It was inevitable that 2023 would be an outstanding year for TV with the return of Emmy-award winning shows such as Succession and Ted Lasso. This year gave us plenty of series to binge for big laughs, lots of tears, or an escape into a fictional world. As 2023 comes to a close, JustWatch has crunched the numbers to find the most popular TV series on streaming services throughout the year.
2023 started strong with HBO’s adaptation of the acclaimed video game, The Last of Us, which topped this year’s streaming charts. With a huge audience of new and pre-existing fans, this gripping dystopian horror became the most popular TV series of the year and already has a second season on the horizon.
Netflix debuted Tim Burton’s Addams Family spin-off Wednesday in late 2022, opening to worldwide success that led to a viral TikTok dance, and even broke the streamer’s records to become the most viewed series (in English) on the platform. The Netflix original series landed at #5 on the streaming charts. Netflix also released the fourth and final season of its award-winning drama, Top Boy, as well as the mind-boggling mystery series, Manifest.
Many of us also handled the heat of the kitchen in the second season of The Bear, bringing back Chicago’s favourite sandwich shop. Another favourite from Disney+ is Tom Hiddleston’s return as the God of Mischief in the second season on Loki, which debuted back in October. Other family favourite franchises also found success on the streamer, including Star Wars with the third instalment of The Mandalorian.
Several contemporary cult classic TV shows also came to a close this year, as the final season of HBO’s family business drama Succession aired with some shocking surprises. Apple TV+ also said farewell (for now it seems) to its greatest asset, Ted Lasso, as AFC Richmond returned for its third and final season of the Emmy-award winning comedy. In between the bittersweet goodbyes, viewers indulged in copious amounts of animated sitcom South Park for some light relief.
We found the top 10 titles using the JustWatch popularity score, which considers a host of activities such as clicking on a streaming offer, which titles were added to watchlists, and which titles were marked as ‘seen’. You can find the top 10 below, including streaming offers so you can catch up with the most popular series of the year.
