2020 was a rough one, that’s for sure. However, with the wide array of streaming content this year, there was always a show nearby to lift our spirits. We took a look at the top 5 most-watched original series from major streaming services to see what TV Time users loved during the hellfire known as 2020. Scroll below and see if your favorites made the list… or better yet, find your holiday binge watch!
NETFLIX
5. Dark
The third and final season of Dark left fans with a few questions as Jonas and Martha go into the original universe to complete their final mission, making a heart-wrenching sacrifice.
4. Elite
Season 3 of the Spanish teen thriller brought even more mystery and drama to the table as the students entered their last semester at Las Encinas.
2019’s breakout series returned for its sophomore season in early 2020, and it did not disappoint! (Still holding out for Maeve and Otis!)
2. Money Heist*
The Money Heist craze continued in 2020 with Part 4’s release as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary, Money Heist: The Phenomenon.
1. Lucifer*
August’s Season 5A release of Lucifer brought the series back on top our TV Time’s Binge Reports, but with all the “Lucifans” out there… did this devilish series ever really go away? 😜
AMAZON
5. Hunters
Inspired by a number of real Nazi hunters, viewers were introduced to a diverse group of Nazi hunters in ‘70s New York City.
4. Upload
Greg Daniels’ sci-fi comedy made its debut in spring, following a man who is able to choose his own afterlife after his untimely death by having his consciousness uploaded into a virtual world.
We haven’t seen a new episode since 2019, however, Mrs. Maisel continued to be marvelous in 2020!
The fourth and final season premiered in November 2019, but that hasn’t stopped bingers from discovering this thriller about a young woman who discovers a mysterious film that holds the key to toppling the totalitarian regimes of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
1. The Boys
The Boys broke out last year, but 2020's second season made this a top September series! On the run from the law, Butcher, Hughie and the team struggle to fight back against the Superheroes… and meet new hero Stormfront along the way.
HULU
5. The Great
Hulu’s dramedy loosely based on the rise of Catherine the Great was worthy of bingers’ time!
4. Love, Victor
The Summer debut of Love, Victor won viewers as Victor faced challenges at a new school and a new city, while struggling with his identity and sexual orientation.
Runaways lives on after its 2019 finale! After discovering their parents are super-villains in disguise, a group of teenagers band together to run away from their homes and discover the secrets of their origins.
Based on Celeste Ng's 2017 bestseller, March’s miniseries follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
…Still waiting on Season 4! The dystopian drama based on Margaret Atwood’s novel continued to thrive in 2020.
DISNEY+
October’s historical drama explored the origins and growth of the United States' space program.
Each episode of this ongoing docuseries features a different employee’s job at The Walt Disney Company, including candy maker, animator, and Disney Parks decorator.
3. High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
The part mockumentary, part musical-dramedy follows students from the school where the High School Musical films were shot as they stage a musical production based on the franchise.
Disney+ revived The Clone Wars for a seventh and final season this year, and even more good news – A spin-off sequel series is in the works!
The Star Wars fandom continued with Season 2 of The Mandalorian, which focuses on the machinations of Moff Gideon, who — wielding remnant forces of the Empire and the legendary Darksaber — has filled a rather sizable power vacuum in the galaxy in the early post-Imperial years after Return of the Jedi.
APPLE TV+
5. Servant
M. Night Shyamalan's horror series follows a Philadelphia couple in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy creates a rift in their marriage, and opens the door for a mysterious force to enter their home.
4. Ted Lasso
This comedy about an American football coach who heads to the UK to manage a struggling London football team became one of 2020’s most hilarious and heartwarming series.
3. See
Far in a dystopian future, the human race has lost its sense of sight, and society has had to find new ways to interact, build, hunt, and survive. All of that is challenged when a set of twins is born with sight... Season 2 has been delayed due to COVID-19.
One of the year’s most popular miniseries tells the story of a family dealing with the accusation that their teenage son may be a murderer.
Escaping the real news for this drama was a great choice in 2020; exploring the challenges faced by men and women who carry out an American morning news program.
HBO MAX
This series landed in late November, and is already getting a lot of attention! When a flight attendant wakes up in the wrong hotel next to a dead man with no idea of what happened, she begins to wonder if she could be the killer.
4. Infinity Train*
The former Cartoon Network series aired its third (and final?) chapter on HBO Max this past August, which centered on Grace Monroe and Simon Laurent, the leaders of a cult entitled “the Apex.”
3. Close Enough
This easy-to-binge animated series follows a couple with a young daughter and two divorced roommates as they try to cope with entering their 30’s.
2. Love Life
Anna Kendrick stars in 2020’s rom-com anthology series about the journey from first love to last love. William Jackson Harper will be the star of Season 2!
September’s sci-fi drama follows androids who are tasked with raising human children on a mysterious planet.
PEACOCK
5. Wilmore
Larry Wilmore discusses topics like sports, politics and entertainment with high profile people in this late night talk show.
While continuing to work on Late Night with Seth Meyers, comedian Amber Ruffin began her own late night series with The Amber Ruffin Show.
The very 2020 series follows the lives of a group of friends who, during the COVID-19 pandemic, try to stay connected as they navigate through the various nuances of life in a lockdown. *Connecting was canceled after one season.
2020’s reboot/revival follows a new group of Bayside kids after California Governor Zack Morris starts a program bringing low-income students to Pacific Palisades' wealthy Bayside High.
One of Peacock’s first originals focuses on a utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family and history itself. *Brave New World was canceled after one season.
QUIBI - (RIP! Quibi is defunct as of December 1st.)
5. Dummy
Based on a real-life experience between series creator Cody Heller and her partner Dan Harmon, in which she discovered that he had a sex doll.
4. The Fugitive
Misinformation traveling at the speed of social media points to a blue-collar guy as the culprit of a Los Angeles bombing, putting his life and family at risk as he becomes... The Fugitive.
3. Survive
Two ordinary people are the only survivors of a plane crash that isolates them on a remote snow-covered mountain in April’s thriller-drama.
This horror anthology planned to feature scary stories from every state in the United States… Unfortunately, it only got to cover nine!
Quibi’s action thriller followed everyman Dodge Tynes who accepts an offer to participate in a big game hunt in which Dodge himself is the prey.
*The “40 Most Watched Streaming Originals of 2020” is based on episodes tracked in TV Time from 1/1/20-12/9/20. Shows with an asterisk represent series that once belonged to another network and have since become a streaming original series.
