If You Missed These 16 Underrated TV Shows, Now's Your Chance! Netflix Has 'Em All

While Netflix certainly has its fair share of big, buzzy titles [1] and creative originals [2], it's also a great place to find some underrated shows that you might have missed the first time around [3]. Thanks to Netflix, some of our favourite lesser-known shows [4] have been able to find a bigger audience. While not every show is going to have the kind of boost that, say, Schitt's Creek [5] famously got from being on Netflix, it's great to be able to find hidden gems even if it's been months (or even years) since they first debuted on their original platforms. Ahead, we're rounding up some of our favourite underrated shows on Netflix. How many of them have you seen?

The Windsors

The satirical, comic counterpart to The Crown, The Windsors imagines a version of the British royal family that's decidedly undignified. Rather than trying to be historically accurate, the comedy treats the world's most famous family as any other sitcom characters, full of foibles to be roundly mocked.

Watch The Windsors on Netflix. [6]

The Magicians

If you're a huge fantasy fan, you might already know about this twist on the classic "hero's journey." If you haven't heard of it, you're missing out. A group of hedonistic students at a magical grad school find themselves battling a dimension-hopping beast and discover that all the fantasy stories they read about are not only true, but much darker (and, sometimes, funnier) than they ever dreamed.

Watch The Magicians on Netflix. [7]

Young & Hungry

Desperate for a steady job, a young food blogger applies to be the personal chef of a wealthy tech entrepreneur. In the grand tradition of sitcoms, she finds herself in over her head, juggling supportive and not-so-supportive co-workers with silly hijinks and an unexpected spark with her new boss.

Watch Young & Hungry on Netflix. [8]

Madam Secretary

An ex-CIA analyst-turned-professor is drawn back into politics when she's asked to become the new secretary of state. As she adapts to her new role and works to maintain a balance between the demands of her work and her family, she's also faced with the growing suspicion that her predecessor's death happened under shady circumstances that she needs to figure out before it's too late.

Watch Madam Secretary on Netflix. [9]

Galavant

Imagine a Disney musical that's actually a Monty Python-esque parody of Disney musicals, and you have Galavant, a giddy, low-rated delight that too few people saw. After losing the woman he loved to a greedy king, an out-of-shape knight gets back in the hero game when a foreign princess comes pleading for his help.

Watch Galavant on Netflix. [10]

Great News

Although this sitcom never made tracks like the similar newsroom comedy 30 Rock, it's a hidden gem with a sharp sense of humour and a sweet heart. A young news producer has her life turned upside down when her overprotective mother takes a job as a late-in-life intern at her cable news network, and she has to deal with her family tension along with the quirky chaos at the network.

Watch Great News on Netflix. [11]

Versailles

History becomes the scene of sexy, high-stakes drama in Versailles, which narrates the early reign of France's Louis XIV, known by history as the "Sun King" who commissioned the legendary Versailles. As the young king struggles to assert his power, his courtiers scheme and seduce — and none more so than his brilliant, flamboyant brother.

Watch Versailles on Netflix. [12]

Wynonna Earp

Based on a graphic novel, this supernatural series follows the title character as she returns to her hometown to inherit the family mantle of demon protector. With the help of some colourful allies, Wynonna works to take down the escaped, reanimated criminals who were previously killed by her grandfather.

Watch Wynonna Earp on Netflix. [13]

Royal Pains

Remember the "blue skies" era of USA Network shows, packed with sleek, slightly soapy dramedies? Royal Pains was the flagship of that era. After losing a high-profile patient, a hotshot young ER doctor is stuck taking a job as an on-call doctor to the rich and famous in the Hamptons, which presents him with a whole new set of professional — and personal — challenges.

Watch Royal Pains on Netflix. [14]

Haven

Loosely based on a Stephen King novel, Haven is the eerie sci-fi show you never watched but should. When an FBI agent arrives in the Maine town of Haven on a seemingly normal assignment, she instead slowly begins to uncover the town's secrets — many of which seem to have supernatural causes.

Watch Haven on Netflix. [15]

Merlin

Although the British fantasy drama became a cult favourite, it never quite broke through to the mainstream. In Camelot, where magic is banned, the young sorcerer Merlin learns of his fate to protect King Arthur. When they first meet, Arthur is a selfish, jock prince and Merlin is his new servant, but the two men and the people around them slowly grow into the figures of legend as they edge closer to their destinies.

Watch Merlin on Netflix. [16]

Penny Dreadful

This mashup of genres plops historical and literary figures into a psychological thriller anthology, loosely connecting their stories on the streets and in the halls of Victorian England. From clairvoyants to wealthy benefactors to twisted literary legends, these characters prove that they're much more than what you remember.

Watch Penny Dreadful on Netflix. [17]

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

It was one of the lowest-rated shows on TV during its run, but don't let that fool you. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a brilliantly bonkers musical comedy that takes its basic premise (a woman bails on her high-powered life to follow her former theatre camp crush to West Covina, California) and turns it into a sharp, hilarious, and heartfelt musical satire that comments on gender politics, sexuality, mental health, and more.

Watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on Netflix. [18]

Good Girls

A trio of women all facing different desperate circumstances team up to rob a local grocery store. After their heist, however, they discover that they've accidentally stumbled into a much bigger world of crime, and they're not going to be able to sever ties as easily as they'd thought.

Watch Good Girls on Netflix. [19]

iZombie

While other shows like The Walking Dead [20] take a dark and dramatic approach to zombie lore, iZombie keeps the horror but adds a side of absurd comedy as well. When a med student accidentally becomes a zombie, she takes a job at the coroner's office to try to get her fix without a fuss or violence — but then discovers that eating the brains of the dead gives her insights into their memories and personalities.

Watch iZombie on Netflix. [21]

Gran Hotel

If you love soapy European dramas, this one's for you. In this Spanish historical drama, a young man takes a job at an elite hotel to try to solve the mystery of his sister's disappearance, but there are more secrets among the guests and the staff than he ever could have guessed. It's along the same lines as Downton Abbey, but with fewer tea parties and more murder.

Watch Gran Hotel on Netflix. [22]

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