15 Best Movies and TV Shows to Stream on Paramount+ Right Now

Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005, nine seasons)

Ray Romano, 66, may have his name in the title, but it’s the rest of his family who really shine here, from his exasperated wife (Patricia Heaton, 66) to his sad-sack brother (Brad Garrett, 64). This is the rare family sitcom where we barely see the main couple’s kids — so the focus can be how grownups find ever-new ways to get under each other’s skin despite a wellspring of love and affection. Shout-out to the late Doris Roberts, who deservedly won four Emmys for a bringing nuance to the stereotypical meddling mother-in-law.

Stream it: Everybody Loves Raymond

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Hide your pet rabbits as you watch this classic thriller starring Michael Douglas as a happily married New York lawyer whose one-night stand with a sexy book editor (Glenn Close) goes terribly, horribly wrong. There are aspects of the story that don’t hold up very well, particularly the portrayal of working women, but there’s no denying the way Adrian Lyne ratchets up the tension (erotic and otherwise). Close was furious that they reshot the ending to make everybody loathe her character. But it works!

Stream it: Fatal Attraction

A Gentleman in Moscow (2024, one season)

Ewan McGregor, 53, shines as a dandyish Russian count who’s spared death after the Bolshevik Revolution because he wrote a poem beloved by young revolutionaries. While many of his friends and relatives either flee Russia or are shot dead, he’s confined to a kind of purgatory in the attic of the four-star Metropol hotel, where he charms a young film actress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and maintains a kind of come-what-may equanimity that allows him to carry on. The show, based on the first of several novels by Amor Towles, offers a leisurely tour through a bygone era that shifts nimbly between humor and tragedy.

Stream it: A Gentleman in Moscow

Ghosts (2021–present, three seasons)

Who’d have thought poltergeists could be such fun? But this series, now in its third season, continues to find new and surprising ways to explore its otherworldly premise — an old country estate haunted by ghosts from multiple eras (from a Viking named Thor to the Native American Sass to a ’60s hippie called Flower). These specters can only be seen by Samantha, a modern-day woman who’s inherited the place and has turned it into a B&B. The new season wrapped with the wedding of two Revolutionary War-era ghosts, catered by Samantha’s very-much-alive chef hubby.

Stream it: Ghosts

Gladiator (2000)

It wasn’t just Joaquin Phoenix’s Roman emperor who gave an onscreen thumbs-up — Ridley Scott’s swords-and-sandal epic earned universal acclaim and five Oscars (including best picture). Russell Crowe, 60, delivers a performance as a demoted general seeking revenge that’s a muscular master class and nabbed him an Oscar of his own. Worth revisiting ahead of the 86-year-old Scott’s sequel, due in theaters in fall 2024.

Stream it: Gladiator

Key & Peele (2012–2015, five seasons)

The innovative sketch comedy series produced a ton of viral moments and memorable characters — from the lonely super-nerd Wendell Sanders (Jordan Peele) to the stoic Luther (Keegan-Michael Key, 53), the “anger translator” for Barack Obama who allows the nation’s first Black president to always keep his cool, outwardly at least.

Stream it: Key & Peele

Mission: Impossible (1996–2023, seven movies)

For years, it was impossible to find the entire franchise all in one place (including last year’s Dead Reckoning). But Paramount has thankfully assembled Tom Cruise’s signature film series, along with the original 1960s TV show that inspired it. The plots can be convoluted, with characters changing personas at the drop of a hyper-realistic mask, but there’s no denying the power of all those eye-popping action set pieces. And now we can’t get that earworm theme out of our head…

Stream it: Mission Impossible

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-present, two seasons)

It’s hard to keep track of the sprawling Star Trek universe, but Strange New Worlds marks a homecoming in a number of key ways. We’re back on the starship Enterprise, this time with pre-James Kirk captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount, 51) along with a younger Spock (Ethan Peck) who’s not yet second in command. As with the original series, each episode is a self-contained story that hinges on an interesting question or theme. You can beam up more easily, without a lot of backstory. Plus, it’s really good.

Stream it: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

In Billy Wilder’s noir classic, then 32-year-old William Holden plays a struggling Hollywood screenwriter who moves into the creepy mansion of an aging silent-film star (played by Gloria Swanson at 51!) who’s desperate to make a comeback in a Hollywood that’s forgotten her. She maintains a magnetic hold over many, from her ex-husband turned manservant (Erich Von Stroheim) to Holden’s ever-pliable Joe, who all too quickly moves from punching up her screenplay to fluffing her bed pillows. When he tries to break off the relationship, though, things do not end well for him.

Stream it: Sunset Boulevard

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Paranoia runs deep in Sydney Pollack’s post-Watergate thriller starring Robert Redford, 88, as a bookish CIA analyst who gets drawn into actual life-and-death field work when his entire office is gunned down. It’s a suspenseful cat-and-mouse yarn, but one that also anticipates our suspicion of the Deep State forces bent on maintaining the status quo.

Stream it: Three Days of the Condor

Note: Paramount+ pays AARP a royalty for use of its intellectual property and provides a discount to AARP members.