There's a lot of TV out there. It's OK.
Let's face it - there is simply too much TV out there.
The mitigating circumstances of time, economics, social responsibilities and so on mean you cannot watch everything without either having no job, no social life, or you don't want to see the sky for three to six months.
Hell, we're an entertainment website with full-time journalists and even we can't watch everything. We're literally paid to watch everything, and we can't manage it.
This, of course, means that there are some cracking shows that you probably gave up on because they either took too long to get going on, or something else came along that took up your attention.
With that in mind, we've come up with a short list of TV shows you probably gave up on - but should definitely check out whenever you get the chance. There's no pressure, just whenever you have the time to check something new out, give any of these a go.
'COUNTERPART'
This is a really interesting concept, and it's coming some cracking actors involved. JK Simmons plays a hum-drum office drone in Berlin who, it turns out, has been working for a secret government agency that's been guarding a bizarre secret for nearly 30 years - that there is a parallel universe and he has a doppelganger on the other side.
You might think that sounds ridiculous, and it is, but when you see how they handled it on 'Counterpart', it sort of makes sense. It's basically an allegory for the Cold War (the show's set in Berlin, it's all about spies coming over from the parallel universe) and Simmons plays a double-role as his counterpart (hey, that's the name of the show!) takes over his role in this universe.
Sadly, the most recent season will be its last as it was cancelled just a few months ago.
'SHARP OBJECTS'
Maybe you only watched a couple of episodes and nodded off to it, as it's a slow-moving, slinky noir drama with Amy Adams looking angry and drinking heavily in the American South. Thankfully, we reviewed every episode to give you an idea of what you missed and why you should pick it up again.
Adams gives a fantastic performance as the angry, messed-up journalist whilst Patricia Clarkson is perfectly cast the ice-queen mother. Also, the music choices throughout are just gorgeous and it all looks so slick throughout.
'THE AMERICANS'
Yes, the one with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys where they play Soviet spies in '80s America. There might have been a few of you reading this who kept with it, but for whatever reason, 'The Americans' didn't have quite the impact here as it did in the US. That being said, US critics raved about it and it really is a cracking series.
Maybe it just communicated more deeply to the American experience and their own fears about "reds under the bed", but whatever, this is really worth your time and there's six seasons of it to work your way through.
'WESTWORLD'
The first season of 'Westworld' was an utter mess and it only seemed to coalesce into something by the end of it. Yes, there was that ridiculously complex timeline-thing where Jimmi Simpson was actually in the past and Ed Harris was in the future. Yes, you couldn't tell the robots from the humans. Yes, there was a lot of sex in 'Westworld'.
If you can power through the first season, the second season is a far better experience and one that doesn't just make the first one better, but gives it the kind of context it needed in order for it to make sense. In fact, now that you can watch all episodes from both seasons, they slot together and finally make some sense.
Well, almost.
'STAR TREK: DISCOVERY'
Like 'Westworld', the latest incarnation of 'Star Trek' was a mess of a thing and it wasn't helped by the fact that it didn't seem to know whether it was JJ Abrams' version of 'Star Trek' or the one we all grew up with. Also, the Klingons looked weird and seemed to talk in Klingon a lot - which just didn't help matters at all.
Anyway, the second season - which we've been reviewing on a weekly basis, by the way - has made huge course corrections for the better, and has a much clearer story and feels a lot more familiar than the first season. Not only that, Anson Mount has been perfectly cast as Captain Christopher Pike, as has Ethan Peck as the young, bearded, hipster-looking Spock. To top it all off, it's one of the best-looking shows on TV right now.
'THE GOOD FIGHT'
If you didn't watch 'The Good Wife', that's OK. 'The Good Fight' doesn't require you to know the ins-and-outs of the legal world of Lockhart / Gardner or Lockhart / Gardner & Canning, or then Florrick, Agos & Lockhart. It does, however, pick up where 'The Good Wife' left off so you can expect the same level of witty drama and sharp-edged legal maneuvering throughout the series.
Christine Baranski is back as Diane Lockhart, this time more or less taking up Juliana Marguiles' role. Basically, Diane's gone broke after a Ponzi scheme has wiped out her savings and effectively rendered her unable to stay in the law firm she helped create. To make matters worse, her reputation is tatters as she helped to convince other people to join the same Ponzi scheme that wiped her out.
It might feel like a bit of a weak reason for carrying on the series, but how often do you see well-made legal dramas like this on TV nowadays? Exactly. Give it another go.