Artistic TV series
TV series that buck the trends or have real artistic merit, whether it's in cinematography, allegory or something else.
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- CreatorDamon LindelofTom PerrottaStarsJustin TherouxAmy BrennemanChristopher EcclestonThree years after the disappearance of 2% of the global human population, a group of people in a small New York community try to continue their lives while coping with the tragedy of the unexplained nature of the event.This show does something no other has done: it stares into the abyss, into the meaningless of life, and finds light. Philosophical, deep, filled with purpose and meaning, it is the most affecting work of art I have ever experienced.
- CreatorBryan FullerStarsHugh DancyMads MikkelsenCaroline DhavernasExplores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter and a young FBI criminal profiler who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.Incredible surreal imagery that you would never expect to find in a mainstream TV show. The atonal soundtrack contributes to a dreamlike atmosphere. The crime scenes are disturbing, gory works of art (we're talking a cello rammed down someone's throat to make the human body into a musical instrument). Oh, and the plot is stellar too, full of genius twists and turns. If you're bored of mainstream TV being all the same, Hannibal is the most essential show to watch.
- CreatorRay McKinnonStarsAden YoungAbigail SpencerJ. Smith-CameronDaniel Holden must put his life back together after serving 19 years on Georgia's Death Row before DNA evidence calls his conviction into question.Its central character, Daniel, has been on death row for 20 years until new evidence leaves him a free man. But this series is not about the legal battles; it is about his own emotional journey and about re-integration into society. The pace is slow for the first two seasons, but it pays off in a moving Season 2 finale and a stellar Seasons 3 and 4.
- CreatorMark FrostDavid LynchStarsKyle MacLachlanSheryl LeeMichael HorsePicks up 25 years after the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town are stunned when their homecoming queen is murdered.David Finch's remarkably surreal and atmospheric series. Watch the original 1990s series, the the movie, before watching the 2017 return.
- CreatorSam EsmailStarsRami MalekChristian SlaterCarly ChaikinElliot, a brilliant but unstable cyber-security engineer and vigilante hacker, becomes a key figure in a complex game of global chaos when he and his shadowy allies try to take down the corrupt corporation his company is paid to protect.Ostensibly about hacking but really about its central character's mental health, it presents his way of seeing the world in a variety of visual ways.
- CreatorBrian GatewoodAlessandro TanakaStarsChanning TatumFlorin Piersic Jr.Joseph Gordon-LevittParody comedy designed to resemble a non-existent gritty 1980's Cold War Romanian police show that promoted Communist ideals. The action-packed and blood-soaked first season finds Detectives Gregor Anghel and Joseph Baciu investigating the murder of fellow officer Nikita Ionescu and, in the process, unraveling a subversive plot to destroy their country that is fueled by what-else-but the greatest enemy: Capitalism.This hilariously odd comedy-thriller is presented as if it were a piece of 1980s Soviet propaganda, dubbed badly in English. It plays on the communists' blatantly exaggerated portrayal of the West. Even if like me you're not one for comedies, this is a great watch.
- CreatorAlex GarlandStarsSonoya MizunoNick OffermanJin HaA computer engineer investigates the secretive development division in her company, which she believes is behind the disappearance of her boyfriend.An exploration of free will vs determinism.
- CreatorNoah HawleyStarsBilly Bob ThorntonMartin FreemanAllison TolmanVarious chronicles of deception, intrigue, and murder in and around frozen Minnesota. All of these tales mysteriously lead back one way or another to Fargo, North Dakota.More conventional than some of the other shows on this list but it uses many unconventional techniques to tell its darkly comic crime stories.
- CreatorCary Joji FukunagaPatrick SomervilleStarsEmma StoneJonah HillSonoya MizunoTwo strangers are drawn to a mysterious pharmaceutical trial for a drug that they're assured will, with no complications or side-effects whatsoever, permanently solve all of their problems. Things do not go as planned.
- CreatorRaphael Bob-WaksbergKate PurdyStarsRosa SalazarAngelique CabralConstance MarieAfter she very narrowly survives a serious car accident, a woman discovers that she has a new relationship with time.Using a unique animation style, Undone is a wonderfully quirkily told story about bending reality.