Better Off Ted. Sharp humor, on point for large corporations. only 2 seasons
Dead before its time, and if they revived it then it wouldn’t be the same. RIP Better Off Ted, I don’t think there’s a single episode of it that doesn’t make me crack up.
Kevin Can Fuck Himself.
Told from the wife’s perspective, in 2 different styles. One is her perspective from living in a sitcom where her dumb husband’s hijinks get laughs as she rolls her eyes, full with laugh track. Behind the scenes it’s shot as a drama with all the characters living with real world ramifications of his stupidity and stress from it. It really builds into this dark dramedy of not living your true self and what people can drive you too. Super cool concept that has acting and writing to back it up.
This show was awesome and it still bums me out that not very many people watched it, but I think it makes people uncomfortable to see just how fucking stupid and reductive their favorite sitcoms were.
3rd Rock From the Sun, my favorite 90s sitcom. Not exactly unknown, but I barely ever hear people talk about it. Created by Bonnie and Terry turner who also did Coneheads and That 70s Show. And the cast is just brilliant, especially John Lithgow.
Also Wellington Paranormal. New Zealand spinoff about the cops in the movie What we do in the Shadows.
Continuum, the Canadian sci-fi series. I haven’t seen it in years, and watched it after it came out, but I never see anyone mention it.
Law enforcement officer chases bad guys and gets trapped in the past, trying to find her way home to the future while also preventing the future from becoming terrible.
I definitely don’t hear enough about this show. It was pretty decent in terms of time travel shows.
I can’t understand why “Black Sails” isn’t as famous as Game of Thrones.
More sex and violence than GOT with a much quicker pace.
Another good one is ‘TURN - George Washington’s Spies.’ Shows Washington as a slave owner and Benedict Arnold as justifiably angry. Cool espionage tricks from the 18th Century, like putting secret messages in hard boiled eggs.
I watched the first season of Black Sails. It was okay. I can’t remember if I finished the second season. I vaguely remember someone getting keelhauled on a ship that wasn’t in the water (like it was in a dry dock). For those who don’t know, keel hauling is running a chain under the ship from one side of the other (think like a jump rope) and then tying someone to it and dragging them across the underside of the ship across their back. This was typically done when the ship was asea. Barnacles would grow on the ship, so if the person tried to hold their breath, they’d probably scream as they were being dragged. If they didn’t drown, and they survived, their whole back would be fucked up. I’m not sure what the survival rate was for it, they could always send them around a second time (or more) if they wanted to kill them. So yeah, not short on brutality. But for brutality I don’t think Game of Thrones set the bar, I think either Sons of Anarchy did it when they burned that guy’s back tat off with a blowtorch and knives, or Vikings, with the Blood Eagle (victim kneels, their back is cut open, their ribs broken one by one with an ax, then their lungs dragged out and slung over their shoulders — the catch being, if they scream out, they’re denied Valhalla, and if the procedure doesn’t kill them, they basically bleed out and die slowly).
Always wanted to watch TURN.
I left ‘Vikings’ off my list because it seems to be much better known than the other two.
I watched the first season of Black Sails. It was okay. I can’t remember if I finished the second season. I vaguely remember someone getting keelhauled on a ship that wasn’t in the water (like it was in a dry dock).
I think you misremembered there in terms of the first season.
Maybe. It’s been close to a decade?
It’s funny, I hear about the show every few months, it comes up in conversation. I might have to give it another chance.
TURN is a great show. Very compelling, some truth to it although not the main characters or the spy ring itself. Finishingsn episode always leaves me wanting to immediately watch the next.
Obligatory, fuck Simcoe.
If you’re into historical pieces, I strongly recommend Babylon Berlin or Warrior.
Liked both.
I do like historicals.
Ah, so you’re quite indepth on this like me then. Black Sails is my (2) show of all time. Heard of Balkan Shadows?
I found a Serbian language trailer and I must say I want to see more.
What platform is it on?
Also, go back a few years, BBC show ‘Reilly, Ace of Spies.’ Based on an actual Russian Jew who became a British agent before WW1 broke out.
It’s basically Babylon Berlin but in Serbia.
And you will have to sail the high seas for this one.
Thanks.
I loved Black Sails. Still want more.
Because the first season of black sails was a mess.
That’s like, your opinion, man.
I was a fan from the first episode and don’t think I skipped anything.
Have a good week.
Kaos. Jeff Goldlum plays a paranoid Zeus. That’s pretty much all to need to know, but the cast and writing are both incredible
Agreed, although it does end on multiple massive cliffhangers and was canceled so that should be known before going in.
Short but fun watch!
Father Ted, best irreverent show. The lead actor died of a heart attack so the show was canceled but the 3 or so seasons that exist are fantastic.
Did you ever see Black Books?
Yes, love it.
The third season was already planned to be its last, but then Dermot Morgan’s death pretty much confirmed it.
Yeah, but still sad.
Dark.
My recommended way to enjoy the show is watch the first few episodes and see if it’s your jam. If it is, keep watching it and use this website to enhance your experience.
The writing is pretty good, the casting is insanely good and the entire show is pretty entertaining.
Does this really qualify as lesser-known? It was pretty huge at the time and is generally considered one of Netflix’s best.
EDIT: That’s a pretty cool website, by the way.
Personally I only found out about it looking at other people’s niche TV show list and no one I know IRL has seen it. I guess it depends?
Yeah no spoilers but there’s one character who you see an older version of later on and I was genuinely surprised that it was two different actors and not just the same one in older makeup.
Sense8. A tv series about 8 strangers across the world who suddenly become empathetically linked to each other. Incredible storytelling by the Wachowskis. Only 2 seasons but it wraps up well and had me ruminating for weeks after.
Snuff Box. The caveat: they got complete creative control in exchange for never doing another season and it only aired once in an overnight time slot.
Snuff Box is absolutely insane, in the best way.
Andor. I realize that it doesn’t fall under obsure really, but people might not watch it because it’s Star Wars.
Andor is a great story that happens to be in the Star Wars universe. You don’t even have to know SW or like scifi to get what’s happening.
I am not a fan of the Star Wars franchise but my friend spent 2 years trying to get me to watch Andor.
I finally did and WOW what a show! It was completely devoid of everything that makes me not like Star Wars. The pacing was actually good, the dialogue was actually believable, and there was actual character development.
He encouraged me to follow it up with Rogue One which I obliged but…the pacing was bad, the dialogue was corny, and there was no character development at all.
The Prisoner good surreal weird spy series from the 60s not very long
Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place goofy 80s dramatic horror parody another short one
Space Ghost Coast to Coast parody talk show reusing animation from space ghost and interviews where they would do the interview early with a person/people then edit it for the show, similar to Harvey birdman attorney at law in the comedy and reusing animation.
Deadloch
Murder mystery type series set in Tasmania. Reminded me of the best parts of Hot Fuzz mashed up with What We Do In The Shadows. I heard supposedly there will be a season 2 coming out at some point, and would definitely want to catch it.
I think the next season is out in a few days.
Someone one telling me about this the other day. It sounds fun
Maybe Party Down? It had a pretty small following back in the day because it was on STARZ, then it was cancelled. Thirteen years later it came back for a third season on Hulu, but that was more of a reunion thing for its small but dedicated fan base as opposed to relaunching the series for a new generation of viewers. The cast is pretty stacked, a lot of them have had mainstream success elsewhere. I think the humour would also appeal to a pretty broad audience, particularly as so many people have worked in catering/hospitality and can relate to the characters.
Are we having fun yet?
I had/have a big LESBIAN crush on Lizzy Caplan, which led to me getting the two original seasons on DVD in college. I think at one point or another I wound up showing every roommate I had the first episode.
Conveniently, the first episode is free on YouTube, so I can keep the tradition alive.
Seriously though, if you’re scrolling through this thread, give it a shot. Under 30 minutes, and funny as hell.
Honestly, a lot of anime, but anime still has a stigma; one, of being “a cartoon” and thus “I’m too old for that”; two, of having controversial themes (like focusing on high school age characters). Or by leaning too far into fantasy, like isekai (lit. “other world” as in you’re stuck there, the first example being Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the most popular isekai anime being Sword Art Online) or super powers (like My Hero Academia, which fundamentally does the same thing as The Boys, but is slightly less edgy).
It’s not easy to recommend anime to people who are predisposed to not wanting to watch it.
My two favourites are one-and-done, as in, when their season was over, the story was over, so they’re relatively low commitment. The shorter one is Erased, with only 12 or 13 episodes. It’s about a guy who is involuntarily thrown back in time a little while when someone around him dies, and he time loops until he can fix it. One day he finds his mother murdered, and he gets thrown back 18 years, and comes face to face with a little girl who was murdered when he was a kid, and he correctly guesses he must save her to save his mom. That’s basically the first episode. Pay attention to the aspect ratio cluing you into whether you’re in the present or a rewind. Also pay attention to the opening, it slightly changes a couple times (particularly near the end).
The other is Your Lie in April. A guy who used to play piano but stopped after his mother died, meets a violinist who wants a partner to play piano with her. She’s going out with his best friend, but spends 20-odd episodes trying to get him to love music and life again. The lie in the title is hers, but it’s not revealed until the very end, and it’s not what you think. You’ll be trying to call the ending, but the nature of the lie is a secondary twist that’ll throw you for a loop even if you guessed the other thing. And the music is awesome — not just the themes (that’s true of both of them) but also the music they actually play.
Bonus: if you liked those, Orange is a pretty easy recommendation. Plot similar to Erased, but plays with your emotions like Your Lie in April. It’s about a girl who gets a letter from the future, telling her about her day before it happens, but it tells her to not invite the new boy out with her and her friends. Even though the letter is accurate, she does so anyway. At the end of the first episode, the friends, now grown, mourn the loss of the guy and contemplate how they could possibly get a message back to the past to change things. It’s a heck of a ride with each episode ending in a cliffhanger. Something like 12 or 13 episodes and it’s done.
Yes, when it comes to live-action stuff, I absolutely loved LOST, Wayward Pines, and currently enjoy FROM, Severance, and Silo — in case you’re wondering. Similar energy on the live-action side. Emotional rollercoasters where you’re wondering where it goes next. My bread and butter. Maybe one day I’ll write one of my own.
I wish I could enjoy anime. I’ve tried several and what doesn’t work for me is the extremely exaggerated emotional outbursts.
This is not me hating on anime. I just dont enjoy it because of this.
Honestly, same. It always drags everything down. I’ve learned to tolerate it.
Thankfully there’s more and more anime that doesn’t have the exaggerated emotions problem.
Any recommendations?
Heading to work so it will be a while before I can respond in depth, but any particular genres you like?
The one I always recommend no matter what is a classic - Cowboy Bebob. That’s the 1st anime I watched that didn’t ruin it with “over acting” and started me on my anime appreciation.
I’ll start with Cowboy Bebop, and I’ll take any other recs when you have time. Thank you!!
Some other recommendations:
86 - military Sci Fi (futuristic time)
Angel Beats - Supernatural Drama (modern time)
Chainsaw Man - Supernatural Action ( it can be very gory, modern time)
Goblin Slayer - fantasy adventure (can be gory and rape is prevalent, feudalism time)
Hells Paradise - Supernatural adventure with Samurai ( trippy and somewhat gory,feudalism time)
Natsume’s Book of Friends - supernatural slice of life ( its very serene {you might find it too slow, but its a very comforting watch for me}modern time)
Relife - school drama (modern time)
School-Live! - slice of life mystery ( the less you know going into it the better, modern time)
Solo leveling -fantasy action adventure (typical power fantasy, but fun, modern time)
The apothecary diaries - “historical” medical mystery show (to me it’s kinda made like a slice of life type show, feudalism time)
Dan Da Dan -supernatural action comedy (while it does have exaggerated emotions it really works for this shows style, modern time)
Re Zero: starting life in another world - fantasy isekai with time travel (lots of violence, but it serves the story, feudalism time)
For the most part these all avoid the worst of anime tropes ( little to no overacting emotions, no harems, no lolicon creepiness)
They are also either ongoing or wrap up well enough( a lot of good anime end with lots of threads still hanging because they are basically just ads for the manga/light novels)
Your lie in April is a depressing as fuck anime.
Want to add another anime that isn’t a shonen that is pretty solid is 3-gatsu no lion or “March comes in like a lion” in English. Well written.
Watched the first season, never got around to continuing it.
It did get me interested in shoji, or, Japanese chess. Or maybe chess for crazy people. Nine rows, nine columns, new pieces, and if they reach the ninth rank, they flip over and gain additional moves (kind of like checkers). Also, you can give up a turn to reclaim a piece your opponent captured, and place it in one of your home ranks (the first three).
Also, you can’t watch March Comes in Like a Lion without getting “nyan-shoji” stuck in your head. It’s an absolute travesty (and blessing) that they never made a full version of that and put it out on streaming. You think Baby Shark is bad? Let it Go? Golden? (Okay, nobody really thinks Golden is bad, parents are just tired of it.) None of them have anything on nyan-shoji.
