First, there was Netflix, then Amazon Prime, then Hulu, then CBS All Access. The last eight months have seen the births of Disney+, Apple TV+, Quibi, HBO Max and the Peacock. Each platform has fought to acquire the rights to beloved past television series like Friends, The Office and The Simpsons, and while it is a convenience and a luxury to have whole catalogs of such shows at one's disposal, subscribers shouldn't overlook the series that each produces in-house. Without the restraints of commercial-based, week-by-week network television standards, streaming has brought to life truly original content that otherwise might never have seen the light of day. These programs often push boundaries and represent a broader spectrum of the population. They provide more opportunities and artistic license to creators, and we, the viewing public, are better for it. These are the best original shows on every streaming service.

Netflix

Netflix, the undisputed champion of streaming, greenlights LOTS of projects. It can be hard to spot the true gems in the nearly endless queue. Its first in-house hit was House of Cards, but it really made a name for itself with Orange is the New Black, the groundbreaking show about women in prison. Netflix does drama well. The Crown, Ozark, Maniac and Mindhunter are among the service's most prestigious and recommendable entries. But it does comedy, genre and reality better. BoJack Horseman, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Master of None are exactly the kind of weird that's better suited to streaming. Stranger Things, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Lost in Space are other-worldly in a way that takes advantage of the fact that the company's flush with cash and imposes few creative restrictions. Shows like Nailed It! and Love is Blind might be fluff, but they're engaging and binge-worthy.

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Hulu

Hulu was the place to watch last night's TV with limited commercials, for about half the price of Netflix. Slowly, but surely, it's been changing that reputation with ambitious original series. It doesn't produce as many projects as its chief competitor, but its output has a more curated feel. Hulu won its first Emmy with The Handmaid's Tale, the first season of which is a spot-on adaptation of the famed dystopian feminist novel. In the years since, it has staked out territory as the destination for high-quality scripted series, particularly ones that explore the female experience. Harlots, Shrill, Pen15 and this year's joint venture with FX, Mrs. America, are definitely worth your time. So are the seriously underrated comedies Ramy and Difficult People. The Path and Devs will appeal to those who like complex conspiratorial dramas. Hulu's also got a keen eye for buying up canceled series and making them their own. They acquired and produced additional seasons of The Mindy Project and Veronica Mars.

Amazon Prime

People sign up for Amazon for the two-day shipping, but benefits include access to a pair of series that are among the most acclaimed and awarded shows in recent memory, and again, they're both about women. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, about a midcentury housewife, turned raunchy standup comedian and Fleabag (an Amazon collaboration with BBC Three) about a self-destructive young woman trying to get her life back together, are as witty and multidimensional as episodic storytelling gets. Amazon's also gone all-in on Nazi-related alternate realities with The Man in the High Castle and Hunters. For those who like costume dramas, there's The Romanoffs and Z: The Beginning of Everything. There are also modest, but clever, dramedies like One Mississippi and I Love Dick, plus The Tick and The Boys for unique spins on the superhero archetype.

CBS All Access

Star Trek Picard feature 1

There are two reasons to sign up for CBS All Access: Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. Jordan Peele's reimagining of the disorienting cult classic is fine enough to warrant at least a free trial for fans of the original. The latest Star Trek series, Discovery and Picard are better, which almost makes a CBS All Access account a necessity for Trekkies who want to stay in the know. Picard especially feels like an evolution in an interesting direction for the franchise. It's not afraid to try new things while calling back to Star Trek's fan-favorite characters and storylines. Those who enjoyed The Good Wife can also find its well-reviewed successor, The Good Fight, on the service.

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HBO Max

Bugs and Sam prepare to arm wrestle.

Historically, HBO has been associated with explicitly adult programming. It was the home of The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Game of Thrones because of the leeway it gave those shows when it came to language, nudity and violence. Ironically, the standout programs at HBO Max's launch are Looney Tunes Cartoons, The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo and Craftopia, a DIY competition show for children. Of course, the service is only a few days old and more adult programs (31 original series in total) are scheduled to debut throughout the year. Until then, recent HBO standout Watchmen can be streamed, along with HBO's full library of highly regarded comedies and dramas.

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Disney+

Mandalorian

Disney used the Force that was The Mandalorian to persuade people to sign up for its new service. The strategy paid off, to the tune of 25 million subscribers by the time it premiered. The half-hour space adventure series is a little lighter on its feet, and more family-friendly than it first seemed from the marketing. The rare show that's really for everybody, it managed to please the public and critics, plus casual and diehard fans of Star Wars in equal measure (which is no small thing). But there's more than galactic bounty hunters to recommend Disney+, and there will be plenty more in the future (including several Marvel shows). The Toy Story inspired shorts, Forky Asks a Question, have a strange, singular charm. Encore!, a reality series in which the casts of high school musicals reunite to restage their performances, will bring out your inner theater kid.  While Shop Class is a mild-mannered competition show for young builders.

Apple TV+

Apple's foray into the streaming wars came and went without much fanfare. Too many of its initial offerings disappointed. Among those that lived up to expectations are The Morning Show, which brags a stellar cast and timely premise, and Dickinson, the very loose biography of the poet with a purposefully YA vibe. For All Mankind is yet another Nazi-adjacent alternate history, but a good one, involving NASA. Little America, an anthology series about the experience of immigrants, is produced by real-life couple and creative partners, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon.

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Quibi

Quibi's kitsch is that its shows are digestible in "quick bites," which means most last only a few minutes. That's a rough format for Quibi's action and drama series; there's a reason they usually have hour-long run-times. It's still a bit of a stretch for scripted comedies like Flipped and Dummy, which have potential but still beg to be 20 minutes long and on a regular screen. It's a more appropriate fit for the streaming service's unscripted comedy and reality properties. Quibi is about having fun and killing time. That perfectly describes Chrissy's Court, the self-aware riff on daytime courtroom TV. Dishmanteled, a manic cooking competition hosted by Titus Burgess and Gayme Show are similarly funny and fleeting. I Promise, about the elementary school LeBron James funded, is inspirational but frank. The Shape of Pasta, an unexpectedly rich show that's literally about bite-sized food, is possibly the best platform has to offer.

Peacock

NBC's venture into the streaming isn't technically available everywhere just yet. Some Comcast subscribers have early access, but it launches in earnest on July 15th. When it does, you'll notice a great many familiar titles. Peacock promises reboots of Battlestar Galactica, Punky Brewster and Saved by the Bell, plus a MacGruber series. It'll also be the exclusive home of the popular novel adaptations Brave New World and One of Us Is Lying. 

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