There are definitely too many streaming services. Thanks to the revolution that Netflix ushered in, every broadcast network and parent company decided that they had to get in on the streaming wars. Peacock is NBC Universal’s streaming service, and although it may not seem like the most attractive option, there are actually a number of great Peackock movies and shows available on the service that are hard to find anywhere else.
Some of those popular shows are Peacock originals, although there are plenty that initially aired on NBC or elsewhere, and have wound their way to Peacock thanks in part to the complicated nature of TV rights. Regardless of where they came from originally, though, all of the shows on this list are well worth checking out.
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Girls5eva (2021)
2 Seasons
Genre
Comedy
Cast
Sara Bareilles, Paula Pell, Renée Elise Goldsberry
Created by
Meredith Scardino
Girls5eva is the only Peacock original series to make this list, and that’s because through its first season it proved to be one of the funniest sitcoms currently airing on TV. The show follows a one-hit wonder girl group from the 1990s who reunite after their song is made popular again thanks to a rapper’s sajust mple. The series sees them attempt to recapture the spotlight, but it’s a very effective joke machine. Each of the show’s central characters is finely drawn, and there’s enough great music on the show to completely justify the concept.
The Office (2005)
9 Seasons
Genre
Comedy
Cast
Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer
Created by
Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Greg Daniels
Although it had plenty of fans while it was airing, The Office has only grown in popularity since it became available to stream on Netflix. Of course, now that it’s on Peacock, it’s no longer available on that other streaming service. It says something about Peacock’s strategy, though, that they wanted to lure subscribers over just by offering The Office. It’s also easy to see why the show has become so popular. Its cringe comedy has largely aged well, and it’s also a show about a found family of weirdos who all begrudgingly find themselves supporting one another just because they happen to work in the same office.
Superstore (2015)
6 Seasons
Genre
Comedy
Cast
Ben Feldman, Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn
Created by
Justin Spitzer
Peacock is home to many of the shows that once aired on NBC, and in recent years, NBC has become the home for a number of outstanding comedies. Superstore may not have received the acclaim that greeted series like 30 Rock or The Office, but its version of the workplace sitcom was a natural evolution of those series. The show follows a found family of weird, hilarious employees at a suburban megastore, and for as funny as it often was, it also had an enormous heart. Superstore stayed sharp throughout its run, and it’s sure to be a great discovery for those looking for a great, under-the-radar sitcom.
30 Rock (2006)
7 Seasons
Genre
Comedy
Cast
Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan
Created by
Tina Fey
If The Office represents the softer side of what NBC comedies could be, 30 Rock is the hard-edged, joke-dense counterpoint. The show, which follows Tina Fey as the fictional Liz Lemon, a writer on a Saturday Night Live-style sketch show, is hilarious and often quite cynical about the way the world works. Not every joke from the series lands perfectly, but 30 Rock is just one of the funniest shows that has ever aired on TV. Alec Baldwin redefined his entire career with his performance as Jack Donaghy, and Fey proved that she could be as funny in front of the camera as she was writing jokes behind the scenes.
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Parenthood (2010)
6 Seasons
Genre
Drama
Cast
Peter Krause, Monica Potter, Lauren Graham
Created by
Jason Katims
In terms of drama, the stakes of Parenthood are relatively low. The show follows a single family as they deal with the joys and difficulties of raising children, and it manages to make the struggles of that family, and of the four siblings at the show’s center, feel compelling. Parenthood is a show about the difficulty of just being alive, and about the joy that can come when you have people around you who love and care about you. Each of the show’s characters evolve and grow as the show goes through its season, and we watch the children age right alongside the parents at the show’s core.
Friday Night Lights (2006)
5 Seasons
Genre
Drama
Cast
Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Aimee Teegarden
Created by
Brian Grazer, Peter Berg
Friday Night Lights is one of the best dramas to ever air on NBC, but due to low ratings, the show didn’t get to finish its run on the network. In spite of that, the series, which follows the life of a small Texas town that’s obsessed with high school football, remains one of the more resonant dramas of the 21st century. Friday Night Lights is a sports drama through and through, but because it’s a serialized TV show, it can dive deep into each of its characters and explore the hardships of their lives as they try to balance football with everything else that’s happening around them.
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
1 Season
Genre
Action & Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Cast
Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff
Battlestar Galactica is hard science fiction, but it’s also one of the best drama series of its kind. The show is a dark, grim update on a 1970s series of the same name, and tells the story of largely diminished human population as they battle against robots known as Cylons, which are hell-bent on wiping them out. That premise may sound like fairly rote sci-fi, but Battlestar Galactica is anything but. The series is a pretty directly reflection of the politics of the mid-2000s, which is when the show aired, and it’s also a complex look at what it really means to be human.
Parks and Recreation (2009)
7 Seasons
Genre
Comedy
Cast
Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman
Created by
Greg Daniels, Michael Schur
Although it started as little more than a riff on The Office, Parks and Recreation evolved into a meditation on how to create a comedy where the characters are generally kind and loving toward one another. Although Ted Lasso gets a lot of credit for how much it puts kindness at the center of its story, Parks and Recreation operated in a very similar space. After a rough start, the show was consistently funny, and it packed together a cast of incredible comedians who have almost all gone on to incredible success in the years since the show ended.
Cheers (1982)
11 Seasons
Genre
Comedy
Cast
Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman
Created by
Glen Charles, Les Charles, James Burrows
Cheers is the oldest show on this list, and it’s also the show that every other sitcom is most indebted to. The series, which ran for more than 250 episodes, follows the workers and regular patrons at a Boston bar as their lives change and evolve. The series took this relatively simple premise and turned it into one of the most loveable comedies of all time. Cheers was about a group of people who made themselves into a family, and ultimately proved that the people who love you most aren’t always your blood relatives.
Yellowstone (2018)
5 Seasons
Genre
Western, Drama
Cast
Kevin Costner, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes
Created by
John Linson, Taylor Sheridan
Although it’s often described as a show for middle America, Yellowstone is a great watch no matter where you live. The series follows the Dutton family, the owners of the biggest ranch in the entire United States. The plotting takes the shape of a fairly conventional soap opera, but that’s not meant as an insult. Some of the greatest TV shows of all time play out like soaps, and Yellowstone uses them as a playbook. There’s plenty of intrigue and family drama, but Yellowstone is always good enough to keep you coming back for more.
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