These days there are so many scripted television shows released in a 12-month period that it’s actually impossible to find time to sit down and watch all of them. All the options from network and cable channels can be a little overwhelming, and once you throw in the near-weekly releases from the likes of Netflix , Amazon , and Hulu , the choices are seemingly endless. But among the myriad of choices are some great shows that, for one reason or another may have flown under the radar, and are just waiting to find a bigger audience. Some, meanwhile, simply weren’t covered here. So now the time has come to correct those omissions.

While we don’t really experience the same holiday lull in the TV-watching schedule as we did just a few years ago, there’s still enough of a window that, as long as you’re not filling your time re-watching It’s a Wonderful Life or Die Hard (both admirable pursuits this time of year), you can still sneak in a few shows that went unwatched in 2017.

Here are all the best shows to catch up on before 2017 ends:

American Vandal (Netflix)


Though it begins as a pitch-perfect spoof on true-crime documentaries, like Making a Murderer , The Keepers, and Serial , Netflix’s American Vandal soon becomes something much more than the question of “Who drew the dicks?” Through 8 episodes, the show becomes admirable not only for its creators and actors’ commitment to the satire, but also for the way in which the series slowly builds into a convincing portrait of teenage life, while making its high school atmosphere more than just a source of endless subtle jokes stacked on top of one another.

Moreover, American Vandal does what too few spoofs manage to do: it actually delivers a compelling example of the genre it’s satirizing. By the time you get to ‘Climax’ or even the season finale, ‘Clean Up’, the question of “who drew the dicks?” is one you’ll want answered. And in keeping with the spot-on send-up of true-crime docs and its main suspect Dylan Maxwell’s love of pranks, the result is agonizingly fitting.

Dark (Netflix)


Netflix’s pursuit of a global audience means US subscribers everywhere get to take part in television shows and movies that otherwise might never see the light of day in the States. Dark is a 10-part television series that has been perhaps unfairly labeled as Germany’s answer to Stranger Things . Only, it’s a whole lot stranger than the Duffer brothers’ ode to the ’80s; and with its twisty tale of time travel, murder, and an ever-escalating battle between good and evil, the series more than lives up to its title
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Released in early December, you won’t be too out of the loop if you put Dark in your Netflix queue now. Once you start watching, the only thing more difficult than halting the binge-watch is trying to explain what the series is about to someone who’s never heard of it. But that’s part of the appeal; it’s a complex latticework of intersecting timelines across three generations of a small-ish German town that has the misfortune of sitting atop a reality-defying wormhole. That’s really all that needs to be said about Dark – well, that and don’t watch the terrible English dub

Casual (Hulu)

As more and more cable networks, premium channels, and streaming services search for the next big prestige drama, superhero adaptation, or buzz-worthy blockbuster, space for smaller, more intimate, and less urgent television shows like Hulu’s Casual seem to be in short supply. The series recently wrapped up its third and best season so far, following the same family of slightly sad, narcissistic, and privileged Los Angelinos it has from the very beginning. And although Casual can sometimes feel too in tune with its title for its own good (or growth), the series dropped a terrific season finale that promises to turn the page on the arrested development of its main characters – played wonderfully by Michaela Watkins, Tommy Dewey, Tara Lynne Barr, and Nyasha Hatendi – and point them in a necessary new direction.

Also, if you haven’t tuned in yet, you’re in luck. Though it’s delivered on a weekly basis throughout the season, Casual is actually better when binged. It’s easy to consume four or five episodes in a single sitting, and at 30 minutes or less a pop, it’s not too much of a commitment to get through all three seasons.

The Sinner (USA)

Jessica Biel stars in and executive produced The Sinner, a limited series adapted from the novel of the same name by Petra Hammesfahr that aired on USA in the summer. It is a compelling murder mystery where the question isn’t “who committed the crime?”, but rather “why was the crime committed at all?” It’s no spoiler to say that Biel’s character, Cora Tanetti, a young mother who suffered through a severe religious upbringing, murders a man in public, but cannot explain why. The rest of the eight-episode miniseries attempts to unravel the mystery of Cora’s crime in conjunction with the mystery of her painful past, discovering the ways in which they intersect.

The Sinner also features strong performances from Bill Pullman as a detective whose personal kinks are threating to ruin him, and former Girls star Christopher Abbot as Cora’s husband Mason, whose response to his wife’s crime is almost as unsettling as the crime itself. Though the supporting cast is strong, the series is ultimately buoyed by what is, hands down, the best performance of Biel’s career.

SMILF (Showtime)


Frankie Shaw created, wrote, stars in, and directed several episodes of the acclaimed first season of Showtime’s SMILF, a dramatic comedy in the vein of the network’s long-in-the-tooth Shameless. Shaw stars as Bridgette, a single, twenty-something mother in Boston, working to make ends meet, raise a child on her own, and attend to the needs of her mother Tutu (Rosie O’Donnell), all while continuing that awkward push into adulthood.

With Shaw also serving as showrunner, the series takes full advantage of its character’s perspective, delving into everything from the challenges of motherhood to single life to, unsurprisingly, managing a dysfunctional family. It’s a star-making turn for Shaw who has been seen recently in Mr. Robot, Stronger, and Netflix’s Flaked.

Showtime already ordered a second season of SMILF, and along with the recent Golden Globe nominations for Shaw and for the series, now’s the right time familiarize yourself with the show. The first season is still running new episodes on Showtime every Sunday night, so you have time to get caught up before the finale on December 31.

Search Party (TBS)

One of our favorite shows from 2016, Search Party returned this year for its second season, turning a silly riff on millennials and a genuinely twisty and engrossing missing-persons mystery into a clever and surprisingly dramatic story about consequence and morality. Season 2 took its entitled characters to some fairly dark places in the aftermath of a murder that ended season 1, and although it had to trade off some outright hilarity for a bit more dramatic weight, Search Party made good with strong performances from Alia Shawkat, John Reynolds, Meredith Hagner, and series MVP John Early, who turned a pathological liar’s nervous breakdown into TV gold.

Season 2 was presented with a huge challenge that the cast and creators, Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, and Michael Showalter, rose to meet by refusing to let the show’s characters off the hook and instead dig deeper into their moral complexities and failings. And yet, somehow, Search Party season still manages to be an engaging and often laugh-out-loud comedy

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Fans of those fast-talking Gilmore Girls would do well to check out Amy Sherman-Palladino’s new Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. A period comedy set in the 1950s, Mrs. Maisel stars Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards, The Blacklist) in a star-making role that sees her take the world of stand-up comedy by storm after her husband – a failed hack of a stand-up comedian played by Michael Zegen – abruptly leaves her for his secretary. With the help of Alex Borstein’s Susie Meyerson and under the disapproving eye of her father Abe – played to perfection by Tony Shalhoub – the series tracks the ups and downs of Miriam’s first foray into the typically male dominated world of stand-up comedy.

With a great premise, strong cast, and the unmistakable dialogue of Sherman-Palladino, the series will do wonders for those who miss listening in on Lorelai and Rory Gilmore’s conversations. As an added benefit, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel dropped on Amazon earlier this month, so all episodes are currently available for streaming.

Halt and Catch Fire (AMC/Netflix)


AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire is perhaps one of the best examples of course correction television has ever seen. After a good-but-not-great first season that leaned too heavily into a number of Prestige TV clichés, the series underwent a soft reboot of sorts and came away refocused on the friendship and business ambitions of its two female leads, played by Mackenzie Davis and Kerry Bisché. The shift from the difficult man trope to one of innovation and determination in a male-dominated workplace did wonders for the series, as it went on to deliver three superb seasons of television, culminating in this fall’s emotional series finale.

Although it never quite rose to the heights of, say, Mad Men or Breaking Bad, Halt and Catch Fire is right up there with both of them in terms of quality. This is the show that, 10 years from now, people are still going to be talking about, and most of them will wonder why it wasn’t a massive hit. If you missed out on the series when it was airing, you’re in luck; all four seasons are now available to stream (and binge) on Netflix.

Great News (NBC/Hulu)


Great News is part of NBC’s recent comedy resurgence that – The Office revival aside – has seen the network reclaim a little bit of that Must See TV magic. Created by Tracey Wigfield and executive produced by Tina Fey and Ubreakable Kimmy Schmidt showrunner Robert Carlock, the show is a workplace comedy set in the world of television news that’s part of a terrific sitcom line-up that includes the revived Will & Grace, Superstore, and The Good Place. The series builds solid comedy out of typical workplace scenarios, but it excels at layering one joke on top of another, all while constantly teetering on the brink (hilarious) absurdity.

Led by Briga Heelan (Netflix’s Love) as Katie and the great Andrea Martin as Katie’s mom and the station’s new intern, Great News is a terrific example of the kinds of comedy network sitcoms still excel at and why NBC doesn’t need to revive The Office — it already has a much funnier version of the original.

Sneaky Pete (Amazon)

We covered the premiere of Sneaky Pete, almost a year ago, but it’s worth revisiting ahead of the second season. Originally, made for CBS, who later passed on it, the series was scooped up by Amazon and reworked by incoming showrunner Graham Yost, who was fresh off FX’s Justified. The move worked in the series’ favor, giving the story of a con man played by Giovanni Ribisi, on the run from a crime boss played by Bryan Cranston, the same winning charm that helped make Timothy Olyphant’s charismatic lawman a draw for six seasons.

The series boasts and impressive cast that, in addition to Ribisi and Cranston, includes “esteemed character actress” Margo Martindale and Marin Ireland, all of whom help turn what was supposed to be a procedural into a fun and often thrilling conman drama that’s difficult to resist. If you have Amazon Prime Video and you haven’t watched Sneaky Pete yet, do yourself a favor before season 2.