Some of the very best shows of the year that might have gone completely under your radar.
There are some shows this year that everyone has watched and/or already heard about.
House of the Dragon, The White Lotus Season 2, Wednesday, Stranger Things Season 4, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Euphoria Season 2, etc., etc.
However, there are some shows this year that either fell between the cracks for some viewers, or they were on your to-watch list but got forgotten about somewhere along the way.
So to that end, we've picked out the 10 best hidden gem shows of 2022, and since most of us are going to have some time to kill between Christmas and New Year's, now is as good a time as any to play catch up...
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY
Following in the footsteps of 30 Rock, Parks & Rec and Brooklyn 99, this new comedy is set in a workplace that doesn't immediately seem super funny; in this case, an elementary school. But just like those shows, this sitcom fills the rooms with very funny characters played by very funny actors, delivering one of the most feel-good TV comedies of recent years.
Available to watch on Disney+.
THE BEAR
Likening the intensity of this show to a pressure cooker feels like an easy win, considering the setting. The claustrophobic confines of a struggling Chicago restaurant provide the backdrop for Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), a former fine dining chef forced to "slum it" to save his family's business and keep his friends in the job. It is also at times very, very funny. When it isn't causing anxiety attacks in the viewers from the on-screen stresses, that is.
Available to watch on Disney+.
BLACK BIRD
Not to be confused with the terrible Michael Flatley movie of the same name, this is based on the true story of a convicted felon (played by a massively beefed-up Taron Egerton), who is offered a literal get-out-jail-free-card... if he can get a confession from a suspected serial killer (a never-not-creepy Paul Walter Hauser). Properly nail-biting stuff.
Available to watch on Apple TV+.
FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL
Set in the lead-up to, during, and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this punishing drama details the real horrors that took place within the walls of the New Orleans hospital. With a sublime cast headlined by The Conjuring star Vera Farmiga, this isn't ideal for a binge-watch. Best consumed with some light comedy in between each episode, because as good as this series is, it is also harshly depressing stuff.
Available to watch on Apple TV+.
FROM
The mysterious setting, the out-of-time displacement, right down to some of the actual actors... FROM has a lot in common with Lost, but instead of relying purely on the mystery, this new show leans heavily into the horror. The population of a very small town find themselves unable to leave, most arriving without explanation, and there are nocturnal creatures tormenting them each and every night. But what brought them all there? And can they ever escape?
Available to watch on NOW/Sky.
HACKS SEASON 2
The first season was one of the best hidden gems of 2021, so it both stands to reason - and is a little disappointing - that the same is true of the second. Fading comedian superstar Deborah (an always funny Jean Smart) and her sorta-cancelled jokes writer Ava (Hannah Einbender) take their show out of Vegas and out on the road across America, which only stirs up all sorts of new trouble for the duo.
Available to watch on Prime Video.
IRMA VEP
Oscar winner Alicia Vikander stars as an American actress looking to escape a recent tabloid scandal, so she heads to France to star in a new series based on a classic vampire movie. However, it isn't long before her real life and the story she's trying to be a part of start to merge and blur together in unexpected ways. A very funny but also quite emotional tale, well worth checking out for anyone who loves behind-the-scenes drama.
Available to watch on NOW/Sky.
THE REHEARSAL
Comedian Nathan Fielder has effectively topped the Cringe Comedy League with this one. He spends thousands and thousands of dollars to help complete strangers rehearse some awkward or potentially problematic moments in their lives - from confessing to a white lie, to deciding if they really want to have kids - but oftentimes, the rehearsal ends up being even more uncomfortable than the reality.
Available to watch on NOW/Sky.
SEVERANCE
Probably our favourite show of the year. A mind-bending, insidiously comedic, very smart sci-fi thriller in which the employees at the tech company slowly come to realise that their bosses might be up to no good. Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, John Turturro and an out-of-nowhere Britt Lower all deliver incredible performances, with some exquisite direction provided by none other than Ben Stiller and Ireland's own Aoife McArdle.
Available to watch on Apple TV+.
SLOW HORSES SEASONS 1 & 2
Will Smith (not that one, that guy who helped write VEEP and The Thick Of It) is behind this darkly funny political thriller series, which provided not one but TWO seasons in less than a year. Gary Oldman plays the head of a group of down-and-out MI5 agents who happen to get caught up in the middle of some very complicated, very dangerous international espionage.
Available to watch on Apple TV+.
