The 15 Best Under-the-Radar TV Shows of 2023
Photos Courtesy of Peacock, Starz, and Netflix
Every year, our Best TV of the Year list aims to capture the very best of the best, but sometimes, the greatest gems on TV just haven’t been seen by enough eyeballs to truly make an impact as Paste editors, staff, and writers vote for our favorites. Because of that, we present our best underrated picks to highlight the TV that you may have missed, but is just as good and just as worthy of a catch-up binge as the most celebrated series of the year.
Whether a product of the streaming service some of these shows hail from (Apple TV+ shows seem to always fly under the radar) or simply stiff competition that allowed these TV triumphs to fall to the wayside, we refuse to let them be forgotten in our celebrations of the best television to grace our screens this year.
Below, in no particular order, are the best shows you may or may not have heard of, but are still absolutely worth your time. But if these series aren’t niche enough for you, check out our picks for the best reality shows, K-dramas, and anime series of 2023.
Lessons in Chemistry
Developed by: Lee Eisenberg
Network: Apple TV+
Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, Apple TV+’s Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson), who begins the series with ambitions of becoming a chemist, but the restraints of the time period force her to eventually become the host of popular cooking show Supper at Six. Unfolding over eight episodes, Lessons in Chemistry is part-romantic drama and part-feminist triumph, serving as a dynamic character piece with a keen focus on Elizabeth’s ambition and heart throughout the various phases of her life showcased on screen. Featuring a brilliant lead performance from Larson, alongside the grounding chemistry she shares with Lewis Pullman as Calvin or Aja Naomi King as Harriet, Lessons in Chemistry is a delightfully heartbreaking journey about life, love, and the power of connection. —Anna Govert
How To with John Wilson
Created by: John Wilson
Network: HBO
John Wilson decided to end his one-of-a-kind HBO show with its third season, and although it’s depressing that we don’t have any more How To to look forward to, it’s a decision that makes sense. Its 18 episodes make up one of the very few TV shows that remained uniformly excellent throughout its entire run, and although I could probably watch 40 more seasons of this exact same stuff, How To really had nowhere else to go but down. Get out while you’re ahead, and all that. Wilson’s meticulously edited footage of daily life in New York finds great humor but also pathos in its contrast of image and narration, and Wilson’s lack of judgment towards the people he meets during his episodes’ unexpected twists keeps it from feeling either condescending or exploitative. How To’s final season was an appropriately low-key send-off to a humble show that was consistently hilarious and often profound despite its understated demeanor, and although the show will be missed, it’s already proven itself to be eminently rewatchable. I’m pretty sure I’ll be returning to these lessons for years to come.—Garrett Martin
Ghosts
Created by: Joe Port, Joe Wiseman
Network: CBS / Paramount+
Based on the UK series of the same name (which itself is streaming on HBO Max), the delightful Ghosts has become a bona fide hit for CBS. But if you’re an elder Millennial such as myself, you could be knocked over with a feather to learn this is one of TV’s best series. And yet, don’t sleep on it.
Ghosts follows a married couple, Samantha and Jay (Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar), who inherit a large country estate that is, turns out, filled with ghosts only Sam (after she goes through a near-death experience) can see and hear. These ghosts aren’t scary though, they’re mostly friendly and occasionally annoying in their demands to smell bacon or have Sam turn on the TV. They also make for a fantastic comedy ensemble. Comprised of a small percentage of those who have died on the estate’s property from the beginning of time, the ghosts rule the roost: Bossy Revolutionary War soldier Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones), kind Boy Scout leader Pete (Richie Moriarty), pants-less Wall Street bro Trevor (Asher Grodman), uptight lady of the manor Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), certified hippie Flower (Sheila Carrasco), flamboyant jazz singer Alberta (Danielle Pinnock), deadpan Lenape tribesman Sasappis (Roman Zaragoza), and the oldest of all the ghosts, Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long), a Viking.
As Sam and Jay work to establish a B&B, the ghosts both help and hinder the process in earnestly funny ways. The charming CBS series is not quite as cozy as the UK’s version, and features a few early hallmarks of American sitcom formatting that can feel heavy-handed, but when it hits, it really hits. And in Season 2, the ensemble has grown even more on-point in their timing, just as the show’s witty writing continues to deliver weekly comedic joys. —Allison Keene
Fellow Travelers
Created by: Ron Nyswaner
Network: Showtime
One part love story, one part political thriller, and one part historical drama, Fellow Travelers follows the story of Hawkins Fuller (Matt Bomer), a worldly State Department official, and Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey), a devout Catholic and new college graduate who arrives in the cutthroat world of Washington, D.C. politics, naively hoping to help change the country for the better. The two meet cute at an election night party on the eve of the 1950s Lavender Scare, just as Senator Joseph McCarthy began purging gays and lesbians from government jobs, stoking a national moral panic around homosexuality. Their flirtation turns into an intoxicating sexual connection, which becomes something much more intimate and lasting, despite the dangers, challenges, and other relationships that pass in and out of both their lives. Fellow Travelers isn’t always a particularly easy watch—it’s a story of loss and regret and what-ifs that serves as a necessary reminder of how far we’ve come in terms of the fight for LGBTQ rights, told through the story of two men whose lives would likely have turned out much differently if they’d been born a few short decades later. —Lacy Baugher Milas
Queen Charlotte
Created by: Shonda Rhimes
Network: Netflix
Netflix isn’t one to let a good thing simply thrive on its own—it’s going to figure out how to squeeze as much from it as possible. Enter Queen Charlotte, a limited series created and written by Shonda Rhimes that serves as a prequel series to the service’s wildly popular historical romance Bridgerton. The show, which was directed by Rhimes’ longtime collaborator Tom Verica, follows Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio as a young woman, Golda Rosheuvel as an adult) at the beginning of her marriage to King George III (Corey Mylchreest), who at first shields himself from her because of a mental illness that few know about. As the series progresses, the two soon find common ground and begin falling in love, forever changing the course of British high society. Running parallel to this—and in direct contrast to it—is the story of Charlotte’s lady-in-waiting Lady Danbury (Arsema Thomas as a young woman, Adjoa Andoh as an adult) and her own husband, whom she detests. The show, which also tackles matters of race and features a queer love story, is a delight. Its only fault is that it is just six episodes. —Kaitlin Thomas
Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake
Developed by: Adam Muto
Network: Max
Spinning off from a few episodes of Adventure Time that followed gender-swapped fanfiction versions of the main cast, Fionna and Cake is a more serialized, dramatic adventure from this colorful world. It’s not quite peak Adventure Time, but Fionna and Cake is a worthy continuation of the legendary cartoon. The animation’s as fun as ever, and the voice cast is a mix of reliable returning talent and a few welcome new voices (wait until you find out who’s the new voice for Lemongrab). The transition from semi-episodic quarter-hour episodes to hyper-serialized half-hour ones is a bit of an adjustment, and the story itself isn’t mind-bendingly original, but at its best, it feels as if it’s making good on the promise of the original series’ theme song: “The fun will never end.” —Reuben Baron
Happy Valley
Created by: Sally Wainwright
Network: BBC One
Watch on Acorn TV
Watch on AMC+
In 2014, the fruitful crime show trope of a good-hearted but taciturn cop (now on the brink of retirement) found its apex in the form of Happy Valley’s Sgt. Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire). Her hatred of a psychopathic local criminal, Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton)—who she blames for her daughter’s death—the beating heart of the elegantly brief crime series, which returned for a second set of six episodes in 2016. At last, seven years later, the final season of Happy Valley gives us six episodes of closure to the saga that has been one of the primary TV triumphs of the last decade.
In this third and final season, Catherine is ready to retire and hike the Himalayas (why not?) But, once again, Tommy Lee Royce is an ever-present shadow over her life and her grandson Ryan’s, especially once it’s revealed that Tommy has made contact with Ryan who now visits him. This emotional bomb, which is only the beginning of their troubles with Tommy this season, rocks Catherine’s world and causes her—and Ryan, along with her sister Clare (Siobhan Finneran) and the entire family—to come face to face with the past, and Tommy’s toxic presence throughout it.
It’s this devastating emotional undercurrent leading to the last confrontation between Catherine and Tommy that makes the series finale a triumphant cap to an exceptional show—and it doesn’t play out as one might predict. As hard as it is to say goodbye, creator Sally Wainwright knows how to do a proper sendoff that speaks to the series’ many recurring themes, pays homage to its troubled locale, and honors its affecting stories. While there’s not much happiness to find in Happy Valley, there’s the right amount of satisfaction in the glimmer of hope that we get a peek of at the end. —Allison Keene
