Television

Wonderfalls

The Leftovers - 2% of the worlds population just vanishes. Enough to freak people out but not cause the complete collapse of civilization.

The Endgame - High class criminal commits crimes by way of getting herself arrested. There's only 1 season. Ignore the last ~10 minutes of the last episode and the story wraps up fine.

Counterpart - Mid-level bureaucrat finds out there's a doorway to a parallel dimension with whom the world's been in a secret cold war

Reaper was a really brilliant, easy-watching action/comedy show akin to Chuck. It's centered around a young man whose family has sold his soul to the devil, and now he must fulfill the contract by hunting down souls that have escaped from hell.

It features the typical "monster of the week" premise, along with a longer story arc across the seasons and has a rather fun mythology and world building. Ray Wise puts in a phenomenal performance as the devil, and I remember the show having a pretty genuine and surprisingly wholesome sense of humour.

Sadly its momentum got interrupted by the writers strike, and its second season was shortened and then cancelled. I still highly recommend it.

The Knick

How about two with Rosa Salazar?

Undone on Amazon Prime, a trippy psychological show about a girl (Salazar) exploring the link to her present and her dead father (Bob Odenkirk). It's rotoscoped to add to the trippiness

Brand New Cherry Flavor on Netflix, where an aspiring writer gets her career ruined by a director when she turns down his sexual advances. She makes a deal with a witch to get revenge

Sliders

Monkey Dust. BBC show from the late 00''s that went ~3 seasons. Animated sketch comedy that was ostensibly British but wasn't SO British that Americans wouldn't get it. Example sketch-

https://youtu.be/RAgsubC0zaE

These don’t seem obscure to me but most folks I know have never heard of them:

What We Do in the Shadows

Sealab 2021

Parks and Rec

Party Down

Freaks and Geeks

Venture Bros

It depends so much on one's tastes... But

• Forever
• Street Hawk
• Firefly (not so obscure)
• Travelers
• Hogan's Heroes
• The Greatest American Hero (just for laughs)

I became a big fan of the series "V", specifically the 2000's remake. I think they discontinued the series due to mixed ratings.

Kim's Convenience

I don't see Dame Judy Dench's masterpiece "As Time Goes By" mentioned often.

It's about a love affair between the acclaimed author of "My Time in Kenya", and his publisher.

(This summary is intentionally reductive to the point of absurdity. But trust me, it's quite good.)

Haven't seen these mentioned yet:

Fringe

Killjoys

Being Erica

Forever Knight

La femme Nikita (Peta Wilson version)

Space above and Beyond

Sliders

Doraleus and Associates (web series)

Dr Horribles Singalong Blog (is this okay for this list?)

Due South

Celebrity Deathmatch

Ask a Ninja (early YouTube channel)

I got this from the fediverse in another thread but kims convenience is hilarious. the brother I think did a marvel film recently to.

Probably only lesser known depending on age but I always like Due South.

2 of 2

TURN -George Washington's Spies.

Black Sails

Three from the BBC, all free on Youtube.

The Prisoner

I, Claudius

Connections

Lesser-known?

The Time Tunnel.

The Terror - season 1 especially is so well done

This is going to hurt - UK medical drama, both hilarious and heartbreaking

Mr Inbetween is an excellent Aussie show. Haven't found anything else that captures our culture so well.

Not sure where the bar sits for obscure / under the radar. There's plenty of more popular shows I normally recommend.

Keeping it less known I guess:

Sense8 - slow start but cool concept

The goes wrong show - brilliant little piece of British theatre humour. Some great recurring gags

And second another commenter's recommendation of you're the worst as a good laugh.

Someone mentioned Patriot here the other day, and I think that qualifies as at least lesser-known.

Also going to plug the Canadian TV series Sort Of, about a trans woman who is a nanny for her friend's two kids.

I was also surprised I had missed Spaced, a kind of surrealist sitcom starring Simon Pegg and directed by Edgar Wright (think: Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead). Not sure it counts as obscure or lesser-known, but it was for me anyway.

Corner Gas, brilliant comedy about a tiny Saskatchewan town set around a gas station that is connected to a diner and the oddball people that live there.

You'll come for the quaint setting, stay for the Jackass screaming Oscar.

I’m going to recommend the 1970s BBC series “Survivors”. It’s kind of like Walking Dead lite, without the zombies.

Avoid the 2000s remake though. It’s ridiculous.

I also recommend the 1971 BBC series I mentioned in another thread, about a futuristic fascist government in Britain: “the Guardians”.

Border Line - British mockumentary that follows airport security forces. Even though The Office was British originally, this feels like they took they the US' Office and put their spin on that. There's definitely a Michael, a Dwight, a Pam and Jim etc. It's pretty fucking funny, but unfortunately they only made 2 seasons before it got canceled.

Children Of The Stones, 1977 British childrens' horror show. A historian and his young son visit a small village whose residents hold secrets about an ancient stone monument.

Like most 70s British TV, there's no production budget, and entirely dependent on script writing and actors to create atmosphere.