In today's media landscape, it seems every channel out there has at least one “premium” show. Their Breaking Bad, their Mad Men, their Game of Thrones, and all of them are vying for your attention like loud spoilt toddlers, screaming for sweets. In many ways, this is a good thing as it means there are more options than ever before. In this brave new world of television being as good as film, if not better in some cases, you should never find yourself wanting for a show to watch. And yet somehow, that’s not the case - the amount of options available can be paralysing and just how many nights have you found yourself bored and not found a single thing worthwhile on Netflix? Despite the seemingly endless amount of choice, you can’t find anything you want to watch. Of course, it’s made all the worse by the fact that you don’t want to start watching a show only to find out it’s terrible after you’ve invested 45 minutes in the first episode – and what if you start watching something only to find it gets terrible in the second season after the studio cut the budget and changed half the cast? And, honestly, how many times have you started watching something only to find out it ends on a cliff-hanger and was cancelled after the first season? We’ve all been there, and we’ve all been burned, and there’s only so many times you can go through it before you give up and spend your evenings watching re-runs of Mock the Week on Dave rather than risk going through all that again.
In fact, you’re beginning to wonder why you even pay for those streaming services anymore, you’re pretty sure you’ve seen everything worth watching on all of them and you never even use them these days. Maybe you could save the money you’re wasting on them every month and go out with your friends, or do something like join the gym.
Well, before you make any rash decisions that involve going outside and doing things with so-called “other people”, I’m here to stage an intervention. Here’s a list of ten shows that are not only well worth your investment, but have never quite attained the mass recognition they deserve. There’s bound to be something here that you’ve missed in all the white noise that passes for our media landscape these days and if there isn’t? … well maybe you should join that gym. You clearly watch too much TV.
- Maron.
Despite performing since the 80s, stand-up comedian Marc Maron never achieved any real recognition until his podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, took off in the early 2010s. Marc’s brutal honesty about himself and his shortcomings inspired his guests to open up in ways they never had before, and before anyone knew it, it had become a must-listen podcast for anyone with a slight interest in comedy. This created an odd dynamic; while he was now best known as an interviewer, he still considered himself primarily a comedian – and it’s this uneasy tension between his public and private persona that drives his sitcom, Maron.
Maron (the sitcom) is perhaps best described as more neurotic, misanthropic Louis, with each episode dealing with Marc’s attempts to be a decent person whilst continuing to struggle for recognition in spite of his recent successes. Thrown into this mix are Marc’s numerous demons, his anger problems and struggles with sobriety, all of which become increasingly relevant as the show goes on. If you’re a fan of Louis, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or just low-key sitcoms in general, you owe it yourself to check out Maron.
- SPACED.
SPACED is, from start to finish, a love letter to the media saturated lives of twenty somethings and every episode is packed with a pop culture references, parodies, and homages. Created by Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, directed by Edgar Wright and starring the creators themselves and Nick Frost, SPACED manages to accomplish the difficult fear of being both surreal and offbeat, yet entirely relatable at the same time. Jessica Stevenson has said in interviews that the idea for the show was to take anecdotes like “I once worked at this place and it was exactly like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and make them reality.
While it only has 12 episodes, SPACED is necessary for any fan of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s later work, or just fans of British comedy in general. Densely packed with jokes and references, which make repeat viewings incredibly rewarding, SPACED is a sadly underappreciated gem and well worth giving a few hours of your life to.
- Bosch.
Based on the books by Michael Connolly, Bosch tells the story of Harry Bosch, a detective fighting both a dense underworld of crime and his personal shortcomings, set against a background of gritty Hollywood noir. While the show is slow moving, it’s completely engaging, holding your attention with its drip feed of information until the climax where everything comes to a head.
What saves Bosch from being more than just an above average police procedural is Titus Welliver as the main character, a role he inhabits totally, giving Bosch a heavy world-weary demeanour, as if he knows his battle is ultimately a pointless one, which is something that becomes increasingly obvious as each season progresses.
While it’s not for everyone, if you’re a fan of Terriers and similar crime dramas, Bosch may be your new favourite show.
- Banshee
Banshee is the best character driven drama since Breaking Bad, with a complicated plot underpinned by realistic characters who find themselves in increasingly desperate situations.
The story begins with an unnamed charismatic criminal, recently released from prison for diamond theft, assuming the identity of Banshee, PA’s recently murdered sheriff, Lucas Hood. From there we’re plunged into a world of complicated morality and constant paranoia as Lucas attempts to balance his life of crime with his new duties as the sheriff of Banshee whilst hiding from a Ukrainian crime lord he doubled crossed years ago and attempting to patch things up with his estranged wife, who is now living under an assumed identity and is married with a family. As the series goes on, Lucas finds himself increasingly at odds with both the people and the criminal element of Banshee which only gets worse as things begin to escalate on all fronts.
Banshee is a phenomenal series, with a great visual style, tense dynamic plotting, and great characters. In a world where every crime show is the “best thing since Breaking Bad”, Banshee is one of the few that managed to live up to that effusive praise.
- Togetherness.
With the recent debut of Room 104, it’s worth checking out the Duplass Brothers’ underappreciated Togetherness. Building on their semi-improvised films, Togetherness focuses on Brett and Michelle Pierson (played by Mark Duplass and Melanie Lynskey), a married couple in a rut who have their low-key existence shattered by the sudden arrival of Brett’s best friend Alex (Steve Zissis) and Michelle’s sister Tina (Amanda Peet). Togetherness has the feel of a good indie film, helped by its use of loose plotting with strong characterisation to build a funny but tension filled atmosphere as the influence of Alex and Tina strains the household and exposes the deep painful flaws in Brett and Michelle’s stale marriage with each passing episode.
Your enjoyment of Togetherness will hinge upon your stomach for “mumblecore” and similar low key indie films, but if you’re a fan of any of the Duplass Brothers other work, or enjoyed Joe Swanberg’s Easy then you should feel right at home here.
- Bored to Death
Everyone has that show they wished could have one more season. Maybe even just one more episode. A show they loved so much they wished it didn’t have to end at all. For me, that show is Bored to Death, an off-kilter detective show that’s so much more than that.
After making an impulsive decision to post an ad posing as a private detective on Craigslist, Johnathon Ames (Jason Schwartzman) is plunged into an increasingly complex series of cases, which he then struggles to juggle with his out-of-control ego, his real job, his relationship troubles and both his drinking and drug habits. Co-Starring Ted Danson as his insane and hyper-demanding boss at the magazine he works for and Zach Galifianakis as his best friend, Bored to Death (after a few shaky episodes) eventually settled into a groove with clever scripting and laugh out loud funny lines and becomes yet another great show that no-one watched while it was airing. If you’ve never seen it, you need to rectify that right now and see exactly why it inspires such devotion among its fans.
4.The League
First things first, your enjoyment of The League will depend heavily on your enjoyment of improvised humour. If you think it’s annoying and rarely builds to a satisfying punchline, then you should give this one a miss and move onto number three.
For the rest of you, let me introduce The League, an ensemble comedy about five friends who take fantasy football a little bit too seriously. With a cast made up solely of veteran improvisers (Mark Duplass, Paul Scheer, Nick Kroll, Stephen Rannassizzi and Katie Aselton), the show can be hit and miss at times, but when it hits, it hits hard. Every year the five get together to compete for the prestigious Shiva Bowl (named after the girl one of the characters lost his virginity too and complete with her year book photo) and hopefully avoid the dreaded Sacko Bowl, a prize given to the very worst participant. From episode one, the show quickly builds up inside jokes, call backs and memorable lines that make it perfect for binge watching entire seasons in one sitting. If you’re a fan of Judd Apatow or It’s Always Sunny, then this might be exactly what you’re looking for.
- The Path.
After a short, but nevertheless notable absence, Aaron Paul makes his triumphant return to the small screen with The Path, a dark drama about loss of faith in a religious cult.
Paul plays Eddie Lane, a devout Meyerist, who experiences a crisis of faith after an epiphany during a retreat that was meant to deepen his faith and move him up the ladder. Haunted by doubts and nagging questions that he can’t share with his devout wife (played by the ever-underrated Michelle Monaghan), Eddie begins to question everything around him and finds himself having to choose between the truth or his faith and family. At its best, The Path feels like a ticking time bomb, each passing second counting down to the moment when Eddie’s doubts will catch up with him and even at its most meandering and slow, the show is still worth watching for Aaron Paul giving it his all, even when it seems like the script isn’t. After a rocky start, The Path has become compulsive, addictive viewing and is worth seeking out if you’re a fan of things like The Leftovers.
- Top of The Lake
Jane Campion’s detective drama may be the best crime drama since True Detective – and that’s not something I’d say lightly. Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss plays Robin Griffin, a detective sent to investigate the unexplained pregnancy and subsequent disappearance of a twelve-year-old girl in the small town of Laketop in New Zealand. Moss is perfectly cast, playing Robin as a broken but tough sex crimes investigator who is single minded in her mission to find the missing twelve-year-old, bringing herself to the brink of madness as she uncovers the towns dark secrets and edges ever closer to discovering exactly what happened.
To say much more would spoil too much of what awaits you, as the twists and turns should be experienced, not spoiled. An atmospheric and intricately plotted detective story, Jane Campion draws on all her experience as a director on films like The Piano and Bright Star, to create a darkly beautiful show, where the environment is just as oppressive and violent as the crime itself, where fog and water meet and blur the lines just as much as lies and omissions blur the lines between the innocent and guilty. Top of the Lake should jump straight to the top of your “watch” queue, right now.
- You’re the Worst.
You’re the Worst takes the trappings and tropes of a rom-com and applies them to the very last people who would ever expect to find themselves in that situation. Two toxic, and utterly unlikable people, who leave a trail of broken hearts, one-night stands and irreparable relationships in their wake and don’t lose a single night of sleep over it. After a chance encounter at a wedding, Gretchen Cutler (Aya Cash) and Jimmy Shrive-Overly (Chris Geere) discover that while they may be terrible for almost everyone else, they are perfect for each other – and so begins a deeply dysfunctional but incredibly touching relationship, as the arrogant and pretentious writer Jimmy attempts to live happily ever after with the ever cynical and selfish Gretchen. Accompanied by Jimmy’s PTSD riddled, ex-soldier roommate Edgar (Desmin Borges), Gretchen’s oversexed, equally selfish best friend Lindsay (Kether Donahue), her nerdy, quiet husband Paul (Allan McLeod), Lindsay’s sister and Jimmy’s ex Becca and her submissive, bro-ish doctor husband, Vernon (Todd Robert Anderson), the two of them attempt something resembling a normal relationship, and while failing, nevertheless finding themselves growing increasingly attached to each other.
What makes You’re the Worst special is that it’s more than just another dark comedy, cloned from the DNA of It’s Always Sunny. You’re the Worst doesn’t shy away from the fact that Jimmy and Gretchen are broken people who’ve been hurt. Jimmy’s rejected marriage proposal to Becca fundamentally changed him, just as Gretchen’s lonely upbringing and lifelong depression struggles changed her, and neither was for the better. While it could have been just another dark comedy, You’re the Worst takes the time to empathize with its characters and makes them real people you genuinely feel for. You’re the Worst walks a tight rope between comedy and drama, and never sways too far one way or the other, finding a perfect balance. Sharply written, fast paced and not afraid of wearing its heart on its sleeve, You’re the Worst is a show you should have started watching three years ago, so why not make up for lost time and start now?
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