For years, DC die-hards knew where to camp out on weeknights: The CW. Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and the criminally under-watched Superman & Lois basically defined the network. Fun runs, big crossover energy, and a very CW vibe in both polish and personality. But back in 2016, the most bingeable DC show didn’t show up there at all. It arrived on Fox, of all places, and then took a victory lap on Netflix. Yep, I’m talking about Lucifer.
The DC show that zigged when everyone else zagged
Lucifer premiered in 2016 as a left-field adaptation of a Vertigo (that’s DC’s mature-readers imprint) icon. It wasn’t a straight pull from the comics. Instead, it grabbed the character and dropped him into an original, episodic story that plays like a character-driven procedural with supernatural seasoning.
The wild part: Fox lost interest after three seasons and canceled it. Fans did not. A massive save-our-devil campaign pushed Netflix to pick up the series for three more seasons, giving the show a proper six-season run and one of DC’s most satisfying TV arcs.
From Sandman to Southland (Los Angeles, not the show)
Lucifer Morningstar comes out of the DC Comics corner of the universe Neil Gaiman built in The Sandman. Writer Mike Carey then spun the character into a solo comic starting in 2000—75 issues later, it wrapped in 2006. The TV series kept that lineage in spirit while changing the entire playbook: instead of the comics’ darker, metaphysical tone, the show plants the Devil in Los Angeles and pairs him with a homicide detective to solve murders. On paper, that sounds like a forgotten 80s high-concept oddity. On screen, it actually sings.
Why this ridiculous premise works
Tom Ellis is the whole ballgame. As Lucifer, he’s a weaponized smirk with perfect timing, a velvet growl, and just enough wounded soul to sell the pathos. Even when he’s behaving badly, Ellis keeps you rooted to the guy. Lauren German, as Detective Chloe Decker, gives the show its balance and heartbeat. She’s our way into the madness—funny, grounded, exasperated—and their chemistry is the engine.
Across six seasons, the series gets weird in the best ways: Lucifer tries to lift Cain’s immortality curse, wrestles with millennia of father issues, and keeps circling that messy, co-dependent relationship with Hell and his celestial family. It’s bonkers, and it works because the show commits to character first, case-of-the-week second, mythology third—then lets all three threads braid together.
Fans wouldn’t let it die (and the numbers back them up)
Lucifer built a serious following during its run, and the data largely agrees. Overall, the show sits at an 87% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 73% audience score. The twist: critics weren’t into the first season at all, then did a full about-face once the series found its stride.
- Season 1: 49% critics score; audiences clocked the appeal early with 77%
- Season 2: 100% critics score, and the Certified Fresh run begins
- Seasons 3 and 4: both land perfect 100% from critics
So, is it the best DC binge outside The CW?
Short answer: absolutely. The CW era carved out a lane, and those shows owned it. But Lucifer hits a different gear—tighter writing, a killer lead performance, and a premise that should crash and burn yet somehow never does. If you skipped it because 'the Devil solves murders in LA' sounded like a gimmick, that’s fair. It just happens to be one of the best executed gimmicks DC has ever put on TV.
