From on MGM+ is absolutely fantastic. I love the mystery, the horror, and everything else about it. I am excited to see where it goes. I also absolutely love Foundation on Apple TV+, amazing CGI and fantastic world (or universe) building.
Farscape
Lost, but not the one you’re thinking of.
Travel back in time with me to September 4, 2001. It was a golden age, and reality television had taken off in a big way. NBC and CBS were each set to premiere a new show, with basically the same format: Teams of two Americans would start somewhere in the world and have to race back to the United States to win a cash prize.
NBC’s show Lost was the first to air, with CBS’s The Amazing Race airing the night after. The premise of Lost was great:
Three two-member teams knew only the final destination (thousands of miles away) and were given only a backpack full of clothes and other essentials. In addition, team members were not acquainted with one another prior to the show, and were assigned to teams. Contestants were blindfolded and dropped off with a single camera person in a remote location of an unknown country to find their way back to their home country…Teams were given no money until they managed to figure out what country they were in. During the first set, the teams were abandoned in Mongolia. (Source: Wikipedia)
The show did not do well. NBC blamed the low ratings on the fact that 9/11 happened shortly after, which actually preempted the second episode. Considering The Amazing Race debuted at basically the same time and went on to tremendous success (Lost had 1 season with 6 episodes, whereas The Amazing Race had 36 seasons and 418 episodes), I suspect something else was the cause.
So if the show was so bad, why did I like it?
First, I liked the idea that the teams started out in a location that was a mystery to them. Their first challenge was to figure out where in the world they were in a country where they (almost certainly) didn’t speak the language.
Second, although the they were two-person teams, any passage they secured for themselves, they also had to secure for their camera person. You want to catch a flight? Well, I hope you have enough money to buy three tickets!
And finally, I was hooked early on when this one moment happened. It’s still one of my favorite moments of reality TV. Remember, all three teams started out in the Mongolian desert. They were spread out from one another, so no two teams would cross paths right away. This meant that as they made their way to the nearest village, they were headed to different villages.
Two teams had a similar plan: To catch a bus that drove between the villages (and, IIRC, was headed to a larger city). So the first team gets on the bus in their village, and as the bus drives into the village where the second team is waiting, the first team spots them. They then quickly convince the bus driver not to stop and to just keep on driving instead. We’re then shown two shots: One from inside the bus, where we see the second team and their camera guy as they watch the bus go by, and then one from outside the bus, as the second team watches the bus blow past them and the realize they first team is on board.
It’s not exactly “unrecognized” because it’s fairly popular, but From – yes, that’s the name, and yes, it makes it very difficult to search for.
It’s pretty highly rated, horror/mystery show. It’s a lot like Lost except more horror less mystery. It even stars Harold Perrineau who played Michael in Lost.
The concepts and monsters are very scary and/or creepy. It gives me a Dead by Daylight “The Entity” and “The Entity’s Realm” vibe if you’re familiar with the game.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9813792/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_(TV_series)#Reception
I don’t recall how I heard about For All Mankind, and I never see it mentioned very much, but I have had such a great time watching that.
It’s an alternate history of the space race from the 60s onward, and it’s so exciting to watch what could have been. Each season jumps forward a decade, so the advances in missions and tech keep leaping forward.
If you grew up thinking we should be pioneering space by now, you will probably enjoy it.
I absolutely love For All Mankind. Such a great show, although it has been lacking in terms of intensity in recent seasons
Intensity is a good word to describe that element. I feel the show is willing to bump off characters, but 2 of the leads have survived too many close calls and it lowers the stakes a good bit.
The individual that showed up with the surprise faction really threw a wrench into things that I enjoyed though!
I really wish Dead Like Me could have lasted longer.
Or Wonderfalls, or Pushing Daisies, or basically anything Bryan Fuller does.
I don’t know if it was actually under rated or unrecognized where it aired, but as someone who was trawling for TV to watch that you don’t see in North America, I fucking love Monkey Dust out of the UK.
Dark comedy animated sketch show.
Back when the X-Files was ruling the airwaves, in the 90s, there was a companion show called Millennium. The first season was a bit weak, focusing on serial killers and gore. Second season went completely off the rails in the best way possible. The third season was a lackluster attempt to regain a wider audience.
I would recommend watching the second season for sure. It has religious satire (you will know exactly who they are skewering when you see it), the occult, end of days, mixed in with humor and solid human drama. The season finale, when they thought that they weren’t going to be renewed, is extraordinary.
hopefully you’ve read the Foundation books btw
Lexx - The Dark Zone.
Pure Canadian-German Madness with a really great cast and the wildest stories ever. And what other show has a certified anti hero as starship captain?
Few things have made me laugh as hard as that coked up vegas mummy snorting a box of omo and going on a rampage foaming bubbles everywhere
I didn’t know this had a show, I found a random VHS of The Lexx movie at a thrift store and watched that though, odd movie, but I keep watching it. I guess I need to download the show now!
China, IL would be on my list
The Boy’s Word: Blood on the Asphalt
Not “unrecognized” in Russia, but Woids are missing out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy’s_Word%3A_Blood_on_the_Asphalt
Mr. Inbetween https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7472896/
I loved Season 1, but I felt it became bogged down after that - almost a soap opera.
‘Midnight Mass’ somehow completely went under my radar first, but DAMN, that was a great mini series!
That boat ride, damn…
I really liked Profit, a mid-90s drama about corporate intrigue. It was ahead of its time and I think would have been a much bigger hit if it came out 20 years later! It was canceled after only 1 season.
Gary and his Demons is a great animated show that no one seems to have ever heard about
