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TV Shows to Watch on SHOWTIME

There are more SHOWTIME original series than Yellowjackets and Dexter—check out over 60 dramas, comedies, and documentaries available on the premium channel.

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Premium movie channel SHOWTIME began producing original programming in the ‘90s, but it wasn’t until the 2000s that SHOWTIME made a splash with Queer as Folk, The L Word, and the network’s first big hit, Dexter. Then came Weeds, Californication, Homeland, and several other entries into the pop-cultural zeitgeist.

SHOWTIME doesn’t crank out as many new series as it once did these days, but recent hits like Yellowjackets, George & Tammy, and Billions prove it still has the touch. Here are 64 SHOWTIME originals worth checking out.

SHOWTIME TV show recommendations

Yellowjackets (2022–present)

Yellowjackets was one of the surprise hits of 2022, mashing up Lord of the Flies and Lost in a dual-timeline thriller dominated by stars Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, and Melanie Lynskey. In 1996, a plane carrying a girls’ high-school soccer team crashes in the Canadian wilderness. In the present day, the now-adult women are still dealing with the trauma and guilt of what they did to survive (no spoilers, but it wasn’t pretty). Yellowjackets is a drama, comedy, mystery, and killer ’90s playlist all in one.

Yellowjackets on SHOWTIME

George & Tammy (2022–2023)

Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain portray “Mr. and Mrs. Country Music” in George & Tammy, a biopic miniseries about the real-life travails of George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Their story plays like a forlorn country song full of drugs, booze, and domestic strife—and they still managed to create timeless music. Shannon and Chastain were so committed to the roles that they did their own singing for the series, and Chastain received a 2023 Golden Globe award nomination for her performance.

George & Tammy on SHOWTIME

Billions (2016–present)

Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis (and later in the series, Corey Stoll) battle it out with over-the-top, capital-A Acting in Billions, a tale of the super-rich versus the law (and their own egos). New York business titans Bobby Axelrod (Lewis) and Michael Prince (Stoll) are at constant legal odds with Attorney General Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti), and Chuck’s wife Wendy (Maggie Siff), who works for Axelrod, is caught in the melodramatic middle. Billions isn’t deep, but it’s full of darkly comic schemes and expensive toys to enjoy.

Billions on SHOWTIME

Shameless (2011–2021)

Before he was The Bear, Jeremy Allen White spent 11 seasons at the center of Shameless, a comedy/drama about the most dysfunctional family in the South Side of Chicago—or anywhere. The Gallaghers (including White, William H. Macy, and Emmy Rossum) scrape by in the underbelly of society. They do whatever it takes to survive while still making time for plenty of sex, drugs, alcohol, and familial fights. Eleven seasons may seem daunting, but once you’re in, your time with the Gallaghers flies by.

Shameless on SHOWTIME

Dexter (2006–2013)

After a decade of minor original hits, SHOWTIME finally entered the big time in 2006 with Dexter, America’s favorite serial killer for eight seasons (or at least four). Miami police forensics expert Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) examines blood spatters by day and creates them at night as a killer with a code: only murder other murderers. The tension and thrills wore a bit thin by the end of the original run in 2013, but the show redeemed itself in 2021 with Dexter: New Blood, an excellent series wrap-up.

Dexter on SHOWTIME

Weeds (2005–2012)

Even in the age of marijuana legalization, Weeds still holds up as a solid crime comedy. Suburban widow Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) reluctantly becomes a friendly neighborhood pot dealer to make ends meet. As her volume and illegality increase, she’s drawn into progressively more dangerous (and hilarious) situations. For some reason, only a few seasons of one of its most iconic shows are available on SHOWTIME, but you can find all eight Weeds seasons on Hulu and Peacock.

Weeds on SHOWTIME

More SHOWTIME TV show recommendations

Recommended drama TV shows on SHOWTIME

  • The Affair
  • American Gigolo
  • The Chi
  • I’m Dying Up Here
  • Kidding
  • The L Word
  • The L Word: Generation Q
  • Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber
  • The Tudors
  • United States of Tara

Recommended comedy TV shows on SHOWTIME

  • Black Monday
  • Californication
  • Episodes
  • Happy-ish
  • House of Lies
  • I Love That for You
  • On Becoming a God in Central Florida
  • Secret Diary of a Call Girl
  • SMILF
  • Ziwe

Recommended action TV shows on SHOWTIME

  • Brotherhood
  • City on a Hill
  • Escape at Dannemora
  • The Good Lord Bird
  • Homeland
  • Ray Donovan
  • Sleeper Cell
  • Wakefield
  • We Hunt Together
  • Your Honor

Recommended sci-fi and horror TV shows on SHOWTIME

  • Let the Right One In
  • The Man Who Fell to Earth
  • Moonbase 8
  • Penny Dreadful
  • Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
  • Twin Peaks

Recommended documentary TV shows on SHOWTIME

  • Boys in Blue
  • The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth
  • Gossip
  • The Lincoln Project
  • The Reagans
  • Spector
  • This American Life
  • UFO
  • We Need to Talk About Cosby
  • Wu-Tang: Of Mics and Men

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