Have you ever loved something, only to realize it’s a commercial flop or just obscure? What’s something that deserves more light than it got?
I think The Good Place is one of the best things to ever happen to tv. I know it's not some secret piece of tv that nobody knows about, but it hit the right notes in my soul that I don't think people are singing its praises loud enough, even a decade on from its release.
CreamyJalapenoSauce figured it out? CreamyJalapenoSauce? This is a real low point. Yeah, this one hurts.
This hit the right notes in my soul 😁💙
I just suddenly had this calm feeling, like the air inside my lungs was the same as the air outside my body. It was peaceful. You know the feeling when you think a jalapeño popper is gonna be too hot, but you bite into it anyway and it's actually the perfect temperature?
Totally agreed. My favourite get-to-know-you question is this: "if you had the very specific super power that meant you could make everybody into the world love a piece of media in exactly the way you do, for exactly the reasons you do, what piece of media would you pick and why?"
My answer is The Good Place, with a bullet. It's about trying to be better every day and treat people well, and it's hilarious and good natured.
Look I'm not saying that it isn't well rated, but too many people dismiss "Avatar: The Last Airbender" as a cartoon or a childrens show when it is in fact a masterpiece.
Idk, everyone I speak to about it agrees that it's incredible. Doesn't seem underrated. I've been wanting to rewatch it.
Right you're talking about the people who HAVE seen it. It isn't rated lowly, it is dismissed by too many people. Like I said originally...
i simply do not hear enough people talking about Outer Wilds, i know it released in the same year as the AA game by Obsidian - Outer Worlds, the title of which is different by whole two letters, which provided a very good distraction but
AAAAA
Outer Wilds is a lighting in a bottle video game that the majority of those who have played it wish they could experience for the first time again. it's a stunning piece of art that makes you cry and you're not even sure what exactly just happened. but there's always a point where it all just hits you - and all you can do is cry
it doesn't handhold you, in fact it doesn't give you any objectives at all, you're lead through the entire game by sheer curiosity alone - and oh boy will that curiosity make you zoom across the space back and forth until you get to the bottom of it. when you utter your first "oh what's that? i'm going to check it out" it'll have you, you might not realise it yet but you're now primed for adventure
this is the only game i'm not afraid to overhype. i watched that game sit in my library, for over a year, and in that time i hyped it up in my head to unreachable levels, to the point where eventually i was close to afraid of playing it because how could it possibly meet that standard i've envisioned? and you know what? it was better than i've ever imagined. it waited for me to be ready to sit down and play it, and then it delivered and experience that i'll forever treasure
maybe it won't hit that exact sweet spot for you as it did for me, but bloody hell can i assure you you'll never forget it - even though you'll wish you did, to play it for the first time again
oh and if any of my vague praise made you interested - rule #1 of Outer Wilds Club: don't talk about Outer Wilds. don't look up anything about it, you want to experience it as blind as you possibly can, some people even go as far as buying their friends a copy so they never have to look at the steam page screenshots
Better off Ted. I dont think it is underrated, but it definitely seems to be not well known and only got a couple of seasons. It's the first time I got mad at Netflix canceling a show I loved.
It's an excellent show.
But don't be mad at Netflix. It aired on ABC, and they cancelled it (presumably because it had lower ratings than the network's other comedies). Netflix just picked up streaming rights after the fact.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, it was made by alumni of Interplay. The developers also made Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, which probably is why it gets overshadowed.
Anyways gameplay is effected by build, equipment, and even race because of course it is this is a game made by Fallout 2 devs. If that sounds interesting but not convincing go watch Mandaloregaming, Warlockracy, or Ssethtzeentach for better reasons, though if you aren't familiar with any or all of the YouTubers I mentioned I ordered it by least to most batshit.
Also if any Eastern Europeans try to say "Oh this was a big game when I was in school" yes I'm aware I know about how your bootleggers charged by the disk resulting in everyone having Fallout 1, 2, and Arcanum. Sadly the game didnt do nearly as well here in the US in my experience.
Galavant. Two seasons on ABC in the mid 2010s.
A bawdy, over the top musical medieval themed fantasy series about a knight trying to get his wife back after she's kidnaped and forced to marry an evil king.
Fantastic main cast and Weird Al in a recurring role as as the abott of an order of singing monks.
I don't generally like musicals, but it's so damned catchy and fun.
Oh my gosh! You like Galavant too!? The show is so good! Apparently the actor for King Richard got a stroke though so the possibilities of it ever getting a season three are even lower now.
Timothy Ommundson had a stroke, thus delaying the original Psych movie and later being written into the next such movie.
And yes, I LOVE it! A repeated rewatch.
Tour de Pharmacy
It's a mockumentary about the Tour de France, but everyone's been kicked out for doping.
There are only 5 competitors left, Andy Sandberg, John Cena, Daveed Diggs, Orlando Bloom, and Freddie Highmore.
They've got the actual Lance Armstrong doing a "hidden informant" bit.
Each of the racers has a wacky backstory. Hijinks ensue. It's a great time.
Not the best movie ever, but I had an absolute blast with it.
Bryan Fuller's TV opus, primarily Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies, although the first two seasons of Hannibal are really excellent writing and storytelling. All his work deals with death, but each has something slightly different to say about it.
Freddy Got Fingered.
It's a practical joke disguised as a movie.
Though it has found a cult following since release, I don't think it's appreciated enough for how hilarious it is.
Cloud Atlas is my usual mention.
Favourite movie and it's usually a fairly even split between people like myself who love it and people who think it's garbage.
Not much middle ground
Foundation on Apple TV is a visually beautiful show and follows the books generally well with a few caveats.
I haven't read the books, so I can't comment on that, but wow, Lee Pace kills it as Day.
And shout out to Jared Harris for being in this and The Expanse
Movie wise:
I really found myself loving this movie, which was a surprised to me. But I believe that I found myself loving the characters and how they were shown on screen. I also loved the pacing of the movie. I never felt like there was a moment that had over stayed it's stay. The story it's self was interesting enough for me to keep wanting to watch as well. And no, it's not a film, it's a fun movie. It's not trying to be the next Heat or The Sting.
It's a powerful film IMO. There was a lot to love from the experience and it's one of my all-time favorite stop motion films ever.
Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Some of best science-fiction literature ever penned.
However, the author, while a superb writer, is an asshole.
Pretty much everything "Weird Al" Yankovic and his band have ever done.
They've gained more recognition in recent years, but most people don't realize that his catalogue goes back to the mid-1970s. A lot of people are sleeping on his work, even today, because he's categorized as a "novelty artist".
The early stuff is rough, but from the mid-1980s on up is worth a listen even if you're not a fan.
The Quest For Glory series from Sierra. They ended up making 5 and you could import your character from the previous game with some save disks. You could pick between a fighter, a thief, or a magic user and grow from there. In the later games you could grow and be a paladin, a sorcerer (with a staff), or the lead to a thieves guild depending on your choices. In the last game you got to become a king and pick a love interest that you met from previous games. The 4th game had a hot vampire babe, so normally tried to marry her.
Not so much underrated as it was rated well, but mostly because it didn’t really do well in theaters. Annihilation (2018) which is based on the novel of the same name is often overlooked when talking about great scifi movies. The book is great too.
certainly not an obscure videogame, but Prey (2017) is amazing, and for some reason it flopped. Also the DLC might be the best I’ve played, it’s a completely new kind of game
if you check the free epic games sometimes you might have it in your collection
Man, people can't help but post stuff they like and is popular, not stuff that's almost never talked about. Anyway...
The Irresponsible Captain Tyler is an old school anime most people slept on. It's the sci-fi genera of "aliens are elves with big shoulder pads", and Tyler is a bum, he decides he wants to join the military because it's got free food and chicks dig guys in uniform, and then he accidentally starts an interstellar war with the aliens, accidentally becomes captain of a ship, and accidentally starts beating the crap out of the aliens without meaning to. The aliens think he's a strategic genius, his bosses think he's an idiot and are trying to get rid of him, and his crew can't tell if he's one or the other. The whole show has a lot of love put into it, each background character has it's own name and voice actor, and the show is hilarious right off the bat till the end.
I also feel that Thief the Dark Project doesn't get enough credit and attention. It was the first first person sneaker, has better stealth mechanics than even some modern games, and a great story and world building. I think maybe some sequels that weren't as popular as the second one kinda made people drop the series but it was fantastic.
Cable Guy . Jim Carey is very scary and the end monologué about thé internet future was spot on.
It's not that obscure, but Perfect Blue (1997) has not left my mind since I first watched it.
Metalocalypse. If you like metal music, animated shows and a bit of dark humor then this is the show for you.
Runner up: Aqua Team Hunger Force - if you like short stupid storylines and crude jokes.
And bonus: Squidbillies - if you like Aqua Teen Hunger Force but you want things the get even stupider.
These are all very popular and well known imo
My favorite band of all time is Guided by Voices. Started out in the 80s recording on four track cassettes and pressing 500 copies of the record playing local dive bars. In the early 90s front man Robert Pollard was done after 7 albums and no success outside their hometown so he wrote their final album Propeller.
Of course that made a bit of splash and got them shows in NYC where they kind of took off (at least in 90s indie rock circles). After that success Pollard kept on going until 2004 with a rotating cast of characters when he disbanded GBV for good. I unfortunately only heard about them around this time and missed out on seeing them live.
Well when I say for good it only lasted until 2010 when the "classic lineup" reunited. They toured playing all the old hits for a yrar or two, then started releasing new music and haven't stopped.
Bob is utterly prolific and has over 100 albums to his name across various solo and side projects. I don't click as well with most of the newer stuff but I appreciate it non the less.
Pick any of the albums from 1990-96 for some lofi rock masterpieces, or 1997-2004 for some higher fidelity power pop. The lyrics and song titles are all fairly obsurd on any of them. Bee Thousand is their classic album but I'd recommend Under the Bushes, Under the Stars. Its a bit more polished than the cassette hiss of earlier stuff but still not a full studio sound.
Anyway thanks for coming to my TED talk.
One of my favorite super hero movies to this day is the original kick ass. Beats the pants off any marvel movie by miles. Not exactly a flop but criminally underrated.
The 10th Kingdom (2000). Great miniseries that mashes up fairy tales some modern twists. I really enjoyed all the characters, and the kind-of multiverse was cool.
Tremulous (2006). A first person shooter with first person builder elements. The human team depends on electricity for their various guns and turrets, the alien team can build anywhere and walk on the walls and ceilings, but are more limited to their claw's melee range. There was no matchmaking so you just went to the same server all the time and made friends with the people there. It was cool.
Better Off Ted I feel is reasonably well known and did manage to get an unexpected second season. I feel like a chunk of its potential audience had already left Television for streaming even back when it first aired.
Norsemen was a great series but I understand why people didn’t get into it or even tried it. The humor is very special and maybe takes a little time to settle. It all feels like the cast didn’t know what’s going on and was making it up on the go, which is part of the fun.
Another one: Minesweeper. I feel like most people never understood how this game even works and just clicked randomly until something exploded. It’s actually purely logical! In the classic Windows version there is unfortunately always a high chance to encounter fields that can’t be solved by logic. This is what Mineswifter solves. If you want something more complex, there is the Hexcells series. Get the last one, Infinite, as it has a puzzle generator integrated.
Chinese Lore Podcast, not a singular piece but worth a mention.
The translations aren't bad, it's incredible value for free audiobook/translations.
I am the KWING of this genre. There was a phenomenal show on PAX yes the Canadian local station called "Young Blades". It was SO good. About the three musketeers then a girl disguises herself as a boy to join them. I wish I could find it on the internet somewhere.
A tale in the desert was kind of Minecraft before Minecraft. Such a great game.
Nexus Tk kingdom of the winds was also great until they changed the system for leveling.
Tons of books or book series like Darren Shan saga and tales of ambrose. This great series by Christopher pike about vampires
My entire life has been spent in this genre 😆
Hm. There is a pair of Star Trek adventure games, called 25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites. They are essentially an extra season of TOS, and are quite good.
The Shadow (1994) is delightful. It's fun, atmospheric, and does a great job of capturing the quaint charm of old timey pulp storytelling in a more modern action movie. It's just a treat, and I honestly can't believe it bombed, and as far as I know, never even got a cult following.
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr only got one season and has mostly passed into obscurity. Which is a shame because it's fun and can be a great little time capsule from the days when people thought the future might actually be something to be optimistic about.
Cabin Boy is not what you'd call... good. BUT it is still weirdly enjoyable. It's an experience. One other people should have. Whether they want it or not.
Advent Rising was so unsuccessful it helped kill the publisher, and it got terrible reviews. And yeah, the game feels like there are glaring omissions due to it being rushed out. But I absolutely love it. The powers are cool, the story is simple but works, and it definitely left me wanting more.
Also, Babylon 5 will always be underrated because it's not possible to rate it highly enough.
If you're post edu and wanting more solid structured yet casual learning, The Great Courses offer a fantastic selection of in-depth overviews. I've spent many hours in their world history, science, humanities and music courses.
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