In today’s media landscape, the competition for viewer attention has never been more fierce, meaning shows sometimes struggle to cut through the noise even if they’re well worth the watch. Between streaming platforms, traditional network shows, cable offerings, and short-form content that’s quicker to capture attention, audiences have endless options vying for their time. It’s impossible to see everything, but feels important to see the best of the best.
With so much to choose from, however, even high-quality TV can go unnoticed simply because it’s buried beneath another binge-worthy hit or a viral trend taking over our attention. As a result, plenty of excellent shows wind up falling off people’s radars despite being deserving of their attention. In recent months, the amount of TV that’s dropped and been overlooked feels like a higher level than the norm.
The rise of streaming has changed what we watch and how we watch it, but it’s also made the environment surrounding TV over-crowded. Streaming shows and network shows feel, at their core, different, but the look for the same attention from viewers, which spreads everyone a bit thin. Services like Netflix release new originals constantly, while long-running network shows continue to try to build up regular audiences.
With cable dramas and genre shows also trying to jockey for viewers, the TV landscape has found itself in a fascinating predicament. While there’s now something on screen for everyone and with more accessibility than ever, it’s easy for outstanding shows to fall through the cracks and sufferer because they’re not able to break into the mainstream market. Without conversation or pop culture buzz, shows can wither away.
Finding the shows that cut through all that noise takes a little curiosity and willingness to look beyond trending lists. This may mean committing to shows that seem like a great fit on network TV, or skipping more traditional offerings and digging beneath the surface to find new releases on streaming services. Some of the best shows you’re not watching could be your next favorite.
10
Can This Love Be Translated?
A South Korean drama released on Netflix in January, Can This Love Be Translated? was one of the most anticipated K-dramas of the year. Following Joo Ho-jin (Kim Seon-ho) as a multilingual interpreter, the series watches as his relationship with Cha Mu-hee (Go Youn-jung) shifts and changes through her rise to fame.
The romantic comedy is lighter fare than the typical K-drama, and the chemistry between the leads allows the story to unfold in a fascinating way. Netflix’s dedication to bringing global content to its platform, especially when it comes to K-dramas, has allowed viewers to immerse themselves in shows they likely wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
- Release Date
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2026 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
Cast
9
St. Denis Medical
NBC’s latest workplace mockumentary, St. Denis Medical, is currently in its second season and was recently renewed for a third, making it the perfect time to jump aboard. Taking place at the underfunded St. Denis Medical, a hospital in Oregon, the series follows a group of doctors, nurses, and higher-ups through their everyday routines.
Starring Wendi McLendon-Covey, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, and Mekki Leeper, the series is a masterclass in physical comedy. With storylines that carry through each season, the heart of the show is the relationship that the characters have built with one another throughout the show’s run, and with another season coming, the series is sure to keep deepening their relationships.
- Release Date
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November 12, 2024
- Directors
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Ruben Fleischer
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Wendi McLendon-Covey
Joyce
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8
School Spirits
A Paramount+ original, School Spirits follows the drama of Maddie Nears’ (Peyton List) mysterious disappearance through its first two seasons, but takes a fascinating turn in its currently airing third season. With a premise set primarily at Split River High School, the show sees Maddie joining the afterlife after, seemingly, having died.
Throughout the first two seasons, Maddie’s apparent death and its aftermath are explored thoroughly, as is her newfound relationships with the other spirits that haunt her high school. With co-stars like Milo Manheim in the spirit world and Spencer MacPherson in the land of the living, School Spirits straddles a fascinating line.
- Release Date
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March 9, 2023
- Network
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Paramount+
- Directors
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Hannah Macpherson, Brian Dannelly, Max Winkler, Oran Zegman
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Arvind Johal
Paramedic #1
7
Will Trent
ABC’s Will Trent is back for its fourth season, and after an intense third season that ended in a shocking pregnancy reveal, things have been more overwhelming than ever on the detective drama. Will Trent (Ramon Rodriguez) returns to his self-titled series with a huge amount of baggage that he’s not sure how to untangle, despite the tools surrounding him in his GBI colleagues.
With a dynamic cast who makes ensemble work look simple, Will Trent is one of the rare police procedurals that is able to cast itself out of the case-of-the-week style while still remaining firmly episodic in nature. The serialized elements of the show inform its characters, and the storylines running throughout the fourth season have consistently felt fresh.
- Release Date
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January 3, 2023
- Directors
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Howard Deutch, Eric Dean Seaton, Holly Dale, Lea Thompson, Patricia Cardoso, Sheree Folkson, Bille Woodruff, Erika Christensen, Gail Mancuso, Geary McLeod, Jason Ensler, Mark Tonderai, Paul McGuigan
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Ramón Rodríguez
Will Trent
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Erika Christensen
Angie Polaski
6
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Another Paramount+ original, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is a new piece of the Star Trek franchise that has already captivated audiences. While tied to the larger franchise, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy takes place in a far flung future where Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets are in recovery mode after a massive catastrophe, which viewers saw in Star Trek: Discovery.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy follows the first new class of cadets on Starfleet in more than a century, watching as they train to become officers once they age into the role. With Holly Hunter returning to the franchise as Nahla Ake, the show features several new faces that viewers will definitely come to enjoy.
- Release Date
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January 15, 2026
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau
5
Ponies
A spy thriller, Ponies is a new series from Peacock that stars Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson. The series is a period piece, taking place in 1977. Following two secretaries, Bea Grant (Clarke) and Twila Hasbeck (Lu Richardson) working at the American embassy in Moscow, Ponies features both women becoming CIA operatives after their spouses mysteriously die.
The series is an exciting blend of spy thriller and partner procedural, unfolding twists and turns as the eight-episode drama unfolds. Ponies, an acronym for Persons Of No Interest, allows the story to unfurl at an intense pace, and shows off the different sides of its pair of leads.
- Release Date
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January 15, 2026
- Network
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Peacock
- Directors
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Ally Pankiw, Susanna Fogel, Viet Nguyen
4
High Potential
ABC’s High Potential, which debuted in the 2024 season, is currently in the midst of its second season and seems to be pushing ahead with an exciting dynamic between Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olson) and Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) despite some hiccups in the first season and early episodes of the second.
Although it was one of the few ABC dramas to return to the fall lineup this season, the show’s mid-season premiere felt more like a return to form. Bringing Morgan back into a new case with the familiar faces of the LAPD around her, the Major Crimes investigations have been leading to an interesting new story for Morgan and the team.
- Release Date
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September 17, 2024
- Showrunner
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Todd Harthan
3
The Fall & Rise Of Reggie Dinkins
A series from the minds of Robert Carlock and Sam Means, The Fall & Rise Of Reggie Dinkins stars Tracy Morgan as the titular Reggie Dinkins, a former star football player who was disgraced and banned from the league after a gambling scandal. In hopes of telling his side of the story, Reggie hires filmmaker Arthur Tobin (Daniel Radcliffe) to make a documentary about him.
The series, which aired its pilot in mid-January, will be formally premiering later in February and already has buzz behind it. With an all-star cast and team members that worked on projects like 30 Rock and The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the show’s first episode is available to preview what’s bound to be a smash success.
2
Shrinking
Apple TV’s Shrinking, which stars Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, and Jessica Williams, has returned for its third season on the streaming platform to rave reviews. Shrinking follows a trio of psychologists as they move through the difficulties in their own lives while trying to treat patients.
While the series has been available to Apple TV subscribers since its 2023 premiere, it’s only ramped up in quality over the past two seasons. With the third season having released in January and continuing throughout the next few months, it’s the perfect time to jump on board.
- Release Date
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January 27, 2023
- Network
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Apple TV
- Showrunner
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Bill Lawrence
1
The Lincoln Lawyer
As one of Netflix’s most underrated hits, The Lincoln Lawyer recently returned to the platform for its pivotal fourth season. The series, which is adapted from Michael Connelly’s book series of the same name, follows Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) as he takes over his own law practice after battling addiction.
Haller, who works best out of the back of a Lincoln Navigator as he takes on his Los Angeles based cases, has proven his worth as a lawyer throughout the first seasons of the series. With the fourth season having just released, it’s the perfect chance for fans to catch up and get in on The Lincoln Lawyer.
- Release Date
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May 13, 2022
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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David E. Kelley
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Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
Mickey Haller
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