The 90+ Best Shows On The CW, Ranked By Fans

If you’ve ever told yourself “just one more episode” and suddenly it’s 3 a.m. and you’re emotionally invested in a decades-long vampire feud, there’s a good chance The CW is to blame.
For a relatively small network, The CW has produced a wild number of iconic series superhero epics, angsty teen dramas, clever comedies, and supernatural sagas that people still binge and argue about online every single day.

Fan-voting sites, social media polls, and passionate TV communities have spent years ranking the best CW shows of all time. Across those rankings, one thing is very clear: viewers know exactly what they like, and they’re not shy about clicking that “vote” button a few thousand times.
From Superman & Lois to Arrow, from The Vampire Diaries to Gilmore Girls, the 90+ best shows on The CW tell the story of a network that quietly shaped an entire generation’s TV habits.

Why The CW Still Owns Fan-Favorite TV

At first glance, The CW looks like “that teen drama channel.” But when you dig into the highest-ranked CW shows, you start to see the formula:
take heightened emotions, add genre elements (superheroes, magic, sci-fi, or small-town secrets), stir in a killer soundtrack, and cast impossibly good-looking people who can cry on cue.
It’s comfort food TV, but with surprisingly rich arcs and long-running storylines that reward loyal fans.

Over the years, fans have rallied hard for their favorites:

• Superhero fans flocked to the Arrowverse (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and more), celebrating crossover events like they were cinematic releases.
• Supernatural and fantasy lovers found their home in shows like Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies.
• Viewers who wanted heartfelt character work and sharp writing embraced Gilmore Girls, Jane the Virgin, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
• Sports and family drama fans latched onto All American, which exploded in popularity once it hit streaming.

Add easy access on free apps and streaming platforms, and you get a perfect recipe for long-term fandom: it’s simple to discover a CW show in 2025 and then realize you suddenly have 7+ seasons to catch up on.

How Fans Actually Rank the Best CW Shows

When you look at fan-voted rankings of CW shows across the web, a pattern emerges. Lists built on hundreds of thousands of votes consistently put superhero dramas and long-running genre shows near the top, with character-driven dramedies not far behind.

Across multiple fan lists, you’ll almost always see:

• Superman & Lois near the top for its cinematic look and grounded family story.
• Arrow and The Flash ranked as foundational CW hits that kicked off a shared TV universe.
• Supernatural high on the list, thanks to its 15 seasons of monster-hunting, brotherly angst, and meme-ready dialogue.
• The Vampire Diaries and related spin-offs recognized for redefining supernatural teen drama in the 2010s.
• All American rising rapidly in recent years thanks to a new wave of viewers discovering it via streaming.

But those polls don’t just reward explosions, vampires, or capes. They also highlight shows that took risks, like the musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend or the meta-telenovela-inspired Jane the Virgin.
Even if they didn’t pull in massive overnight ratings, dedicated fans show up in online rankings and keep these series near the top.

The Top Tier: CW Classics Fans Never Shut Up About

While different lists shuffle the order around, the same core titles keep returning to the conversation.
Here’s a breakdown of the CW heavy-hitters that fans most often place in that “best of the best” tier.

Superman & Lois

For many fans, Superman & Lois feels like a superhero show for people who have grown up with the genre.
It isn’t just about saving the world; it’s about raising teenagers, managing anxiety, and figuring out marriage in the shadow of superpowers.
The series blends cinematic action with small-town drama, giving longtime Superman fans something fresh while remaining accessible for new viewers.

Arrow

Arrow didn’t just launch a show; it launched the entire Arrowverse.
With its brooding hero, grounded fight choreography, and sprawling cast of vigilantes, it proved that a serialized, comic-book-inspired drama could work on network TV.
Fans credit Arrow with setting up a shared universe of crossovers, spin-offs, and team-ups that defined The CW for a decade.

The Flash

While Arrow was dark and brooding, The Flash leaned into optimism, humor, and emotional heart.
Barry Allen’s story balanced time-travel chaos with themes of found family and forgiveness.
Fans especially love its early seasons, where villain-of-the-week plots sit right alongside ambitious arcs about legacy and destiny.

Supernatural

Fifteen seasons. Hundreds of monsters. A truly outrageous number of emotional car conversations.
Supernatural is arguably the network’s defining cult phenomenon.
The Winchesters’ demon-hunting road trip started on another network but became synonymous with The CW’s identity: genre-heavy, emotionally intense, and fiercely loved by its fandom.
Supernatural’s ongoing presence in top-ranked lists proves how powerful long-term fan investment can be.

The Vampire Diaries

When people talk about peak CW, The Vampire Diaries is almost always part of the conversation.
It combined romance, horror, and high school melodrama into a twisty, fast-paced series that never hesitated to kill (and sometimes un-kill) major characters.
Along with The Originals and Legacies, it created an interconnected supernatural universe that still drives massive rewatch numbers.

All American

Based loosely on the life of NFL player Spencer Paysinger, All American is one of the more grounded entries in the CW top tier.
The show tackles class differences, family expectations, race, and mental health through the lens of high school and college football.
For many fans, it’s the rare sports drama that feels just as compelling off the field as it does during the big game.

Gilmore Girls

Though it originated before The CW’s current branding, Gilmore Girls became a cornerstone of the network’s identity.
Fast-talking dialogue, small-town charm, and heartfelt mother–daughter dynamics turned Stars Hollow into comfort TV for millions of viewers.
Fan rankings consistently keep Gilmore Girls near the top, especially among viewers who want something emotional but lighter on the genre chaos.

Jane the Virgin

Jane the Virgin took the structure of a telenovela, mixed it with sharp satire, and still managed to deliver genuine heart.
With its omniscient narrator, wild twists, and deeply human characters, the show earned a passionate fanbase and critical praise.
In fan rankings, it often shows up as the “you need to watch this even if you don’t think it’s your thing” recommendation.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

A musical comedy about mental health, bad decisions, and personal growth shouldn’t have worked on paper, but fans rank Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as one of the network’s most unique achievements.
Original songs, genre parodies, and a brutally honest portrayal of therapy and diagnosis make it a standout in CW history.

The 100

The 100 started as a teen-on-a-radioactive-planet drama and quickly evolved into a morally complex sci-fi epic.
Fans praise its early seasons for daring storytelling, ethical dilemmas, and unpredictable twists.
Even with later-season controversies, it remains a frequent mention on “best CW shows” lists thanks to its ambitious world-building.

Deep Cuts and Cult Favorites You Shouldn’t Skip

Once you get past the most obvious hits, fan rankings start to spotlight underappreciated gems.
These are the shows that may not dominate mainstream conversations but inspire fierce loyalty from the people who did watch them.

Reign

Reign is what happens when you throw historical accuracy out the window and go all-in on royal drama.
Set loosely in the world of Mary, Queen of Scots, it mixes politics, romance, court intrigue, and modern music into something that’s more “historical fanfic” than documentary and fans absolutely eat it up.

Hart of Dixie

If you want cozy small-town vibes with a romantic-comedy sheen, Hart of Dixie delivers.
Fans describe it as a comfort show: charming characters, love triangles, and a Southern setting that makes Bluebell, Alabama feel like a place you could actually move to (if you don’t mind the drama).

Legacies & The Originals

Both spin-offs from The Vampire Diaries, these shows built out the supernatural universe with a focus on witches, werewolves, and the complicated Mikaelson family.
Fan rankings often treat them as essential viewing once you’ve finished TVD, especially if you’re into morally gray antiheroes and magical academies.

Batwoman, Black Lightning & the Arrowverse Deep Bench

Beyond Arrow and The Flash, the Arrowverse includes shows like Batwoman, Black Lightning, and Legends of Tomorrow.
While not every series reached the same level of popularity, each built its own niche fanbase. Legends, for example, leaned hard into weird, campy time-travel comedy something fans frequently mention as making it one of the most purely fun CW shows.

Roswell, New Mexico & Other Reboots

The CW loves a reboot, and fan rankings usually give respectful nods to series like Roswell, New Mexico and Dynasty.
Even when they don’t crack the very top, viewers appreciate how these shows updated older properties with more diverse casts, modern themes, and sharper dialogue.

How to Choose Your Next CW Binge

Staring at a list of 90+ best CW shows can feel overwhelming. If you’re trying to decide what to watch next, let the fan rankings guide you but filter them through what you actually enjoy.

Pick by Mood

• In the mood for superhero action? Start with Arrow, The Flash, or Superman & Lois.
• Want supernatural romance and drama? Go for The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, or Legacies.
• Need something heartfelt and grounded? Try All American or Gilmore Girls.
• Craving something clever and different? Queue up Jane the Virgin or Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Use Fan Rankings as a Shortcut

Fan-based top 90+ lists are helpful because they aggregate thousands of opinions.
If a show consistently sits near the top, it’s usually there for a reason: strong characters, satisfying arcs, and episodes that hold up on rewatch.
You don’t have to agree with the exact order, but if something is always in the top ten, it’s probably worth your time.

Don’t Ignore the Mid-List Shows

The sweet spot often lives in the middle of the rankings the shows that never became massive hits but still have loyal fan communities.
Maybe they were ahead of their time, maybe they were in a tough time slot, or maybe they just weren’t marketed well.
If you see the same title getting passionate comments even if it’s ranked #35, that’s a sign it might be your new favorite.

Real-Life Fan Experiences: Living in the CW Universe

Lists and rankings are great, but the real magic of the 90+ best CW shows comes from how people actually experience them on couches, in dorm rooms, during late-night group chats, and on long weekends when “I’ll just try one episode” turns into “I finished season two.”

Arrowverse Crossover Weekends

For many fans, Arrowverse crossovers became an annual tradition.
Instead of treating them like regular episodes, viewers would plan mini marathons: snacks ready, phones on silent, and a watch order carefully mapped out across multiple shows.
There’s a certain joy in that communal chaos following a storyline from The Flash to Arrow to Supergirl and back again, feeling like you’re watching a big-budget superhero movie broken into TV chapters.

Those weekends were also when fan communities came alive. Social feeds flooded with live reactions, memes, and arguments about which hero had the best storyline.
For many people, that mix of shared live-viewing energy and long-term investment is exactly why CW superhero shows rank so high today.

Comfort Rewatches and Background TV

Another common experience with CW shows is the “comfort rewatch.”
Fans return to series like Gilmore Girls, Supernatural, or The Vampire Diaries not because they don’t know what happens, but because they do.
Familiar story beats and character arcs become soothing background noise during work, cleaning, or winding down at night.

Over time, the best CW shows start to feel less like TV and more like a familiar playlist.
You know which episodes to skip, which ones to save for when you need a good cry, and which arcs are perfect for introducing a friend to your favorite series.
That repeat-viewing value is a big reason fan rankings heavily favor long-running series with strong ensembles.

Sharing CW Shows Across Generations

As the network’s catalog ages, another trend has emerged: fans introducing CW classics to younger siblings, kids, or friends who missed them the first time around.
A parent who watched Smallville as a teenager can now sit down with their own teen to revisit Clark Kent’s early days.
Someone who obsessively watched The Vampire Diaries in high school might rewatch it years later with roommates who only know it because “TikTok keeps editing Damon and Elena.”

That handoff from one viewer to the next is where you really see the lasting impact of The CW’s best shows.
They’re not just one-season wonders; they’re long, sprawling sagas that different generations discover at different times, often through word-of-mouth and fan-created rankings rather than traditional advertising.

Finding Community Through Fandom

Finally, the experience of watching the best CW shows is rarely a solo activity for long.
Once someone gets hooked on a series, the next step is usually finding other people who care just as much.
That might mean joining an online group dedicated to debate over which season of Supernatural is peak television, or jumping into comment sections ranking every relationship on Riverdale from “OTP” to “absolutely not.”

Those communities outlast the shows themselves.
Even after finales air and spin-offs wrap up, fans keep ranking, re-ranking, and discovering new favorites from the network’s deep catalog.
That’s what makes a “90+ best CW shows” list so powerful: it’s a snapshot of how people feel right now, constantly evolving as new viewers binge old favorites and raise the profile of shows they think deserve more love.

Final Thoughts: The CW’s Legacy in 90+ Fan-Favorite Shows

The 90+ best shows on The CW, as ranked by fans, do more than just fill a Saturday afternoon.
They’ve built friendships, fueled online communities, and given viewers an endless supply of comfort rewatches and wild plot twists.
Whether you’re into superheroes, small-town drama, supernatural romance, or musical comedy, there’s a CW series that feels like it was made specifically for you.

Fan rankings aren’t perfect they’re opinionated, messy, and always changing but that’s exactly what makes them so useful.
They reflect real viewing habits, real emotional investment, and real late-night binges.
If you’re wondering where to start, let the top of the list guide you, but don’t be afraid to dive into the middle and discover your own hidden gem.
In a universe packed with more than 90 fan-approved CW shows, there’s always another obsession waiting in the queue.

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