191 Good Shows to Watch | Must-Watch Shows (Page 12)

166. Terrace House, 2015

Terrace House is the perfect show to binge on a lazy day, it will make you feel intimate not only with its cast, but also with the Japanese culture and lifestyle. The premise here is nothing that hasn’t been done before, and usually very terribly: Six strangers -three boys and three girls in their twenties - are given a beautiful home to live in for several months in Tokyo. We get to observe their interactions and the slow building of their friendships. What sets it apart from others in its genre is that it’s wholly unscripted and nothing is forced. The cast are normal people whose lives don’t revolve around the show: they have jobs, they’re free to come and leave the house whenever they want, they can travel, sleep all day, or date people not on the show. You might think this makes for bad TV, but it really doesn’t: Terrace House is really well-made and it knows how to make mundane life interesting and engaging. To round it up another cast of established japanese entertainers appear on interludes each episode to share their opinions on the happenings inside the house and to offer some comedic insight.

167. Atypical, 2017

Keir Gilchrist who you may know from the movie It's Kind of a Funny Story plays Sam, an 18-year-old on the autistic spectrum trying to navigate the "typical" aspects of a teenager's life: dating, independence, friendships, etc. Perhaps people dealing with autism can better attest to this, but the show feels genuine and realistic. Don't get me wrong, it's a comedy, but it's a really heartfelt approach to the funny sitcom format. In a lot of ways, Atypical is the perfect 2017 Netflix-age coming-of-age sitcom: it's funny and smart, but also keen to be realistic. And Atypical is about Sam's family almost as much as it is about him, and how they adjust to his new quest for self-discovery. Look out for newcomer Brigette Lundy-Paine, who does an amazing job playing Sam's siter Casey!

This five-season British series is about a “fun” vicar, someone who follows the rules loosely, but who one day is presented with a murder case. Why him? “You can ask any question of anyone, however private,” the person who presents him with the crime tells him.

This setting, added to a 50s countryside atmosphere, make for a fun mystery with a classy edge. Whereas the comparable Sherlock Holmes was a serious and computer-like detective, Sidney Chambers, the vicar, is kind and involved. And where the Sherlock crimes are cold evil acts, Grantchester’s crimes are reflections of how badly we sometimes treat each other.

169. The Twelve, 2020

In this compelling new Belgian legal drama, the story is as much about the jurors who are chosen to decide on the crime, as it is about the crime itself.

Usually, the jurors are quiet characters whose job is to be unmoved by hotshot lawyers. The Twelve, somehow the first TV show to do this, digs into how their personal pasts influence their decisions.

170. Norsemen, 2020

Being a Viking is “the easiest job in the world” a villager tells the town’s most feared fighter: “sit on a boat, stab people with swords — it’s as basic as it can possibly get”. In Norsemen, a variety of characters try to fight this basicness. They take fashion risks like putting horns on a helmet for the first time, try to be more culturally diverse by interacting with a Roman slave, fall in love and raid tribes (often at the same time), and so on - you know, every day Viking stuff. Norsemen’s first season was viewed by more than a million people in Norway, a country of five million.

171. Rise of Empires: Ottoman, 2020

This historical show with immaculate production value is about the fall of Constantinople in 1453. It's fully in English, despite being a Turkish production, featuring a mix of entertaining interviews and dramatic reenactment. The way it's narrated is reminiscent of History Channel documentaries (with frequent recaps), which is unfortunate. Still, the story and the production compensate well enough. The young 21-year-old Ottoman Sultan Mehmet risks everything in pursuit of Constantinople, a city twelve armies, including his father's, have failed to take. This moment is pivotal for so many reasons: it marked the end of the Roman empire, it turned the Ottomans from local power to a global one, and the use of advanced military techniques (such as a new generation of cannons) changed warfare forever. But knowing that Mehmet will enter Constantinople (now Istanbul) changes nothing to the appeal of this show. The question is not will he win, but at what cost, and how.

172. Tangle, 2012

This TV show is an award-sweeper in Australia where it’s from but remains little-known elsewhere. Suburban families live in a fragile but quiet environment - marital affairs are rampant but hidden, custody battles that were once fierce have quieted down, etc. However, when the black sheep of the community returns after a ten-year absence, everything comes back to the surface - starting with the discovery of a dead body. Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline) is excellent here, and he’s supported by an amazing cast. Tangle is like a toned-down Big Little Lies, or a more cynical Parenthood.

173. The Break (La Treve), 2019

The body of a footballer from Togo is found in a small Belgian village. Suicide is suspected, but things don’t quite add up. Recordings of Skype sessions with his family show him happy, excited and looking forward to sending money back to them.

The seemingly quaint town where the incident takes places sees its secrets uncovered by a detective from Brussels. The farm where the body was found harbors Nazi symbols, 100-year-old weapons, and um.. a dominatrix.

If you liked Broadchurch or Happy Valley, you will love The Break. It’s a true hidden gem that sports a production value rivaling the biggest U.S. hits. A good reward for anyone willing to turn on the subtitles (or the dub).

174. Love, 2017

About love as much as it is about loneliness, romance as much as realism and the longing for a genuine connection as much as being tired of that longing - this is a smart and well nuanced series on building relationships. It follows Gus and Mickey, two damaged people trying to recover from bad breakups. They're respectively played by writer/creater Paul Rust and Gillian Jacobs (Britta from Community). Love portrays their love story as an example of relationships by default, chemistry that stems more from the need to be in a relationship than any physical or intellectual attraction. And it features many hilarious sequences, some are cleverly composed jokes but most of them are the painfully-real type.

175. Breeders, 2021

Martin Freeman stars opposite the ever-reliable Daisy Haggard (Back to Life) as two parents who are overwhelmed by their two kids. “I would die for those kids but often, I also want to kill them,” his character jokes.

Breeders might be a comedy but it's a relatable portrayal of how consuming raising kids can get. The days of serene vacations in Spain are long gone, replaced with uncontrollable rage and lack of sleep.

176. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, 2019

Tim Robinson, who was briefly a Saturday Night Live actor, writes and stars in this series of hilarious and absurd comedy sketches. Every episode is 20 minutes or less and has about five or six skits. Robinson is supported by an array of talented actors like Andy Samberg, Cecily Strong, Will Forte, and Steven Yeun. The show starts off strong with possibly one of its best sketches - a job candidate who snaps when confronted with the small mishap of not knowing how to open a door. Then it moves to more absurd territory, like a horrific encounter caused by a “honk if you’re horny” sticker, a baby peageant that goes wrong, and so on. The brand of comedy is unique, and you will probably know if you like it or not from the first sketch alone (if you don’t, there is probably no reason to keep watching). Fans of The Eric Andre Show and Key and Peele will love this.

177. Easy, 2016

There may not be a show or movie out there that the term “slice-of-life” applies to better than Easy. Don’t watch it expecting stuff to happen, it won’t. I mean it will, but don’t expect any big plot twists, and don’t anticipate the end of episodes: enjoy it as it happens. With different stories in each 30-minute episode, Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies) who created, wrote and directed will feel as the only constant throughout the series. Yet, as you move through it, you realize that other than being mini-cameos to each other, these characters share many of the same defining elements of modern-day culture. The ways they navigate relationships, sex, and technology is relevant and realistic.

178. Brand New Cherry Flavor, 2021

1990s Los Angeles was both glamorous and seedy, and it’s this murky territory that filmmaker Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar) enters as she tries to make her movie dreams a reality. Lisa is ambitious and polite enough—if not a bit naive—but when she gets screwed over, she enlists the help of a mysterious stranger (played to witchy perfection by Catherine Keener) and, together, they brew their revenge. Things then take a turn for the supernatural in this ambitious, eerie thriller that will surely sate any David Lynch fan’s appetite.

179. The Five, 2016

This British miniseries is about a group of teenagers who tell a five-year-old who is following them to go home. The boy disappears mysteriously but 20 years later, when the teenagers are all adults, his DNA surfaces in a crime scene.

Somewhat formulaic or perhaps just overproduced, the show is ultimately enjoyable as the sharpness of the source material by famous author Harlan Coben quickly takes over.

180. Back to Life, 2019

Daisy Haggard plays Miri, a girl who just got out of an 18-year prison sentence for a crime she committed in her teens. And what an important 18 years she missed: so many technological developments - and actually much of her own development-, plus, shocker, it looks like her boyfriend from back then did not wait around for her.

But Miri's biggest problem is that the town hates her guts. So the show is her navigating all of that while trying to get a job and put her life on track. It's an endearing comedy about fighting for normalcy when nothing seems to be going your way.

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