beloved original are left frustrated by a simple drama with the same premise, often leaning toward heavy realism. Jabari Banks stars as Will Smith, a 16-year-old from West Philadelphia who moves in with his aunt and uncle in Bel-Air after being charged with gun possession and getting into a run-in with a local drug lord. Banks is charismatic and compelling, bringing a ton of personality to a series that occasionally takes dark turns. Watch Bel-Air here .
Based on a True Story (2023–2024)
We’re definitely in Only Murders in the Building territory, with a true crime enthusiast and armchair detective starting a podcast based on a series of local murders. The twist is that Ava Bartlett (Kaley Cuoco) and her husband Nathan (Chris Messina) realize they know the serial killer they’re investigating (Tom Bateman), and realize they’re sitting on a gold mine. Instead of turning him in, they’ll make a podcast about him (don’t worry: they don’t actually have to be cute). It takes the show a while (almost too long) to find its voice, but once it does, it becomes a solid satire of capitalism and fame culture, going to dark places while pondering what our obsession with true crime really says about us. You can stream Based on a True Story here .
One of Us is Lying (2021–2022, two seasons)
Another detective series, this time based on a young adult novel by Karen M. McManus. It’s about a group of five high school students who go to detention, only to have one of them die from what appears to be an allergic reaction. One of the students, Simon, runs a blog where he uncovers everyone’s secrets, and when the case starts to look like murder, there are a lot of suspects. The plot isn’t exactly original, but it’s a solid, genuinely twisty detective series that fits surprisingly well into its second season. You can watch One of Us Is Lying here .
The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2024)
Based on Heather Morris’s true-life novel, The Tattooist tells the story of Lali and Gita (Jonah Hauer-King and Anna Prochniak, with Harvey Keitel as the adult Lali), who meet in captivity during the Holocaust. Lali is given the job of tattooing numbers on prisoners’ arms, which gives him a small privilege and the opportunity to develop a romantic relationship with Gita, despite the inhuman horrors that surround them. You can watch The Tattooist of Auschwitz here .
The Lost Symbol (2021, one season)
By now, we know what to expect from these Dan Brown adaptations: “Symbolist” Robert Langdon will use his hyper-specific skills to uncover a conspiracy the likes of which scientists rarely encounter. And it’s not often that archaeologists find lost arks and temples to doom, so it’s a reign of disbelief we’re quite willing to suspend, especially after the Ron Howard and Tom Hanks series of films that began with The Da Vinci Code . That team adapted three of the five books but somehow skipped this one, and here we are: a new Robert Langdon, now played by Descendants ’ Ashley Zuckerman, on the hunt for his kidnapped mentor in a Masonic-related mystery. It’s talky, almost over-the-top, but it works as a polished mystery that’s sure to please fans of the films. You can stream The Lost Symbol here .
John Wayne Gacy: The Devil in Disguise (2021)
I was born in Chicago shortly after the John Wayne Gacy murders, the facts of which were not hidden from my extremely impressionable young ears. So, you know… I’m not a big fan of clowns, and I have a rather tense relationship with the true crime genre. But there’s more going on in director Rod Blackhurst’s true-crime docuseries than just a dive into Gacy’s horrific crimes. While the popular (and not inaccurate) image of Gacy is of a man who ingratiated himself with his victims by acting as a clown, there’s more to the story. His volunteer work, role as the head of a contractor, and involvement in local politics seemed to obscure his intentions and prevented police and the media from delving as deeply into his criminal past as they should have. Almost as disturbing as the crimes themselves is how much we can be deceived by a man who fits every expectation of an upstanding citizen. You can watch “Devil in Disguise” here .
Rutherford Falls (2020–2022, two seasons)
Writer/producer Sierra Teller Ornelas joins Ed Helms and Michael Schur ( The Office ) for a warm and charming sitcom with an unexpected premise: Helms plays Nathan Rutherford, a descendant of the man whose statue dominates the town. His best friend is Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who runs the local cultural center for the (fictional) Minishon tribe. They’re on opposite sides of the big issue that arises when the mayor wants to tear down the old statue (mostly because it’s in an awkward location and keeps getting smashed into by cars), but they still try to maintain their friendship. It’s a heartfelt show that’s not afraid to tackle tough topics, helped by a record number of Indigenous writers on the team, as well as Ornelas herself: in addition to her work on shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore , she’s a sixth-generation Diné weaver, an approach that’s key to the show’s success. You can watch Rutherford Falls here .
Saved by the Bell (2020–2021, two seasons)
Watch it. You can probably already guess whether or not this is for you. Surprisingly, Saved by the Bell has been more successful than some of the other recent reboots of family sitcoms with a youth-oriented bent (RIP Punky Brewster ). Instead of bringing back the old cast and wallowing in nostalgia, the reboot introduces a whole new generation of teens and lets them live their own lives and adventures, with humor that’s a little smarter and more self-aware than the original show. Of course, many of the old gang (meaning: almost all of them) pop up from time to time, so you Gen Xers and older millennials won’t be left completely unsatisfied. It was a disappointment that the show was cancelled after its second season. You can stream Saved by the Bell here .
Doctor Death (2021, mini-series)
A docudrama based on a true-crime podcast that was in turn an investigation into the real-life Dr. Christopher Duntsch, it’s at least as horrifying as the story of John Wayne Gacy in Peacock’s documentary about the serial killer. Duntsch, played here by Joshua Jackson, was an incredibly self-confident but dangerously incompetent surgeon who maimed or killed the vast majority of his patients in incidents that investigators believed were entirely avoidable. The series dramatizes the events that led to the revocation of his medical license, long after alarm was raised about his past, including his heavy drug abuse. Well-acted, it asks all the right questions: Why did he get away with it for so long, and how did so many people and employers buy into his carefully crafted façade in the face of his horrific record? You can stream Dr. Death here .
Capture (2019 – , two seasons)
There are a few imports on this list; Peacock is too young to have much of a homegrown stable, but they’ve made some impressive acquisitions. This British series sees an ambitious young detective at London’s Metropolitan Police Department take on the case of a soldier who’s just been acquitted of a war crime, but who appears to have had a change of heart and assaults his solicitor (okay, barrister) before kidnapping him. There’s plenty of police procedural drama and international intrigue, but the show has a slightly different agenda: it looks at the dangers of our reliance on CCTV and the perils of the common assumption that cameras don’t lie. London is one of the most heavily policed cities in the world, so there’s a distinctly British perspective here, but the issues will be familiar to anyone who’s spent time in any major city. There’s no word yet on a potential third season. You can watch The Capture here .
Killing It (2022–, two seasons)
With this show about a wide range of con artists and scammers and a penniless bank security guard who hopes to turn his fortune around by killing snakes, Peacock has crafted one of the sweetest, most surprisingly human shows in a TV landscape full of far darker stories. At the beginning, Craig Foster (Craig Robinson) loses his job after his brother robs the bank where Craig works. If you need money in the state of Florida, what else are you going to do but hunt pythons? Craig, with no experience, teams up with an Uber driver friend (Claudia O’Doherty) to cash in on a state-sponsored contest. The show treats even its sleaziest characters with compassion, and while it’s not the funniest comedy on streaming, it’s wittily written and sure to squeeze your heart like a python. You can stream Killing It here .
Those Who Will Soon Die (2024)
Roland Emmerich is one of the main creators of this short-lived series, which gives it a feel: big, loud, often banal – but also incredibly entertaining. The action unfolds in the form of a soap opera, which is set during the opening of the Roman Colosseum under the Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins). As the emperor’s sons fight for power, the owner of Rome’s largest bookmaker, Tenax (Iwan Rheon), makes an unlikely alliance with Kala (Sara Martins), a black Numidian woman who has come to Rome in search of her children, who have been taken into slavery by Roman soldiers, and will do anything to keep them safe. You can watch Those Who Die here .