Almost everyone has at least one TV show they hold near and dear to their hearts, even if they are not avid television consumers. With the vast amount of programming available between cable, broadcast networks, and streaming services, it's almost overwhelming how much content we have to choose from. Since we have so much television content available to us at all times, we find ourselves thinking there is too much to watch and nothing to watch simultaneously. Even with that new-age dilemma, many of us are able to find shows that we absolutely love.
Often, many TV consumers collectively love the same shows, which leads to seemingly never-ending discussions about such TV shows. Shows such as The Wire, Game of Thrones, and Breaking Bad have each been over for years now, yet we still find ourselves discussing them as if they are still on the air. Succession just aired its series finale, and there is no doubt the widely popular drama will continue to be talked about for years or even decades to come. Since there is a considerably large amount of television programming available and each individual TV viewer has different tastes, there are also many excellent shows out there that are not talked about enough.
Not every show can be the next Game of Thrones, but that doesn't mean another show isn't just as good, or maybe even better. Too many shows are adored by their fans but not discussed enough in television conversations. They may be expertly written or delicately crafted, but do not generate enough conversation past when a season is airing. These shows may have dedicated fan bases or were critically acclaimed, but still don't hold the same ever-present conversation power as shows such as The Sopranos. With that in mind, here are ten underrated TV dramas that don't get talked about enough:
10 Dead to Me (2019-2022)
Starring two veteran television actors, Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, Netflix's Dead to Me was a crime drama with the perfect mix of comedic elements. The show followed the blossoming friendship between tightly wound single-mother Jen Harding (Applegate) and free-spirited Judy Hale (Cardellini) after the sudden death of Jen's husband.
Season one explores Jen and Judy's growing dynamic and their quest to figure out who was responsible for the tragic car accident that killed Jen's husband, all while Judy hides a secret of her own. The second season reverses the roles, with Jen now hiding a secret and Judy trying to figure out what happened to her ex. By season three, Jen and Judy are inextricably each other's best friends and most reliable confidants. It's a wonderfully charming, funny, and exciting drama that utilizes the best of Applegate's and Cardellini's acting abilities
9 Severance (2022- Present)
Severance is one of those shows that, unless you are already watching it, you have probably heard mentioned here and there. It only debuted last year, so it's still relatively new, but it has already won two Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Main Title Design and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller, the show centers around an office worker named Mark (Adam Scott) who leads a team full of fellow office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their professional and personal lives. After a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, a journey to discover the truth about their place of work begins.
Severance has a unique premise that has drawn fans of the show completely in and blends sci-fi elements with drama elements. The employees have no recollection of their time spent at work when they are home, and vice versa. It's a rather intriguing series, but again it is a show that is only mentioned once in a while. Hopefully, that's due to it being a fairly new show and more people will give it the recognition it deserves as more seasons continue to premiere.
8 The Get Down (2016-2017)
Created by lively and eccentric film director Baz Luhrmann, The Get Down was a fantastic music drama set in the late 1970s in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The show followed a group of ragtag group of South Bronx teenagers running wild in the rundown, cash-strapped streets of the city.
The show details the birth of hip-hop, punk, and disco music in the world's most lively city during one of its lowest periods of time. New York City was on the brink of bankruptcy in the '70s, and you can feel the effects of the financial trouble on the residents of the Bronx specifically. Manhattan is gleaming in the distance and just a subway ride away but is ultimately unattainable to these teenagers. Their dreams and aspirations loom over them as they try to make them a reality in the broken streets of a neglected borough. The show only had one season as it was one of Netflix's most expensive shows and Luhrmann wanted to focus on films again, but the series is worth every second of its 11 episodes.
7 Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)
FX's limited series about LDS fundamentalism, Under the Banner of Heaven, was an incredible series with excellent performances from its entire ensemble cast. The show detailed the real-life murder of Brenda Lafferty, played beautifully by Daisy Edgar Jones, and her infant baby at the hands of Mormon extremists. In one of his best performances, Andrew Garfield plays the detective assigned to the Lafferty case, Jeb Pyre, as he tries to reconcile his LDS faith with the case's obvious ties to LDS fundamentalism.
The show exposes the aggressive nature of LDS fundamentalists and the ways in which these men convince themselves that the "Heavenly Father" commands them to commit acts of horrendous violence in the name of their God. Garfield expertly displays the emotions of a devout man whose religion is entangled with his identity as he slowly realizes the unsettling truths about his religion's history and what the men of his religion are capable of. It also explores how awful girls and women are treated in this religion, but how most of them still want to practice it without being tied down to the subservient rules that have always been forced upon them. It is a truly spectacularly crafted limited series that deserves endless recognition.
6 Narcos (2015-2017)
Narcos chronicles the life of the most infamous drug lord in modern history, Pablo Escobar, and the collaboration between the U.S. DEA agents and the Columbian government to try to take him down, and the multiple narcos they encounter along the way. Spanning from the late '70s until 1993, the first two seasons of the show detail the painstaking efforts of DEA agents Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) and Javier Pena (Pedro Pascal) took to try to end the Medellín Cartel and beat the expert drug king at his own game. Season three picks up directly where season two left off, with Agent Pena heading the task force to bring down the Medellín Cartel's rival, the Cali Cartel.
The show is thoroughly engaging because it takes the audience through every detail of the long-running attempt to end Escobar's reign of terror over Columbia. These agents and the U.S. Embassy workers spent over 15 years away from home to free both Columbia and the U.S. of his grasp, and we see how much they sacrificed to make his capture a reality. Narcos also paints Escobar (Wagner Moura) in a different light from what the world has seen before. It depicts him as a Catholic family man whose true goal is to provide for his wife, children, and aging mother. We are almost meant to sympathize with him, even though we are shown countless times how brutal, unforgiven, and power-hungry he was. The show has seen a bit of a resurgence in popularity thanks to Pedro Pascal's recent internet fame, but the series is deserving of more recognition simply for its blunt portrayal of a humongous moment in history.
5 Legion (2017-2019)
A collaboration between FX and Marvel, Legion is a spellbinding sci-fi drama that is unlike anything other Marvel project. It could easily appeal to non-Marvel fans as its story is gripping, and the visuals are stupendous.
The series revolves around a troubled young man named David Haller (Dan Stevens) who is diagnosed as a person with schizophrenia but discovers he has special powers after a life-changing encounter. Legion is delightfully weird and strangely horrifying. It features one of Aubrey Plaza's best performances as not many people can do bizarre quite like her. David spends the series trying to harness his mutant powers while evading the voices in his head who are real after all. The show has been praised for its distinct narrative structure and unique visual style, but it simply is not talked about enough. The color palette, performances, and exceptional writing make it one of the most engaging series you will watch.
4 Peaky Blinders (2013-2022)
A gangster epic that starts out in 1919 England right after WWI, Peaky Blinders spanned decades and integral moments of world history. Led by Cillian Murphy's brooding Thomas Shelby, the show saw the Shelby family rise from the poverty-stricken streets of Birmingham to become an incredibly powerful and influential family. Known for sewing razor blades in brims of their caps, Shelby and his Peaky Blinders boys adopted a "by any means necessary" approach to success and respect as Shelby's ambitions exceeded beyond controlling the city of Birmingham.
The show had a stellar ensemble cast, with appearances from Anya Taylor-Joy, Adrien Brody, Tom Hardy, and Sam Neil. The performances are excellent all around, the camera work is breathtaking, and the writing is solid throughout all six seasons. It's dark, violent, gut-wrenching, and all the other ingredients for a stand-out show that leaves you on the edge of your seat. Yet, it still seemed to only get appreciation when a new season was out. Now that it's ended, it feels like it's been almost forgotten. When the movie eventually comes out, that should spur more interest in the show because it is truly a show everyone should watch.
3 High Fidelity (2020)
Based on the novel by Nick Hornby of the same name, Hulu's television adaptation of High Fidelity is an unfortunately short-lived dramedy starring Zoë Kravitz as the protagonist. Essentially a modern reboot of the 2000s film (also based on the book) starring John Cusack, the show has Kravitz portraying a female main character, Robyn "Rob" Brooks. She is the pop-culture and music-obsessed owner of a local record store in New York. She manages this quirky record store while trying to figure out her life and somehow continuing to be unlucky in love. It certainly deserved more than one season, but if it's thought of as a miniseries, it works very well and is an endearing yet comical watch.
2 Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
Truly one of the greatest pieces of TV in television history, Mr. Robot is a fascinating crime thriller that is both cleverly written and skillfully acted. Creator Sam Esmail also directed 38 out of 45 total episodes in addition to serving as a writer for all 45 episodes. Having the voice of the creator of the show consistently present throughout allowed the series to maintain a certain style and tone that isn't always achieved when there are multiple people involved.
The show followed Elliot (Rami Malek), a brilliant but highly unstable cyber-security engineer who doubled as a vigilante hacker. He becomes a key player in a scheme to take down the corrupt multinational finance corporation he worked for when a secretive man who called himself Mr. Robot offers him the chance to join an underground hacking group. The first season of Mr. Robot is relentlessly engaging as it forces the viewer to over-analyze every single line of dialogue and each character's behavior. This continues throughout the next three seasons after the insane twist at the end of the first season. The show never lets up and constantly keeps you guessing and predicting. It's a critically acclaimed show whose fans were utterly infatuated with it, but it deserves to be in the ranks of one of the greatest shows of all time and deserves never-ending discussions about it.
1 Normal People (2022)
One of the most gorgeous, sincere adaptations of a novel ever put to screen. Normal People is an extremely rare example of a series that could be considered even better than its source material. Irish author Sally Rooney wrote a heart-wrenchingly beautiful story about two people who are inextricably part of each other's lives. No matter what goes on in their individual lives, Marianne (Daisy Edgar Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) can't be apart. Even when it hurts them.
The chemistry between Jones and Mescal is magnetic, and it makes the relationship between Marianne and Connell even more devastating. The story takes us through their last year in high school where their relationship begins as a secret as to not embarrass Connell at school. It then moves forward to their university years in Dublin where they try to see other people but are simply too drawn to one another for other relationships to work. Each time they get together sets up a more painful breakup when the two inevitably convince themselves that the relationship won't work. Normal People is a moving, endearing series that will never leave your mind. It is an absolute must-watch and deserving of the highest recognition.