A few months back, we discussed lesser-known films, and you folks CAME THROUGH. (Plus One! Goodbye Lenin! The Place Beyond the Pines!) So today, I’d like to inquire: What are your favorite lesser-known TV series?
If you haven’t watched Somebody Somewhere yet, it’s a platonic love story featuring two friends (played by Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller) in Manhattan, Kansas. I adore how the Midwestern characters are intelligent, amusing, and nuanced — not just quaint and wholesome.
This Way Up, crafted by Irish comedian Aisling Bea and featuring our bestie Sharon Horgan, depicts depression in a manner that resonated deeply with me. Highly recommend if you enjoyed Catastrophe and Fleabag.
Have you caught PEN15? Anna Konkle (who just published a memoir) and Maya Erskine portray 13-year-old versions of themselves, and they are outrageously funny. “We discussed what is the most awkward, funny, sad, messed-up period, and it repeatedly pointed to middle school,” Konkle mentioned. Check out the animated episode about the Florida trip with Anna’s dad and their crushes on two boys at the hotel. It was JUST like the Florida trips my family took during my middle school years. So thrilling! So humid! A 21-hour-drive from Michigan!
Finally, in The Afterparty, during a high school reunion afterparty, a man dies mysteriously, and a detective is called in to investigate. She asks each guest to recount their “mind movie” of the evening, and every episode examines a single character’s response. Each episode transforms into a different genre based on their view — one is a rom-com, another is an action film, a third is a musical. I laughed so much; what a brilliant concept.
Which TV series do you find underrated? Last night, I began the second season of SisterS, and it has been superb; I also thoroughly loved Mo, featuring Mo Amer as a Palestinian refugee in Houston who is navigating work and love while pursuing asylum with his mother and siblings. xoxo
P.S. Cup of Jo’s ultimate TV guide, and nine couples with outstanding on-screen chemistry.
