We all know the big TV series hits like Breaking Bad, Dexter, Game of Thrones, etc.
But what I’m more interested in are the smaller, not-so-known TV series that are awesome. Do you have any?

Here are some of my favourites:
Parks and Recreation, Misfits, How not to live your life, The Real Hustle, Bored to Death, Homeland (although having won 2 Golden Globes, nobody I asked had heard about this series)

I actually liked Threshold, unfortunately it has been roughly suspended. Talking of old series, I loved Farscape, but I'm one of the few :)
More recently, I don't know, maybe Grimm, nothing special but enjoyable.

Workaholics, Wilfred, it's always sunny in Philadelphia. Yea I'm more of a comedy series guy

@cubiq: Yeah, I didn’t like Farscape as well :p
@jowbin: Haha Wilfred looks funny (at least the cover, Frodo getting licked). I enjoy comedies as well, but it’s hard to find good ones. Lately, and surprisingly, I’ve enjoyed 2 Broke Girls.

This isn't unknown, but it's relatively old, and completed: Oz. A very, very well written series. Not too much of a series person tbh, so no proper gems from me, sorry.

I think one tv show with few episodes but wonderful is Sherlock for BBC (UK). 3 episodes each season, two seasons.

I used to like Flashforward, they hurriedly ended the series when it got cancelled, bit of a shame really.

@Ivantortosa: whoa, 3 episodes per season?! Looks cool though, will check it out.
@BenGPhotography: I hate it when that happens. It’s a shame that it doesn’t have an ending.

Fresh Meat is a new English show about incoming University students sharing a house together. Much better than I expected.

I also recommend checking out the criminally under-watched Party Down.

Well-known, yet not typically mainstream, are the entire five seasons of The Wire. An excellent production on so many levels.

Another great series in the period drama genre is Downton Abbey. Definitely worth a look!

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'Leverage' and it's UK counterpart 'Hustle' are quite good if no one has heard of either. They are both based around a group of con artists that pull a job per episode using the team's individual strengths.

'The Fast Show' is a slightly older British comedy sketch show (90s) that is possibly one of the greatest comedic shows us Brits have managed to churn out.

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*UPDATE: Guys, remember to post your response after you’ve been added to the branch, not in the “why you should join” part, when you request to join this branch. I can’t see your responses this way.

I really liked Flashforward but it couldnt survive long enough, i think it is completely ABCs fault that the ratings dropped.

Rubicon is my all time favorite series. Verw slow indeed. Only one season and it was cancelled :(

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My favorite tv shos among the little less known is:

The Arrested Development. Quite possible the most funniest tv series ever made. And season 4 and a movie(!) is in the making. imdb.com

Party Down. Aired on Starz but sadly got canceled after season 4. imdb.com

Louie. Made by and starring the comedian Louis C.K. imdb.com

I was a huge fan of the show Rubicon which AMC ran for one season. I think its cancellation was partly a result of Mad Men needing more money, and if that's the case I can't complain too much, but if you'd like a neat, well written, solidly acted thriller series w/ great characters I highly recommend look it up.

Hey " Seinfeld " was the best one .

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I thing Will&Grace was #1

The IT Crowd was a great British sitcom that was almost picked up for American audiences, but failed to do so.

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"The IT Crowd Poster" yeah really I have never heard that serie

Rubicon was one of my favorite TV series. Totally agree with you Adam

Anyone else watch Sons of Anarchy? I saw the first episode last night and it seems like it'll be really good.

Not my favourite but a pretty decent sit-com: Caroline in the City. I see lots of you are posting British series. The best British comedys are in my opinion: #1 Monty Python's Flying Circus (the mother of all British comedys) #2 Black Books (all hail Dylan Moran!) #3 The Mighty Boosh ...
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@Callum: Go on watching Sons of Anarchy, it only gets better season after season.
Three British police-series (apart from the wonderful Sherlock some already mentioned here): Wallander (Kenneth Branagh beats masterfully the Swedish original), Luther (yeah, that's the guy playing the pilot in Prometheus) and Life on Mars. This last one maybe my favourite series of all times. There are an US-remake and a Spanish remake, But I have not seen them yet.
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Oh, I forgot to mention The IT Crowd. So funny!

One more recommendation: "Bored to Death", staring Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson.

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@callumrsmith @Numantikon I started watching Sons of Anarchy last week but couldn’t finish the first episode, yet. Hope it gets better as it progresses.

@himynameisjonas Yeah, I mentioned Bored to Death in the first post on this page :)

Thanks for all the responses guys, awesome gems you’re posting! Valuable resource!

It's a great idea, Alex, specially since I just run out of series to watch this weekend. ...

As I heard that MTV was going to make a remake of one of the cheesiest movies of all times as a series I thought... well, I better spare you the profanity. I gave Teen Wolf a try out of masochism and I was pretty amazed. The story is really ok, the acting stands and the effects and action are good. It has nothing to do with the movie. You still find a bit of cheeseeness in it, which is perfectly normal since it is a series about teenagers. Very enjoyable.
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Wilfred is one I like to watch.
Also, not sure how well known it us, but Falling Skies is pretty good too.

There's also this new series which actually isn't on TV , it's a mini YouTube series called H+ , I think its a pretty cool concept.

I also love The Booth At The End. Very good story, and just started season 2:
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I enjoyed the show 'Odyssey 5' storyline a lot, but as with so many other promising shows it was sadly cancelled rather abruptly.

Another favorite: In Treatment.
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Is there anything worse than a series you love being cancelled? Yes: it to be spontaneusly cancelled and left without a proper end. Two hoorrible examples of beautiful series that were disgraced:
The spectacular Carnivalé. In the last episode, just when you think the series is over and an epilogue is coming they throw a cliffhanger in your face.
The beautiful Pushing Daisies. After making you fall in love with every single character in the series for two seasons they did film an end for it. But the end is fast, badly made and makes no sense.
Still, I would recomend to anyone to watch this two series.
What are your heartbreaking cancellations?

Definitely, Heroes and Rubicon. 2 horrible cancellations.

@dubo: Just strted Rubicon thnks to the posts here, so I can't comment the end - no spoilers, please. But I agree with you about Heroes, even if I think that the lst season was no as good as it should.

What about "The Big Bang Theory" ? I don't know if you guys consider it, a big serie... But for sure, it is for me :P

@agelias Yeah, BBT it’s pretty big. Everyone I know has seen/heard about it

I was keeping a list of TV shows that I consider the best. But from that list I would mention Serenity and Alcatraz, both cancelled after their first season. Another good show that doesn't get too much attention is Suits.

Firefly! It was only on for one season but was some of the best writing ever.

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Friday Night Lights. SportsNight. Good Morning Miami.

My first interaction in this branch, was about "Who's that girl, is Jess"... What do you think about this serie ?

I would like to recommend Leverage and Political Animals. @zacoid55's idea is interesting. Hustle could be worth watching.

I agree with the Pushing Daisies and Flashforward up there! Pushing daisies was not only full of lovely characters but visually an amazing production! don´t you think? Looooved them both! aswell as Dead like me! Great show for me! but i only met one other person who liked it! imdb.com

I haven't seen mention of these impressive shows: The Killing, Boss, The Big C or Damages. I agree with those who mentioned The Wire and Rubicon.

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BBC mini series. "Black Mirror". An excellent distopia.

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Especially The IT Crowd really good show.

My suggestion would be "Cracker", probably the best British crime/detective series ever made. Starring Robbie Coltrane (best know to international audiences as Hagrid in the Harry Potter series) as a forensic psychologist it is a gritty show featuring excellent performances from all the leads.

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You should also look out for a little know Swedish series called "Upp Till Kamp!" (English titles: "How Soon Is Now?") which charts social and political change in the country through a group of friends over the course of a couple of decades. The soundtrack is brilliant too.

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I'd also give another vote to "Luther" starring Idris Elba.

I must also mention a little-seen Australian series from 2011, called "The Slap" based on the award-winning novel of the same name.

It follows the intertwining stories of a group of people who were present at a suburban barbecue at which a child was slapped by an adult who wasn't his parent.

Great performances and a story which refuses to take an obvious course, I found it to be absorbing and beautifully shot. Definitely deserves a wider audience.

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Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies were fantastic! Both ended up having problems keeping the stories fresh and ended up becoming formulaic. Dead Like Me had a couple of good seasons but Daisies was done after the first. I still think they were good shows.

I too loved Black Mirror. Probably less known outside the UK is Twenty Twelve - brilliant spoof on the team in charge of organising the London Olympics.

@Taner. BBC's Black Mirror was a real hit. The same guy did a miniseries called "Dead Set" some time ago. It's about a zombie plague in the UK and what the people living in the Big Brother set do as they try to survive. Amazing stuff. And, to mention another British series I loved: Spooks (MI-5 in the US). 9 Seasons of MI5 action. I just loved how you never knew what was going to happend, and how they keep on killing they protagonists, even in the middle of a season.

oh and The Guild obviously :) watchtheguild.com

I just see one episode (and not the first) but looks intresting. It's name is Rome:en.wikipedia.org

borgias was good. idk why they canceled. infact it was mini serie

@Roccorossitto: Rome is great stuff. I think it's better than The Tudors (even if I loved the historical corectness of this one) and Borgias. @Irfan: Do you think it would have made sense to continue with the history of the Borgia familiy once Alexander VI is dead and Irons no longer acting in the series? To me, he was the best in the whole show.

This branch is indeed fun but, is it useful? I would say yes. Not much discussion here but still I have to thank all of you who drawn my attention to Rubicon. I'm watching the 5th episode right now, ans loving the series. Well, I may hate you all when I get to the last one knowing that there won't be any more... But I guess I'll just give Cracker a try.
What about you? Have you started watching something you red about in the branch?

Me not yet but Twenty twelve sounds interesting! i might check that one! same as "new girl" both mentioned up here, i have a few friends that like it (new girl) and a few friends who don´t at all!

And when it first came out i wanted to watch carnivale but couldn´t! so i should now!!

Do it! Carnivale is a bit slow but the filmiing, the acting -the small guy from Twin Peaks even has a real role- and the writing are magnificent... junst ignore the cliffhanger at the end of the last episode and you get a closed up series.

Also liked Southland quite a bit if you are into police/crime series imdb.com

What about Boomtown?
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Different viewpoints, different stories.

From the UK, Green Wing and the early series of Teachers are great/weird in a similar genre to Black Books:

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The first series of Prime Suspect is excellent
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but at the moment I'm missing Dr Who (looking forward to 2013 series.... )
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@Gareth: I loved Green Wing but I dont see that muc simmilarity with Black Books, apart from both being sitcoms. In this direction I lso enjoyed Coupling.
I am going to give Teachers and Prime Suspects a Try... And I am also waiting for the next DrWho, even if I do miss David Tenant.

@Numantikon On reflection that's fair, although Tasmin Greig plays a similar character in both. Hope you enjoy Teachers!

@Gareth: You have a point there. Sometimes actors seem to be casted to repeat in some extent a character. Tasmin manages to be poitively hilarious in both series. Quote: "I must be musical! I have hundreds of CDs at home!"

@Numantikon She plays that character very well. I've heard good things about Episodes but I haven't had chance to see it yet. That may be worth a look to

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I think the second series of Episodes is excellent, they get it just right. This thread is great for reminding me of those things I have been meaning to watch and am also keen to check out Carnivale, it sounds right up my alley and I hadn't heard of it.

I just finished watching Rubicon... It was excelent. Would have it killed them to give it a rounder end? I think it would have been ieasy to give a proper end to the season and keeping enough material to do a second one if they would have had the money. They just cut the story in a more abrupt way than they did at the end of most episodes. Well, at least we know what the plot was about. And still, great acting, perfect tempo and thrilling story. -when I think that some rubbish series get a new season after the other...

Archer. The funniest animated show on TV. (Maybe except for Family Guy. But only just.)

Thanks Jaimie for recommending Cracker a couple of days ago. It's oldschool (20 years old) police series wirth very long episodes (90min), a god story an rather disturbing characters. Loved it. That makes me think about the longest series ever: german Tatort (crime scene). Starting 1970 they never stoped producing it an they will surely go on for years. This beats Dr. Who! Episodes are produced individualy, so we cannot speak of seasons here. The comment in IMDB explains more. If you understand German or get any episode with subtitles, give it a try. Specially if it is one of the episodes taking place in the town of Münster since 2003.

Forgot to mention a really awesome, funny travel/documentary TV show: An Idiot Abroad

The IT Crowd is great and when I discovered that it led me to Garth Merenghi's Dark Place which is a brilliant comedic series created by Matt Holness and Richard Ayoade built around the conceit that it's from the 80s and was released 20 years later. They capture the zeitgeist of 80s sci-fi / fantasy / horror tv perfectly. imdb.com
Another odd fauxstalgic UK comedy series is Look Around You, written by Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz the two seasons perfectly captured educational tv from the 70s with a strange, surreal tone.
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Finally Pulling which was written by Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly which ran for 3 seasons and was the very dark and funny tale of 3 single women in London.
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How about Six feet under. Did you see it?

@axelzs Yeah, I’ve seen Six Feet Under. Great show.

Spaced is a british comedy directed by Edgar Wright, the same guy who directed Scott Pilgrim and Hot Fuzz. If you are in need of some good absurd totally incoherent comedy, this is it.

What about Grimm? Did you see it?

(Watching more and more Cracker... it's really good)
@Axel: I saw the first 4 episodes of Grimm and I was not impressed. It'S not bad but somehow predictable and silly. It would have been great if it was made in the late 90s, but nadays we are used to more quality in both writing and realization.

@Axel Six Feet Under is worth your time. It blends a great mix of dark comedy and drama. The dramatic moments don't feel forced, but quite raw and human. Each episode is genuinely enjoyable and I can promise if you watch the whole way through, the finale will make it worth it.

Hands down.. en.wikipedia.org)

Simply cannot be beaten. I dare ya to one up me!

@Ampersat: No, if we play at your level, Jem cannot be beaten! I remember watching it in France as a kid and thinking the name was comming from the French sentence "I love" or "I like" (written "J'aime" but pronounced the same way as the name of the musical super-heroine). We have not discussed any animated series here yet. Well, since you got me started with animation from the 80s, here's what blew my mind as a child:

Knights of Zodiac. Pretty violent for back in the day. You win...just. Cant beat that Jem intro song!

As much as I loved Jem's intro, I give you the long version of the French intro for Saint Seija sung by Bernrard Minet... In your face!
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Can you handle more? Here is Ariane kicking the intro of Dragon Ball Z. Boom-ya!
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My favorite underseen show, and perhaps even all time after its brief run, has to be Terriers. It was unlike just about anything I had seen on TV when it aired. So disappointed when it did not get renewed.

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Another favorite of mine would be The Boondocks. It is/was great at bridging what worked for the comic strip into the animated medium. It suffers from a lack of reliability the seasons being two to three years apart, however, which is why not as many people watch it.

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Thanks Alex. For me, two of the good yet gone too soon series was Pushing Daisies and Dollhouse (by Josh Whedon). The premise is good and the plot would've been much more interesting if they gave it more air time back then. Anyone watch this?

This is a popular thread...yet only one person has branched. The idea is great...not sure about the execution

One of my favourite ever shows that sadly didn't take off was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It got one season, but wasn't getting enough viewers. Very worth a watch if you can get it. Another that came, went and is now back again is "Breaking In" with Christian Slater. Very funny and sharp.

Also, loving Nikita. Just about to kick off its third season. Just started watching Smash. If you like the Musicals, you'll love it. Glee for grownups...

While a few of my favorite shows of all time have been mentioned (Battlestar Galactica, Firefly) and at least one guilty pleasure (Nikita) - here's a little gem: Jericho.

Intriguing plot and decent characters. Interestingly, show cancelled after first season, but due to fan support, a handful more episodes were produced to wrap the story line. So, not a big commitment to check out via streaming!

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While the language is very colourful, this show has a subtle depth to it.
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Suits is a very good serie, just finished 2nd season 2 weeks ago. Has drama, comedy and romance...its very nice.
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I discovered Black Mirror this summer. Only three episodes, but each one impressed me.

In the comedy department you can't go wrong with Pushing Daisies.

Unknown outside Chile obviously, but Los 80's shows the conflicts in the Pinochet's era seen by a typical mid-class family

Really a good TV show between all the crap in the chilean TV

One really good comedy that was short lived was "Better Off Ted"...several of my other favorites, such as "Pushing Daisies", "IT Crowd", etc have all been mentioned above. I'd also check out the first season of "Homicide: Life On The Street" -- just the first season, but it's very, VERY good, from the people who brought you "The Wire".

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definetly harper's island. its a one season show but you really enjoy watching it and trying to guess who is the killer and for what reasons:)
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Thanks to Alex for adding me, I'm a first time poster on branch.

There's a lot of people recommending 'Wilfred', but some may not realise that the US show is based on an original Australian series of the same name. If you enjoy the US version I strongly suggest you check out the Aussie version as it includes the same actor/comedian playing Wilfred. (Jason Gann)

Going back a few years, the HBO series 'Deadwood' is certainly worth finding on DVD or BR, whichever is your poison. Not exactly unknown but perhaps very overlooked.

'Flight of the Conchords' was a hilarious comedy put together by the New Zealand parody musicians of the same name. Includes some great appearances by well-known US comedians such as Arj Barker, Will Forte and more.

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That's not my most favourite series, but maybe... 'til death? It's funny, in way what sitcoms are... :) 'til death is really good especially in the morning before you go to work or school and you want watch something...easy? :)

(excuse my english, please)