It’s easy to say you’re a fan of those blockbuster shows that pick up more awards than Leonardo DiCaprio on Oscar night, quite literally. Shows like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and True Detective already have more fans than Homebase in a heatwave so instead of reveling in their brilliance why not instead celebrate those often missed and forgotten shows that also deserve your attention.
1) Jon Richardson Grows Up. It seems we can’t get enough of cheeky Gino D’Acampo look-a-like Jon Richardson after invading our screens on 8 out of ten cats and starring in a documentary around the subject of OCD he’s back with his own mini comedy series searching for the meaning of life. It may not have the belly laughs of Karl Pilkington’s similar show The moaning of life or the fascinatingly direct interviewing style of Louis Theroux but it still has enough of its own charm and humour to warrant a watch.
Good old Jon.
Watch now on Channel4 player- http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jon-richardson-grows-up
2) Houdini. Channel 4 often has an eagle eye for cherry picking the best American dramas and plonking them on our screens and Houdini is definitely a brilliant example of this talent. Adrien Brody stars as the genius magician with a spellbinding performance that displays his entire life, starting from humble beginnings to becoming one of the most fascinatingly famous entertainers of all time. There is also a rather brilliant/surprising cameo from our very own Barry off of Eastenders that is well worth looking out for.
Watch now on channel4- http://www.channel4.com/programmes/houdini
3) BoJack Horseman. I have raved plenty about this abstract comedy from Netflix as you can see here. It stars Will Arnett as a washed up former TV celebrity who is a talking horse (obviously) and Aaron Paul as a human loser who is his accidental best friend. It’s got the brutal humour of family guy (without the annoying chicken fights), the animation style of Bob’s burgers and the character personality of the South Park; give it a go.
Available on Netflix
4) The Wonder of Animals. If channel 4 are the kings of drama then the BBC are still queens of the documentary. It seems we are bombarded recently with shock-value documentaries that have a seemingly sympathetic trailer about someone with an unusual disability before the narrator violently declares ‘TURTLE BOY’ or something just as purposefully controversial. The wonder of animals is an old-fashioned fascinating BBC4 documentary that follows the unique lives of our planets most intriguing animals that I can’t recommend highly enough.
Watch now on iPlayer- http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04j8ttk/the-wonder-of-animals-7-great-apes
5) Judge Rinder. Yes this isn’t a misprint, as we go from the fascinating to the seemingly fictitious Judge Rinder really is compulsive viewing. You have to give it to the chief commissioner of ITV after giving the go-ahead to ‘new’ shows like: Through the key hole, Celebrity squares and Catchphrase he clearly has the same amount of creative ability as Emile Heskey. Judge Rinder is so obviously a camp British remake of Judge Judy that even Stevie Wonder could see it; it’s trashy, loud, brash and flat out ridiculous but also brilliantly watchable. He may look like the love child of Gordon Ramsey and Alan Carr and watching his show is basically the equivalent of being caught eating a sloppy kebab at 2AM but sometimes that’s exactly what you want!
There’s a face you can trust.
Watch now on ITV player- https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/judge-rinder
