Hidden gems: 8 great 2021 TV series you can catch up on right now

The A.V. Club highlights some of this year's best, under-the-radar series, all of which you can stream right now

By Danette Chavez, Saloni Gajjar, Juan Barquin, Priyanka Bose, Noel Murray, Caroline Siede, Eric Thurm, Lisa Weidenfeld | December 8, 2021 | 4:00pm

TV Lists You

Hidden gems: 8 great 2021 TV series you can catch up on right now

Clockwise from top left: Kevin Iso and Dan Perlman in Flatbush Misdemeanors (Photo: Grace Rivera/Showtime), Mithila Palkar in Little Things (Photo: Netflix), Rose Matafeo in Starstruck (Photo: Mark Johnson/HBO Max), Dug Days (Image: Disney Plus/Pixar) Graphic: Natalie Peeples

TV’s content boom continues mostly unabated (give a pandemic and lockdown or two), along with the rise in guides to watching all of these shows, old and new. The TV review, a culture journalism stalwart, is now complemented by an abundance of features and columns and even TV-focused podcasts, including series featuring the former stars of some of the biggest shows.

Despite our best efforts, some of the most promising shows still manage to slip through the cracks—even those of us who consume TV for a living find ourselves catching up at the end of the year with everyone else. Before the wave of superlatives begins, The A.V. Club is highlighting some of TV’s hidden gems, including quietly great shows that have flown under the radar, and shows whose greatness can’t be ignored.

Megalobox 2: Nomad (Netflix, Funimation)

I waited too long to watch the Netflix fighting anime Megalobox, distracted by the fact that the protagonist looks exactly like an anime version of Penn Badgley. Learn from my mistake—run, don’t walk, to Megalobox, and especially to its sequel, Megalobox 2: Nomad. Commissioned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of iconic boxing anime Ashita No Joe, the first season follows a classic boxing script: A nameless fighter going by “Joe” rises up from fixed underground matches, collects a ragtag family of supporters, and eventually challenges the world champion. It’s incredibly satisfying, with gorgeous fighting backed by a seething electronic score that manages to look cool while never letting the viewer forget just how punishing it really is. Nomad, the follow-up season, picks up a few years after Joe wins the title, with his found family scattered to the winds, and Joe himself deep in the throes of both grief and a pill addiction. Come to watch Joe claw his way back to being a whole person, stay for Nomad’s sharp treatment of an issue that seems to come out of left field, but eventually feels like a natural fit for its themes: immigration. The fighting is sharp as ever, but Nomad dares to suggest there might be something more important than boxing. [Eric Thurm]

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