“Line Of Duty”
Another Brit export, this, but one that hasn’t attracted anywhere near the sort of U.S. attention as shows like “The Fall,” “Broadchurch” or even “Happy Valley” — somewhat surprising, given that it’s the most-watched drama ever on BBC2. Like those shows, it’s a cop drama — here, specifically one about the AC-12 unit (an anti-corruption unit, similar to Internal Affairs in the States), made up of baby-faced Steve Arnott (Ken Loach veteran Martin Compston), Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure from “This Is England”) and Liam Neeson-ish boss Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar). Each season sees them investigating a different officer (Lennie James, Keeley Hawes and Daniel Mays have been the subjects so far, with Thandie Newton to follow in this year’s fourth season), but Mercurio’s labyrinthine, intricate plotting, which comes across like a Brit take on James Ellroy at times, weaves all those stories together with a real cumulative power across the three seasons so far. It has a real authenticity to it, and exudes a love of police process that proves infectious, but it also knows when to drop the realism just a notch for the sake of a good twist. It’s impeccably acted, grippingly written, and we’re shocked there hasn’t been an American remake yet.
Where Can I Watch It? All three seasons are on Hulu.
“Please Like Me”
While queer characters are pleasingly more and more prominent on TV, shows specifically centered around LGBT issues are dispiritingly thin on the ground these days. “London Spy,” “Cucumber” and “Looking” were all terrific shows, but the latter has definitively ended, and the first two are yet to be renewed for further seasons officially. Fortunately, we still have the gem of an Australian series, “Please Like Me,” a show that’s developed a loyal cult over the last four seasons without ever quite breaking into the mainstream. Created by and starring twentysomething comic Josh Thomas (earning comparisons, sometimes fair, to Lena Dunham), the show begins with Josh being dumped by his girlfriend, who tells him that he’s probably gay, something he swiftly comes to realize is true. It’s funny, honest and often genuinely sexy about the coming-out experience, unafraid and never shy, but the show’s scope goes beyond that: to Josh’s friends (some straight, some not), including Thomas’s real-life best friend Tom (Thomas Ward); and to his family, most notably his bipolar mother Rose (Debra Lawrance), who opens the series by attempting suicide and being institutionalized. The show tackles some pretty heavy subject matter sometimes (particularly in the recent fourth season), but does so with the lightness of touch and comic flair with which it tackles the more frivolous stuff, too, and the result is an easy, joyful binge-watch that deserves a much greater audience.
Where Can I Watch It? Pivot, who part-funded the show with Australia’s ABC, have now shut down (throwing a potential fifth season in question), but all four seasons are now on Hulu.
“Rectify”
Mark our words, in years to come, “Rectify” will be regarded with the same awe as “The Wire” or “The Sopranos” as one of the all-time-great American television shows. That might sound like a fawning exaggeration, but it’s hard to think of another drama in the past half-decade as perfectly calibrated as “Rectify.” The premise in anyone else’s hands would be overwrought: a man on death row is set free on appeal, and must return home and face his demons from the past. However, the brilliance of the series by Ray McKinnon lies in refusing to offer easy or clear answers to the subject of redemption. Aden Young’s beautiful portrait of Daniel Holden finds a character struggling to find peace, making wrong decisions, and often being as enigmatic to others around him as he is to himself. And those who do offer support do their best, but also battle their own issues, while trying to reconcile the fact that the teenager who was put in prison is not the same man who has been released. It’s a complex, often emotionally shattering series, but one with depth, grace, and levity, too. Few shows will take you on quite the journey as “Rectify” does.
Where Can I Watch It? All four seasons are now available on iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play, and XBox.
“Search Party”
Another TBS show that didn’t quite get the shine that its natural comparison points attract (it’s found somewhere on the axis between HBO’s “Girls” and “Bored To Death“), “Search Party” is a beguiling mixture of lo-fi detective story and millennial hipster satire (an element that admittedly takes a minute to ripen; it’s possible to get almost all the way through the first episode without realizing that yes, we ARE supposed to find these attractive Brooklynites utterly appalling). It stars the great Alia Shawkat as a disaffected twentysomething who turns amateur sleuth when she believes she spots a recently missing college acquaintance. Created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers and Michael Showalter, it makes breakouts of the rest of its principals too — John Early, Brandon Micheal Hall, and Meredith Hagner — while also giving memorable slots to established indie actors like Christine Taylor, Ron Livingston, and Parker Posey. But the cleverest thing about the show is its gradually darkening tone, culminating in a tremendous final-episode cliffhanger that leaves you simultaneously gagging for season 2, and completely baffled as to how they’re going to pull it off.
Where Can I Watch It? As of now, all 10 episodes of season 1 are still available to stream, in their “explicit” and edited versions, at TBS.com.
“Underground”
Home of wrestling and reruns, WGN hasn’t yet made huge inroads into the prestige-TV consciousness, despite a few attempts like “Manhattan,” “Salem,” and “Outsiders.” But their best shot at the title will probably come from Misha Green and Joe Pokaski‘s “Underground,” a propulsive and engaging slave-rebellion period melodrama that satisfyingly mixes hot-button social commentary with old-school page-turner intrigue. Far more aiming to entertain than to educate (“12 Years A Slave” it ain’t), “Underground” is only loosely loyal to factual history, instead electing to create an ensemble of heroes and villains, lovers and traitors that would put any soap opera to shame. But it’s stirringly made, beautifully photographed and delivered with commitment by its cast, led by “Friday Night Lights” actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Aldis Hodge, with the standout turn probably coming from Amirah Vann as the devious house slave who may have more power in the household than her lowly position suggests. Christopher Meloni, Clarke Peters and Marc Blucas also appear, and as it’s got both the breadth and richness of a well-mounted period piece and the dramatic dynamism of compulsive, what-happens-next storytelling, it’s perfect binge-watch material. And with Season 2 starting on March 8th, it’s well worth carving out a weekend to do just that for this (only very slightly) guilty pleasure.
Where Can I Watch It? Amazon and Hulu both have season 1 available in its entirety.
Amidst the suggestions that came in when we were putting this together, but we didn’t quite have the time or space to include, were Lord & Miller live-action/animation hybrid “Son Of Zorn”; Netflix Brazilian sci-fi show “3%”; Douglas Adams adaptation “Dirk Gently” (vetoed because Max Landis); Hulu’s cult thriller “The Path” with Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan and Hugh Dancy; and Zach Galifianakis comedy “Baskets” (which we felt we’ve given a fair amount of love in the past, but if you haven’t watched already, season two just got underway on FX).
Then there’s also the joyously fucked-up “Downton Abbey”/“Real Housewives” mash-up “Another Period”; sweet-natured Netflix rom-com “Lovesick”; dark, stylish Brit export “Flowers”; Amazon’s unfairly cancelled “Good Girls Revolt”; winning Norman Lear throwback “The Carmichael Show” (and actual Norman Lear show “One Day At A Time,” which is pretty good); the well-liked “Psycho” reboot “Bates Motel” (which has Rihanna this year, so we think probably has enough attention for now); FX’s “Man Seeking Woman,” which has apparently gotten really good since we bailed on it in the first season; Brit cop drama “Happy Valley”; Netflix’s pleasingly insane “Lady Dynamite”; and Andy Daly’s utterly brilliant “Review” (which we only excluded ‘cos it feels like we bang on about it a lot).
We also left out some slightly older shows, but if you work your way through all of the above, you should find a way to stream ace BBC miniseries “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” gripping two-season WGN America drama “Manhattan,” British anthology comedy “Inside No. 9,” AMC’s one-season conspiracy wonder “Rubicon,” Disney Channel’s extraordinarily good animated show “Gravity Falls,” HBO & Christopher Guest’s barely-watched but wonderful “Family Tree,” and the same network’s great “Enlightened” with Laura Dern.
David Fincher ’s planned remake of U.K. drama “Utopia” never happened, but the original is well worth checking out, while the recently concluded “Penny Dreadful” was a lot of fun. Comedy fans could do well to check out both “Trophy Wife” and “Ben And Kate,” which deserved more than their one-season runs, while British drama “Babylon” and “The Honorable Woman” are both unsung gems. Sci-fi fans who haven’t checked out “Fringe” yet you should do that sharpish, while not enough people watched “Show Me A Hero,” and while we think “The Knick” is one of the best TV dramas ever, there are quite a few people who never saw that too.
Anything else you’d recommend? Let us know in the comments below.