Favorite underrated / unrecognized TV show? I'll go first.
Favorite underrated / unrecognized TV show? I'll go first.
From on MGM+ is absolutely fantastic. I love the mystery, the horror, and everything else about it. I am excited to see where it goes. I also absolutely love Foundation on Apple TV+, amazing CGI and fantastic world (or universe) building.
Hands down it has to be Fringe, amazing cast, great premise and manages to transition from monster of the week - a la X Files - to a fully immersive story that is action packed and tugs at your heartstrings. I'm not sure what platform it's available on these days, but I'm sure you can sail the high seas if need be.
Oh, and it's 5 seasons that actually has an ending, unlike many shows on streaming these days!
First thing that popped into my mind: Galavant. It’s a prime time network fantasy comedy from a writer of Cars and Tangled, teamed up with the composer from Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid.
It’s like if The Princess Bride was two seasons of musical television with songs from the golden 90’s era of Disney. In a just world, it’d have six seasons and a movie.
Utopia (UK 2 season version)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_jIDr2tZiuRHlp-bLwYNgWaFAp6dR7_Y
Firefly
I don't recall how I heard about For All Mankind, and I never see it mentioned very much, but I have had such a great time watching that.
It's an alternate history of the space race from the 60s onward, and it's so exciting to watch what could have been. Each season jumps forward a decade, so the advances in missions and tech keep leaping forward.
If you grew up thinking we should be pioneering space by now, you will probably enjoy it.
Raised by wolves (cancelled)
Dark angel
First Wave
Dollhouse
Seven days
The peripheral (cancelled)
Dark matter (the Canadian one, cancelled)
Dark matter (the new one)
Outer range
See (appletv)
Raising hope
Sanctuary
War of the words (2019)
Sense8
The guild (Felicia Day web series)
Con Man (Alan Tudyk web series)
Hell on wheels
Halt and catch fire
Debris (cancelled)
Continuum
Defiance
Cult (cw low budget-ish show that only lasted one season. Very ridiculous weirdness)
Colony (kinda meh at times)
Bored to death
Californication
Brockmire
Party down
Ive watched way too much shit. I should become a tv tv critic.
Oh yeah, The Critic
Fuck HBO/Discovery
Really thoughtful and smart sci-fi animation. Don't want to spoil it so I'll be vague, it has the most realistic depiction of modern tech and how people interact with it than any other show I've seen. Really great commentary on big tech corporations and even a bit of geopolitics. Super ambitious yet it somehow pulls it off.
There is also a scene that still gives me nightmares (not even joking, I still dream about that shit) which is more than any horror movies or shows have done for me. Anyone who has watched it knows exactly what scene I'm talking about.
Lost, but not the one you're thinking of.
Travel back in time with me to September 4, 2001. It was a golden age, and reality television had taken off in a big way. NBC and CBS were each set to premiere a new show, with basically the same format: Teams of two Americans would start somewhere in the world and have to race back to the United States to win a cash prize.
NBC's show Lost was the first to air, with CBS's The Amazing Race airing the night after. The premise of Lost was great:
Three two-member teams knew only the final destination (thousands of miles away) and were given only a backpack full of clothes and other essentials. In addition, team members were not acquainted with one another prior to the show, and were assigned to teams. Contestants were blindfolded and dropped off with a single camera person in a remote location of an unknown country to find their way back to their home country...Teams were given no money until they managed to figure out what country they were in. During the first set, the teams were abandoned in Mongolia. (Source: Wikipedia)
The show did not do well. NBC blamed the low ratings on the fact that 9/11 happened shortly after, which actually preempted the second episode. Considering The Amazing Race debuted at basically the same time and went on to tremendous success (Lost had 1 season with 6 episodes, whereas The Amazing Race had 36 seasons and 418 episodes), I suspect something else was the cause.
So if the show was so bad, why did I like it?
First, I liked the idea that the teams started out in a location that was a mystery to them. Their first challenge was to figure out where in the world they were in a country where they (almost certainly) didn't speak the language.
Second, although they were two-person teams, any passage they secured for themselves, they also had to secure for their camera person. You want to catch a flight? Well, I hope you have enough money to buy three tickets!
And finally, I was hooked early on when this one moment happened. It's still one of my favorite moments of reality TV. Remember, all three teams started out in the Mongolian desert. They were spread out from one another, so no two teams would cross paths right away. This meant that as they made their way to the nearest village, they were headed to different villages.
Two teams had a similar plan: To catch a bus that drove between the villages (and, IIRC, was headed to a larger city). So the first team gets on the bus in their village, and as the bus drives into the village where the second team is waiting, the first team spots them. They then quickly convince the bus driver not to stop and to just keep on driving instead. We're then shown two shots: One from inside the bus, where we see the second team and their camera guy as they watch the bus go by, and then one from outside the bus, as the second team watches the bus blow past them and they realize the first team is on board.
From is underrated? I didn't know that, been watching it religiously.
An older favorite of mine was The 4400 (the reboot is absolute dogshit though). Unfortunately they cancelled it after 4 seasons, but the original authors published 2 books afterwards to finish the storyline.
Other series I enjoy that aren't on most people's radar (primarily for being British, mostly crime):
- Vigil (crime series dealing with an investigation on board of a nuclear submarine, 2 seasons, closed storyline).
- Unforgotten (crime, every season starts with an old body being discovered and then showing all people affected by the loss of said person over time until they eventually get closure. Highly empathic actors and excellent character development, season 6 currently being filmed).
- Death in Paradise (iconic light entertainment crime series playing on a remote Caribbean island where changing inspectors from England with various degrees of clumsiness are being sent to solve murders. Every episode is usually a closed case. Season 14 to start end of year).
China, IL would be on my list
The Middleman! It was 1 hour comedy that played on ABC Family that sadly got canceled after its first season. It was a farcical take on the super spy genre based off the comic books of the same name with Matt Kessler and Natalie freaking Morales. Vampire Ventriloquist Dummies, Zombie Flying Fish, and all Alien Boy Bands. It’s a hilarious send up spy and comic book tropes.
hopefully you've read the Foundation books btw
Back when the X-Files was ruling the airwaves, in the 90s, there was a companion show called Millennium. The first season was a bit weak, focusing on serial killers and gore. Second season went completely off the rails in the best way possible. The third season was a lackluster attempt to regain a wider audience.
I would recommend watching the second season for sure. It has religious satire (you will know exactly who they are skewering when you see it), the occult, end of days, mixed in with humor and solid human drama. The season finale, when they thought that they weren't going to be renewed, is extraordinary.
Revolutionary Girl Utena - a well-polished 90s show with surreal direction and a very good soundtrack
Detectorists Lovely wholesome English comedy drama, it's too good to be so rarely mentioned.
Dark I'd say this is my favorite time travel story. It's more recognized though as I usually see vocal fans of it every time it gets mentioned but perhaps since it's in German many are still sleeping on it.
Venture Bros An animated Adult Swim show that first aired 2003 on a shaky first season but has improved every single season since. Has grown into something quite special.
Transparent Great drama comedy about a family after their aged father, played by Jeffrey Tambor, reveals some secrets. Very funny and hits you in the feels some times.
Mr. Inbetween https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7472896/
Please Like Me
Most likely I'm too specific about it, but I see quite some shows mentioned that I'd not really consider underrated or unrecognised. Firefly is one of my all time favourites but not really underrated or unrecognised. Or Fringe, possibly not even From (of which I'll just say I very much hope they have an ending planned because I don't want it to end lost like Lost).
Perfect examples of underrated or unrecognised shows are Galavant and Utopia, mentioned by others, they are brilliant.
In a similar direction I'd say Dead Set, a UK show that really surprised me ages ago but never see mentioned. https://imdb.com/title/tt1285482/
Maybe I should include also Dr Horrible's Sing Along Blog, but that may be a lot less underrated and it's a minishow only.
It's not exactly "unrecognized" because it's fairly popular, but From -- yes, that's the name, and yes, it makes it very difficult to search for.
It's pretty highly rated, horror/mystery show. It's a lot like Lost except more horror less mystery. It even stars Harold Perrineau who played Michael in Lost.
The concepts and monsters are very scary and/or creepy. It gives me a Dead by Daylight "The Entity" and "The Entity's Realm" vibe if you're familiar with the game.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9813792/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_(TV_series)#Reception
Gary and his Demons is a great animated show that no one seems to have ever heard about
The Boy's Word: Blood on the Asphalt
Not "unrecognized" in Russia, but Woids are missing out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy's_Word%3A_Blood_on_the_Asphalt
3rd rock from the sun
Newsradio (RIP Phil hartman)
. Rilley, Ace Of Spies, a mini series about the life of spy, Sidney Rilley, directed by Martin Campbell who would go on to direct James Bond film 'Casino Royale'.
. Tracey Takes On..., you may not of heard of Tracey Ullman but you've felt her impact. She is most known for being the woman who kinda created The Simpsons. Back in 87 Ullman commissioned Matt Groening to some shorts for the 'Tracey Ullman Show' which go on to become 'The Simpsons' we know and love today.
. Drawn Together, if you like adult animated comedy on the lines of Family Guy or American Dad with the satire and social critique of South Park and The Boondocks you'll love Drawn Together.
I don't know if it was actually under rated or unrecognized where it aired, but as someone who was trawling for TV to watch that you don't see in North America, I fucking love Monkey Dust out of the UK.
Dark comedy animated sketch show.
Black Sails Occupied (Okkupert) Orphan Black
I don't think it is very well known, but I thought Scavengers Reign was very good. It was a bit slow, but I thought it gave time to see the weird alien world.
If you are on the fence about it, the show is a followup to this short and has some similarities in its world building.
Preacher, it's on Netflix now. So good.
Warrior, also I think on Netflix now.
Andor was crazy good too, and Scavenger's Reign.
Not sure about unrecognized, but those are great.
I'm not sure if it's my "favorite", necessarily, but I couldn't think of anything else, and it is a good show, and, imo, rather unknown, but I'll share Wakfu (the French version (with subtitles if you don't speak French). I'd highly recommend not watching the dub — it isn't very good).
Growing up, I loved Tattooed Teenaged Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills. Now that I’m old, it’s even better.
I really liked Profit, a mid-90s drama about corporate intrigue. It was ahead of its time and I think would have been a much bigger hit if it came out 20 years later! It was canceled after only 1 season.