Top 10 Under-Appreciated Shows/Movies to Binge During Quarantine

We're all trapped inside right now and it suuuucks. The weather is nicer but there's nowhere to go. Some people are working from home, some people are jobless, some people are sick and in self-quarantine but everyone needs a little something to pick themselves up during these unprecedented and trying times. So, I'm bored and I thought I'd put together a list of under-appreciated shows and movies that I love to suggest to you in the hopes you'll be entertained or find something new that you might love as well.

Here's my list of suggestions, in no particular order.

Better Off Ted

This show is hilarious, sharp-witted, well-written and it's a crime that it was cancelled after just 1 season. It starred Portia de Rossi, Jay Harrington, Andrea Anders, Malcolm Barrett, and Jonathan Slavin and was about a group of people who worked at a science-based company. The put upon Ted being in charge of keeping things on budget and schedule under the thumb of his demanding and shrewd boss, Veronica, played to perfection by de Rossi. It was quirky, smart, and original so, of course, it didn't catch on. Disney + needs to get on adding this to their roster but I hear it is streaming on Hulu for those of you allowed access to it. I purchased the whole season off iTunes. Whatever way you can, give it a watch because it is the funniest show you've (probably) never seen:

She is perfection. I will take no further questions

NewsRadio

When everyone else my age was obsessed with Friends (and yeah, I watched it too), my obsession was NewsRadio. Why? Two reasons. 1) Phil Hartman and 2) Dave Foley. I used to watch both SNL and Kids in the Hall as a kid, should I have? I dunno but I did and it definitely shaped my sense of humour. When I discovered that there was a sitcom on NBC with two of my favourites from both of those shows together, I was in heaven. I watched religiously. If I wasn't going to be home Thursday night, I'd pop a blank videotape in our VCR (I'm old ok?) and record it so I could watch it when I got home. I loved it so much, I wrote my own script for the show which was terrible and mostly ripped off other jokes from the show but my teacher loved it and gave me an A.

Enough gushing, the show is about a New York-based news radio station, WNYX. Owned by eccentric Millionaire Jimmy James (Stephen Root) and run by hapless newcomer to the big city, Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) who has to deal with the on-air talents (Phil Hartman and Khandi Alexander), a shrewd reporter vying for his job (Maura Tierny), a quirky secretary (Vicky Lewis), crazy janitor (Joe Rogan), and office weirdo (Andy Dick). It's 90s as heck, probably very dated but still a gem with some amazing talents. It was so under-appreciated that it was in threat of being cancelled every season it aired and I'm amazed it got five seasons. But it did and they're all available on Netflix or Prime. I own all the DVDs because I'm that nerd.

Fun fact: I met Dave Foley at one of his stand-up shows he did in my city and I was so nervous that I babbled about how much I loved him and his movie The Wrong Guy (that I brought with me in the hopes he'd sign) but then got so flustered that I neither asked for a signature or a picture with him. He did thank me for liking his movie though, I think it touched him that I had the DVD. I can dream.

Love how these two played off each other. It was magic

Freakylinks

I know I mostly talk about teen shows and fluff but I actually really love scary things. Specifically of the spooky variety and not so much the gory kind but despite my scaredy-cat status, I adore horror. I also adored Ethan Embry at the time and when I found out he was going to be in a show dealing with spooky things, I was ecstatic. Of course, it aired on FOX and they hate different shows and I'll never understand why they agree to air them because they never last past 1 season (see also: Firefly). No one around me liked this show, it's mostly been forgotten but I loved it. If you like spooky genre shows, you might like this one too.

Look how badass they are...
they're actually a bunch of ghost nerds. I love them

It's about a guy who learns that his dead twin brother might not actually be dead at all and sets off on a quest to track him down while solving spooky mishaps along the way. The one I remember the best was about a killer shadow. Does it hold up? I can't answer that honestly because I'm biased as fuck and my nostalgia goggles tell me it does and has some solid episodes but your mileage may vary. Finding this show on streaming services isn't gonna happen, I bet and it definitely wasn't popular enough for DVD release. However, I did find the first episode that someone uploaded on YouTube so give it a watch and see if it's your thing. Yes, it's very 2000s but Ethan Embry is adorable so I forgive it.

Less Than Kind

RIP to Maury Chaykin
Canadian Icon and
Nero Wolf himself

This show is very niche as it is Canadian produced and aired and it was filmed in my city. Not a lot of people caught it while it was on and I don't think all of the episodes were aired in its first run. It was picked up later and new episodes ordered and lasted a surprising 4 short seasons. It was fun for me to see if I could recognize filming locations from my city but the show also had a lot of heart and was funny as hell. The older brother in particular is hilarious.

The show is a coming of age dramedy about an overweight 15-year-old trying to figure himself and his life out while surrounded by his anger prone, driving instructor father, pyromaniac mother, and failed actor brother. The Blecher family is crass but oddly relatable and somehow lovable. They do the worst things but you root for them anyway and that's its charm. I don't know how easy it is to find now as I'm not clear on who owns it. While Canadian Television Network initially owned it, I think it was bought by HBO and completed through them. You may be able to find it on HBO or even Amazon Prime but it is definitely worth a watch.

Fun fact: That road sign you see in the poster? That's a totally real direction sign that exists in our fair city to map out Osborne Junction. It's more affectionately and aptly dubbed Confusion Corner by us locals. There's even a restaurant named for it, Confusion Corner Bar & Grill. We are very proud of how fucking confusing we made our city.

Voila! Clear as mud, right?

Carnivàle

This HBO series only lasted two seasons but it had a lot going for it. Dark, apocalyptic, and a spooky atmosphere, it told the story of a traveling carnival and all its strange residents as they travel from town to town to entertain the locals during the Great Depression of the 1930s. It feels very end of the world regardless of the time period and I found it engaging and fascinating. There is a corrupt preacher and a man with healing powers who soon learn that they are in a proxy war between heaven and hell. Spooky carnivals, freakshows, crazy townsfolk, the entire series is full of unsettling imagery but it is a great show. Who is good and who is evil? You'll have to watch to find out. Unfortunately, I do have to warn you that the story is mostly unfinished as HBO cancelled the series after 2 seasons. I still recommend this because the acting is phenomenal and it looks gorgeous but don't expect to get all the answers, just embrace the strange mystery.

There's a lot of great talent on this show from Clea Duvall to Toby Huss. My favourite is the carnival's strange manager who answers to the mysterious unseen owners, Samson as played by Michael J. Anderson. You may recognize him as the wierd talking man from another place in the red room of Twin Peaks. He's a phenominal actor and this show proves it.

Carnivale walked so Carnival Row could run

Happy Campers

Do you like teen movies? Do you like Shakespeare? Then this bizarre little teen comedy might be for you. Set at a summer camp, this movie is a quasi re-imagining of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I don't remember this ever coming to theatres here and would never have heard of it if not for my obsession with tracking down every movie of an actor I like. In this case, my obsession was Brad Renfro, may he rest in peace. I didn't know what to expect when I found this movie but I was pleasantly surprised. While it's definitely more grounded in reality than A Midsummer Night's Dream, you won't find any fairies messing around, it does have an otherworldly, ethereal quality to it that sets it in a kind of fantasy land on its own, where kids rule and parents cease to exist. Especially when the only real adult, Oberon goes missing. Tensions are high, hormones are running wild and unlikely relationships begin to form and dissolve over the course of this fantastical summer. While it's maybe not brilliant, it's an interesting and fun watch that I'm sure a lot of people have missed. I'm nerdy enough that I own the DVD because I'm not sure you will find this on streaming platforms as it's pretty obscure (as far as I know). If you can track it down, give it a try because for me it was an unexpected gem.

Adam serves as our boorish Bottom while Pixel is Titania's stand-in

Nerd fact: I watched this movie more times than I can count just because I was so taken by how it looks. I loved one scene so much that I painted it and it is hanging in my house. Yes, I'm that fucking nerdy.

Boom, here it is

The Nice Guys

If you'll recall from my last recap, I love Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and it would be on this list except for the fact that it has become somewhat of a revered cult classic. Lesser known is the more recent effort by the same director, The Nice Guys. Shane Black delivers yet another hilarious noire inspired gem for us to consume and while it's not as quotable and sharp as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, it is still wickedly funny and entertaining.

Ryan Gosling stars as a bumbling PI with a kid and a drinking problem who is hired to find missing porn actress Misty Mountains. Along the way he encounters Russel Crowe's burly PI who is hired for the same case and the two become an unlikely duo trying to unravel the mystery they've become embroiled in. It's a fun romp with 70s charm. You definitely missed this and you definitely need to watch it. Last I saw, it was on Netflix but find any way you can to catch this.

It even has a Penny to Ryan Gosling's Gadget

Drop Dead Gorgeous

We're going old school again. If you ask anyone to name their favourite Kirsten Dunst teen comedy, they'd probably tell you Bring It On and why not, that movie's awesome. But I'm here to tell you about this obscure little black comedy about American teen beauty pageants. Filmed as kind of a mockumentary, you get this hilarious behind-the-scenes look at a small-town Minnesota beauty pageant as a plethora of well-known teen stars compete. You have Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards, Brittany Murphy, and Amy Adams in her film debut. You also get Kirsty Alley as Richards' overbearing ex-beauty queen mother. The film is a riot from start to finish and I still kill myself laughing at Denise Richards dancing around with a dummy of Jesus while singing Can't Take My Eyes Off of You.

RIP Brittany Murphy who was just always adorable

Two Night Stand

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for rom coms and it's hard for me to find ones that I actually watch unironically. I was surprise when I stumbled across this one by sheer fluke on Netflix (though I think it's available on Prime now). It's a fitting premise as it involves being trapped inside with someone and then falling in love. In this premise, a down on her luck girl decides to put herself out there and have her first one night stand to get over an ex. She soon finds a guy and they indeed, hook up only to wake up and find that not only can they not stand each other but that they are now trapped inside by a freak blizzard and are forced to spend the rest of the day and another night together.

The weird thing is, I'm not even sure what grabbed me about this movie so much. I've seen it at least 3 or 4 times already which is a sign that I genuinely enjoy something and yet the characters are very flawed and unlikeable. Yet somehow, I find them charming and relatable. The other thing I appreciate about it is the scene where they talk openly and honestly about the things they like and don't like about the opposite sex during sex and honestly? I find that incredibly refreshing. Not because the guy is able to do it but because the girl is and so free about liking sex and being able to talk about it. I just sincerely appreciate that in a movie and in a good female character. She's not presented as promiscuous, in fact this is her first one night stand, she's actually quite monogamous and reveals her dream of wanting a husband and kids. She just likes sex and I appreciate that. It's not groundbreaking or revolutionary, it's just comfort food for the romantics out there.

Trapped together until they find love

Shoot Em Up

It might surprise some of you to find that I occasionally really enjoy some gun-slinging action from time to time but I really do. Nothing makes you feel more alive than watching a guy fuck bad guys' day up. I'm also a bad movie junky. This is not a bad movie, mind you but it is wildly over the top and cheesy which kind of feels like it was made for me. It's fast-paced, ridiculous, unbelievable, and and is very self-aware of all of this so it is amazing! I love it to death.

A drifter, played by Clive Owen, encounters a pregnant woman who is being pursued by a crazed assassin, played by Paul Giamati. The woman quickly dies and he's the only one left to protect her newborn baby from the killers. What follows is an insane romp where the baby probably died numerous times from being shaken and tossed around like a football and it's the funniest thing but did not detract from my enjoyment either because this movie embraces its ridiculousness to the extreme. There is a shot where Clive Owen's character eats a carrot and gets instant good sight, this movie knows what it's doing and it relishes in it. If you love action comedy schlock, I really think you should give this a try. There are so many good scenes that I can't even begin to describe them all. I mean, he kills a guy with a carrot...a CARROT, and tells him to eat his vegetables. *muah* *muah* *muah* Campy deliciousness! Not to mention this iconic shoot out scene:

Go watch this now, it's so fuk-ing good!!

There you have it, that's my list of under-appreciated shows and movies that I feel should be given a chance. Check them out if you're bored and have some time. Who are you kidding? You're in quarantine, you have way too much time so you've got no excuses! What are some underrated gems that you enjoy? Return the favour and recommend some, if you're so inclined. Stay safe and stay healthy and keep up the social distancing so we can try to claw ourselves back to some type of normal in the foreseeable future. Love you all, Dear Readers.