This article is updated frequently as titles leave and enter Disney+. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
Disney’s massive streaming channel is largely a library for the history of one of the most influential and important entertainment companies in the world. It doesn’t need new shows for kids to watch Coco or Frozen for the 800th time. And yet, it has also been an interesting branch of the machines that are the Star Wars and Marvel cinematic universes, with some of their shows even earning Emmy attention. Since the massive launches of The Mandalorian and WandaVision, the consistent development of these new offerings has built out an increasingly dense catalogue of TV shows. So it’s time for a guide: What are the best shows to watch on Disney+ if you can let Frozen go? Let us shepherd the way with this regularly updated list of the best TV shows on Disney+.
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones
Years: 1992–1993
Length: 2 seasons, 28 episodes (plus 4 films)
Creator: George Lucas
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles actually aired on ABC from 1992 to 1993 with four TV films from 1994 to 1996, but it was reedited into 22 TV movies in 1999 and retitled. Whatever you call it, this is a fun, underrated chapter in Indiana Jones history, a version of the character that recalls the inspiration for Indy in the first place, with its action-adventure, episodic tone echoing the serials that sparked the imagination of a young George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
Andor
Years: 2022–present
Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
Creator: Tony Gilroy
Is this the best Star Wars TV series? It’s certainly the one that takes this world the most seriously, an incredibly smart origin story for Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), one of the characters from 2016’s Rogue One. It helps that the film’s co-writer, Tony Gilroy, is the creative force behind this captivating show, one that doesn’t talk down to its audience like so many of the Disney+ Star Wars shows have a bad habit of doing. It’s also remarkably well made, looking more like a short film every episode than an episode of television.
Black-ish
Years: 2014–2022
Length: 8 seasons, 176 episodes
Creator: Kenya Barris
As the age of the TV network sitcom seems to be winding down, let’s take a minute to appreciate the eight-season run of this ABC critical and commercial darling, a show that worked because of the strength of its writing and how much it made audiences care about the Johnson family. Led by underrated performances by Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish feels like a show that could really sustain in streaming for years, where audiences have proven they like the comfort of a sitcom as empathetic and embracing as this one.
Daredevil
Years: 2015–2018
Length: 3 seasons, 39 episodes
Creator: Drew Goddard
Remember when this was a Netflix show? When the Marvel deal with that streaming service ended, the MCU-adjacent shows on that streaming giant jumped over to Disney+, where they now belong. The first Netflix-Marvel show was arguably the best, a three-season adaptation of one of Marveldom’s most captivating character, the blind vigilante played by Charlie Cox. With the character being reportedly refashioned in Daredevil: Born Again and new episodes with Cox and the villainous Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin, it’s time to catch up with the original run.
Gravity Falls
Years: 2012–2016
Length: 2 seasons, 40 episodes
Creator: Alex Hirsch
The only possible knock against one of the best animated shows of its era is that it only ran two seasons. Creator Alex Hirsch’s decision to leave Gravity Falls, Oregon, behind in 2016 still hurts, but it means there are literally no flaws in this incredible show, a creative, funny, smart program that works equally for kids and adults. Kristen Schaal and Jason Ritter play twins Mabel and Dipper Pines, kids who end up in a Twin Peaks–esque small town filled with unforgettable characters. It’s the best.
Hawkeye
Year: 2021
Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
Creator: Jonathan Igla
There have been some downright dismal Disney+ MCU shows over the last couple years — sorry, Secret Invasion fans, if there are any out there — but this one just makes the cut for a list like this one largely through the sheer charismatic force that is Hailee Steinfeld. As Kate Bishop, Steinfeld steals the entire short season of this show, and one hopes it’s not the last time we see her in the role.
Jessica Jones
Years: 2015–2019
Length: 3 seasons, 39 episodes
Creator: Melissa Rosenberg
The second Netflix-Marvel show proved that this project could take its characters extremely seriously, working very adult issues like trauma and assault into a stellar first season, one that introduced us to Krysten Ritter as the title character and an unforgettably awful David Tennant as the bad guy. It kind of never reached the height of that initial outing, but there was always something to admire here, largely in the writing and the always-magnetic Ritter.
Loki
Years: 2021–present
Length: 2 seasons, 12 episodes
Creator: Michael Waldron
Is this the best Disney+/MCU series? It’s certainly the most ambitious, which is why it has maintained interest beyond the traditional one-and-done of this venture. Tom Hiddleston unexpectedly became one of the most essential and repeated parts of the MCU when he played Loki, the trickster with an identity crisis. Michael Waldron’s show explores the concept of multiverses and alternate timelines in a way that feels fresher than so many of the stale MCU projects that work in the same milieu.
The Mandalorian
Years: 2019–present
Length: 3 seasons, 24 episodes
Creator: Jon Favreau
In many ways, this is the backbone of television on Disney+, so it kind of has to make this list. And that first season is still pretty badass, a great use of the western-inspired origins for the title bounty hunter with sharp storytelling and engaging world-building. The show has kind of lost its way since then, but there’s still hope that it could find its way back, like a Mandalorian finding his prey. This is the way.
The Muppet Show
Years: 1976–1981
Length: 5 seasons, 120 episodes
Creator: Jim Henson
Where does one even begin in a capsule about the Muppets? They rule? They’ve ruled for almost a half-century now? Seriously, if you don’t like the Muppets, you just don’t like comedy. Or joy. There is a lot of Muppet-related content on Disney+, but the best is arguably still the original run of TV shows, a great example of Jim Henson’s wit, charm, and creativity, intertwining vaudeville humor with the celebrities and issues of the day. That and Animal, maybe the funniest character in TV history.
The Simpsons
Years: 1989–present
Length: 35 seasons, 754 episodes
Creator: Matt Groening
Will The Simpsons ever end? No one, not even its writers, would argue that The Simpsons is at its creative peak anymore, but that’s largely because said peak was so damn high. At least seasons three through five — and arguably more like two through nine — are among the best TV ever. And there has been a lot of greatness since then. Honestly, just being able to have such a massive, generation-spanning collection of television at your fingertips feels like it justifies the Disney+ subscription price on its own.
A Small Light
Year: 2023
Length: 1 season, 8 episodes
Creator: Joan Rater, Tony Phelan
It can’t all be cartoons and stormtroopers on Disney+. Head over to the Nat Geo section to find some of the smartest educational programming out there, including this captivating 2023 miniseries about the true story of Miep Gies (a fantastic Bel Powley), a Dutch woman who helped protect Jews during the Holocaust. Never reaching for melodrama, A Small Light is moving dramatic television, a reminder of the responsibility people share when faced with the potential to stem the tide of evil in this world.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Years: 2008–2020
Length: 7 seasons, 133 episodes
Creator: George Lucas
It can be hard for non-fans to even keep up with the universe of The Clone Wars, a show that takes place between the action of The Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. It’s a show that can sometimes feel a bit too dense with its own mythology, but it’s mostly a really ambitious piece of animated storytelling, a program that values its character and world design in a way that can be truly entertaining. You don’t need to know how all the characters fit together. Just enjoy the ride.
WandaVision
Year: 2021
Length: 1 season, 9 episodes
Creator: Jac Schaeffer
The first MCU show is probably still the best, largely through the sheer force of its creative writing and its breathtaking performances from Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as Scarlet Witch and Vision, respectively. A spoof of the TV tropes in which Wanda finds herself trapped, it’s a program that weaves issues like trauma and the responsibility of heroism into a consistently engaging narrative structure. If only more Disney MCU shows were this creative.
*X-Men ‘97
Year: 2024
Length: 1 season, 10 episodes
Creator: Beau DeMayo
This show feels impossible. Not only does it reboot the mid-’90s hit X-Men: The Animated Series, it picks up right where that show ended in 1997, complete with most of the same voice cast in key roles. It’s like being transported back in time. And it’s much more than mere nostalgia, taking this chance to create one of the most thematically rich comic book shows on any streaming service.
