When you think “Netflix,” you probably think of the platform’s top shows like Beef and Bojack Horseman, but there aren’t just mainstream hits on the streamer.
If you want something more under-the-radar, you’ll find what you’re looking for.
This May, Watch With Us has picked three underrated series on the platform that nevertheless have great Rotten Tomatoes scores.
Our first pick is The Get Down, the music drama from Baz Luhrmann that was cut criminally short.
Read on for all three of our picks.
‘The Get Down’ (2016)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 81 percent
Set in New York City in the late ’70s, The Get Down centers on a group of young people in the South Bronx and fictionalizes the story of the rise of hip-hop. At a time when the city was on the financial brink and with disco fever on its way out, hip-hop began its rise to the mainstream, and orphaned teenager Zeke Figuero (Justice Smith) sets out on his dream to be a successful musician. Director Baz Luhrmann (Elvis, Romeo + Juliet) teams up with top-notch collaborators like MC Nas, Grandmaster Flash and playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis in this compelling, music-infused drama.
The Get Down is a bold and stylish series that was unfairly axed by Netflix after only one season, but its sole season is a true work of art. Smith leads the show confidently alongside an ensemble of terrific actors such as Jaden Smith, Shameik Moore, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jimmy Smits. With Luhrmann’s signature maximalist touch, the show leans hard into spectacle, with impressive visuals, sweeping emotions and a killer soundtrack.
‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’ (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 76 percent
In 1990s Hollywood, aspiring filmmaker Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar) arrives in the movie capital of the world to meet a high-powered producer (Eric Lange) who was impressed by her short horror feature. After signing a contract that guarantees Lisa the autonomy to direct a feature film, she is dropped from the project when she rejects the producer’s unwanted sexual advances. To get revenge on him (and get her movie back on track), Lisa makes a deal with a witch named Jennifer (Catherine Keener) — but every wish that seems too good to be true always is, and Lisa is pulled into a surreal nightmare.
This series from Channel Zero creator Nick Antosca is strange, unusual and totally goes for broke. Brand New Cherry Flavor is confidently led by Salazar in a show that isn’t afraid to go to some dark (and disgusting) places, diving headfirst into the uncanny by blending horror with drama and a satire of the film industry. Lange and Keener round out a terrific cast that also features Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Patrick Fischler (Mulholland Drive) and Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans). The show is not for everyone, but deranged in all the best ways — just be willing to get on its wavelength.
‘Netflix Presents: ‘The Characters’ (2016)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
Netflix Presents: The Characters is a playground for some of the best and most offbeat voices in modern comedy, including Kate Berlant, John Early, Tim Robinson and Paul W. Downs. Fans of Robinson’s series I Think You Should Leave and Detroiters will certainly find a lot to love here, but what makes the show so great is that each episode is in the control of one particular comedic voice, with every sketch tailored to their sensibilities. As a result, you get something totally different each time, and the series features multiple different kinds of comedy: from cringe realism to full-on absurdist scenarios.
Though not every sketch in The Characters lands, when they land, they really land, such as Natasha Rothwell‘s “Chiggers,” Early’s “The Toast” and Robinson’s “Sammy Paradise,” all three of which made it onto Vulture’s 2019 list of “Best Comedy Sketches of the Decade.” The show stands as a terrific showcase of some of the best comedic voices of the past ten years, who were at that point still fairly early in their careers. Still, The Characters is far too overlooked, and if you consider yourself a comedy fan, then you’d do well to check it out.
