The Best TV Shows on Disney Plus – CNET [CNET]

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It’s no longer a debate: Disney Plus is one of the best streaming services out there. With only a couple of years under its belt, Disney Plus has cemented itself as a premium destination for quality entertainment, both with an archive of classics and its own original content — and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. The service continues to release new shows and movies in the Marvel and Star Wars universes, but it’s grown much further than just those two franchises.

As the platform expands, more content that appeals to all ages continues to be added. Shows such as The Simpsons are perfect for cartoon lovers, whereas those looking for a light-hearted reality TV show can now enjoy streaming Dancing With the Stars live every Monday. From romantic comedies to crime-fighting superheroes, there’s something for everyone.

Because of the sheer amount of content, it can be hard to know where to start. Well, we’ve got your back. Here’s our list of the best TV shows you need to watch on Disney Plus.

Read moreEverything You Need to Know to Sign Up for Disney Plus

Star Wars

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Disney Plus

Star Wars TV shows have been hit-and-miss over the past few years (Obi-Wan, good; The Book of Boba Fett, less good), but in 2022 it feels like Disney is getting a real feel for what works in this universe. Without a shadow of a doubt, Andor is the best Star Wars show to date. It’s a show that expands the Star Wars universe in unique and compelling ways. This is a show about fascism and our response to it. Just fantastic stuff.

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Disney Plus

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the best Star Wars show on Disney Plus, easily.

Darth Vader has never felt more sinister, and Ewan McGregor is killing it as a weakened Jedi Knight trying to get his groove back. This is everything I hoped for and more.

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Lucasfilm

Anecdote time: I made my kids watch the original Star Wars trilogy. They hated it. 

I made them watch Star Wars: Visions. They loved it. Star Wars: Visions is a collection of anime style shorts, much like the classic Animatrix collection, that launched in The Matrix series.

There’s some absolutely dazzling stuff in here. A must watch for any Star Wars fan.

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Lucasfilm Ltd.

The show that launched Baby Yoda into the pop culture stratosphere built its foundations on a base of bountiful action and rich Space Western visuals. The titular lone bounty hunter finds his soft side as he protects his precious green alien baby from those on his tail. For polished episodic storytelling in the Star Wars universe, The Mandalorian is bang on. Two seasons are available now, with a third on the way.

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Disney Plus

This new Star Wars series is a spin-off of the lauded The Clone Wars. Using the same CGI-animated style, The Bad Batch follows a squad of elite clone troopers who all have genetic defects, which may or may not give them special abilities. From Dave Filoni, producer of The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch even features Fennec Shand (voiced by Ming-Na Wen), from the live-action show. A more than solid 16-episode diversion that should particularly satisfy those partial to delving deeper into Star Wars lore, and it’s been renewed for a second season.

Marvel 

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Disney Plus

The first of a barrage of Marvel Cinematic Universe shows, WandaVision, in nine weekly episodes, finds Wanda and Vision hopping through eras of sitcom TV, starting in the black-and-white ’50s. Why are Earth’s mightiest heroes now a housewife and a suit working a nondescript day job? It might have something to do with a grieving Wanda’s reaction to — spoiler — Vision’s death in Avengers: Endgame. Weird, funny and laden with Easter eggs, WandaVision delivers your money’s worth.

Read WandaVision review.

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Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios

Disney’s second big Marvel show serves six episodes of much more familiar superhero fare. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier pairs Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, and Bucky Barnes, aka Winter Soldier, in a buddy-comedy globe-trotting adventure. The action, quips and threat to the world are all there, but underneath a touch of social commentary simmers.

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Disney Plus

Marvel continues its wonderful relationship with TV series Community, tapping stars Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs not to act in but direct episodes of a new documentary series. Over eight episodes, Marvel 616 looks at just how much the comics and movies have influenced culture. From the journey to Captain Marvel and female representation to fascinating versions of Marvel comics in other countries, Marvel 616 is a slice of life fans across the world will relate to.

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Disney Plus

Six superpowered teens team up to fight against their criminal parents — that’s the intriguing premise of Marvel’s Runaways. Eventually the team does some running, escaping their parents as well as Morgan le Fay and other villains. Despite its occasional reliance on standard superhero storytelling over its three seasons, this strong ensemble will grow on you, along with the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe references and general exciting action.

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Disney Plus

Criminally short at two seasons, Marvel’s Agent Carter gave the whip-smart Peggy Carter a chance to showcase her action-hero side. Set after her love Steve Rogers sacrifices himself at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, it reveals Peggy’s adventurous life in 1940s New York as she works with genius scientist Howard Stark and his butler Jarvis. Hayley Atwell channels a sense of cheeky fun in this stylish Marvel TV gem.

Sports drama

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Disney Plus

John Stamos stars in this sports dramedy that hits all the right notes. At the center is a basketball coach — exceptionally named Marvyn Korn — whose bad temper sees him fired from the highest level of college basketball. His next gig takes him to a team at a private girls high school. The transition isn’t the smoothest or the most original, but it’s the performances and wholesome spirit that make Big Shot sweet viewing. All 10 episodes are available now, with a second season likely to arrive next year.

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Disney

A follow-up to the ’90s movies, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers stars Emilio Estevez as the original Ducks coach, Gordon Bombay. A new team of underdogs brings together the rejects. Who do they enlist as their coach? You get one guess. With Lauren Graham helping provide some of the laughs, it’s surprisingly layered, packed with earnestness and nostalgia. Season 1’s 10 episodes are available now, with a second season confirmed.

Older Disney classics

Everything else…

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Disney Plus

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019—)

If you’re not into the High School Musical film series, then this mockumentary might be a little more your thing. Especially since it’s a tongue-in-cheek look at a group of musical theater students putting on a musical inspired by the films in the exact same school the films were shot. Still, it doesn’t veer too far from its source material, featuring a romance between its two leads — Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett. Fans of Glee will find much to get on board with over its two seasons (and two specials), with a third on the way.

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Disney Plus

With Disney Plus’ National Geographic content comes Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a 13-episode follow-up to Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the documentary series updates the ’80s milestone of scientific documentaries. Stunning CGI aids the storytelling approach to humanity’s triumphs and mistakes in science.

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Disney Plus

Loosely based on the ’80s movie of the same name (which was based on the best-selling book by Tom Wolfe), The Right Stuff shows you the gritty side of the US space program’s beginnings. Over eight episodes, we follow the Mercury Seven — seven pilots accepted into the space program — and the effect the competitive job and media scrutiny have on their families. Though it doesn’t exactly tread new ground, The Right Stuff is a handsome, proficient look at NASA in the ’50s and ’60s.

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ABC

If you’re into fairy tales reimagined for a modern day setting, Once Upon a Time covered a huge range of classics (and Frozen!) over seven seasons. Set in a seaside town with a forest not far away, the story follows Emma Swan and her 10-year-old son. They encounter magical objects, like a Narnia-repping wardrobe, and live-action characters like Snow White, Prince Charming and the Evil Queen, who were transported to the real world. It’s up to Emma to help them break a curse that stole their memories. Charming, grab-your-tea-and-a-blanket stuff.

Movies Coming in 2022 From Marvel, Netflix, DC and More

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