Five TV Shows I’m Convinced No One Else Has Ever Seen
There was a time in my life when I thought I would be the first person to watch every TV show ever made. The rate at which I consumed entire shows was frightening to say the least and impressive to say the most. So it goes, I grew older, got busier, and sought therapy. Now, I watch TV like a normal person (mostly).
Sometimes the ghosts of one-season-wonders or shows canceled before their time come back to haunt me. Shows I obsessed over then forgot about during my insane era of TV watching. Shows I’m convinced nobody else has seen. Logically, I know that’s improbable. Spiritually, I know it’s true.
The list I prepared for you below is of shows that I’ve never been able to talk about with anyone because I haven’t found another soul who has watched them. And they won’t leave my psyche. I’ll be on my deathbed, with some hypothetical grandchild of mine, talking nonsense about a two-season British sitcom about miserable TSA agents.
1. Borderline (2016-2017)
So this is a two-season British sitcom about miserable TSA agents. Think The Office meets Wings, but mostly think The Office if it took place in a tiny, unimportant British airport and was about the Border Force patrol who hate their jobs. I couldn’t tell you where Borderline came from. I don’t know how I heard about it, when I watched it, and where I might’ve found it. Sometimes I think I made the show up in my head.
I tried to rewatch it a year or so ago and could only find it on Youtube free with ads. And as we know, nothing good can ever come from Youtube free with ads. Alas! Borderline holds up. It’s hilarious. It totally rips off The Office’s mockumentary style, but otherwise the actors are entirely improvising. There’s a Michael Scott boss and a Jim and Pam romance, but none of it feels unoriginal or tired. Nothing ever happens and nothing deep is ever said in an episode. It’s pure comedy. Each character is a little bit of a loser, but that’s what makes it awesome.
Do I recommend it? Absolutely. Where can you watch it? If you’re lucky Youtube free with ads, though I fear it might only be available to rent on AppleTV.
2. In the Dark (2019-2022)
This might have the highest likelihood of being something other people have seen. In the Dark is a CW-made, Netflix-released crime dramedy about a bitchy blind woman. She identifies as both of those things, so I’m not saying anything out of line. Murphy is a twenty-something blind woman who walks angrily and drunkenly through life until the death of one her dear friends gives her purpose: to find the person who murdered him. The show has four seasons and I only saw two, but I liked them quite a bit. It’s a fun premise and fairly well-written.
I’ve never seen any of the main actors do anything else, nor have I ever heard anyone talk about In the Dark, despite being promoted by Netflix. I find it curious. A pretty, irreverent woman wandering around Chicago with her best friend/guide dog and trying to solve a murder? Where’s the hubbub? There’s romance, murder, a drug kingpin (if I remember correctly), and a dog!
Do I recommend it? Sure. Where can you watch it? Netflix.
3. Political Animals (2012)
I am perhaps most often haunted by the ghost of this miniseries. This is another show that drifted in and out of my life like the wind. Frankly, I can’t even remember what it’s about. I think Sigourney Weaver is the President of the United States and has two sons that suck? All I know is that a young Sebastian Stan plays one of the sons, the troubled one, which I’m pretty sure is the sole reason I watched the show at all.
Political Animals was a USA miniseries from the mastermind Greg Berlanti. I have done no research, but I feel like this was at the forefront of the miniseries wave. I can’t recall any miniseries that came out before 2015, so, in my memory, Political Animals was cutting edge. Oh, and it was. It has the USA network and Greg Berlanti written all over it. I was certainly too young to watch it and I don’t actually know how I found it. I didn’t give a damn about politics at age 13. I did it all for Sebastian Stan.
Do I recommend it? Couldn’t tell you. I need to rewatch it myself. Where can you watch it? Rentable on AppleTV.
(Does this paint a picture for you?)
4. Forever (2014)
I tried to describe this show to someone at work the other day and said: “It’s about a handsome guy who is immortal for reasons we never understand and is also a crime-solving medical examiner and works with his son who now looks older than him.” I did not sell it well, let alone coherently. In my defense, nothing about Forever is coherent.
It stars Ioan Gruffudd—famously of the Fantastic Four franchise—as Dr. Henry Morgan who ironically can’t die despite spending every waking moment surrounded by death. It’s enjoyable enough. Your average network dramedy. I believe I first found Forever while scrolling through channels with my mom, as we desperately looked for a new show one Tuesday night. It was a cute, new take on our beloved police procedural, so we watched the whole first season and waited patiently to get word of a second…to no avail. As an avid fan of network television at the time, Forever marked the era of desperation, an attempt from network to stay afloat against the big wave of streaming. It felt like executives were just throwing things at the wall to see what stuck. It didn’t matter if the show was incoherent or derivative. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, Forever didn’t stick. Though, it did to me. There’s one scene that I’ll never forget, where Henry Morgan throws himself off the Brooklyn Bridge to see if he will finally, after centuries, die this time. Guess what? He doesn’t.
Do I recommend it? Not urgently. Where can you watch it? It looks like only on the free CW website. Let that be an indicator to you.
5. As We See It (2022)
This is the only show listed here that I discovered recently, that wasn’t something I frantically consumed in my teenagedom. I consumed it slowly, while I was studying abroad two years ago, and cherished it like it was my first born. I knew from the pilot that it was something special, but was gobsmacked to learn not everyone was watching and talking about it. As We See It is a sitcom of sorts about three autistic roommates, Violet, Harrison, and Jack, and their behavioral aid, Mandy. What makes the show so special is that the three main characters are played by actual actors with autism, which is a rarity in Hollywood. This is a fantastic New York Times review of the show and how it breaks new ground regarding the portrayal of autistic characters.
Its first and only season follows each of the roommates equally as they learn to live on their own and work to become friends. Sosie Bacon (the very cool daughter of Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon) plays their aid, Mandy, who helps each roommate in their own way. The creator of the show, Jason Katims, wanted to portray autism in its many forms, instead of the stereotypes we’ve seen on screen for decades. Violet works at Arby’s and is hyper-fixated on finding a boyfriend. Harrison is agoraphobic and spends his days with Mandy practicing leaving the house. Jack is a tech guy but has trouble holding down a job because he can’t stand to be around other people, let alone talk to them. Jack is played by Rick Glassman, who is actually now on an ABC sitcom called Not Dead Yet that I love.
As We See It is precious and hilarious and incredibly well done. It broke my heart that it never got another season. Do I recommend it? Obviously. Where can you watch it? Amazon Prime Video.
If you, or anyone you love, has seen one, or any, of these shows, please reach out. The beauty of TV watching—really, consuming any media in general—is feeling like that piece of art was made especially for you. That some writer out there, those actors, are speaking just to you. What’s even more beautiful is chatting someone’s ear off about it, swapping opinions and theories, and sharing the same passion for a silly little something.