Unusual TV Shows to Watch
by elizdere | created - 09 Dec 2013 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicThese range from cute and quirky to unusual and mind-bending to truly bizarre and sometimes horrifying. But all are worth watching. For the right viewer...
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1. Misfits (2009–2013)
TV-MA | 60 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A group of young offenders doing community service gets struck by lightning during a storm and start to develop superpowers.
Stars: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Joe Gilgun, Iwan Rheon, Lauren Socha
Votes: 107,360
I'd have to describe it as a cross between X-Men and Trainspotting. It's hilarious and surreal and dark and crass and bloody and sexy and sweet and not always logical. It's a great show, but hard to recommend. A lot of cursing, crude remarks, sex, violence and supernatural stuff. It takes a bit to get used to the tone, but somehow it works.
2. Pushing Daisies (2007–2009)
TV-PG | 44 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A pastry chef with the power to bring dead people back to life solves murder mysteries with his resurrected childhood sweetheart, a cynical private investigator, and a lovesick waitress.
Stars: Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Jim Dale
Votes: 59,575
Quirky and cute. Highly stylized. Season 2 was not as great, but the two main characters have good chemistry and sometimes it's just fun to see what stories and characters they come up with. Recommended for fans of Amelie.
3. Twin Peaks (1990–1991)
TV-MA | 50 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook
Votes: 215,528
You'll hear that god awful theme music and hear some of the cheesy lines and think, "I'm never going to make it through this." But slowly, the story and odd characters start to pull you in. That awful music becomes mesmerizing. And you must find out how it all ends! But don't become so desperate to spend more time in this world that you watch "Fire Walk With Me". The show is spectacularly bizarre, but "Fire" will dampen that. Trust me.
4. American Horror Story (2011– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
An anthology series centering on different characters and locations, showcasing different aspects of horror.
Stars: Lady Gaga, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson
Votes: 343,992
Dark and sexy and somewhat horrifying. They don't seem to have limits on how far they'll go. Enjoy the ride. (Not for the squeamish or prude)
5. Lost (2004–2010)
TV-14 | 5,445 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
The survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.
Stars: Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly
Votes: 595,500
It's Lost. You know what you're getting into. And it's awesome.
6. Community (2009–2015)
TV-14 | 22 min | Comedy
A suspended lawyer is forced to enroll in a community college with an eccentric staff and student body.
Stars: Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase
Votes: 293,612
7. Wonderfalls (2004)
TV-PG | 60 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
24-year-old loner B.A. Jaye lives in a trailer park and sells souvenirs in Niagara Falls. Animal figurines and dolls speak to her and force her to interact with people and try to help them.
Stars: Caroline Dhavernas, Katie Finneran, Tyron Leitso, William Sadler
Votes: 13,113
Only one season, but fantastic. Quirky and cute. You'll pine for the two characters to get together and enjoy all the inanimate objects giving Jaye quizzical orders. All the characters are great.
8. Hannibal (2013–2015)
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
Explores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter and a young FBI criminal profiler who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.
Stars: Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Caroline Dhavernas, Laurence Fishburne
Votes: 276,748
Surprisingly different from the movies. Visually stunning. They manage to make Hannibal mysterious and almost normal (but in an eerie way). And they give Will a lot of emotional depth and interest. He slowly unhinges, tortured by his encounters and insight. This show makes the movies seem almost generic or cartoonish in contrast. Creative, but dark and gruesome.
9. Sherlock (2010–2017)
TV-14 | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The quirky spin on Conan Doyle's iconic sleuth pitches him as a "high-functioning sociopath" in modern-day London. Assisting him in his investigations: Afghanistan War vet John Watson, who's introduced to Holmes by a mutual acquaintance.
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Rupert Graves
Votes: 999,231
10. The X-Files (1993–2018)
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
Stars: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, William B. Davis
Votes: 249,968
11. The IT Crowd (2006–2013)
TV-14 | 25 min | Comedy
The comedic misadventures of Roy, Moss and their grifting supervisor Jen, a rag-tag team of IT support workers at a large corporation headed by a hotheaded yuppie.
Stars: Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, Matt Berry
Votes: 164,458
12. The Returned (2012–2015)
TV-MA | 418 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
In a small French mountain town where everyone knows each other, the dead begin to inexplicably return as if their death never happened. Forcing the townsfolk to confront their difficult past as they seek to understand this phenomenon.
Stars: Anne Consigny, Clotilde Hesme, Frédéric Pierrot, Céline Sallette
Votes: 21,324
I'm referring to the original French version made only a few years before the American one.
13. Carnivàle (2003–2005)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
During the Great Depression, an Oklahoma farm boy and a charismatic minister learn that they are key players in a proxy war being fought between Heaven and Hell.
Stars: Michael J. Anderson, Adrienne Barbeau, Clancy Brown, Debra Christofferson
Votes: 46,880
Warning: this show was canceled before it was able to wrap up all its mysteries, though the writers did their best to make it feel as complete as a possible once they found out (but you can read what they had planned online). This is part period piece, part fantasy, part mystery, part drama. It's a dark, intriguing ensemble piece filled with enigmas, love and sorrow, freaks, outcasts, demons, sex, and great style. It's hard to compare it to anything, but it's one that will stick with you. Just dive in.
14. Rita (2012–2020)
TV-MA | 40 min | Comedy, Drama
Schoolteacher Rita is a very outspoken, rebellious woman who is competent in the classroom but needs her own advisor when it comes to her personal life.
Stars: Mille Dinesen, Lise Baastrup, Nikolaj Groth, Carsten Bjørnlund
Votes: 10,115
It's like a Danish version of Bad Teacher with more sex and more heart. It's highly enjoyable, but perhaps for a limited audience. If you can deal with subtitles and like crude, inappropriate humor mixed with a bit of sweetness, this is a show for you. Surprisingly, not a lot of emphasis on the students.
15. Laid (2011)
Not Rated | Comedy
Startled to realize that her former lovers are dying in unusual ways, a market researcher tries to unravel the cause and save her remaining exes.
Stars: Alison Bell, Celia Pacquola, Toby Truslove, Graeme Blundell
Votes: 586
Aussie comedy about a young woman who discovers everyone she's ever had sex with is dropping dead. First season is wonderfully bizarre and kooky and hilarious. Second season is just weird and crude. But the first season was worth it for the humor.
16. Transparent (2014–2019)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy, Drama
An L.A. family with serious boundary issues have their past and future unravel when a dramatic admission causes everyone's secrets to spill out.
Stars: Jeffrey Tambor, Amy Landecker, Gaby Hoffmann, Jay Duplass
Votes: 23,447
Obviously, this show deals with issues related to being or interacting with trans individuals, which is groundbreaking in and of itself. But it also has religion, drugs, and a lot of odd sex. I wouldn't watch this with your parents.
17. Rectify (2013–2016)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama
Daniel Holden must put his life back together after serving 19 years on Georgia's Death Row before DNA evidence calls his conviction into question.
Stars: Aden Young, Abigail Spencer, J. Smith-Cameron, Adelaide Clemens
Votes: 27,653
The main character is an oddball by nature, but nearly two decades on death row ups the weird and unpredictable quotient. The show has some dark episodes for sure, but also has plenty of sweet and happy moments too. It gets weirdest when following our protagonist, Daniel, who has trouble distinguishing reality and fantasy, which only gets harder when drugs get involved. Also delves in religion in an unusually upfront, but genuine manner.
18. Maniac (2018)
TV-MA | 39 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Two strangers are drawn to a mysterious pharmaceutical trial for a drug that they're assured will, with no complications or side-effects whatsoever, permanently solve all of their problems. Things do not go as planned.
Stars: Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Sonoya Mizuno, Justin Theroux
Votes: 86,772
19. Dark (2017–2020)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A family saga with a supernatural twist, set in a German town where the disappearance of two young children exposes the relationships among four families.
Stars: Louis Hofmann, Karoline Eichhorn, Lisa Vicari, Maja Schöne
Votes: 444,633
20. The Great (2020–2023)
TV-MA | 1,594 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A royal woman living in rural Russia during the 18th century is forced to choose between her own personal happiness and the future of Russia, when she marries an Emperor.
Stars: Elle Fanning, Phoebe Fox, Gwilym Lee, Adam Godley
Votes: 54,466
21. River (2015)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
John River is a brilliant police inspector whose genius lies side-by-side with the fragility of his mind. He is a man haunted by the murder victims whose cases he must lay to rest.
Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Nicola Walker, Adeel Akhtar, Lesley Manville
Votes: 27,255
22. Russian Doll (2019–2022)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A cynical young woman in New York City keeps dying and returning to the party that's being thrown in her honor on that same evening. She tries to find a way out of this strange time loop.
Stars: Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Greta Lee, Elizabeth Ashley
Votes: 107,157
23. Extraordinary (2023– )
TV-MA | 25 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Jen is a self-aware young woman who lives in a world where everybody except her has a superpower.
Stars: Máiréad Tyers, Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, Luke Rollason
Votes: 16,144
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