7 Overlooked TV Gems Worth Your Time—Ranked

There are more shows than hours in the day, and streaming has only turned the firehose up. A lot of series vanish down the memory hole, usually for a reason. These seven didn’t. They were good then, they’re good now, and they deserve another look.

Dead to Me (2019, Netflix )

Christina Applegate plays Jen Harding, Linda Cardellini is Judy Hale, and James Marsden shows up as Steve Wood. The setup sounds simple: Jen is drowning in grief after her husband is killed in a hit-and-run, and she collides with Judy at a support group. What follows is a dark comedy that tiptoes into psychological thriller territory without losing its bite. Season 1 is the peak, sure, but the whole run is absolutely worth it. With this cast, the acting is as sharp as you expect, and the show should be remembered more than it is.

Workin' Moms (Canadian series, later on Netflix)

Messy, funny, and allergic to perfection: that’s the vibe. A group of moms careen through day drinking, cheating, and some truly questionable parenting calls. It leans hard into millennial humor, but underneath the panic laughs is a version of motherhood that rings painfully true. These women are figuring it out on the fly—no pristine Instagram energy, and definitely not a gentle parenting ad.

Divorce (3 seasons)

With Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church leading the way, you’d think this one would be talked about more. It isn’t. That’s a miss. Playing Frances and Robert, they navigate the slow, unglamorous end of a marriage—and the messy co-parenting that comes with it. The show doesn’t treat divorce as a punchline or a one-episode plot device; it lives in the before, during, and after, all with a grounded, realistic tone that sneaks up on you.

Good Girls (2018)

Christina Hendricks (Beth), Retta (Ruby), and Mae Whitman (Annie) are three suburban moms who make one bad decision and tumble into a crime spiral they cannot escape. The early seasons are the strongest, and the show was cut off before it could land the plane, which is frustrating. Still, it’s a legitimately strong series with smart character work and real tension.

"Get in the car, Elizabeth"

That line reading alone earned the show a permanent place in my brain.

Sharp Objects (limited series, 8 episodes)

Amy Adams sheds the Disney glow and dives into something much darker. She plays Camille, a journalist pulled into a murder investigation in her hometown, but the case is only half the draw; Camille’s own trauma powers the story just as much. It’s not a typical whodunit, and the series delivers two separate twists that actually surprise. It’s tidy, self-contained, and flat-out great—exactly what a limited series should be.

The Undoing (one-season miniseries)

Nicole Kidman ( Grace) and Hugh Grant (Jonathan) start as the kind of polished couple you see in fundraising brochures—until a young mother connected to their school is brutally killed, and everything unravels. There are twists, yes, but the real hook is watching two movie stars calibrate their performances within an increasingly claustrophobic mystery. It’s some of Kidman’s best work of the last decade and still doesn’t get the attention it should.

Star Wars: Clone Wars ( 2003)

Not to be confused with the 2008 canonical series 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' (the Ahsoka show that ran seven seasons), this earlier 2D animated series is its own thing—and a very cool thing at that. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, it slots between 'Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones' and 'Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith' and centers mostly on Anakin Skywalker. It isn’t canon, which is a weird footnote given how good it looks and how bold its action beats are, but that shouldn’t relegate it to the attic. It’s sleek, striking, and deserves way more love.