RIP, ‘Santa Clarita Diet’: The most underrated shows on TV

Dear Netflix, you’re getting on our very last nerve. First you went and cancelled Everything Sucks!, the bold and fearless LGBTQI-themed coming-of-age teen show that showed us all that was sweet & good about young love. Then you had to go and cancel One Day at a Time, one of the funniest and most progressive sitcoms ever, handling issues like depression, PTSD, immigration and sexuality.

Then a mere four days shy of Zombie Awareness Month you go and cancel one of our favorite shows ever, Santa Clarita Diet. Netflix, are you out of your mind? Do you have no fear that Sheila & Gary will raise an army of undead and come for you in your sleep? After your performance today you definitely don’t deserve any celebratory clams from Japopo’s. And, no, don’t expect Joel to give you a Yelp review.

We’re such huge fans of the dark comedy that we’re going to go into mourning for our dearly departed show, which just finished what we think was its best season yet. But this news doesn’t come as much of a surprise to us, based on the Netflix Originals comedy being one of the most underrated (and least widely advertised) TV shows currently on the air.

So because we’re all about saving shows (and preventing others from cancellation), here are a few other shows we believe are worthy of far more love than they currently receive: our ranking of the ten recent most underrated shows on TV.

I’m Dying Up Here (2017 – )

The Showtime series (which was also cancelled and poorly promoted) about the highs and lows of the infamous 70s San Francisco comedy scene received mixed reviews but actually showed a great deal of promise. The second season just didn’t bring the house down enough for Showtime to continue the show, which starred Melissa Leo, Ari Graynor, Michael Angarano, and Clark Duke.

Search Party (2016 – )

Full of the darkest comedy, wonderful noir mystery, and Millennial musings, Search Party is a modern masterpiece of a series stacked with sharp writing and great performances from Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), John Reynolds (Stranger Things), John Early (The Disaster Artist), Meredith Hagner (Irrational Man), and Brandon Michael Hall (The Mayor).

Terrace House (2015 – )

We’re really getting sick of having to say this but the Japanese Netflix Originals reality show is one of the best things to happen to TV in a long time. Just trust us on this, okay? It follows a changing set of six young men & women sharing a house together and looking for love. That part in itself can be very sweet and full of delicious drama.

However, the true genius of the series lies in the six acerbic comedians who offer their thoughts on each scene to hilarious and occasionally cruel effect. You need to become as addicted to this show as we are, friends.

The Affair (2014 – )

Showtime’s extremely horny drama is more than just an assembly line of bareback sex scenes from a number of different perspectives. The show offers disturbing commentaries about gender dynamics and power and later seasons appear to explore the corrosive nature of a secretly unhinged man (Dominic West). Plus Joshua Jackson (Dawson’s Creek) and his often bare butt! Always a treat.

Santa Clarita Diet (2017 – )

The Netflix Originals horror comedy series is quite possibly one of the best sitcoms on TV right now. Delightfully subversive and with consistently stellar performances from Drew Barrymore (Donnie Darko), Timothy Olyphant (The Crazies), Liv Hewson (Before I Fall), and Skyler Gisondo (Vacation) as a dysfunctional family unit (and tag-along neighbor), the show deserves more love than it currently receives.

Baskets (2016 – )

The Hulu comedy about a man struggling with life after failing clown college features Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) at his absolute best and Louie Anderson (Coming to America) in a jawdropping role as his mother. How everyone isn’t completely obsessed with this show is utterly beyond us.

iZombie (2015-)

Currently under threat of cancellation, The CW horror comedy sees Rose McIver (The Piano) turning in a consistently phenomenal set of performances as an undead coroner feeding on the brains of the deceased to help solve their murder (she takes on the personality of whomever she’s snacking on – a conceit used to full and preposterous effect).

The show is one of the smartest and funniest on TV with underrated turns from Malcolm Goodwin (American Gangster) and Rahul Kohli (Happy Anniversary) and the sort of fun-filled lightness that TV – and our hearts – desperately need. Please don’t cancel it.