Thursday, November 5, 2026

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Television

The Best Docuseries of the Last Few Years

The best new documentaries range from the captivating docudrama to the hard-bitten and news-heavy, but what they all have in common is sharing true stories and experiences with a wider audience. The increase of streaming services has made it even easier to find a new docuseries about what you're interested in, whether it's baby animals or true crime. Recent Amazon docuseries and new Netflix original documentaries have captured the audience's attention as surely as the latest HBO documentaries. With so many great new documentary television series airing in the past few years, it can be tough to choose what to watch so this list is ranked by your votes. Mixing scripted drama based on real events with expert opinion makes for captivating television, and series like The Lost Pirate Kingdom and The Last Czars blend both formats handily, while Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan, offers more reenactment than scripted drama. Docu-reality series such as Cheer and Couple's Therapy work in the other direction, balancing the immersive style of reality with the story arc of a documentary. True crime documentaries are also a staple of the docuseries, and the past few years have given audiences shows like Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, The Vow, Lorena, and more. But not all documentaries are dour. Educational docuseries like The World According to Jeff Goldblum, nature docs like Life in Color With David Attenborough, and the comedy documentary History of Swear Words are informative series that add curiosity and color to the world. Whatever topic you're interested in learning in, there are new TV documentaries that will satisfy your curiosity. Vote up the best recent documentary shows, and see where your favorites rank.

Entries: 543
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Source: Ranker, ranked by its voters.

#1Currently leadingDark Side of the 2000s

1
Dark Side of the 2000s
100% upvoted
2
Cult Massacre: One Day in Jonestown
100% upvoted
3
Earthsounds
100% upvoted
4
Spacey Unmasked
100% upvoted
5
The Secret Life of Dancing Dogs
100% upvoted
6
The American Buffalo
100% upvoted
7
Escaping Twin Flames
80% upvoted
8
Quiet on Set:The Dark Side of Kids TV
80% upvoted
9
Secrets of the Octopus
89% upvoted
10
Conan O'Brien Must Go
88% upvoted
11
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets
78% upvoted
12
Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza
83% upvoted
13
Bronx Zoo '90: Crime, Chaos, and Baseball
83% upvoted
14
Jerrod Carmichael: Reality Show
83% upvoted
15
Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story
83% upvoted
16
Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe
83% upvoted
17
Goliath
83% upvoted
18
Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators
83% upvoted
19
FBI True
83% upvoted
20
The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth
83% upvoted
21
Daughters of the Cult
71% upvoted
22
Till Murder Do Us Part: Soering vs. Haysom
71% upvoted
23
Willie Nelson & Family
67% upvoted
24
Secrets of Penthouse
60% upvoted
25
Where Is Wendy Williams?
67% upvoted
26
Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution
100% upvoted
27
Hope on the Street
100% upvoted
28
The Many Lives of Martha Stewart
100% upvoted
29
Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?
67% upvoted
30
Becoming Frida Kahlo
100% upvoted
31
The Super Models
100% upvoted
32
I Wanna Rock: The 80s Metal Dream
100% upvoted
33
Black Pop: Celebrating the Power of Black Culture
100% upvoted
34
STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A.
63% upvoted
35
Black Twitter: A People's History
63% upvoted
36
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul
63% upvoted
37
Depp v. Heard
57% upvoted
38
Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop
57% upvoted
39
Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action
57% upvoted
40
Secrets of Polygamy
100% upvoted
41
The Garden: Commune or Cult
100% upvoted
42
Animal Genius: Teamwork
75% upvoted
43
Airline Wars
75% upvoted
44
Nothin' but a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of '80s Hair Metal
75% upvoted
45
Dark Side of Reality TV
75% upvoted
46
Like a Girl
75% upvoted
47
K-Pop Idols
75% upvoted
48
In Vogue: The 90s
75% upvoted
49
Time of Essence
100% upvoted
50
Secrets of Miss America
100% upvoted
51
How to Become a Cult Leader
100% upvoted
52
The Icons That Built America
67% upvoted
53
Hollywood Con Queen
67% upvoted
54
Secrets of the Hells Angels
67% upvoted
55
STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces
67% upvoted
56
Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order
100% upvoted
57
Trust Me: The False Prophet
100% upvoted
58
The Man with 1000 Kids
50% upvoted
59
You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment
50% upvoted
60
The Power of Film
50% upvoted
61
Born in Synanon
50% upvoted
62
The UnBelievable With Dan Aykroyd
50% upvoted
63
Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God
50% upvoted
64
How to Become a Mob Boss
50% upvoted
65
Rebuilding Black Wall Street
50% upvoted
66
Dark Marvels
50% upvoted
67
Surviving Black Hawk Down
50% upvoted
68
How Disney Built America
20% upvoted
69
The Synanon Fix
33% upvoted
70
The Mega-Brands That Built America
33% upvoted
71
Ángel Di María: Breaking Down the Wall
0% upvoted
72
Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War
0% upvoted
73
Are You Sure?!
0% upvoted
74
After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun
0% upvoted
75
Icons Unearthed: Harry Potter
0% upvoted
76
Chimp Crazy
0% upvoted
77
Social Studies
0% upvoted
78
Big Cats 24/7
0% upvoted
79
The Chicano Squad
0% upvoted
80
Uninterrupted's Top Class Tennis
0% upvoted
81
Simone Biles: Rising
0% upvoted
82
Prison Chronicles
0% upvoted
83
Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough
0% upvoted
84
American Godfathers: The Five Families
0% upvoted
85
The Americas
0% upvoted
86
Scamanda
0% upvoted
87
Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam
0% upvoted
88
Icons Unearthed: Spider-Man
0% upvoted
89
Teen Torture INC.
0% upvoted
90
Contraband: Seized at Sea
0% upvoted
91
Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose
0% upvoted
92
Hungry Games: Alaska's Big Bear Challenge
0% upvoted
93
Mafia Spies
0% upvoted
94
SPRINT
0% upvoted
95
LaLiga: All Access
0% upvoted
96
Omnivore
0% upvoted
97
Hollywood Black
0% upvoted
98
OceanXplorers
0% upvoted
99
Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine
0% upvoted
100
Melissa Etheridge: I'm Not Broken
0% upvoted

443 more entries are on Ranker.