Ten Underappreciated TV Shows to Stream this Summer
After a year and a half of pandemic induced television delays, it probably feels like there’s nothing left to watch. As I’m eagerly awaiting the return of some of my favorites (specifically Brooklyn Nine-Nine & Sex Education), I’ve gone back into my catalog to find some hidden gems to binge.
Following Bo Burnham’s devastating Netflix special Inside, I picked up Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous for some of his great original songs and irreverent comedy, minus the despair. And after finishing the short lived Freaks and Geeks, I went back to Judd Apatow’s college comedy Undeclared with an equally all star cast. Here are all of my top picks for underappreciated shows you should stream this summer.
1. Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous
Starring: Bo Burnham (Inside), Robbie Amell (The Flash), Thomas F. Wilson (Back to the Future) Cameron Palatas (F*&% the Prom) & Caitlin Gerard
Stream it: iTunes or Prime Video (available for purchase)
In the age of the internet, I’m surprised people didn’t find out about Bo Burnham’s first project sooner- finally, after the premiere of Netflix’s Inside the show is slowly reaching some recognition on TikTok. The self proclaimed “pre-celebrity” Zach Stone has spent all of his savings on a camera crew to follow him around, as he tries various different avenues to become a trashy TV personality. Highlights of the show include a flashy performance at an old woman’s funeral and Zach’s quest to be the next Gordon Ramsey in an incoherent fit of screaming-while-cooking.
2. Red Band Society
Starring: Ciara Bravo (Cherry), Griffin Gluck (Tall Girl), Octavia Spencer (Ma), Charlie Rowe (Rocketman) & Zoe Levin (Bonding)
Stream it: iTunes or Prime Video (available for purchase)
Before Ciara Bravo was dying & making out with Tom Holland in Apple TV’s original Cherry, she was dying & making out with another teen heartthrob (Rowe) in Red Band Society. The dramedy follows the lives of various teenagers recovering from different diseases in an L.A. hospital. It’s your typical YA series plus the ever present threat of death while each patient undergoes various surgeries.
3. Undeclared
Starring: Seth Rogen (Superbad), Jay Baruchel (This is the End) & Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy)
Stream it: YouTube (Judd Apatow tweeted last year it wasn’t available anywhere officially, but that it’s fully uploaded online)
Shortly after his cult phenomenon Freaks and Geeks got cancelled, creator Judd Apatow moved onto a show similar in theme/humor taking place in the early years of college. Steve Karp (Barcuhel) meanders through his freshman year with the help of his eccentric roommates (Rogen & Hunnam), numerous love interests and his party animal divorcé father trying to regain his youth.
4. Teenage Bounty Hunters
Starring: Maddie Phillips, Anjelica Bette Fellini & Kadeem Hardison
Stream it: Netflix
Christian twins Blair & Sterling are doing their best making their family proud and navigating life in their small town while also balancing their part time job as bounty hunters. Things start to get complicated keeping their criminal lives separate when their assignments start including members of their church and friends’ parents. Phillips & Fellini haven’t done much else in terms of acting credits, but they’re both phenomenal on screen.
Bonus: Queer characters that don’t have one line!
5. Downward Dog
Starring: Allison Tollman (Why Women Kill), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Cruella), Barry Rothbart & Lucas Neff
Stream it: iTunes or Prime Video (for purchase)
If you can get past that this show does revolve around a talking dog, you’ll love it. Nan (Tollman) is finally getting her life together with a new job and a solid friend group, all while her dog Martin tries to define their relationship (in a monotone voice straight to the camera). He’s continually going through an existential crisis about what his role in her life is, if he should maybe get some of his own independence, and why he wants to kill the cat that lives next door.
6. American Vandal
Starring: Griffin Gluck (Tall Girl), Tyler Alvarez (The Fosters) Jimmy Tatro (Home Economics), Genevieve Hannelius (Dog with a Blog) & Calum Worthy (Austin & Ally)
Stream it: Netflix
American Vandal uses the true crime format in a satiric way to follow the aftermath of a high school prank that divides the community and threatens to destroy the life of class clown Dylan Maxwell (Tatro). Film enthusiasts Peter and Sam (Alvarez & Gluck, respectively) attempt to get to the bottom of the incident and prove Maxwell innocent- or guilty. Disney Channel alums Hannelius & Worthy are both fantastic as suspects Christa Carlyle and Alex Trimboli, and Griffin Gluck proves how versatile he can be following his leading role in Red Band Society (see #2).
7. The Gifted
Starring: Natalie Alyn Lind (Big Sky), Jamie Chung (Big Hero 6), Emma Dumont (Bunheads), Skyler Samuels (Scream Queens) & Amy Acker (Angel)
Stream it: Hulu
Marvel’s lesser known series The Gifted, adapted from the X-Men universe, follows the more difficult aspect of discovering superpowers: hiding them from a militant government. From inside a secret compound to protect powered individuals, sparks fly between different leaders and inevitably love triangles develop (and hearts are broken). If you’re a fan of the Avengers franchise & love the relationships along with all the fighting, this is your new favorite show.
8. Timeless
Starring: Abigail Spencer (Grey’s Anatomy), Matt Lanter (Jupiter’s Legacy), Malcolm Barrett (Genius) Claudia Doumit (The Boys) & Goran Visnjic (ER)
Stream it: Hulu
When a mysterious organization starts undoing major historical events and threatening the fabric of Earth’s reality, a ragtag team is formed to correct the course of the timeline. History professor Lucy Preston (Spencer), U.S. army operative Wyatt Logan (Lanter) and programmer Rufus Carlin (Barrett) maneuver time machine “The Lifeboat” to a different era in every episode to correct some circumstance, however big or small. Although the show was cancelled after two seasons, an additional two part finale was released to properly conclude the series (thanks NBC!), so don’t worry about yet another cliffhanger ending to endure.
9. The Mick
Starring: Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Sofia Black D’Elia (Your Honor), Thomas Barbusca (Chad), Jack Stanton (Outmatched) & Scott MacArthur (The Righteous Gemstones)
Stream it: Hulu
The Mick is the slightly tamer awkward sibling of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. When trainwreck Mackenzie Murphy’s rich sister flees the country to avoid being arrested for fraud, she’s forced to take care of her three spoiled and insufferable children. I’m sure the creators’ first question in making this was “how much off the walls crazy sh*t can we get away with on network television?”
Bonus: See teen heartthrob Thomas Barbusca (who can also be seen in Pete Davidson’s Big Time Adolescence) in his first leading role
10. Psych
Starring: James Roday Rodriguez (A Million Little Things), Dulé Hill (Suits), Timothy Osmundson (Galavant), Maggie Lawson (Lethal Weapon) & Corbin Bernsen (Major League)
Stream it: Amazon Prime & Peacock
This show was, admittedly, huge during its run in the early 2000s, but it certainly deserves a new audience in the age of streaming. Shawn (Roday Rodriguez) has a keen eye for detail as a result of his police sergeant dad, and routinely calls in tips for police cases he sees on the news. In a struggle to explain to the cops how he knows his information, he claims he’s a psychic and can be of use to them- and thus starts off eight seasons of this crime comedy. Psych is genius in balancing the serious aspects of the crimes they’re investigating with well-timed humor.
