What are some lesser-known obscure TV series that went under the radar, that you would recommend?
What are some lesser-known obscure TV series that went under the radar, that you would recommend?
Lexx, a show about a giant dragonfly spaceship that destroys planets and the creepy cowardly idiot who somehow lucked into becoming the single person in the two universes that it obeys. And an undead assassin-warrior-poet. And a woman who survived a botched "love slave" transformation. And a weird robot head.
It's outrageously strange and strangely horny and hornily gross. Highly recommend if you like weird TV.
I always mention this one, but The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
It's got Bruce Campbell in it (Army of darkness) And he plays a cowboy as the lead character where he goes on wacky steampunk-filled hijinks and adventures through the Old West.
it came out in the early 90s and you can watch it for free on tubiTV.
Fun fact, a lot of the old timey western movies used a particular set and the Adventures of Brisco County Jr. was the last show to use that set.
When they finished it was torn down.
Another fun fact, you've heard the theme song.
It's now used in the Olympics when America plays.
It's a fucking amazing show.
Dead Like Me
It was pretty much all over the place but I liked the tone and premise. IMO, I really doubt anyone would've been able to make that kind of story work any more than the original folks did but yeah. I don't think the writing was that good but I liked the cast. That alone would've sold me. Also maybe throw in the fact that I found the show while I was kind of starting out on my own during college and so in ways, I related to the main person. Yada yada yada.
Station Eleven
It's absolutely criminal how little attention HBO gave this show. It wasn't even brought to Europe, so you can't watch it legally over here. But IMHO it's one of the best TV shows of the past few years, and it's a complete story so no cliffhangers. It's also one of the rare cases of a show being better than the book it was based on, and the book was already a bestseller.
You're The Worst
-- A dark comedy / romantic comedy that centers on two toxic, self-destructive people who fall in love and attempt a relationship. --
Absolutely amazing TV show by Stephen Falk. Criminally underrated. It is my favorite show of all time. It should be available to stream on Hulu, otherwise pirating it may be the only way to watch it.
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt3228420/
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
-- A bright, wonderful and adorable show (animated by Dreamworks) that follows 13-year-old Kipo navigating a post-apocalyptic world full of evolved animals with human-level intelligence, and making friends along the way. --
This is a family-friendly show that took me about 7 episodes to get hooked. I am so glad I stuck with it! Made by Radford Sechrist and Bill Wolkoff. It's on Netflix. It also had a small DVD release that may be difficult to find.
Raised by Wolves. It was killed by HBO around the time of the discovery merger thing, but was a fully written (creator originally wrote it as a book, and then made it into a screenplay) and unique show. Produced by and has some directing from Ridley Scott.
The show follows two androids, Mother and Father, raising a human child alone on a desolate planet after fleeing a dying earth controlled by hi-tech zealots. This new home might be far more related to them than they realize, and maybe not always so desolate. It blends mysticism and sci-fi in a really fun way, and I will never not be angry I don't get to see how it ends.
Danger 5. Greatest Australian comedy of all time. https://youtu.be/0Z09bNgSeMI
The Leftovers - 2% of the worlds population just vanishes. Enough to freak people out but not cause the complete collapse of civilization.
The Endgame - High class criminal commits crimes by way of getting herself arrested. There's only 1 season. Ignore the last ~10 minutes of the last episode and the story wraps up fine.
Counterpart - Mid-level bureaucrat finds out there's a doorway to a parallel dimension with whom the world's been in a secret cold war
Reaper was a really brilliant, easy-watching action/comedy show akin to Chuck. It's centered around a young man whose family has sold his soul to the devil, and now he must fulfill the contract by hunting down souls that have escaped from hell.
It features the typical "monster of the week" premise, along with a longer story arc across the seasons and has a rather fun mythology and world building. Ray Wise puts in a phenomenal performance as the devil, and I remember the show having a pretty genuine and surprisingly wholesome sense of humour.
Sadly its momentum got interrupted by the writers strike, and its second season was shortened and then cancelled. I still highly recommend it.
How about two with Rosa Salazar?
Undone on Amazon Prime, a trippy psychological show about a girl (Salazar) exploring the link to her present and her dead father (Bob Odenkirk). It's rotoscoped to add to the trippiness
Brand New Cherry Flavor on Netflix, where an aspiring writer gets her career ruined by a director when she turns down his sexual advances. She makes a deal with a witch to get revenge
Wonderfalls
Monkey Dust. BBC show from the late 00''s that went ~3 seasons. Animated sketch comedy that was ostensibly British but wasn't SO British that Americans wouldn't get it. Example sketch-
I became a big fan of the series "V", specifically the 2000's remake. I think they discontinued the series due to mixed ratings.
Haven't seen these mentioned yet:
Fringe
Killjoys
2 of 2
TURN -George Washington's Spies.
Black Sails
I got this from the fediverse in another thread but kims convenience is hilarious. the brother I think did a marvel film recently to.
Someone mentioned Patriot here the other day, and I think that qualifies as at least lesser-known.
Also going to plug the Canadian TV series Sort Of, about a trans woman who is a nanny for her friend's two kids.
I was also surprised I had missed Spaced, a kind of surrealist sitcom starring Simon Pegg and directed by Edgar Wright (think: Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead). Not sure it counts as obscure or lesser-known, but it was for me anyway.
Mr Inbetween is an excellent Aussie show. Haven't found anything else that captures our culture so well.
Not sure where the bar sits for obscure / under the radar. There's plenty of more popular shows I normally recommend.
Keeping it less known I guess:
Sense8 - slow start but cool concept
The goes wrong show - brilliant little piece of British theatre humour. Some great recurring gags
And second another commenter's recommendation of you're the worst as a good laugh.
-
Odyssey 5 (Only lasted a season, but damn...)
-
Boardwalk Empire (for some reason the least talked about and most forgotten HBO show)
-
Into the Badlands (Deserved a longer life. Great martial arts action in a post-apocalypse)
-
First Wave (Nostrodamus, Conspiracy theories and the first wave of an secret Alien invasion)
-
Seven Days (The younger lapaglia brother jumps back in time 7 days to prevent various threats)
-
Sense8 (strangers from all over the world find themselves linked mentally for some reason)
-
Murdoch Mysteries is the only show I keep up with weekly. It's Victorian, Canadian CSI.
Children Of The Stones, 1977 British childrens' horror show. A historian and his young son visit a small village whose residents hold secrets about an ancient stone monument.
Like most 70s British TV, there's no production budget, and entirely dependent on script writing and actors to create atmosphere.
Border Line - British mockumentary that follows airport security forces. Even though The Office was British originally, this feels like they took they the US' Office and put their spin on that. There's definitely a Michael, a Dwight, a Pam and Jim etc. It's pretty fucking funny, but unfortunately they only made 2 seasons before it got canceled.
Two unique shows cancelled after two seasons. Both have qualities I've not seen in other shows. The Knick has a unique atmosphere that makes it really appealing along with a brilliant soundtrack that you would never expect from a period drama. Tokyo Vice's story telling is uniquely a mix of English and Japanese and blends the two so naturally. The acting in both shows is superb and I wish we had more.
The 7 Lives of Léa
Interesting French Netflix mini-series. Way better than it has any right to be considering its scale and I don't think it's gotten the attention it deserves.
I recommend watching in French with subtitles.
The Patriot on amazon is one of my favourite tv shows of all time. Tragically cancelled but each episode is outstanding. Nobody's seen it!
Mr Inbetween
Because I've never met anyone else who ever watched it and I haven't been able to pirate it:
An action/comedy police procedural about a unit of the Chicago PD that manages cryptids (called "Links" in the show). A little bit like a terrestrial MIB.
The Dead Zone
I’m not sure if it is obscure, but I had never heard of it. Husband and I have been watching SyFy’s Channel Zero and love it.
No Heroics, only lasted a few seasons in the UK which means only maybe 12 episodes. (You may also see some actors from Ted Lasso if you look carefully.)
Sprung - about a group of small time cons trying to do the right thing and con only bad guys in the community while surviving covid and falling into a found family. Very funny and sincere.
Swarm. It's a great show but unpopular for a reason since it's pretty niche and I imagine would make most people too uncomfortable. That's my endorsement.
Others have already recommended Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, and Galavant. All are worth another mention.
I'm surprised only one other person mentioned Final Space. At first glance you might think, "Oh, it's just a Rick and Morty knock off." You'd be wrong. It's much more Futurama in tone than it is Rick and Morty. I'm not afraid to admit Final Space is the only cartoon I've watched as a grown man that made me cry. On multiple occasions. It hits you right in the feels, hard.
The Almighty Johnsons
Cleverman
Haven
Charlie Jade
Lost Room
Earth2
ZeroZeroZero is a great crime mini series about the drugs trade. Stellar cast.
You, Me and the Apocalypse.
Coming to this late, but both Chris Elliott comedy vehicles that tickle me to this day:
Get A Life
Eagleheart
Manchild (2002)
"On The Air"
maybe the low budget sci fi british series from 1997 called Lexx.
4400, but it was a wierd hybrid of superpower humans and dystopian future+ time travelling of mankind, basically in the future the wealthy/aristocratic were living in prisitne cities while everything was a version madmax and judge dredd future. threshold was another one. the "rich people" found out about the scientist going back in tiem to prevent this future, so they sent thier own agents to the past to stop it.
Brickleberry
Otherworld.
Flash Foward was an interesting series, sadly it end on a major cliffhanger and was never continued.
Comrade Detective
Fictional 1980s Romanian buddy-cop propaganda tv show promoting Soviet communism - filmed in 2017. Dubbed into English with voices including:
Channing Tatum Joseph Gordon-Levitt Nick Offerman Jenny Slate Jason Mantzoukas John DiMaggio
It’s fucking amazing
I forgot to add on my first post:
Dare to Believe - Weird UK sketch show
12 Monkeys the TV show. I've never met anyone that has even heard of it, and I really enjoyed it! Same main characters as the movie, more or less, but a more involved story. Very satisfying, tidy ending.