Let’s be real, Netflix’s algorithm is both a blessing and a curse. It’s great at pushing the same big-budget blockbusters in your face over and over, but absolutely terrible at surfacing the smaller, weirder, more brilliant stuff hiding three pages deep in your browse menu. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say they ‘have nothing to watch’ while I’m sitting here having a full-on crisis over which incredible underrated show to recommend first.
So consider this your official intervention. These are the Netflix shows that deserve way more eyeballs than they’re getting. The ones that got quietly cancelled before their time, the foreign-language gems that people skip because of subtitles (seriously, get over it), and the genre-bending originals that just didn’t get the marketing push they deserved. Let’s dig in.
1. The OA (2016–2019)
If you’ve never heard of The OA, I genuinely envy you because you get to experience it fresh. Created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, this show defies every genre label you try to stick on it. It starts as a missing persons mystery, becomes a supernatural drama, incorporates interpretive dance as a plot mechanic (yes, really), and somehow makes all of it work. Marling plays Prairie Johnson, a blind woman who returns home after years of captivity with her sight restored and wild stories to tell.
Netflix cancelled it after two seasons and fans were absolutely devastated, myself included. The petition to save it had hundreds of thousands of signatures. Whether you’re into science fiction, spiritual themes, or just storytelling that treats you like an intelligent adult, The OA is unlike anything else on the platform. Watch it. Grieve with the rest of us.
2. Sense8 (2015–2018)
Speaking of cancelled-too-soon tragedies, Sense8 created by the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski was pure, ambitious, beautiful television. The premise: eight strangers from around the world — Chicago, Nairobi, Mumbai, Seoul, Berlin, London, Mexico City, and Reykjavik — suddenly find themselves mentally and emotionally connected. They can share skills, feelings, and experiences across continents.
What made Sense8 special wasn’t just the concept, it was the execution. The show was filmed on location in every single city, giving it a visual richness that most productions can only dream about. It was also radically inclusive at a time when that wasn’t yet the industry norm. Again, Netflix cancelled it. Again, the fans revolted loudly enough that they got a two-hour finale special. It’s not a perfect ending, but the journey is worth every minute.
3. Dark (2017–2020)
Dark is the German sci-fi time-travel thriller that will make your brain hurt in the best possible way. Set in the fictional town of Winden, it begins as a missing-children mystery and slowly reveals itself to be a mind-bending exploration of time loops, family cycles, and determinism that spans multiple centuries. Three seasons. A complete story. One of the most satisfying narrative conclusions I’ve ever seen on television.
The excuse people give for not watching it is the subtitles. To which I say: this show is so visually stunning and narratively gripping that you will forget you’re reading within ten minutes. Dark is the kind of show that makes you want to build a conspiracy board with red string just to keep track of everything. It’s complex, but it rewards patience in a way that few shows ever do.
4. Midnight Mass (2021)
Mike Flanagan is the king of thoughtful horror on Netflix. You might know him from The Haunting of Hill House or The Haunting of Bly Manor. But Midnight Mass, a limited series about a small island community that undergoes a religious revival with terrifying consequences, is arguably his masterpiece. It’s slow-burn, character-driven, and more interested in exploring faith, addiction, and community than jump-scares.
This show has some of the best monologues in recent television history. Characters actually talk about death, God, and belief in ways that feel genuinely human and philosophical. It’s a horror show that will make you think as much as it makes you cringe. If you dismissed it because you’re not a horror fan, give it another shot. It’s more drama than horror, and it absolutely earns every second of its runtime.
5. The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
While we’re on Flanagan, Bly Manor gets unfairly dismissed as ‘not as good as Hill House,’ but that comparison does it a disservice. Where Hill House was horror, Bly Manor is a tragic gothic romance. Yes, there are ghosts. Yes, there are scary moments. But at its heart, this is a devastating love story told across time, wrapped in the aesthetic of a Victorian ghost tale.
The finale genuinely wrecked me. I’m not exaggerating. It’s one of those endings that sits with you for days, and the more you think about it, the more it opens up. If you went in expecting a horror sequel and bounced off it, try again. This time, let it be what it actually is.
6. Maniac (2018)
Emma Stone and Jonah Hill in a psychedelic, surrealist limited series about pharmaceutical drug trials that blur the line between memory and fantasy? Somehow this show was slept on despite having two of the most bankable stars in Hollywood attached to it. Maniac is weird in a deliberate, artful way. Each episode shifts genre and aesthetic as the characters navigate drug-induced fantasy sequences that reveal deep emotional truths.
It’s funny, then heartbreaking, then funny again. The production design alone is worth the watch. A retro-futurist aesthetic that feels like a lo-fi Blade Runner. It’s only one season, so it’s an easy commitment. Watch it on a rainy weekend and thank me later.
7. Tuca & Bertie (2019–2022)
Originally cancelled by Netflix (sensing a theme here?) and then revived by Adult Swim before eventually ending on its own terms, Tuca & Bertie is an animated adult comedy from the creator of BoJack Horseman. It follows two best friends. The chaotic, free-spirited toucan Tuca and the anxious, career-driven songbird Bertie. As they navigate adulthood, trauma, friendship, and identity in a surrealist bird city.
It’s warm, hilarious, and genuinely emotionally intelligent in a way that sneaks up on you. The animation is vibrant and inventive. The friendship between Tuca and Bertie feels authentic in a way that most media friendships don’t. If you loved BoJack Horseman but wanted something slightly less existentially devastating, this is your show.
Final Thoughts: Stop Sleeping on These Shows
Netflix’s recommendation algorithm will push you toward whatever’s trending, but the best stuff on the platform is often hiding in plain sight. The OA, Sense8, Dark, Midnight Mass, Bly Manor, Maniac, and Tuca & Bertie represent some of the most creative, ambitious television the streamer has ever produced — and most of them were either cancelled too soon or just never found the audience they deserved.
So the next time you find yourself saying you have nothing to watch, come back to this list. Work through it methodically. And when you finish The OA and need to grieve with someone, you know where to find us.
