Underrated TV shows you probably aren’t watching (but should be)

The rise of streaming has meant that there are now plenty more places for us all to get an entertainment fix. It also means that there are A LOT of TV shows around right now.

There are far too many for one person to watch and this unfortunately means that many shows either go under the radar, or just don’t get the recognition they deserve.

Here we’ve chosen 10 shows that we love but don’t think enough people are watching them right now. Whether it’s because they are on a smaller streaming service (Apple TV Plus isn’t quite in the same ballpark as Netflix for numbers just yet) or they have had moderate success in the US but haven’t been pushed enough elsewhere.

And if you have watched some or all, then bask in the knowledge that your TV watching is gilded right now…

Underrated TV shows

at NOWWatch if you like Better Call SaulBarry has just finished its fourth and final season and there really is no better under-the-radar show out there right now. Bill Hader is Barry, a hitman that has aspirations to become an actor. The person who teaches him how to act is The Fonz himself, Henry Winkler, and it gets stranger from there. Barry is a wonderful, surreal, tragicomedy that goes to some dark places but there is always light thanks to Hader’s performance.

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at Disney+Watch if you like Knives OutThe season two trailer is out and we can’t wait. Only Murders In The Building is that rare treat of a show, one which uses veteran comedians, mixes them up with Selena Gomez and the results are magnificent. The veterans we are talking about are Steve Martin and Martin Short who are part of a trio that are obsessed with the same true crime podcast. This puts them in good steed when a murder happens in their New York apartment block. With twists and turns aplenty, this is one addictive, fun show.

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at Apple TV+Watch if you like Battlestar GalacticaIt’s with no hyperbole that we announce that For All Mankind is the best sci-fi show in years. While its first season takes a while to get going, it’s morphed into a real zinger of a show - one that showcases what would happen if the space race continued in an alternative reality, after Russia went to the moon first. It’s a perfect blend of true space race history with fiction by the brilliant mind of Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore. Again, this is another Apple TV Plus show gem.

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at AmazonWatch if you like The FavouriteThe Great is, well, great, Starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, it is about Catherine The Great but shot through a modern lens. It's an historical drama that mashes satire with fun and comes up with a show that is utterly compelling to watch, mostly thanks to the brilliant main stars.

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at Disney+Watch if you like What We Do In The ShadowsWe’re not quite sure how Taika Waititi manages to be over all the projects he is managing but we are so glad that he took the time to help create Reservation Dogs, alongside Native American showrunner Sterlin Harjo. This is a superb show set among an indigenous American reserve in Oklahoma. Again, this is a show about representation but one that mines Indigenous culture for what is a brilliant, off-kilter story.

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at AmazonWatch if you like The Marvelous Mrs. MaiselNow in its second season, Hacks stars Jean Smart as Vegas comedian Deborah Vance who needs something of a jumpstart to her career, thanks to being cancelled after a Tweet. This is offered by young comedy writer Ava Daniels, Hannah Einbinder, who works to make Vance relevant again. Yes, there have been Emmy awards and the like for this one, but in the UK it’s been slow to arrive - it’s here now, though, and needs to be devoured.

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at Apple TV+Watch if you like Infernal AffairsApple TV Plus is definitely going down the quality not quantity route and it’s working wonders for the service. Pachinko is a wonderful drama - based on the sweeping historical novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, it charts the weaving strands of history between Japan and Korea. Everything from Japan taking the country in 1910 to World War II to Japan’s rise as a powerhouse country in Asia all the way up to the 90s is showcased. It’s a heady look at a history that perhaps in the west hasn’t been highlighted enough and it’s a timeline shifting masterpiece.

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at bbc.co.ukWatch if you like StarstruckThe first season of Love Life starred Anna Kendrick and was very much in romcom territory, with some fantastic laugh out loud moments. But the show has really hits its stride in season 2. Being an anthology, it flips to another character, this time played by The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper as the one out looking for love.

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at AmazonWatch if you like Bojack HorsemanRaphael Bob-Waksberg is the king of uncomfortable comedy. He showed this masterfully in Bojack Horseman and has done it again in Undone. Also an animation (of sorts), this rotoscoped delight focuses on Alma who can manipulate time thanks to a near fatal car accident. The show is fantastic, with Rosa Salazar as Alma perfect in the role. She’s joined by Better Call Saul’s Bob Odenkirk, Daveed Diggs and more. It’s much darker than Bojack but is just as watchable.

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at channel4.comWatch if you like Chewing GumThis tale of a British rock band consisting entirely of Muslim women is at times pretty silly but there is a lot of joy to be had here. Just take the sort of songs they are singing: Nobody’s Gonna Honour Kill My Sister But Me. That’s what you get - it’s not a show that rams a message down your throat but one that offers up a fresh, new side to representation that’s bloody brilliant to watch.

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