These undiscovered treasures will bring you binge-worthy bliss while we wait for TV production to pick back up.
Now that the writer’s and actor’s strikes have come to an end, TV lovers everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it’ll take a while for new shows and seasons to make it from the writer’s room to our small screens, so the return of your favorite series might still feel like a far-off fantasy.
That leaves us in a bit of a pickle: What are we supposed to do before production starts up again, especially now that we’re in the “Netflix and Chill” season? Before you consider staring at a blank wall or re-watching The Office for the millionth time, consider trying something new.
Even though there are now approximately 10 million shows available at our fingertips, quantity doesn’t always equal quality. Since we’d hate for you to slog through all of that muck before finding a gem, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you to compile a list of 10 underrated shows that will reignite your excitement to stay in and stream on.
Catastrophe
Genre: Dark comedy
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Whether you’re a parent or not, Catastrophe will win you over with its hilarious and sometimes cringe-worthy portrayal of pregnancy, parenthood, and marital issues. The show follows Rob, a single guy who goes on a business trip to London, where he has a brief fling with a 40-something elementary school teacher named Sharon. After Rob heads back to the States, Sharon calls him to let him know she’s pregnant. Rob then relocates to London, and these two people who hardly know each other have to navigate the intimate and awkward journey to parenthood. It’ll hit the spot if you’re looking for a heartwarming laugh. Just look at one of our favorite lines: “Why haven’t I cheated on you? I mean, the biggest reason is you’ve been pregnant so much, so, it’s the least I can do when you’ve been carting around our baby in your body.”
The Other Two
Genre: Comedy
Where to Watch: Max
It’s rare that a show can make you laugh out loud when you’re watching from the couch alone, but The Other Two is one of those TV treasures that will make you spit out your soup. In the show, Cary and Brooke are aimless 30-something siblings whose much younger brother, Chase, suddenly becomes an international popstar. As both siblings are thrown into existential crises about their own mediocrity, they begin riding Chase’s coattails to gain access to the exclusive celebrity world. While every single character is outrageous in their own way, perhaps the best character is the kids’ naive yet charming mother, played by Molly Shannon, who unwittingly becomes a media darling in her own right.
Bad Sisters
Genre: Dark comedy
Where to Watch: Apple TV +
If you watched Catastrophe, then you’re already head-over-heels for Sharon Horgan. Horgan co-created this show about five extremely close adult sisters, the Garvey girls, who lost both of their parents when they were young. The sisters have always relied on each other, until the middle sister, Grace, gets married. Her husband, the villainous John Paul, is perhaps the biggest jerk ever to appear in a TV show, and his evildoing is so over-the-top that you can’t help but laugh. As John Paul begins sabotaging his sister-in-laws’ lives in order to isolate Grace from her family, the other four Garvey girls come to a unanimous decision: John Paul must die.
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
Genre: Drama
Where to Watch: Prime Video
This show has everything: Delightful Australian accents! Sigourney Weaver! Beautiful flowers! Twists and turns! A plotline that will make you cry and cry! This miniseries is a masterpiece, and it’s surprising there hasn’t been more buzz about it. There’s a lot of mystery right from the first episode so we’ll spare too much detail, but the general gist is that a little girl loses her mother and abusive father in a fire and is thrown into a completely new life while she deals with the trauma of loss.
The English
Genre: Western drama
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Emily Blunt is one of those actresses who always delivers, and her work in The English is no exception. The show chronicles the journey of a high-class Englishwoman, Lady Cornelia Locke, who travels to a lawless Western town searching for the outlaw who murdered her son. A fish out of water, Cornelia teams up with Eli Whipp, a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout who reluctantly agrees to help the Englishwoman exact her justice.
Drops of God
Genre: Drama
Where to Watch: Apple TV+
You wouldn’t think a drama about the cut-throat world of sommeliers would have you on the edge of your seat, but Drops of God is nothing short of thrilling. After Alexandre Léger, the most famous sommelier in the world, dies, his estranged daughter learns that his entire estate — including thousands of bottles of priceless wine — is hers. But there’s a significant catch: She must compete with her late father’s Japanese prodigy, Issei Tomine, in a series of challenges where the winner takes all and the loser walks away with nothing. There are some absolutely wild and unexpected plot twists that will leave you stunned…and probably craving a glass or two of wine.
A Small Light
Genre: Historical drama
Where to Watch: Hulu
If you’re looking for a show that will absolutely wreck you while simultaneously restoring your faith in humanity, then A Small Light is for you. The show follows Miep Gies, one of a small group of people who hid and sheltered Anne Frank and her family after the Germans invaded Amsterdam. The show pays tribute to the acts of defiance, both big and small, that Dutch citizens executed to resist their Nazi occupiers. While many of us know Anne’s story thanks to her own account from the annex, A Small Light focuses on the bravery it took for Miep and her friends to shelter the Franks, while also emphasizing the constant terror and paranoia these heroes lived in for two years as they cared for the families in the annex.
The Dust Bowl
Genre: Documentary
Where to Watch: PBS
Let’s start this one with a warning: Once you watch this two-part, four-hour documentary by Ken Burns, you’re going to want to talk about it constantly. “Did you know the Dust Bowl was the greatest man-made ecological disaster in U.S. history?!” you’ll yell at strangers on the street. You’ll try to pull unsuspecting friends into debates over farming techniques and spend hours speculating about the difference between tumbleweeds and Russian thistles. But more importantly, you’ll be transported to an America that seems totally foreign yet eerily relevant, where good, hard-working people were forced on a dangerous journey west to a state that didn’t want them. You’ll be left surprised, indignant, and ravenous to learn more about this forgotten period of history.
MerPeople
Genre: Documentary
Where to Watch: Netflix
This delightfully weird documentary about people who dress up as mermaids is a triumph of both sea and screen. It follows a group of underwater performers as they compete for low-paid, under-appreciated jobs swimming around in tanks dressed as mermaids in places like Vegas hotel lobbies. The love these people have for “mermaiding” and the rejection they’re willing to put up with to pursue their dreams is mind-blowing, but it might make you think, “I wish I felt even half this passionate about something.” The takeaway from the documentary is that there’s a safe and loving community out there that’s willing to accept any magical misfit willing to pull on a tail and flap around in a pool. An extra bonus is that the doc is chock full of nautical puns, all of which are delivered completely seriously.
Shrinking
Genre: Dramedy
Where to Watch: Apple TV+
This is one of those rare shows that comes along and sweeps you off your feet before you even realize what’s happening. It’s got an all-star cast, including Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, and Jessica Williams. Segel plays a grieving widow thrown into the role of a single parent while trying to keep his composure as a therapist. It’s an understated, disarming comedy that has a whole lot of heart and will leave you rooting for each and every one of the characters.
