13 Best Shows About the 1%, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes

HBO’s Succession will start its fourth and remaining season shortly, bringing followers again into the rich and poisonous world of the chaotic Roy household. Like Succession, many different exhibits depict the 1% with admirable accuracy, shortly turning into important and fan favorites.

Some collection take a darkly comical strategy, whereas others select an easy depiction of what it is wish to have that a lot cash; just a few exhibits go for the opposite route, portraying what audiences assume having that wealth is like. No matter they resolve, these exhibits stay good examples of this explicit style, as evidenced by their excessive scores within the overview aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

13 ‘Revenge’ (2011 – 2015)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 69%

Emily VanCamp and Madeleine Stowe starred within the ABC drama Revenge. The present centered on Emily Thorne, a younger lady pursuing revenge in opposition to the household that framed her father for homicide and ruined her life. By means of crafty and ruthlessness, Emily disturbs the lifetime of the folks of the Hamptons, incomes a mortal enemy within the equally formidable Victoria Grayson.

Revenge had 4 seasons of foolish and over-the-top drama. Nonetheless, the present was at its greatest when VanCamp and Stowe have been locking horns, creating probably the greatest and most addictive rivalries in any trendy present. That includes beautiful vistas, grand houses, and lavish events in nearly each episode, Revenge is a superb depiction of the 1%.

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12 ‘Bel Air’ (2022 – )

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 77%

Will Smith‘s beloved ’90s sitcom acquired a gritty remake with Peacock’s Bel-Air. The present follows the identical premise – an adolescent from Philadelphia despatched to stay along with his rich mother and father within the unique and elitist Bel-Air neighborhood.

Whereas the unique sitcom took a lighthearted strategy, the reimagined model opts for a extra reasonable portrayal of race dynamics and tradition shock. Bel-Air is a superb and infrequently insightful portrayal of racial tensions and wealth, with beautiful visuals and manufacturing values reinforcing its weighty themes.

Watch on Peacock

11 ‘The Gilded Age’ (2022 – )

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 79%

Julian Fellowes created the HBO historic drama The Gilded Age. Starring a large ensemble led by Carrie Coon, Cynthia Nixon, and Christine Baranski, the present follows a number of characters dwelling in New York Metropolis in the course of the late Nineteenth century. Like Fellowes’ different collection, The Gilded Age options an upstairs/downstairs narrative.

The Gilded Age acquired reward for its wealthy manufacturing values, seamlessly recreating late Nineteenth-century New York with beautiful element. The narrative affords a dramatic however endlessly entertaining take a look at the lives of those rich characters, including a historic spin to the normal formulation of exhibits about wealthy folks.

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10 ‘Gossip Lady’ (2007 – 2012)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 84%

Blake Energetic and Leighton Meester starred in arguably the best teen present of the noughties. Gossip Lady adopted the romantic and private drama of a chaotic group of rich teenagers-turned-young-adults dwelling in Manhattan’s Higher East Facet.

Opposite to what many may imagine, the unique Gossip Lady has a surprisingly excessive RT rating. The present was appreciated for what it was — a responsible pleasure with over-the-top drama that includes absurdly lovely folks sporting beautiful robes and designer garments. It would’ve not been reasonable, however Gossip Lady was escapism in its purest type.

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9 ‘Empire’ (2015 – 2020)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 84%

Oscar nominees Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson star within the acclaimed musical dramaEmpire. The collection chronicles the drama behind Empire Leisure, a hip-hop music firm run by the extremely unstable and constantly-feuding Lyon household.

Empire is likely to be one step above cleaning soap opera territory, however excessive manufacturing values, high quality musical numbers, and spectacular performances from its proficient forged greater than compensate for its flaws. Henson is particularly good because the ferocious Cookie Lyon, one in every of trendy tv’s greatest and most unabashed characters, and a breath of contemporary air for tv within the 2010s.

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8 ‘The Crown’ (2016 – 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 86%

Oscar-nominated author Peter Morgan created the Netflix historic drama The Crown. A fictionalized tackle Queen Elizabeth II’s life, the present chronicles her intensive life on the throne of England, from her ascension at 21 to her late age. Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton play the Queen all through completely different levels of her life.

The Crown is Netflix’s crowning jewel, incomes important acclaim and turning into a fan favourite. The present is an intimate and sympathetic portrayal of English royalty, giving audiences a glimpse of the luxurious lives of the Home of Windsor. The Crown exhibits the pressures of being born into royalty however would not shrink back from displaying the household’s huge wealth.

7 ‘Downton Abbey’ (2010 – 2015)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 87%

Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith lead a large ensemble within the English sensation Downton Abbey. The present follows the rich Crawley household and their servants dwelling within the fictional Downton Abbey state in 1910s England.

Mixing historic information with fictional drama, Downton Abbey is a journey to the previous to expertise the lives of the aristocratic English households of yore. Elegant, barely excessive, and with a stupendous forged of revered performers, Downton serves excessive drama by means of English etiquette. One present and two motion pictures later, followers can not seem to get sufficient of Downton.

Watch on Peacock

6 ‘The Righteous Gem stones’ (2019 – )

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 88%

John Goodman, Danny McBride, and Adam DeVine star within the HBO comedy The Righteous Gem stones. The plot facilities on the titular household, a dysfunctional televangelist clan and megachurch pastors leaving a lavish life because of beneficiant donations from their followers.

The Righteous Gem stones options one in every of tv’s richest households. The Gem stones are dangerously charming and manipulative, convincing their clueless followers that every part they are saying is gospel. In the meantime, they lead egocentric and over-the-top lives, losing their time on petty feuds with one another and out of doors rivals coming for his or her place because the nation’s prime televangelists.

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5 ‘Huge Little Lies’ (2017 – 2019)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 89%

Oscar winners Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, and Laura Dern star in HBO’s sensation Huge Little Lies. Joined by Zoë Kravitz and Shailene Woodley, the actresses painting a bunch of moms whose lives grow to be entangled by an sudden loss of life.

Other than being a wonderful showcase for its absurdly proficient stars, Huge Little Lies is an inside decorator’s dream come true. That includes lavish California houses and ladies in beautiful garments driving fancy automobiles, Huge Little Lies is the right cross between a prestigious HBO present, a dramatic cleaning soap opera, and a TLC adorning collection.

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4 ‘Billions’ (2016 – )

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%

Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti joins Emmy winner Damian Lewis in Showtime’s drama Billions. The plot facilities on the difficult dynamic between hedge fund supervisor Bobby Axelrod, whose monetary antics typically have unlawful undertones, and US Legal professional Chuck Rhoades, who spends his time making an attempt to prosecute Bobby.

Because of Giamatti and Lewis’ performances, Billions is an addictive and surprisingly reasonable look into the cutthroat world of Wall Avenue. Tense and over-the-top, Billions will fulfill viewers on the lookout for compelling dramas about unhealthy guys getting wealthy in all of the flawed methods.

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3 ‘The White Lotus’ (2020 – )

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%

Mike White‘s deliciously depraved satire of the rich and privileged is one in every of HBO’s largest successes of the 2020s. The White Lotus stars a big ensemble of troubled and chaotic characters on trip on the titular White Lotus resort; a homicide thriller has framed each seasons.

The White Lotus acquired common approval for its sharp and biting humor, tone, the forged’s performances, and manufacturing values. The present’s themes involving class, cash, and intercourse have additionally attracted appreciable commentary, with reviewers and audiences contemplating it among the many smartest and most insightful exhibits about wealth.

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2 ‘Élite’ (2018 – )

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 93%

The unofficial “responsible pleasure” subgenre has no worthier consultant than Netflix’s salacious teen dramaÉlite. The present facilities on highschool college students attending a prestigious personal college in Spain, whose lives grow to be more and more difficult by an ongoing collection of murders and disappearances.

Trashy and campy, Élite is so unhealthy that it is good. The present turns into more and more unhinged with every new season, however loyal followers do not appear to care, and neither do critics. Certainly, everybody appreciates it for what it’s, having fun with the overblown and melodramatic mess it delivers with every new episode.

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1 ‘Succession’ (2018 – 2023)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 94%

Succession revolves across the Roy household, struggling to regulate their large firm Waystar RoyCo, amidst rumors of their patriarch’s failing well being. The present combines darkish humor with intense drama and stars an ensemble led by Bryan Cox and Jeremy Sturdy.

Universally acclaimed by critics and audiences, Succession is a contemporary basic and a worthy entry into HBO’s iconic Sunday-night exhibits. Reward has gone for its humor, depiction of wealth and energy, and portrayal of its extremely unlikable but by some means nonetheless sympathetic characters. Succession will finish with its upcoming fourth season, leaving an enormous hole in HBO’s line-up.

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