Shows I Didn't Watch yet Recommend

Shows I Didn't Watch but Recommend

by Kristin Battestella

Back in my day, if you were home from school during the afternoon, there was nothing to watch but soap operas. There was a maximum two televisions per household, and if someone else was watching something, then you were out of luck. Ryan's Hope, Santa Barbara, Loving, One Life to Live, All My Children, General Hospital, Sunset Beach – of course, some of those were better than others, but now both the quality and quantity of programming permeates in every part of the house.

Today's abundance of networks and streaming platforms means televisions and video devices are always playing something – whether I'm the one watching them or not. So unlike “being the remote” or the national anthem, color bars, and static; only contemporary viewers can understand how I can not have actively paid attention to an entire show yet was able to see enough of it to recommend it as fine programming. It's multitasking like trying to adjust the rabbit ears and see the fuzzy screen at the same time!

Without further nostalgic discourse, here's a list of series categorized by streaming service or network that were pleasant background television, surprisingly good dramas, and probably worthy of proper critical review viewing – which I will most likely never get around to doing because of all the shows I am already trying to really watch.

Amazon Prime

Bosch

The Expanse

Good Omens

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Orphan Black

HBO

Chernobyl

In Treatment

True Detective (just the first season, though)

Veep

Westworld

Netflix

Arrested Development

Black Mirror

BoJack Horseman

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

The Crown

Dark

Disenchanted

Good Girls

Living with Yourself

The Movies That Made Us

Norsemen

Ozark
Paradise PD

Santa Clarita Diet

Stranger Things

The Toys That Made Us

Travelers

Networks, AMC, or Hulu

Better Call Saul

Breaking Bad
Brooklyn 99

Future Man

New Girl

The Office

Parks & Recreation

Rick and Morty

Supergirl

Showtime

Californication

Dexter (except for the end)

Homeland (just the first few seasons though)

Nurse Jackie

Ray Donovan

Naturally, I'm certainly forgetting some and just didn't catch enough of others. There are a lot of other shows that somebody started and thought was total crap and quit it, too, but that's another list.