Underrated TV shows

[Senscore]

I tried to tell anyone who would listen about how good these shows were. Manhattan, in particular, felt like no one knew existed.

It's crazy how many great shows get buried on small channels and never get proper audiences.

 

[J T Money]

Babylon 5. You always hear about Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica for space (sci-fi) shows but never the best of them all.

Last Kingdom as a period piece is largely unknown.

 

[Neutrinos]

Hell on Wheels was amazing.

Maybe at first, but I thought it tapered off as the series progressed

I genuinely can't remember any specific story line or event from the show

In fact, my only recollection from having watched the entire series is how badly the writers messed up The Swede's character arc

 

[CupofOil]

The Last Kingdom, not sure if it would qualify but I see very few people talking about how great this period show is.

The Last Kingdom was the first show that came to my mind as well. Great show and even better soundtracks, had the perfect ending as well which is a rarity for even the best shows. It's a lot better than Vikings IMO (especially the later seasons of Vikings) yet isn't even close to as popular.

Mindhunter is another one and another that was prematurely cancelled by Netflix because it wasn't popular enough apparently.

 

[PK Cronin]

Justified is probably the best, least talked about show I've seen. Almost nobody in my life has seen it but when they do they enjoy it. Certainly not groundbreaking television but it is a very solid show with great acting (for the most part).

Honorable mention to Wilfred and Brockmire. Both got a bit weird in their last season but were enjoyable.

Black Sails was f***ing amazing. I was never too into pirate movies/shows but damn they did that show perfect aside from a few slow parts.

I watched two or three episodes and couldn't get into it. It felt incredibly slow with characters I didn't care about. Not sure why anyone was pulled into watching more of that show based off what I saw.

The Leftovers

Amazing HBO show and at least for me this got lost in the hype of Game of Thrones, True Detective etc and I only heard of it few years ago.

I had wanted to watch The Leftovers when it came out but never did. I might have to give that a shot.

The Last Kingdom was the first show that came to my mind as well. Great show and even better soundtracks, had the perfect ending as well which is a rarity for even the best shows. It's a lot better than Vikings IMO (especially the later seasons of Vikings) yet isn't even close to as popular.

Mindhunter is another one and another that was prematurely cancelled by Netflix because it wasn't popular enough apparently.

The Last Kingdom would've been better if the main actor was better at acting, he held the show back the most. It was a bit repetitive (most shows like that are) but was pretty enjoyable. I think they're making a movie to wrap it all up.

I thought Mindhunter was "canceled" because of the pandemic and the actors moved on to other things or something? I would've really liked to see that one wrap up properly.

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

The most genuinely underrated show to me, as in not even like Halt and Catch Fire where it's underrated by general population but has some boosters, is probably ABC's Once Upon A Time. The reason being on paper a network drama with Disney characters like Snow White is probably the most unlikely great show you can have, it should've just been some trite cash grab 99 out of 100 times. The only thing that would be more unlikely is if one of the network procedurals was actually a great show. I just think some people could never get past their initial bias, even some of the people who watched it I think weren't doing it the right way by engaging with it only as a stupid guilty pleasure. I think the writers were actually taking their characters and large scale storyline as seriously as Lost in reality, it's just its concept is not as cool on paper or male friendly as the island. I have a fantasy that one day people will get it and recognize it more as one of the best sci fi/fantasy genre shows. I have that/BSG/Lost/Walking Dead as my favorites.

An underrated comedy from this era for me is the Mindy Project, however I understand comedy is subjective and I'm not going to blame people if they laughed more at other stuff. The jokes worked for me. I liked that Mindy was doing a twist on the romcom and fantasy vs reality. The Danny stuff played tribute to it but also subverted it eventually. Personally I think this show is better than stuff like 30 Rock and Parks and Rec that got a lot more attention in its time.

Other mentions

Halt and Catch Fire - brought it up before, great 2010s drama, although I'm not the only fan

Broad City - I really like the physical comedy and chemistry of its two leads. The first season is probably one of the funniest I've ever seen. This is one I'm really surprised hasn't caught on streaming more, it's basically a walking meme. I guess you have to be on Netflix.

UnREAL - not a perfect show, but probably one of the most unknown above average shows. You know that movie Hostel where the characters get kidnapped so rich people can pay to watch them get murdered, but the point is that you the viewer, are kind of doing the same thing as them getting off on watching a gorefest. That's what I think this show is kind of like for reality tv, it's kind of skewering it, but at the same time, you're into it for the same reason as the viewers and still want to know who wins the season.

Populist hits that are underrated quality wise:

The Walking Dead - I think this was extremely good, or at the very least the first half of its run. I thought it great cinematically, human storylines about fighting to stay alive mentally (reminded me of Battlestar in a way, with zombies=cylons + Bear McCreary).

American Horror Story - I really think this show is impressive and unique artistically, I like the editing style. The characters usually are on emotional journeys. It's not just "Let's do crazy stuff and shock people" with nothing underneath imo, it has a purpose.

 

[End on a Hinote]

Son of a Critch is one of the funniest shows I've seen in a while, but nobody is talking about it. It even has Malcolm MacDowell in it for crying out loud! Way funnier than Schitts Creek, which I couldn't get in to.

Another underrated show that didn't make it big outside of Canada is Corner Gas.

I think the reason why these shows aren't popular nor acclaimed outside of Canada and win a bunch of Emmys like Schitt's Creek did is because of it's blatant Canadian setting rather than the vague Generica setting that SC had. It's very unfortunate that in 2023 Canadian shows still have to pretend they aren't Canadian in order to make it big internationally but c'est la vie...

 

[Roo Returns]

Babylon 5. You always hear about Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica for space (sci-fi) shows but never the best of them all.

Last Kingdom as a period piece is largely unknown.

I mean, the guy who wrote it J. Michael Straczynsky ran The Real Ghostbusters cartoon the first few seasons so I'm not surprised how great it was.

It only had one sort of sequel spinoff (and even that was a continuation of the show) so it didn't have the staying power of the major Sci-Fi players.

Prison Break

I have a good feeling you know this but those guys (Wentworth and Dominic) were two of the reasons that DCs Legends of Tomorrow was such a fun show.

 

[Roo Returns]

Veronica Mars is probably my most underrated. I loved it and how dark it was.

Dollhouse by Wheedon.

Terriers.

Cloak and Dagger which started right before the pandemic was a lot like Veronica Mars. Teenagers dealing with really messed up and adult situations.

Red Dwarf in North America.

I'll throw some other randos here:

-Late Night with Craig Ferguson

-Night Music

-Uncle Floyd

-MTVs Super Rock (this one was around like three months after Headbanger's Ball)

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

I have a good feeling you know this but those guys (Wentworth and Dominic) were two of the reasons that DCs Legends of Tomorrow was such a fun show.

I had no idea haha

 

[frisco]

Millennium-Chris Carter creation of the late 90's. Very dark (serial killers, end of the world scenarios, conspiracy theories) but a terrific show that never found an audience.

My Best-Carey

 

[The Crypto Guy]

The most genuinely underrated show to me, as in not even like Halt and Catch Fire where it's underrated by general population but has some boosters, is probably ABC's Once Upon A Time. The reason being on paper a network drama with Disney characters like Snow White is probably the most unlikely great show you can have, it should've just been some trite cash grab 99 out of 100 times. The only thing that would be more unlikely is if one of the network procedurals was actually a great show. I just think some people could never get past their initial bias, even some of the people who watched it I think weren't doing it the right way by engaging with it only as a stupid guilty pleasure. I think the writers were actually taking their characters and large scale storyline as seriously as Lost in reality, it's just its concept is not as cool on paper or male friendly as the island. I have a fantasy that one day people will get it and recognize it more as one of the best sci fi/fantasy genre shows. I have that/BSG/Lost/Walking Dead as my favorites.

An underrated comedy from this era for me is the Mindy Project, however I understand comedy is subjective and I'm not going to blame people if they laughed more at other stuff. The jokes worked for me. I liked that Mindy was doing a twist on the romcom and fantasy vs reality. The Danny stuff played tribute to it but also subverted it eventually. Personally I think this show is better than stuff like 30 Rock and Parks and Rec that got a lot more attention in its time.

Other mentions

Halt and Catch Fire - brought it up before, great 2010s drama, although I'm not the only fan

Broad City - I really like the physical comedy and chemistry of its two leads. The first season is probably one of the funniest I've ever seen. This is one I'm really surprised hasn't caught on streaming more, it's basically a walking meme. I guess you have to be on Netflix.

UnREAL - not a perfect show, but probably one of the most unknown above average shows. You know that movie Hostel where the characters get kidnapped so rich people can pay to watch them get murdered, but the point is that you the viewer, are kind of doing the same thing as them getting off on watching a gorefest. That's what I think this show is kind of like for reality tv, it's kind of skewering it, but at the same time, you're into it for the same reason as the viewers and still want to know who wins the season.

Populist hits that are underrated quality wise:

The Walking Dead - I think this was extremely good, or at the very least the first half of its run. I thought it great cinematically, human storylines about fighting to stay alive mentally (reminded me of Battlestar in a way, with zombies=cylons + Bear McCreary).

American Horror Story - I really think this show is impressive and unique artistically, I like the editing style. The characters usually are on emotional journeys. It's not just "Let's do crazy stuff and shock people" with nothing underneath imo, it has a purpose.

IF they had stopped after season 6-7 you would probably be right. But it's been trash for so long that it's definitely not underrated. They milked and milked...and milked it to death.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Fauda. Should certainly be more known amongst fans of 24 or Homeland type of shows

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Longmire
The Mentalist

Were also shows I really enjoyed.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Dollhouse by Wheedon..

yeah, I liked Dollhouse.
I also liked Dushku in Tru Calling, which I don't think lasted very long.. guess it could qualify as an underrated series.

 

[mjlee]

Oz

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

some very lauded shows being called underrated here

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Same here about Santa Clarita Diet

Superstore was really entertaining, especially if you ever worked in retail at any point in your life.

That was going to be my answer as well. I love that show.

 

[Joemoe]

NewsRadio, never been a big sitcom show guy but really enjoyed this series.

 

[barriers]

About 5 years ago there was a Tina Fey produced sitcom called 'Great News' starring John Michael Higgins & Andrea Martin that was great but never really found an audience. If you like an absurd comedy like a 30 Rock or Kimmy Schmidt I'd recommend checking it out. Both seasons are on Netflix in Canada, I'm not sure about the States or overseas.

 

[Neil Racki]

The Good Place -- so freaking good, unique. A show thats story was written from beginning to end before they started filming.

 

[beowulf]

Another adult animated one I just thought of is Solar Opposites, so underrated.

 

[barriers]

Another adult animated one I just thought of is Solar Opposites, so underrated.

I never took to that show much but the shrunken people episode with Alfred Molina as the Duke is absoluetly amazing. Between that and his stint as Mr. Freeze on Harley Quinn Molina has done some fine voice acting in recent years.

 

[beowulf]

I never took to that show much but the shrunken people episode with Alfred Molina as the Duke is absoluetly amazing. Between that and his stint as Mr. Freeze on Harley Quinn Molina has done some fine voice acting in recent years.

I liked the craziness of the show and I guess that comes with the now former writer who also was co-creator of Rick and Morty and has now been booted from both shows.

 

[Bahama Mama]

Shows we liked but only got one season.

Rebel
Stumptown
Battle Creek

Oddly enough though,shows that are so crappy keep getting renewed.