25 of the most underrated TV shows streaming on Netflix

Mining for hidden gems on Netflix? We’ve got you covered.

Whether you’ve been scrolling for ten minutes or ten hours, finding the right Netflix show can be tricky. You’ll pass up something perfect for you because you don’t recognize the title, watch something you hate because it had a cool thumbnail, then panic and give up.

So, we at Mashable put our heads together to find a whole bunch of shows you’re probably scrolling past but will definitely love. Because we’ve had this problem too.

Listed in no particular order, here are 25 of the most underrated Netflix TV shows streaming now.

1. The OA

If you’re not already firmly aboard The OA train, it’s best we not spoil the mystery.

What we can say: A young woman named Prairie Johnson (played by series creator Brit Marling) reappears after having been missing for seven years. When she disappeared, she was blind. Now, she can see. Oh, and she’s insisting she’s an angel.

Perfect for fans of science fiction, great acting, and good TV. — Alison Foreman, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: The OA is now streaming on Netflix.

2. Santa Clarita Diet

Santa Clarita Diet was too good for this world. Canceled after just three seasons, Victor Fresco’s pitch-perfect narrative of a suburban mom mutating into the undead hooked us from the start. Leads Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant’s sparky chemistry remained believable, grounding their world of parenting, real estate, and murder in an emotional bedrock worth killing for. — A.F.

How to watch: Santa Clarita Diet is now streaming on Netflix.

3. The End of the F***ing World

Somewhere between a Wes Anderson movie and a PSA for staying in school, The End of the F***ing World masters the teen road trip. Starring Alex Lawther and Jessica Barden as star-crossed somethings James and Alyssa, this two-season romp blends humor, heart, and a classic rock soundtrack to punchy effect. As dark as it is touching, this show was one of a kind. — A.F.

How to watch: The End of the F***ing World is now streaming on Netflix.

4. Sense8

Science fiction has the power to break storytelling boundaries whenever and however its creators see fit. Sense8 did that in all the ways that matter.

This diverse, LGBTQ-inclusive story of “sensates” (people emotionally and psychologically linked to one another) reimagined the boundaries of human connection and made countless viewers feel seen. With just two seasons, fans could never get enough of Sense8, but at least Netflix made good on that finale — delivering a lasting legacy to streaming-kind. — A.F.

How to watch: Sense8 is now streaming on Netflix.

5. Copenhagen Cowboy

Director Nicolas Winding Refn made a big name for himself on the big screen, turning Tom Hardy and Ryan Gosling into icons with films like Bronson and Drive. But his small-screen streaming work has continually slipped through the cracks, starting with Amazon’s magnificently trippy Too Old To Die Young in 2019 and continuing on to this year’s also, whaddya know, magnificently trippy Copenhagen Cowboy. 

Perhaps the longform slow-burn surrealism is too much for some, but it’s just right for us. Across six chapters, Cowboy tells the story of Miu (newcomer Angela Bundalovic) who gets dragged into a Danish underworld of criminals and perverts due to her ability to give off good luck to whomever asks favors of her. She is a heroine of little talk and much action — so basically every other protagonist in a Refn project. She and Gosling’s character in Drive would find lots to not talk about! It’s stylish psychosis, a hallucinogenic delight. – Jason Adams, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Copenhagen Cowboy is now streaming on Netflix.

6. Easy

Fans of Joe Swanberg and his “mumblecore” stylings can rejoice in Easy.

An anthology series examining intimacy in modern Chicago, this three-season masterpiece explored love, loss, and change with immeasurable kindness. For each mistake there was forgiveness. For every heartbreak, the hope of something new.

Appearances by Marc Maron, Elizabeth Reaser, Jake Johnson, Aya Cash, Hannibal Buress, and more make Easy a must-watch series for any indie film fan. — A.F.

How to watch: Easy is now streaming on Netflix.

7. Aggretsuko

Who doesn’t want to watch a cartoon red panda find herself against all odds? Pressured by an unforgiving job and disappointing dating prospects, Aggretsuko does her best to find the life she wants by secretly singing death metal karaoke at night. It’s delightful. Try five minutes. You’ll get it. — A.F.

How to watch: Aggretsuko is now streaming on Netflix.

8. Derry Girls

Set against the tumultuous Northern Ireland conflict of the late ’90s, this coming-of-age tale is surprisingly hysterical. Centered on four Catholic school girls and one English bloke named James, Derry Girls is a sitcom in the truest sense of the genre, finding humor in a reality rife with conflict and fear. What’s more, the series paints a moving portrait of friendship untethered by time or place, making it a standout representation of camaraderie and growth. — A.F.

How to watch: Derry Girls is now streaming on Netflix.

9. Raising Dion

A serialized take on Dennis Liu’s comic of the same name, Raising Dion follows mother and son Nicole (Alisha Wainwright) and Dion (Ja’Siah Young) as they cope with the death of Dion’s father, Mark (Michael B. Jordan). When it is revealed that Dion has otherworldly abilities, Nicole must do everything she can to protect her son from himself — and the world. — A.F.

How to watch: Raising Dion is now streaming on Netflix

10. Archive 81 

Prepare yourself beforehand, because Netflix canceled this show after its first season and the climax leaves an awful lot hanging in the air, so you’re going to be frustrated by the lack of resolution. However, this horror series is both inventive and terrifying, with two timelines — one involving a video archivist in the present (Mamoudou Athie) and one involving a young woman (Dina Shihabi) recording her search for her birth mother in the past — overlapping in increasingly unsettling ways.

Even the unfinished question mark at its end hasn’t kept these fine eight episodes which we did get (some of which were directed by current indie It Boys Justin Moorhead and Aaron Benson of The Endless and Something in the Dirt fame) from continually creeping up on me at night. In the dark. In the night. – J.A.

How to watch: Archive 81 is now streaming on Netflix.

11. A Series of Unfortunate Events

It’s no secret Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events books are great. But why their Neil Patrick Harris-led TV adaptation never got the following it deserved remains a mystery.

Whether every page came to life the way you’d imagined or not, there’s no denying Netflix’s take on the tale of the Baudelaire orphans was riveting. From “The Bad Beginning” to “The End,” creators Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld brought every corner of this fantastical world to life with care and precision. The visuals? Spectacular. The cast? Perfect. The ankle? Tattooed. With an eye. — A.F.

How to watch: A Series of Unfortunate Events is now streaming on Netflix. 

12. The Get Down

The Get Down was ahead of its time. A musical drama from co-creators Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis, this single season spectacular released to underwhelmed audiences in 2016 who dismissed it as more style than substance. Today, it’s got “Emmy winner” written all over it.

Soulful performances by Justice Smith, Shameik Moore, Herizen Guardiola, and an outstanding supporting cast transform this historic look at late ’70s hip-hop culture into a visceral experience. The scope of the characters’ imaginations is only outpaced by the ambition of the series’ creators. Worth a revisit if you passed it up the first time. Worth a rewatch if you didn’t. — A.F.

How to watch: The Get Down is now streaming on Netflix.

13. Everything Sucks!

Ben York Jones and Michael Mohan’s send-up of ’90s high schoolers had just one season, but its memory lives on in our queues. Set in the aptly-named Boring High School, the interlocking dramas between the A/V and drama clubs was cringe-worthy, sweet, and entertaining.

Fans of Euphoria look out for a stellar performance by Sydney Sweeney, alongside series leads Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Peyton Kennedy, Quinn Liebling, and Elijah Stevenson. — A.F.

How to watch: Everything Sucks! is now streaming on Netflix.

14. Tuca & Bertie, Season 1

An easy and breezy binge made up of just 10 episodes, Tuca & Bertie Season 1 is among Netflix’s best offerings. Hilarious-yet-heart-wrenching, topical-yet-timeless, this story of thirtysomething birdies finding themselves is faultless. Voice performances by Ali Wong, Tiffany Haddish, and Steven Yeun shine through unique visuals that expand animated comedy for the better. 

It’s hard to imagine a show as magnetic as this one getting canceled after just one season. And yet, Netflix made that mistake. Thankfully Adult Swim picked it up and made two more seasons… before canceling it again in November of 2022. — A. F.

How to watch: Tuca & Bertie is now streaming on Netflix. 

15. Neo Yokio

Created by Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig, Neo Yokio tackles social stratification through the lens of an absurd pink-haired dude named Kaz Kaan. Combining surreal styling with deadpan humor, this animated series looks at “the greatest city in the world.” If it’s for you, you’ll know. — A.F.

How to watch: Neo Yokio is now streaming on Netflix.

16. Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

In Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, the end of the world isn’t all bad news. In fact, as protagonist Kipo Oak figures out, it’s a chance to build something that’s even better than what came before. Follow Kipo and her friends as they journey through a vibrant post-apocalyptic landscape, complete with mutant animals (“mutes”) like Timbercats and Megabunnies, and do their best to unite mutes and humankind. This show is inventive, heartfelt, and accompanied by a truly groovy soundtrack…What more could you ask for? — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is now streaming on Netflix.

17. Alias Grace

Before there was Women Talking, there was this six-part adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1996 novel also from actress-turned-writer Sarah Polley, and which covers a lot of the same territory – namely, how women in history have managed to survive under the weight of a culture that seeks to subjugate them at every turn. 

Grace, like Women Talking, tells a true story – this one of a 19th-century maid turned murderess (played by a terrific Sarah Gadon) who is interviewed about her life and eventual crime by a psychiatrist (Edward Holcroft). Directed not by Polley but by the exceptionally underrated Mary Harron (American Psycho), this series aches with implication, sadness, and devastating insight. – J.A.

How to watch: Alias Grace is now streaming on Netflix.

18. Blown Away

Follow me: Competitive. Glassblowing.

In the back-breaking world of glass arts, the stakes couldn’t be higher. One wrong move and an award-winning masterpiece can become worthless shards in seconds. For the competitors in Blown Away, the pressure is on to nail weekly challenges and progress closer to the coveted title of “Best in Glass.” There’s screaming, there’s crying, there’s a whole bunch of people casually saying “glory hole,” all next to a 2,000-degree furnace.* — A.F.

How to watch: Blown Away is now streaming on Netflix.

19. Brand New Cherry Flavor

This series already feels ahead of its time, and not just because it had the foresight to cast Manny Jacinto before he became MANNY JACINTO. Weird and wacky and sexy and dark and full of witchy Catherine Keener making people puke up baby kittens, Brand New Cherry Flavor came to us from the stellar team of Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion, who also made the also vastly underrated SyFy series Channel Zero.

It tells the story of a young filmmaker named Lisa (Rosa Salazar from Alita: Battle Angel) who goes to Hollywood with big dreams and instead…she starts to puke up baby kittens. And then there are the zombies. Like Heathers made by David Lynch or a sillier Starry Eyes, these eight episodes will have you simultaneously cackling with laughter and coughing up bile — and yes, that’s a most heartfelt recommendation. – J.A. 

How to watch: Brand New Cherry Flavor is now streaming on Netflix.

20. The Serpent

Your mileage may vary depending on how true crimed-out you are, but this eight-episode series from 2021 dramatizing the case of serial killer Charles Sobhraj (played with equal doses of chill and charm by the great Tahar Rahim) is one of the best there are. Set mainly in Thailand in the 1970s, Sobhraj would trap foreign backpackers at his hotel by stealing their money and passports, and then murder them in the jungle. That setting alone makes the show stand apart. 

But it’s in the performances where The Serpent really shines. Rahim is stellar per usual (well, Madame Web excepted) but Jenna Coleman as Sobhraj’s good-time girlfriend turning a blind eye and Billy Howle as the Dutch diplomat on the two’s trail also drop ace turns. And future House of the Dragon star Fabien Frankel as a wayward Frenchman who falls under Sobhraj’s terrifying spell almost steals the whole thing; the perverse relationship between the two men gifts The Serpent its sickening pull. — J.A.

How to watch: The Serpent is now streaming on Netflix.

21. Cunk On Earth 

It’d be a stretch to call comedian Diane Morgan’s character of Philomena Cunk “underrated” inside of the UK, where she’s been tickling the British populace pink with her daft proclamations for over a decade, and even gotten a BAFTA nomination for her trouble. But I won’t stop until Morgan can be safely proclaimed a comedy legend here in the U.S. too, as this five-episode miracle of a program has become my go-to for a pick-me-up whenever needed. (And lo, has it been needed lately.)

Cunk On Earth follows the investigative reporting of one Philomena Cunk, who is resolutely ill-informed about everything but even more self-assured in her misbegotten information than that, as she takes us through her one-woman tour of human history. Befuddling real-life experts with moronic questions and assertions, Cunk kicks it off with the Big Bang and works her unwieldy way across the centuries from there, tearing a hole through space-time one riotously dumb proclamation after another. It’s the funniest anti-history lesson ever crafted, Monty Python be damned. (And a new special, Cunk On Life, is dropping Jan. 2!) — J.A.

How to watch: Cunk On Earth is now streaming on Netflix.

22. Wanderlust

If you find yourself struck by a sudden thirst for Toni Collette — it happens to us all — I recommend you fire up the Netflix machine, for the streamer is keeping her booked and busy. Amongst the many pickings is this seriously under-appreciated six-episode 2018 series from British playwright Nick Payne. 

A showcase for Collette’s ever-adaptable skills, Wanderlust sees her playing a couples therapist named Joy whose own marriage is on the rocks. So she and her husband (Steven Mackintosh) decide they’ll be helped by trying out an open relationship, which… Well, it’s complicated. The series keeps a refreshingly open mind though, showing both the bad and the good of their arrangement. And there’s a banger of an episode where Collette and her own therapist (Zawe Ashton) dig deep down into Joy’s personal troubles. — J.A.

How to watch: Wanderlust is now streaming on Netflix.

23. Girls5eva

This poor, perfect show about a post-prime pop group got tossed around like yesterday’s laundry, but lord, did it not deserve it. Starting on Peacock and then transferring to Netflix for its third season, Girls5eva at least managed to gift us 22 exquisite and hilarious episodes before it was canned due to its eternally low ratings. And you should go discover them right now, because it doesn’t get any funnier. And the showrunners (including several Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and 30 Rock people) were wise enough to see its ending coming, so the show has a proper enough send-off and you won’t be left hanging. 

Starring Broadway’s Renée Elise Goldsberry and Sara Bareilles alongside comedians Paula Pell and Busy Philipps as the titular Y2K-era one-hit-wonder girl group, the show watched the foursome (minus one member who died before the series begins) reunite and try to recapture a whisper of their former fame. It’s a series of hilarious humiliations from there; viciously smart about pop culture’s disposal of women above a certain age, Girls5eva nevertheless keeps itself ruthlessly feel-good. And you’ll be humming those ridiculously over-the-top original songs that end every episode (“B.P.E.” 4eva!) for the rest of your days. — J.A.

How to watch: Girls5eva is now streaming on Netflix.

24. The Terror

Although AMC produced two seasons of The Terror (with a third starring Dan Stevens supposedly landing in 2025), Netflix only has the first one. But the first season of this anthology series is plenty enough for me, since it stands as a 10-episode horror master class. Created by screenwriter David Kajganich (Bones and All, 2018’s Suspiria), the first season is based on Dan Simmons’ novel about an 1840s Arctic expedition that goes terribly horribly wrong for two ships and their seamen.

Starring a who’s-who of character actors including Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies, and Ciarán Hinds — and with several episodes directed by All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave director Edward Berger — it’s a swift descent into madness for the shipmates as food and sanity runs low in the ice fields. And that’s all before something unspeakable starts stalking them. Fiercely acted and thrumming with perfectly calibrated tension, The Terror is legitimately one of the greatest pieces of horror fiction to come out of recent times. So wrap yourself tight in your Snuggie and hold on for dear life. — J.A.

How to watch: The Terror is now streaming on Netflix.

25. Crashing

A couple of years ago in an immediately post-Fleabag world, I’d have made the case that going back to discover the 2016 comedy series Crashing from the UK’s Channel Four was your opportunity to see creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge before she broke out big. And that’s still a big plus obviously! But here in a post-Bridgerton and post-Wicked world, Crashing has become doubly important because it’s your chance to sneak back and see actor Jonathan Bailey as just a wee twinkling, adorably horned-up in every frame. 

Crashing sees Waller-Bridge playing Lulu, a lost young soul who moves to London to meet back up with her childhood best friend, Anthony (Damien Molony). Anthony lives there in an abandoned hospital as a property guardian alongside several of his friends, and the series follows along and gapes in awe at the gang’s messily intertwined sex and love lives. Also there for that ride is Sam (Bailey), a womanizer who’s on his own little side quest of self-discovery — primarily, that he’s hot to trot for his gay male friend Fred (Amit Shah). As with anything Waller-Bridge’s had a hand in, Crashing weaves a brutally funny tale of fuck-uppery. — J.A.

How to watch: Crashing is now streaming on Netflix.

Asterisks (*) indicate the entry description comes from a previous Mashable streaming list.

UPDATE: Dec. 19, 2024, 12:47 p.m. EST This list was first published on Feb. 23, 2020. It has been updated to reflect the latest streaming options.

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