Top 8 Underrated Live Action TV Shows

TV Shows and Movies are my happy place, and there are many shows I wish more people knew about, so here are my picks. I hope more people do actually talk about these shows I talk about below because I don't want to be the only ones talking about these shows 10-20 years afterward. 

I hope you enjoy my list.

8: Boardwalk Empire

Since I am still in the process of watching Boardwalk Empire, this is the only show I did not finish, but believe me, this show is underrated. When the show first premiered in 2010, I was way too young to watch it but as a early 20-something, I am in love with this show and totally shocked by it. The reason why I haven't continued it is because of a certain character who would later become a part of a really famous superhero in his career. If you've seen this show, you know who I am talking about. But! That won't stop me from begging people to watch this super-duper underrated show. 

Watching Steve Buscemi, Stephen Graham, Michael Stuhlberg, Bobby Cannavale, Michael K Williams (RIP KING), and Vincent Piazza play fictionalized versions of real Gangsters is amazing! I never knew I wanted to see Steve Buscemi do drama, but I do, and I want him to do more. 

(Note: MKW's character's name was based on a boxer, his character was inspired by black gangsters of the 20s)

Boardwalk Empire is a drama based on a True Crime book about Thomas 'Nucky' Johnson and his kingpin hold of the Atlantic City area and the boardwalk during Prohibition and the illegal ways he goes about keeping the boardwalk and his life afloat. 

This show is on HBO Max/Max. 10/10 recommend.

7: The Night Shift

An NBC medical drama, The Night Shift is a great look into what an ER night shift might be like. Of course, it's dramatized so it's obviously not accurate, but having most of the characters be army vet doctors is a nice and new spin that most medical/law dramas don't have. I found 6 actors through this show who I have loved since. Eion Macken, Ken Leung, Merle Dandridge, Robert Bailey Jr, Freddy Rodriguez, and Scott Wolf are amazing in their roles. I was sad when a certain character dies in season 4. I loved that character so much. I learned new things societal-wise with the army like an episode where a character was being discriminated against for being gay and an active army doctor. 

This show grabs your heart and doesn't let it go, honestly. I never hear anyone list this show when they talk about medical dramas, and they should. I was wrecked when NBC canceled the show after 4 seasons, but boy what a run it had. I didn't quite like the finale but overall the show was fantastic.

This show is on Paramount Plus. 9/10 Recommend. 

6: Medici: Masters of Florence

If you love historical dramas, this one is the one for you...WITH a caveat. I recommend seasons 2 and 3 then 1. 1-2-3 are 2 generations apart so you won't miss anything but callbacks you would get forward and backward. Medici: Masters of Florence follows Cosimo D'Medici [Season 1] and Lorenzo D'Medici [Seasons 2 and 3] as they climb the political ladder to keep their family on top and solvent. They both have different yet similar storylines that complement yet juxtapose each other at the same time that is cool to compare the two men 75 years or so apart from each other. Richard Madden and Daniel Sharman are great as Cosimo and Lorenzo, respectively. Their wives played by Annabele Scholey and Synnove Karlsen are beautifully portrayed as sharp-thinking strong women who show their opinions in a time when it wasn't quite respected. 

I love this show so much. I wish people talk about this show more. Please watch it. Please. 

Watch it on Netflix. 10/10 Recommend.  

5:  Borgia: Faith and Fear

While I was researching other shows to binge in 2018 after watching The Tudors, I found Borgia: Faith and Fear on Netflix. And I never wanted to binge a show over and over again. Compared to the unfinished The Borgias on Showtime, Faith and Fear is that open and sex-driven show that people who did feel that The Borgias was missing something would if not love then really like. I have never heard anyone talk about this show, and I want to change that. Now the show did originate and premiere in France, so that could be it. The American audience just wasn't shown it in Netflix recs, but I recommend it.

As my historical research did me well when researching the true history compared to the show, the show is pretty accurate with what the characters do. Watching Cesare descend into madness, Lucrezia go through all of her marriages and grows through that, and having happiness that Juan dies cause he was a dirtbag even more than Cesare, Cesare and Lucrezia's absolutely bonkers relationship was a ball. I recommend this show to anyone who loves political historical dramas. 

You can watch this show on Amazon and Apple. 10/10 Recommend.

4: Switched At Birth

When two girls find out that they were switched at birth at the hospital they were born in, everything changes for them. Basically, that is the summary of Freeform/ABC Family's Switched At Birth, a teen drama surrounding Vanessa Marano and Katie Leclerc's Bay and Daphne as they meet each other and their biological families. One thing that diversifies this show is that Daphnie (and Katie) is deaf, and part of the show's plot B and C's is surrounding the deaf characters that come into Daphne and Bay's life. This show introduced me to Deaf Representation and began my love for ASL. It also taught me who Marlee Matlin and Lea Thompson were. I loved seeing Constance Marie and Lucas Gabriel again. This show introduced me to the vast deaf experience, and I wish more shows had deaf rep. 

This show isn't talked about much, and I wished it was. I did wish the show ended after Bay and Daphne graduated high school, but where it left off was good as well. 

You can watch this show on Freeform.com and the ABC app. 10/10 Recommend.

3: A Series of Unfortunate Events

When Netflix advertised Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events, I knew this show was going to be awesome. And I was not wrong. The kids who play Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were talented and perfectly cast. NPH was obviously perfect for the role. Patrick Warburton was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC as Lemony Snicket. Usman Ally was my favorite character of all time in the show besides Allison Williams and Colbie Smulders. This show is so accurate to the books, it's pretty incredible. 

I wish people talked about this show more, and maybe I missed it when it was active and around all the time, but I didn't see a lot of people talking about it then. This show needs to get a resurgence (NOT A REMAKE) and more people should talk about this show, especially the finale song. I didn't know Patrick Warburton could sing. 

10/10 Recommend.

2: George Lopez

In the Early 2000s if you watched Nick @ Night you probably watched George Lopez, a fictionalized version of George Lopez's middle-class life as an aero-manufacturing plant manager. Some jokes were very early 2000s, but most of them still hit home run, and after its cancellation and finale 17 years ago (I know guys. It's been THAT long!) George Lopez actually still holds up and no one is talking about the show itself since. George Lopez was one of the very few full Hispanic shows on a family-friendly network and for the early 2000s and honestly for the 2020s George Lopez is pretty diverse. 

I wish more people talked more about this show rather than the memory of the theme song playing in the middle of the night (which is a part of the nostalgia factor) but no one talks about the show itself. I might do a top-number list of my favorite episodes in the future. If you've never seen this show or haven't seen it in a while, check it out. It's really really good.

You can watch this show on Apple, Amazon and Peacock. 10/10 Recommend.

1: Reba

This show about a woman a single mom who works too hard, who loves her kids and never stops with gentle hands and a heart of a fighter, and a survivor is a fantastic comedy that no one talks about and it is criminally underrated. Honestly, this show showed me how funny, versatile, talented, and amazing Reba McEntire is as an actor. She should have another sitcom, guys. Reba Hart is a mom of three who is thrown through a whirlwind when not only her teenage daughter Cheyenne is found to be pregnant but so is her cheating husband's dental assistant-slash-mistress, Barbara Jean. Reba is shown through the series as she gets through a difficult divorce and raises her kids with him and allows Cheyenne's boyfriend to move in with them, and begrudgingly deals with Barbara Jean who tags along without a clue of how much she is not wanted by Reba. As the show continues the characters grow and comedic yet grounded situational shenanigans happen, and it is a laugh riot and emotional rollercoaster. 

I love this show so so so much, and I wish a lot of people were talking about this show, no matter how old it is because yes, it is another show in its 17th year of existence. I love this show so much. It is my comfort show, and I watch it anytime I can. 

You can watch this show on Hulu, Apple, and Amazon. 10/10 Recommend. 

If you have a underrated TV Show let me know in the comments. Let me know what you think of my picks. Did you watch any of these? Will you watch any of these shows? I hope you do. 

Thanks for reading.