10 Well Loved Shows I Havent Watched

 

If you follow my blog you know I've seen alot of movies and TV shows. Of course there is so much content out there you can't watch everything. So I decided to compile a list of 10 show's old and fairly new that are beloved and I've never seen. Hopefully I'll get to some of these one day.

10. Succession

A modern era drama about the big business of wealthy people, death, taxes and inheritance as a family awaits the demise of a media mogul and the family's patriarchy. Now that is drama as we've just seen with the Murdoch family (which the family in the series is loosely based on.) I've heard the show is also funny and has high praise from critics to common folks. I think I thought the show was about the stock market more than family drama, so I didnt give it a chance. It's on my list to watch so maybe one day.

9. Chicago Fire

First I knew Chicago Fire has been on the air for a while, I had no idea it debuted in 2012 and is now entering it's 14th season. I've never really been into TV shows about fire departments, and thats the likely reason I haven't tuned into this NBC staple.

8. Curb Your Enthusiasm 

Larry David's HBO series which debuted in 2000 and across several years just ended it's 14th season in 2024. The largely improvised mockumentary style show about the nitty gritty days of life, I probably would really enjoy if I turned it on. I just havent made my way to turning it on yet.

7 Schitt$ Creek

Starring comedy legend Eugene Levy, his son Dan Levy, Annie Murphy and Catherine O'Hara more famously known as the mom from the Home Alone films. The quartet play a formerly wealthy family who must rebuild their lives in a small hometown they own after losing everything. It's relatively unknown network Pop TV's most popular show. Has gained a cult following and won several awards, and yet I've never watched it.

6 Sons Of Anarchy

This FX drama about a motorcycle club that dabbles in criminal enterprise and alot of family drama was extremely popular during it's original run from 2008-2014. I know alot of people loved it but past knowing Peggy Bundy was in it, and seeing a few clips. I couldn't tell you anything about Son's Of Anarchy.

5. Big Bang Theory

Working in I.T. the assumption is that I'm well intuned in "geek" culture. While I enjoy superheroes and sci-fi properties that is furthest from the truth, which maybe why I never really watched Big Bang Theory. These social akward brianics are on another level in geekdom, and remind me several socially awkward people I've worked with over the years. So in my mind there's no need to watch the show, cause I know real life people like the characters.

4 How To Get Away With Murder

Every Thursday evening in the late 2010's my wife was in front of the TV, immersed in Shondaland. How To Get Away With Murder alongside Scandal were two of her favorite shows during their airings. And I always was watching something else while it was one. My understanding is the show was dramatic, high stakes, and soap operaish. With rapid fire witty dialogue and storylines you just never knew how they would end. Even with all that hype, I always passed on it.

3. The Office

A show that made the mockumentary style sitcom popular in the mid 2000's, well into the 2010's and beyond. Helped make Steve Carell a star and is still very relevant today. Never seen a single episode, seen plenty of clips and memes though. I will admit dry humor shows are hit or miss to me and sometimes I just don't give them a chance. Which I think is the case here despite all the good reviews the show has.

2. Better Call Saul

This one I consider kind of a oxymoron. I loved Breaking Bad and think it's one of the greatest TV dramas ever. As for Better Call Saul never gave it two minutes of my time. My wife said it's just as good as Breaking Bad, but I think since the character of Saul on the OG show. I could take or leave, I didn't see the point of him having his own show and I never tuned in.

1. Homicide Life On The Streets

One of the greatest cop TV dramas ever, filmed in my hometown of Baltimore and I've never seen it. In my defense the show debuted in 1993 on my 7th birthday, and it wasn't a show I should have watched nor 7 year old me would care for. As the years passed I just never sat down and watched it and it took a while to make it to streaming. It's sitting in my peacock queue waiting for me to press play.

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Great TV Show You Never Heard Of: M.A.N.T.I.S.

 

Today is the 30th anniversary of M.A.N.T.I.S. a superhero drama that debuted on Fox network August 26th, 1994, and chances are you've probably never heard of it. M.A.N.T.I.S. starred Carl Lumby (Isaiah Bradley in Falcon and Winter Soldier) as Dr. Miles Hawkins. A billionaire advocate for the community, who is paralyzed in a incident involving the police. After losing a lawsuit against the police department, and uncovering a conspiracy against the Black community. Mile's set's out to fight the injustices and use his wealth to help him. He use's an exoskeleton suit he developed that allows him to walk while wearing it and set's out on his mission to fight crime. Finding along the way the mastermind of crime in the city is a former associate Solomon Box, the recurring villain of the series.

During it's first season M.A.N.T.I.S. spoke about several issues that affected the Black community. Using action and science-fiction to educate and entertain, which at that time was still a rarity especially on network television. Miles had several tools at his disposal to aid in his crime fighting efforts and his wealth and brains rivaled that of comic icons like Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne. The show was retooled in the second season to be a bit more wacky and that led to his ultimate cancellation.

Despite only lasting two seasons the show was ahead of it's time. Dr. Miles Hawkins was Black and disabled, a rare portrayal on network television at that time. Mentioned earlier in the blog many of his missions were done to aid the Black community from the abuse of authority in the police department and corporations...sound a bit familiar? 

Even though Black Lighting was a comic book first, if you were to watch M.A.N.T.I.S. you would notice so many similarities between both TV series. The show was truly ahead of it's time and it's not only a shame that it did not last longer, but that it's legacy has been forgotten to the passage of time. 

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Subscribe To A Million Little Things

 

Subscribe To It is a column series highlighting television series and movies that should be talked about more.

A Million Little Things first aired on ABC in 2018, now I will admit I was late to the party with this show. I had a few friends tell me it was good, but I never got around to adding it to my watchlist, until this past spring when it auto played on Hulu after I watched a similar show. I was hooked after the first episode and binged watched the first two seasons and the first half of the third season in a week and a half before the second half of the third season began airing.

A Million Little Things covers a group of friends and their trials throughout life after a friend commits suicide. The shows main fabric is how different things connects everyone in different ways. It surely has This Is Us vibes (another show I love) but it isn’t quite as sappy and covers what I think is more relevant topics.

The show has covered everything from cancer survival to grooming, Black Lives Matter movement to immigration and so much more. Sometimes you think damn what else can happen to these people? But the show carefully threads all these stories so that it’s not overwhelming and unrealistic.

The ensemble cast with the most well-known member being Romany Malco of 40-year-old Virgin and Think Like A Man, deserve so much credit and praise for their acting. The third season ended on an serious OMG cliffhanger so I for one cannot wait for season four. The wait is almost over with the show returning September 22nd. If you have some time to binge watch it, please get started you will not be disappointed.

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