Nurse Jackie
Credit: Showtime
Nurse Jackie is heading to Netflix this week. All seven seasons of the acclaimed Showtime dramedy starring Edie Falco land on the service Tuesday, October 7. It’s a perfect full-series binge for anyone who missed it—or wants a rewatch.
Before she was Nurse Jackie, Falco made a name for herself as Carmela Soprano in HBO’s smash hit mob drama, The Sopranos, back when it first began airing in 1999. The story of mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) would capture the hearts and minds of TV audiences everywhere, and fundamentally alter the nature of television itself in the years to come. This was the dawn of the golden age of television. Expectations about what a TV show could and should be shifted drastically.
Once upon a time, TV was considered second-rate. It was good for sitcoms and game shows, but outside of some top-notch BBC mysteries, most crime shows were procedurals like Law & Order. I’m not suggesting there wasn’t great television out there – I was a huge X-Files fan and a huge Law & Order fan, for that matter – but serious actors wanted to be in movies, not TV shows.
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The Sopranos took the formula of mobster movies like Goodfellas and translated it to a long-form series. The show’s critical acclaim led to a seachange in how audiences and Hollywood viewed the small-screen, paving the way for Breaking Bad (2008), True Detective (2014) and countless other phenomenal shows.
One of these was Showtime’s Nurse Jackie. Falco was a major character in The Sopranos as Tony’s wife, but she stepped into the spotlight here. The first season landed on Showtime way back in 2009, just one year after Breaking Bad was hailed as “the next Sopranos.”
Nurse Jackie Gives Edie Falco The Spotlight
Nurse Jackie
Credit: Showtime
Nurse Jackie Quick Facts
- Show: Nurse Jackie
- Creators: Liz Brixius, Linda Wallem, Evan Dunsky
- Stars: Edie Falco, Eve Best, Merritt Wever, Paul Schulze, Peter Facinelli, Dominic Fumusa, Anna Deavere Smith, Betty Gilpin
- Seasons / Episodes: 7 seasons, 80 episodes
- Original run: 2009–2015 (Showtime)
- Genre: Medical dramedy / dark comedy
- Awards: Emmys for Edie Falco (Lead Actress) and Merritt Wever (Supporting)
- Netflix date: Tuesday, October 7 (all seven seasons)
Created by Liz Brixius, Linda Wallem and Evan Dunsky, the series follows Jackie Peyton (Falco), a nurse working the ER of fictional All Saints Hospital in NYC. Jackie is an addict, hooked on prescription painkillers, and prone to bending the rules to cope with both workplace pressures and her chaotic personal life. She’s married to Kevin Peyton (Dominic Fumusa) but has a hard time staying faithful. She has a complicated, often fraught relationship with her two daughters.
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The rest of the cast is terrific as well, and you’ll recognize some of the actors from more recent series. Eve Best (House Of The Dragon) plays Dr. Eleanor O’Hara. Merritt Wever (Severance) plays nurse Zoe Barkow. Betty Gilpin, who plays Dr. Carrie Roman, was in Netflix’s tragically canceled GLOW and the recent limited series American Primeval across from Taylor Kitsch (review).
Nurse Jackie is great because it paints complex portrayals of its characters. Jackie is a complicated protagonist grappling with addiction, family struggles, work and life balance. But it still manages to be very funny. If you enjoy dark comedies and medical dramas, look no further.
Nurse Jackie
Credit: Showtime
Falco became the first actress to win a Leading Actress Emmy in both drama and comedy categories for her roles in The Sopranos and Nurse Jackie, respectively. The series holds an 81% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes (88% with audiences) with some seasons ranking higher than others, but strong audience scores across the board.
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Be warned: The show gets more serious by the end, and a lot more depressing. The funniest stuff is toward the beginning, but it’s not all fun and games when it comes to addiction and the ways that addiction can ruin your life and the lives of those around you.
Nurse Jackie lands on Netflix on Tuesday, October 7th. All seven seasons will be available for your binging pleasure. Check out other new shows and movies available to stream in my latest weekend streaming guide. Check out some of my favorite shows of 2025 in the video below:
Are you a Nurse Jackie fan? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2025/10/05/nurse-jackie-all-7-seasons-netflix/