Thanksgiving is the perfect time to catch up on your streaming. And while no one is going to stop you from watching that episode of 30 Rock for the 100th time post-Turkey, it might be time to broaden your television horizons. From dramas to comedies, American and British, here are a few shows you can catch up on on Hulu that even the Netflix queens in your clique won’t have watched.
I keep waiting for the never ending wave of nostalgia to remind the internet about Picket Fences, but its well deserved reemergence just hasn’t happened yet. This David E Kelly (the guy behind Boston Legal and Ally McBeal) show follows the lives of a small town sheriff (Tom Skerritt), his wife the town doctor (Kathy Baker). Their teen daughter is played by a very young Holly Marie Combs (Piper or Aria’s mom, depending on how old you are) and a little Elizabeth Moss makes multiple guest appearances as a very precocious elementary schooler. Every episode is crazier than the next (a Robin Hood-style thief that ends each robbery with dance! exploding cows!), but behind each bizarre storyline is a moral question that will really get you to think.
A look at the life of a UK college (er, university) student, Fresh Meat shoves six completely incompatible room mates into one flat (British for apartment) including one older guy who seems to have been living in the off campus housing way longer than the average tenure at an institute of higher learning. The cast includes comedian Jack Whitehall (who also stars in UK comedy Bad Education, not on Hulu but worth checking out) and The Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas.
This two season mini-series about an actor looking for his big break has nine episodes up on Hulu, perfect for some holiday binge watching. In a vote of fan confidence and affection the series’ second seasons was funded by a successful KickStarter campaign that raised over $60,000. The series also boasts a huge list of big-name guest stars including Katharine McPhee, Anthony Rapp and BD Wong.
Students of sketch comedy might be familiar with this British comedy from the ’80s starring Doctor House and your favorite UK LGBT activist. Well known sketches feature a father scandalized that his son his being taught basic reproductive biology and a man whose last name is actually the sound of something dropping. The series ran for four seasons which are all available to watch on Hulu. After the second season or so, Laurie’s British accent starts to seem a lot less jarring.
5. Teachers
Before Andrew Lincoln was slaying zombies on The Walking Dead, he played a young educator on the early 2000s drama Teachers. The four season comedy-drama opens with the titular teachers engaging in some light vandalism and theft, and Simon (Lincoln) unknowingly ending up in bed with a cop. And that’s all before we’re introduced to any of the student drama.
6. Wilfred (Australia)
You probably have heard of the underrated American remake starring Elijah Wood, but the Aussie original series about a man who sees a dog as a grown man in a dog suit is even weirder (and more hilarious). Jason Gann, who played man-dog Wilfred in the original and the remake, received two Australian Film Institute nominations for his performance, and won one as the series’ screenwriter in 2007.
7. Moone Boy
The Hulu original series managed to fly under the radar of mainstream pop culture despite gaining several awards including an international Emmy for best comedy. Starring Chris O’Dowd of Bridesmaids fame as the imaginary friend of a very imaginative middle school boy, the show has aired two seasons, with a third due to come out some time next year.
8. Pramface
British TV is really an underutilized Hulu resource. This UK take on The Secret Life of the American Teenager follows two teens as they navigate an unplanned pregnancy that started as a one night stand. General teenage hijinks with the states appropriately raised by impending parenthood, this one is definitely worth your time.
