What are some lesser-known obscure TV series that went under the radar, that you would recommend?

I forgot to add on my first post:

Dare to Believe - Weird UK sketch show

Better Off Ted

If you like Severence, you really need to see Dollhouse. Only 2 seasons, complete story. Slow start, but it doesn't go where you expect, it's a complete story, and Dichen Lachman (Gemma Scout) plays basically the same role.

Haven't seen these mentioned yet:

Fringe

Killjoys

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

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.

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.

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.

Pushing Daisies

Galavant

Mighty boosh

Red dwarf

Misfits

I guess in this case obscure differs a lot geographically, but I definitely know places where they are almost completely unknown.

Patriot. On Amazon prime. Dark comedy. CIA and government ineptitude.

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)

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.

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.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10482560/

These don’t seem obscure to me but most folks I know have never heard of them:

What We Do in the Shadows

Sealab 2021

Parks and Rec

Party Down

Freaks and Geeks

Venture Bros

Spaced

Early Simon Pegg / Nick Frost / Edgar Wright collaboration, sitcom style.

Scavenger's Reign and Pantheon

Wonderfalls

Being Erica

Forever Knight

La femme Nikita (Peta Wilson version)

Space above and Beyond

Sliders

Doraleus and Associates (web series)

Dr Horribles Singalong Blog (is this okay for this list?)

Due South

Celebrity Deathmatch

Ask a Ninja (early YouTube channel)

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.

News Radio.

Miss that.

Miss Phil.

Mrs. Davis

Dirk Gently’s Detective Agency

Space: Above & Beyond

Earth 2

Lucy: Daughter of the Devil

Final Space

The Lone Gunmen

The Maxx

The Oblongs

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose

The Regime

The Secret Life of Machines

ETA: if you want a more recent one, Deli Boys is pretty great

Kim's Convenience

Halt and Catch Fire

Dark

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:

Special Unit 2

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.

Utopia - The UK version though, fuck the American remake.

Monkey Dust - Obscure UK animation.

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-

https://youtu.be/RAgsubC0zaE

Sliders

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.

Garth Marenghi's Dark Place
The Armando Iannucci Shows
The Adam & Joe Show

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.

The Knick

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.

The Magicians

I don't see Dame Judy Dench's masterpiece "As Time Goes By" mentioned often.

It's about a love affair between the acclaimed author of "My Time in Kenya", and his publisher.

(This summary is intentionally reductive to the point of absurdity. But trust me, it's quite good.)

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

The Lost Room.

Not sure where you can find it, though.

It depends so much on one's tastes... But

Forever
Street Hawk
Firefly (not so obscure)
Travelers
Hogan's Heroes
The Greatest American Hero (just for laughs)

I became a big fan of the series "V", specifically the 2000's remake. I think they discontinued the series due to mixed ratings.

Probably only lesser known depending on age but I always like Due South.

The Terror - season 1 especially is so well done

This is going to hurt - UK medical drama, both hilarious and heartbreaking

I got this from the fediverse in another thread but kims convenience is hilarious. the brother I think did a marvel film recently to.

I didn’t see these:
Halt and Catch Fire (AMC)
For all Man Kind (Apple TV)

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

2 of 2

TURN -George Washington's Spies.

Black Sails

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.

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.

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.

Flash Foward was an interesting series, sadly it end on a major cliffhanger and was never continued.

There have been a veritable ton of amazing shows from Adult Swim that flew under the radar. My three favorite are:

Dream Corp LLC
Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell
The Heart, She Holler

Brickleberry

Tokyo Vice

The Knick

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.

Otherworld.

Lesser-known?

The Time Tunnel.

Three from the BBC, all free on Youtube.

The Prisoner

I, Claudius

Connections

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.

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.

Murdoch Mysteries is the only show I keep up with weekly. It's Victorian, Canadian CSI.

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.

I’m going to recommend the 1970s BBC series “Survivors”. It’s kind of like Walking Dead lite, without the zombies.

Avoid the 2000s remake though. It’s ridiculous.

I also recommend the 1971 BBC series I mentioned in another thread, about a futuristic fascist government in Britain: “the Guardians”.

"On The Air"

Life on Mars (2008, the US version.)

M.A.S.H.

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.

The Almighty Johnsons

Cleverman

Haven

Charlie Jade

Lost Room

Earth2

ZeroZeroZero is a great crime mini series about the drugs trade. Stellar cast.

The Dead Zone

This question feels overly broad.

"What are some foods that people like but not everyone knows about?"

"Name some music that you like that you won't hear on the radio."

You gotta give a genre or era or example for comparison to help narrow focus. Otherwise it's just like "name all the tv shows."

You, Me and the Apocalypse.

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.

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.)