There are mountains of content, as Bo Burnham would say, for you to watch these days in terms of film and TV series. This might not be the first time you’re looking up the best TV shows to binge-watch ever. Whether it’s the streaming sites shoving content down our throats or new and updated ways in which content is taking forms, such as long-form video content on social apps, or web series, entirely made available on the web. The idea is we often miss out on great things whether old or new.
This list is a haphazard, but very entertaining mix of genres, in TV shows that are often overlooked by more mainstream content. Proceed at your own pace, for this might get messy.
Fleabag
Yes when we said underrated, we meant Emmy Award-winning show. But in all seriousness, Fleabag does not get the true recognition it deserves for portraying genuine female experiences from a hilariously dark perspective. In this short series, with just 2 seasons and smaller, choppier episodes, we meet our main character, Fleabag. The show covers Fleabag’s life after her best friend’s sudden demise, struggling to keep her cafe afloat and maintain some semblance of her relationship with her father and sister. The second season is especially praised for its remarkably honest portrayal of Fleabag’s romance between her and The Priest who is marrying her father and stepmother.
Russian Doll
Another masterpiece in abstract thinking and writing, Russian Doll, is a Netflix Original with much more to say than your average drama. If you think about the fleeting nature of life and existence way too often, you are going to love this show. There is a specific niche of viewers this show is for, and you can be on either side of that border. For the fans of Groundhog day, this is going to fire that same light. And if you start watching it now, you might just catch up until the second season is released as Netflix has announced its renewal to the streaming platform.
Community
How do you miss a Sitcom in a list of the best TV shows to binge-watch ever? Community is a masterpiece of hilarity, pop culture references, found family tropes, and what life can mean to some misfits who are bound together by nothing but confidence. There is so much nuance in each character and the stark differences all of them have among themselves that it does not stop short of delivering powerful messages despite the light nature of sitcoms. There are hardly any sitcoms that cover pressing issues as this one does, except for maybe Brooklyn 99. But in all its issues and seriousness, it does not lose the comic value of great writing that comes from using real-world scenarios for jokes without exploiting them.
Killing Eve
If you are looking for a genuinely engrossing thriller, with an anti-hero main character who is unpredictable, say hi to Killing Eve. Eve is indeed one of the main characters, a security officer at a high position, along with Villanelle, who is our posh, fashion, and luxury enthusiast assassin. Yes, you read that right. This is a show that centers around two women, and how their lives get interlinked, and a lot of lines, of law and morality, start to blur around them.
This is Us
Another Drama, but this one is more on the heartwarming side of emotions rather than murder and espionage. This is Us is a story of triplets, Kevin, Kate, and Randall, their parents, and the lives they lead from the moment they are born and onwards. Their lives are inherently intertwined with each other, and the people who cross paths with them. This is Us has developed new ways of storytelling, by breaking the chronological order within a TV show timeline. In a way this show is about how a single person or story can affect the lives of generations, as the story revolves around the parents, Rebecca and Jack, then their triplets, and on to their kids in the recent season. All of this in no particular order, as the story keeps going back in time and forward in the future to draw parallels and compare different moments together as things click.
The Office
Another sitcom that is not as underrated but deserves every bit of praise it gets and should be watched by everyone. This show is another creative endeavor within the sitcom genre, where a random company gets picked for a long-form documentary made on their lives in and outside the office. The main characters are all different and complimenting individuals but the hilarity is ensured by the boss who is a man shown to be full of love, so much so that he forgets when to stop giving it out. There’s nothing else we can say that could not be said better by Micheal Scott himself, so go watch how high he can fly.
Shadow and Bone
Last on this list is a very new release in the fantasy genre, for all those geeks that need something new. Shadow and Bone is a fantasy series that is adapted from the Grishaverse novels by Leigh Bardugo. This is no less than a treat for Harry Potter fans who need another chosen trope to watch. This show is equally appealing for Game of Thrones (GoT) fans who want an engrossing world filled with magic to get lost in eerie creatures that come out in the dark. And if you are in love with Ocean’s 11 franchise and want to see a bunch of misfits coming together to pull off something apparently impossible, then this show is for you.
This series has something for everyone – so regardless of your fan club membership – you are going to love this show. The series is a prequel, fanfiction, and an entirely different story from the Grishaverse novels all at once.
These were some of the underrated best TV shows to binge-watch ever, including some old and new. There is a chance you might have heard of these, or even watched, but if you have not, give them a try, and let the stories take you by storm.
