6 Underrated TV Shows of The Last 10 Years
I like to keep track of the books I read. But I do less with TV. I don’t watch a lot of TV series. But when I get into one, I tend to really get into it. Here are a few shows that I got into over the last 10 years that also did not get the reputation or views that I thought they deserved.
Interior Chinatown
Interior Chinatown is “an American action comedy-drama television series created by showrunner Charles Yu, based on his 2020 novel of the same name. His novel won the National Book Award the year it was published. The series stars Jimmy O. Yang as a waiter in Chinatown who discovers that he is merely a background character in a fictional police procedural.”
I have not witnessed a more satisfying, mind-expanding final scene of a TV series since Mad Men. The show is layered, well-acted, and perfectly suited to the world we live in.
Lodge 49
Lodge 49 is an American comedy-drama television series. I have no way to describe it well. It’s very quirky. This show only lasted two seasons due to low ratings. And what a loss. I’ve never seen a show that zero-ed in on place, community, and friendship in our current world like this one. It’s funny on its own and absolutely brilliant. It reminded me of Arrested Development – a show that had so many layers that it was just hard to describe or pitch people on.
Hell On Wheels
Hell on Wheels is an American Western television series about the construction of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States. This show is, in many ways, just a Western with a building project. But I liked how it highlighted how America has always been terrible, greedy, complex, short-sighted, corrupt…and yet, idealistic, pragmatic, ambitious, and exceptional – all at the same time. Also, there’s nothing like an actual race to provide built in drama.
Miss Scarlet & The Duke
Miss Scarlet & The Duke is a British-American period television crime drama. It’s a straight knock-off of Sherlock Holmes but with a re-imagined twist and commentary on women in the not-that-many-generations-ago world of Victorian England. The mysteries are excellent and the lead actors own their well-trodden roles.
Death by Lightning
Death by Lightning “dramatizes the stranger-than-fiction true story of 20th U.S. President James Garfield, and admirer Charles Guiteau, who assassinated him.”
American history is absolutely nuts. I love how this series not only gets into the nitty gritty details of American politics but also brings up the bigger question of how much individuals truly matter in a time of structural, societal change.
The Residence
The Residence is an American mystery comedy drama television series the that revolves around a fictional murder scandal involving the staff of the White House. It’s also in the genre of a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery. I love how it really highlights the everyday humanity of power & institutions…and also bird watching.
