Did you get free access Paramount + account with your Walmart Plus account? Do you have a subscription to this streaming service? The big three (Netflix, Hulu, and Prime) get a lot of buzz, but there are some great shows on Paramount + as well.
With an impressively diverse content catalog, Paramount + has seemingly overcome the identity crisis that plagued it in recent years.
In 2021, the streaming service, formerly CBS All Access, was rebranded as Paramount + and has freshly acquired Showtime, adding even more top-notch content to its repertoire. With shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race, Dexter, Yellowstone, and Star Trek, viewers continue to find reasons to return to Paramount +.
You can become one of them by using our list of recommended shows below as your guide to never-ending entertainment.
1. Everybody Hates Chris
Metacritic score: 88
Release date: Sept 22, 2005
Chris Rock may be a household name nowadays, but back in the 1980s, things seemed a lot different for him. Based on the real-life trials and tribulations of a teenage Chris, Everybody Hates Chris has everything we love in a dysfunctional yet endearing family: a domineering and frugal mother, a very muscular father, an annoying little sister, and a younger brother who seems to be everything our protagonist is not. With four seasons and 91 episodes to watch, the show’s formula never gets old; it always gets a good laugh out of you.
2. Evil
Metacritic score: 82
Release date: Sept 26, 2019
David Acosta, a priest-in-training struggling with his clerical convictions, investigates a series of unexplained religious events ranging from alleged miracles to troubling demonic possession. Acosta’s sidekick is Ben Shakir, a maverick when it comes to technology but a non-believer when it comes to supernatural phenomena. To complete their team, they hire Kristen Bouchard, an openly skeptical psychologist whose lack of faith and scientific rationalization become constantly tested the deeper they dive into the evil they encounter. This series, created by Robert and Michelle King, delves into the origins of evil and how thin the line between religion and science is.
3. Star Trek: Picard
Metacritic score: 77
Release date: Jan 23, 2020
Sir Patrick Stewart steps again into his iconic role as Admiral Jean-Luc Picard in this series based on the beloved Star Trek franchise. Set 18 years after the events in ‘Star Trek: Nemesis,’ the show follows a now-retired Picard as he intends to live out the next chapter of his life while dealing with the loss of Lieutenant Commander Data and the decimation of Romulus.
4. Ghosts
Metacritic score: 73
Release date: Oct 17, 2021
Based on a British TV show of the same name, Ghosts follows Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar), who inherit a country estate and plan to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast. However, they soon realize it is haunted by many of its previous tenants. When Samantha has a fall and can see and interact with all the ghosts, things take a weird and hilarious turn.
5. Elsbeth
Metacritic Score: 71
Release Date: Feb 29, 2024
In this spin-off of The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) uses her skills to help NYPD Captain C.W. Wagner (Wendell Pierce) and Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) investigate cases.
6. George & Tammy
Metacritic score: 71
Release date: Dec 4, 2022
This six-part limited series chronicles the complicated relationship of one of country music’s most enduring power couple: George Jones (Michael Shannon) and Tammy Wynette (Jessica Chastain). Created by Abe Sylvia, the series doesn’t shy away from showing all the highs and lows they experienced as individuals and as a couple. Their romance may have been messy, but their music was electrifying.
7. Survivor
Metacritic score: 70
Release date: May 31, 2005
Here’s a show that needs no introduction. Survivor is one of history’s most legendary reality TV shows. For 46 seasons, contestants are pitted against each other, with challenges abounding on that year’s island of choice. Ultimately, only the last one standing can claim Survivor’s glory and title.
8. The Real World
Bunim-Murray Productions (BMP).
Metacritic score: 66
Release date: 1992
The second-longest-running reality TV show, MTV’s The Real World, introduced a new genre that has been copied countless times since then. The premise is relatively simple and ingenious: put seven young and good-looking strangers in a house with cameras and mics recording their every move and word and watch the soap opera-style drama ensue at a fraction of the cost. With 34 seasons, The Real World has been filmed worldwide, from New York to Key West, Sydney, and Paris.
9. Sun Records
Thinkfactory Media.
Metacritic score: 65
Release date: February 23, 2017
Based on the Tony Award-winning musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” this eight-part series chronicles the early years of rock ‘n’ roll trailblazer Sam Phillips and his recording studio (Sun Studio), where the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash saw their legendary careers get started. Their sudden stardom is set against the chaos of social unrest and political change that characterized the 1950’s.
10. Tracker
Metacritic score: 64
Release date: February 11, 2024
Survivalist Colter Shaw (Justin Hartley) uses his tracking skills to locate missing people and items in the drama series based on Jeffery Deaver’s novel, The Never Game. The show is a little deeper than your regular “cop show” format, and Colter Shaw is extremely enigmatic as the troubled yet brilliant survivalist.
11. JAG
Metacritic score: 63
Release date: September 23, 1995
Created by Donald P. Bellisario, the show follows a team of elite military officers trained as lawyers investigating crimes within the military, prosecuting perpetrators, and defending victims. Murder, terrorism, treason—JAG has all the adventure and drama one can imagine and then some.
12. Why Women Kill
Metacritic score: 62
Release date: August 14, 2019
The word “Kill” may be in the title, but this show is a comedy—albeit a dark one. Detailing the lives of three women who lived in the same house during three different decades, the anthology series retails the events that led these women—whose lives were marred by betrayal and marital infidelity—to murder.
13. FBI
Metacritic score: 57
Release date: September 25, 2018
This Dick Wolf, fast-paced procedural drama takes place in the New York FBI office, where a team of first-class agents uses their intellect, technical expertise, and tenacity to keep the country safe from terrorism, counterintelligence, and organized crime—all while navigating the nitty-gritty of the organization.
14. Beverly Hills, 90210
90210 Productions.
Metacritic score: 53
Release date: October 4, 1990
This quintessentially 90s teen drama follows (for ten seasons) a group of young, beautiful people as they navigate life in Beverly Hills, CA. From high school to college and then the “real world,” we see their struggles, failures, and victories. The drama never disappoints, with friendships going sour, romances faltering, family crises, drug addictions, and their share of tragedies.
15. Big Brother
Metacritic score: 35
Release date: July 5, 2000
Big Brother, created by John de Mol, has 25 seasons under its belt. Like The Real World, this show brings total strangers under one roof, with cameras and mics recording their every activity. Unlike MTV’s reality show, Big Brother’s contestants are cut off from all contact with the outside world as they go through a series of challenges and nominations, where, one by one, they are voted out until the winner remains.
16. The Game
Metacritic score: 31
Release date: October 1, 2006
Starring Tia Mowry (of Sister, Sister fame) as Melanie Barnett, The Game follows a young and bright medical student as she journeys through life. Having decided to pass on her chance to attend Johns Hopkins Medical School, Melanie follows her rookie football player boyfriend to San Diego. There, she meets other women involved in one way or another with athletes and learns how to play the game.
17. The Love Boat
Metacritic score: TBD
Release date: May 5, 1977
This campy series is a classic of American culture. For ten seasons, the comedy-drama show chronicles the inevitable romances between passengers and the ship’s crew aboard the Pacific Princess.
19 Hyped-Up Movies That Were Actually Terrible
So, you know how there’s always this buzz around those hyped-up movies, right? Like, the ones that everyone’s talking about, the trailers that give you goosebumps, and the anticipation that’s through the roof?
Yeah, those. But here’s the kicker- sometimes, they turn out to be total duds.
19 Hyped-Up Movies That Were Actually Terrible