The 4 Best Shows You Haven't Seen Yet

In today’s age of streaming, we have complete access to a large number of television shows although many of us fail to give new shows a chance. Take yourself for instance, you spent the last three months of your life going through Grey’s Anatomy because “everybody” watches it and now that you’re done, you feel compelled to join medical school and prove that you can do brain surgery better than Grey (I’ve never seen an episode of Grey’s Anatomy but I assume any medical show involves a lead character that does brain surgery). Or what about last year when you caught up on Game of Thrones and felt the need to start an army in case “winter” came. And who could forget the brief 3 month stint in county jail after you watched The Wire? I know I won’t.

The point is there’s more out in the streaming world than what you’ve been led to believe. Its for that reason that I’ve listed four greatly underrated and under watched shows for your viewing pleasure.

1. American Crime- Not to be confused with Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story detailing the trial of OJ Simpson, American Crime is a show that deals with race in America begins with a fictional crime and details the effects this crime has on the victim, the family of the victim, the accused, the perpetrator, etc. Unlike Murphy’s similarly themed show American Crime utilizes a subtle, unflinching approach to the idea of being a minority in America, opting to find the nuances in the different kinds of racism found in our day and age; which should be unsurprising considering the creative mind behind the show is Academy Award Winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Undercover Brother).

While season 1 is definitely the superior of the two seasons, the second season is not without its own superb moments, not the least of which is Regina King in her role as Terri LaCroix, mother to the captain of a prestigious high school’s basketball team or Connor Jessup as Taylor Blaine, a victim of sexual assault. And if that doesn’t pique your interest then at the very least watch the show because of Andre 3000’s role as Regina King’s husband. (Hulu, ABC)

2. Mad Dogs- Four college roommates go on vacation in Belize at a friend’s beachfront villa. After a day of (mostly) harmless fun, the four friends soon realize their friend isn’t the legitimate businessman he led them to believe he was. From there the friends find themselves stuck in Belize running from a dangerous drug dealer known only as Jesus, which goes about as well as you might expect.

 As good of a premise as that is on paper, the appeal in this show lies with the comradery (or lack thereof) between the four friends as they try their hardest to make sense of the situation while also wrestling with years of pent up aggression towards each other. The four leads (Michael Imperoli, Steve Zahn, Billy Zane, and Romany Malco) as well as the supporting cast elevate the admittedly imperfect show into a suspensefully comedic character drama, and I highly recommend it.

3. The Leftovers- After a large group of people mysteriously vanish from Earth, the survivors (or leftovers *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*) must navigate a world filled with sorrow. The show itself is a perfect combination of Lost’s science fiction elements and Friday Night Lights strong character drama making it, in all honesty, the very best show you are not currently watching. Leftovers manages to transcend every cliche, and tired trope to become something that is truly special. Rarely will you feel as much emotion, confusion, happiness, grief, and anger in one season (hell most of those emotions were in season 2’s first episode) yet The Leftovers managed to do it 20 times in 20 episodes. The first season pales in comparison to the second season for reasons I can only attribute to addition of the spectacularly underrated Regina King (once again as a mother, because Hollywood). If you don’t currently have HBO, find someone who does, make love to them, steal their HBO GO info and thank me later. (HBO GO)

4. Deadbeat- Have you ever sat in front of a TV after 5 bong hits, and looked for something to watch on TV? Not just anything, mind you, THE thing; the absolute perfect thing that encaptures the zen you feel while also providing you with some much needed entertainment that capitalizes on your current state. Well look no further because Deadbeat is exactly that. Deadbeat deals with a pothead medium who uses his abilities to help the dead fulfill their final wishes so that they can move on. Tyler Labine nails it as the lead character by making bumbling hero an endearing one; even when you laugh at him, you still feel for him. Not to mention the various guest stars (Danny De Vito, and James Franco are just a couple) I guarantee you are in for a good time.