# Nice LITTLE Shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [March 10, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175 "2020-03-10T02:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/121 "2021-02-04T12:33:06Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > > [@sciurophobic](#): > > > > You want little? I give you [Little Lunch](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/feb/02/little-lunch-the-mockumentary-series-for-kids-and-one-of-australias-best-shows). _The Office_ style mockumentary, but with Australian 5th graders at recess. Deals with hard-hitting issues like: > > > > [ul] > > [li]misplacing one’s glasses[/li][li]sharing of the monkey bars[/li][li]disgusting lunches from home[/li][/ul] > > > > Available on Netflix. Only 26 episodes (and only 15 minutes long) and 2 30 minute specials. > > Thanks for the recommendation, My son and I love it. But no longer on Netflix. You should be able to watch it [here](http://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/ResourcePackage/ByPin?pin=R2RNGK). The creators of Little Lunch went on to make The InBESTigators, which IS on Netflix. Two seasons of ten half-hour episodes, with each episode divided into two. It’s basically four Australian 5th graders who form a “detective agency” to solve little mysteries. It’s done mockumentary-style (they are video blogging their cases for a class project), and is really clever. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/122 "2021-02-05T01:20:47Z")
I thought of another recommendation- “Toast of London” with Matt Berry. It is weird and funny and sometimes he starts singing. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/123 "2021-02-05T01:37:28Z")
_Two Weeks To Live_, starring Maisie Williams, is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Dadtheinhaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dadtheinhaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dadtheinhaler)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/124 "2021-02-05T02:47:49Z")
Been watching some British detective shows. My most recent favorite is **Broadchurch** with David Tennant as an irascible Scotch detective inspector on duty in Broadchurch on the English coast for various reasons. Three seasons and done was the intention of the producers. **Hidden** takes place in remote dank Wales with a healthy dose of creepy characters. **The Kettering Incident** was a good watch in part because it’s set and shot in Tasmania. Strong eco-warriors vs. locals theme. **Hinterland** also takes place in Wales and each episode is practically a 90 minute movie. I really enjoyed **Britannia** which depicts the _second_ invasion of the British Isles by the Romans (the first failed due to mysterious circumstances). The cool part about this series is the presence and influence of the druids on all of the goings-on. Season one is on Amazon but season two is on epix. If remote Australian satellite listening station drama is your thing, **Pine Gap** is the show for you! I did enjoy it. **Caliphate** is an excellent drama that toggles between a Swedish Muslim woman and her child being held in Isis-controlled Raqqa in Syria and Muslim immigrant teens in Sweden being recruited by a terrorist leader and the Swedish security agent trying to solve it all before something bad happens. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus\_alba](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quercus_alba/32/4061_2.png) [@Quercus\_alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus_alba)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/125 "2021-04-16T23:02:36Z")
If you like Broadchurch and Hinterland, you’ll love **Shetland**. Also–big +1 on **Staged**. But if you don’t already know who David Tennent and Michael Sheen are, you might not enjoy it that much. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/126 "2021-04-19T04:49:44Z")
This thread has been helpful because I’m into nice little shows. Currently watching _Detectorists_. So far so good! I’ll second _Enlightened_ (HBO), which is criminally unknown. Great work by Mike White. Here are a few I’ve enjoyed lately: _[This Way Up](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt8430356/)_, one season of six so far, Hulu. Shades of _Fleabag_ and _Enlightened_, but definitely nicer than either. Quite wholesome, at the end of the day. _[My Mad Fat Diary](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2407574/)_, 3 seasons of 6 eps, Hulu. Oh hey, someone’s just out of the mental hospital! Kind of a motif with my recs. This one reminds me of _Derry Girls_. Pretty filthy but again wholesome in the end. _[Flowers](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt5619658/)_, 2 seasons of 6 eps, Netflix. Starts with a suicide attempt. More depressed people being funny. This one’s not like anything I can think of. Olivia Colman is great as usual, but the whole cast is great. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/127 "2021-04-19T20:14:05Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > This thread has been helpful because I’m into nice little shows. Currently watching _Detectorists_ . So far so good! We are obsessed with this show- have watched it 3 times in a row within a month of starting it. Lovely show with so many Easter eggs considering how few episodes there are. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/128 "2022-01-08T00:47:27Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > > > [Search Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_Party_(TV_series)) - (TBS/HBO Max) This is just a weird show and I’m not sure if it had any deep meaning. Just some self-absorbed 20-something New Yorkers who get themselves mixed up in a plot bigger than themselves. Kind of like \*Girls \*but more light. It gets really good reviews, tho. > > Did you stick with this? I’m mid-way through season 4 now (having waited for the full season to air before binging it). I’m struck by how much the show shifts directions each season, getting darker and darker. And now season _five_ has just released. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/129 "2022-01-08T01:12:25Z")
I recommend “Station Eleven” to this thread. It’s on HBO, will be a total of 10 episodes long, and roughly follows the very-highly praised book by the same name. I listened to the audiobook very casually when I was traveling a lot for well a few years ago, and roughly remember the plot. It was engaging then, and even more so now. The writing, plot and acting are superb. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/130 "2022-01-08T01:37:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > And now season _five_ has just released. I watched season 4. I’ll be binging 5 this weekend! ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/131 "2022-01-08T01:39:35Z")
It is great- I love it even more than the book - which I mostly forgot after I read it so it is pretty fresh for me. The last 3 episodes in particular have been incredible and moving- needed to bawl my eyes out for the last one. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2022, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/132 "2022-01-08T01:54:54Z")
I’m glad it’s on someone else’s radar. When I heard they were making it, I hoped for three seasons of 8-10 episodes. But I think this is turning out to be something really beautiful and special. Absolutely no fluff, pure economy of scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/133 "2022-01-10T02:17:06Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > > > > [Search Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_Party_(TV_series)) - (TBS/HBO Max) This is just a weird show and I’m not sure if it had any deep meaning. Just some self-absorbed 20-something New Yorkers who get themselves mixed up in a plot bigger than themselves. Kind of like \*Girls \*but more light. It gets really good reviews, tho. > > > [/quote] > > > > > > Did you stick with this? I’m mid-way through season 4 now (having waited for the full season to air before binging it). I’m struck by how much the show shifts directions each season, getting darker and darker. > > And now season _five_ has just released. And I can safely say that season five did _not_ buck the trend of being significantly different than other seasons. Season 1: Dory sees flyers for a missing person who she (barely) remembered from college. It gave her a bit of an existential crisis, realizing that it could have been her that disappeared. She convinces three of her fellow shallow, affluent Gen Z friends to help her try to track down the missing girl by talking to people from her life and trying to retrace her movements. Season 5; After returning from the dead, Dory becomes the messianic leader of a cult dedicated to bringing enlightenment to the world by attempting to use drugs to reproduce Dory’s experiences. But instead the drugs cause the Zombie Apocalypse. ---
**Author:** ![Aescwynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Aescwynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aescwynn)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/134 "2022-02-03T23:07:53Z")
I was several episodes into the series when I decided to read the book. The characters were pretty much the same, but the plots really veered off in two different directions. Both of them had a fairly optimistic ending (hope that’s not a spoiler), but they were nowhere near the same. I did enjoy thinking about how different things would be in a world where most of the people had died and technology was non-existent. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/135 "2022-03-03T03:20:26Z")
Adding a new show to this thread - _Somebody Somewhere_ on HBO Max. Starring Bridget Everett (who you might recognize from _Inside Amy Schumer_) It takes place in Kansas, after Everett’s character’s sister dies. It follows her midlife crisis as she figures out what to do next. It’s the quintessential “little show”. Interesting characters, sweet and crazy situations, interesting backdrop, and nothing too exciting happens. Character studies I guess. I like it. There’s just 7 episodes and there will be a second season. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/136 "2022-03-03T03:41:53Z")
This show really did grow on me, especially the choir practice… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/137 "2022-03-03T03:46:56Z")
I think it kind of reminds me of a cross between the characters in Abby McEnany’s _Work In Progress_ and the backdrop and pacing of _Detectorists_ ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/138 "2022-03-03T22:45:35Z")
I will recommend _ClickBait_ which I found thoroughly engrossing. And for something a bit creepier, _Behind Her Eyes_. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/139 "2022-09-25T04:07:23Z")
Has anyone watched _ **Sprung** _? It’s on FreeVee which is a free, ad-supported channel on Amazon Prime (formerly IMDB. TV). The show is another Greg Garcia joint, the same guy who brought us _My Name Is Earl_ and _Raising Hope_, and the show _The Guest Book_ which was mentioned earlier in this thread. It stars Garrett Dilahunt (yeah!) as an ex con who gets out of jail due to covid, and goes to live with at cell mate’s mom’s house (Martha Plimpton! Yes!), along with the cell mate and a woman who had also been in jail and had been in a “relationship” with Dilahunt’s character via talking through the sewer pipes. Like other Garcia shows it’s hilarious and absurd and full of heart. Plimpton once again kills it as a trashy middle aged lady. Dilahunt is a joy to watch and so are all the other newcomers in the cast. The premise is the group commits Robin-Hood-like crimes while they wait out covid, culminating in a big heist. Not sure what the future of this show is, being that FreeVee is kind of the bottom of the streaming barrel. The season is over and the characters stories resolved. But it’s the perfect example of the type of show this thread is about. I highly recommend watching it! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175/140 "2022-09-25T10:46:22Z")
In this country, there’s a whole style of "Nothing happens but everything happens in what’s _not_ being said’ comedy (and if that doesn’t tell you about British culture, nothing will). A couple of examples you might be able to track down are _[The Royle Family](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royle_Family)_, by Caroline Aherne, and _[Mum](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mum_(TV_series))_ by Stefan Golaszewski. Another small-ensemble show is the Scottish _[Two Doors Down](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Doors_Down_(TV_series))_, but I suspect that most Americans would be puzzled as to why they put up with each other. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nice-little-shows/849175.md?page=8)