The Plethora Of Great TV Shows – Beyond The Hype And Ratings

If you think you know your TV then you might want to think again cause there are a plethora of great TV shows but these shows get shut down or get wrapped up in lesser seasons due to low TRP, even though they have great reviews. In simpler words the underdogs of TV shows. In this age when TV shows are starting every weekend the life’s of these shows ride a lot on platforms like IMDB or rotten tomatoes, and it so happens that more often shitty shows end up getting all of the views cause of the hype surrounding it. So here’s a list of a few great TV shows which haven’t really found a large mainstream audience

Togetherness

Well, have you ever wondered why don’t they just break up, whenever the couple next door pick up a fight with each other? Then this show might give you a little perspective on their lives. Togetherness is a story about four adults living together in an apartment in Los Angeles as each of them tries to make ends meet and make their relationships work. What’s more interesting is that it blends self-deprecating humour with some very serious issues. Watching other people trying to keep their marriage together hasn’t been this entertaining ever. Despite its great reviews and promising first season, it had to be pulled down due to low TRP by HBO after two seasons.

The Expanse

A sci-fi show set hundreds of years in the future; things have turned a different paradigm after humans have colonized the solar system and Mars has become an independent military power. Rising tensions between Earth and Mars have put them on the brink of a civil war. Against this backdrop, a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain come together to investigate the case of a missing young woman. The investigation leads them on a race across the solar system that could expose the greatest conspiracy in human history. If the premise of the show doesn’t excite you then I don’t know what will. It is one of the best-executed SciFi show right now. With some of the best visual effects in television and storytelling which can rival Game of Thrones, this show is a must watch.

Mozart In The Jungle

An Amazon prime musical comedy-drama series tells the story of a music genius Rodrigo and his journey in becoming the new music conductor at the New York Symphony. Now you might think classical music is for the old and it’s perhaps even boring, but this web series proves it can actually be fun for the modern generation too. By not just throwing around musical jargon around but instead by showing us the drama behind the music they make and the sense of competition between these maestros. It unabashedly shows us the power struggle that exists at the highest of stages. This show is well worth committing to and you can hear a lot of great classical music.

Ray Donovan

Remember Viktor, Logan’s brother from X Men Origins, well try and think of him as a more calmer more strategic 21st-century guy. Ray Donovan works as a fixer for a law firm that handles celebrities and wealthy clients. While Ray is an expert in solving other people’s problems, he has no control over his personal problems. If TV has taught us anything about the legal system, that is that not everything is resolved inside a courtroom. Ray Donovan spans multiple genres and stays relevant in all of them. If not for anything Ray Donovan is worth a binge just to see Liev Schrieber play the character.

Horace And Pete

Co-created by Louis Ck, Horace and Pete is an all hearty affair. It is a story about two cousins running a rundown family bar in Brooklyn. Starring Louis CK and Steve Buscemi, this show is a perfect drama- comedy series, and coming from Louis we expect nothing less than brilliance from this show and it more often than not delivers on the promise. This show is part-comedy, part-tragedy and part-drama too. “Horace and Pete” the show also debates about the current affairs making it almost philosophical. If you like shows like THIS IS US this one is for you.

Arrested Development

It is one of those brilliantly written comedy shows of our time with every character equally comprehending themselves and taking the situational comedy a step further Arrested Development is the story of Bluth family which goes bankrupt as the head of the family is arrested. Michael a widower with a 13-year-old son has to keep his dysfunctional family together. In a sea of mechanical families living together in almost every other American TV shows, Arrested Development gives you that dysfunctional Indian family vibes which makes it worth a shot.

UnReal

If you think what you see on screen on reality shows then prepare yourselves for what happens when the cameras aren’t rolling. UnReal is the story about Rachel, the reality TV producer of Everlasting, facing a tough time living up to the executive producer Quinn’s expectations and at the same time instigating the contestants to create outrageous drama. UnReal gives us a raw look at how things happen in the showbiz and how unforgiving it is. And how people working in it have a clash among themselves leading to the drama inside the show they’re making. It’s heartbreaking and sometimes it’s downright horrible but its also one of the best dramas running right now.

The Americans

This FX show set in the period of cold war between the US and the Soviet Union is everything gritty. It is the story of two Russian spies, who are married to each other and have kids, who pose as Americans while residing in Washington DC, in order to spy on the American government. As the plot thickens the show really kicks into gear, and it promises to be unlike any serialised spy thriller you’ve ever seen. And despite its cold war background it never ceases to show us that at its core it remains a family drama.

Six Feet Under

Another tragedy cum drama cum comedy show about a dysfunctional family, the Fisher’s who lose the head of their family, Nathaniel Fisher Sr. He hands over the control of his funeral home business to his sons Nathaniel Samuel Jr. and David. But the brothers and the entire family are caught in a conflict. If you’re still not caught up after reading this, well, the whole show takes place in a funeral home then you’d totally get sold to the fact, that one of its lead is Michael C Hall (Dexter Morgan) man, this guy just likes to spend his whole career around dead bodies.

The Knick

Ever wanted to see a period drama crossed with a medical show. If the premise itself is so excited imagine how the show would be. Now imagine a hospital in New York, set in the early 1900’s with its star doctor addicted to drugs and a black doctor made a surgeon. Yes, this show is everything it sounds like. With themes that are as relevant today as they were in 1900’s The Knick strikes all the right chords.

The Affair

This is a story about a married waitress, Alison, who starts an extramarital affair with Noah, an accomplished teacher and budding novelist. The repercussions of their affair begin to de-stabilise their respective marriages. The Affair very much succeeds in showing us the unpredictive nature of relationships. It is one of the most creative storytelling in recent times combined with its great timed comedy.

Orphan Black

Orphan Black is a Canadian science fiction thriller television series. After witnessing the suicide of a girl who looks just like her, Sarah assumes her identity. But she soon discovers a compelling conspiracy that changes her life forever. The series raises issues about the moral and ethical implications of human cloning, and its effect on issues of personal identity. Orphan Black is a wild science fiction ride that incorporates dramatic sensibilities which can turn from suspenseful to light at a moment’s notice.

Dekalog

An anthology series developed from polish television drama, it consists of ten one-hour films, inspired by the decalogue of the Ten Commandments. Each film explores characters facing one or several moral or ethical dilemmas as they live in an austere housing project in 1980s Poland. Shot by nine different cinematographers, with stirring music by Zbigniew Preisner and compelling performances from established and unknown actors alike, Dekalog arrestingly explores the unknowable forces that shape our lives. Even in the age of Netflix and “The Knick,” when directors are often responsible for delivering 600 minutes of footage at a time, Kieslowski’s epic still towers above the rest and still seems somehow fuller than any of the similarly ambitious projects that have sprung up in its wake.

Freaks And Geeks

Truly one of the most underrated TV series out there. It’s been listed in top 25 greatest TV shows of all time, more than any other show. But at the time of its release, eighteen episodes were completed, but the series was cancelled after only 12 were aired. The show is set in the timeframe of the 1980’s, in the suburbs of Detroit. The story revolves around Lindsay and her brother Sam and their quest to fit in the group they want to belong.

The Leftovers

There’s no shortage of great shows on air but only a few of them can be compared to the ‘Leftovers’. Based on a book of the same name, it quickly became one of the most well-crafted shows to hit television in the mid-2010. It follows the lives of the Gravery family three years after 2% of the earth’s population mysteriously disappeared. It’s an event that throws the world into turmoil and results in the rise of various cults. It delves deeply into the psychology of those who’ve lost their loved ones as well as those who were left behind.

The TV Shows Which Define A Lifetime

When I finished the series finale of The Leftovers, I briefly thought about a career change. Not just a career change actually. A whole life change. I thought about moving to the middle of nowhere and becoming a farmer or something. I couldn’t imagine a way forward for television, the medium I love so much, after watching that finale. It was so good, so note-perfect, so everything I want in a show. The TV show was done! Something else would have to fill the gap. About 30 minutes later, I realized that I probably wasn’t going to become a farmer. But the feeling The Leftovers had evoked in me persisted. I was satisfied, full up on the show’s particular blend of sorrow and joy. I was convinced that if I never see another TV show I felt as passionately about, well, that feeling went away five minutes later when I started watching Mindhunter.

If you just give a look at the premise or the background of the shows mentioned above you’d see how they’re trying to tell vastly different stories. But are getting caught in that huge circus of marketing. If you belong to that smallest of a minority of people who don’t just like to watch what others keep suggesting and would like to explore new narratives, instead heaping up on the hype of overrated shows, this list of TV shows is for you.