Scores on Rotten Tomatoes can often throw up some surprising results, and there are a few shows with perfect scores which aren’t very well know. Due to the peculiar nature of the scoring system on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s not uncommon for a TV show to score 100%. Reviewers are required to grade movies and TV shows using a binary system on Rotten Tomatoes, so 100% doesn’t necessarily mean something is flawless. A perfect 100 doesn’t guarantee that a show will reach a broad audience. There are plenty of TV hidden gems which have flown under the radar.
Rotten Tomatoes reviews a ton of movies and TV shows, including non-English language shows which don’t often create a global impact. Other shows which aren’t marketed toward a broad audience can get 100% on Rotten Tomatoes without being seen by many people. There’s often a big difference between a show’s reviewer score and its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, so full marks from reviewers should be taken with a pinch of salt, but they are still interesting oddities which are worth investing some time into.
10 Dreaming Whilst Black (2023-)
Audience Score: 61%
- Release Date
- July 24, 2023
- Cast
- Adjani Salmon , Dani Moseley , Jo Martin , Demmy Ladipo , Rachel Adedeji , Babirye Bukilwa , Martina Laird , Roger Griffiths
Dreaming Whilst Black tells the story of Kwabena, a man working an uninspiring office job who dreams of being a film director. Although Kwabena hustles to get his film projects off the ground, he is constantly met by setbacks. The British comedy show presents an original take on the realistic struggles in the creative industry. Kwabena doesn’t just need validation from those in positions of power, he also needs it from his closest friends and family. Dreaming Whilst Black season 2 has been confirmed, so there will fortunately be more than just six episodes to enjoy.
9 Jeff & Some Aliens (2017)
Audience Score: 85%
Adult animated sitcoms have become an over-saturated genre in the last decade, so there are plenty of shows going relatively unnoticed despite great reviews. Jeff and Some Aliens is centered around three aliens who come to Earth to study the world’s most average human, who they determine to be Jeff. After moving into his cramped apartment, the aliens manage to constantly get in the way of Jeff’s day-to-day life. The art style can be off-putting to some, but Jeff and Some Aliens is a non-stop barrage of obscene and raunchy humor.
8 Flowers (2016-2018)
Audience Score: 91%
Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt star in Flowers as two parents struggling to maintain the fragile peace within their eccentric family. Their constantly bickering children each suffer from delusions of grandeur despite remaining stagnant and unsuccessful in their late 20s. Creator Will Sharpe plays Shun, the overzealous Japanese illustrator who seems oblivious to the troubles all around him. Flowers is an underrated British sitcom with immensely powerful dramatic undertones. Its exploration of the fractured family can ellicit tears as well as laughter, and the gorgeous direction adds to the sense of transient melancholy.
7 My Name (2021)
Audience Score: 91%
Although Squid Game shattered streaming records, it’s still a rare accomplishment for a Korean show to make waves in Western markets. My Name is an action-heavy revenge thriller in the style of Oldboy or John Wick, but the eight-episode arc allows the mystery to deepen at a steady pace. After her father is murdered, Yoon Ji-woo joins a gang and infiltrates the police force to uncover the real killer. From there, My Name mixes tense political intrigue with riveting fight scenes, until an explosive final episode ends in a cathartic fight to the death.
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6 Deadloch (2023-)
Audience Score: 88%
Deadloch is an Australian crime mystery series with elements of dark humor. Many of the show’s biggest laughs come from the frictious dynamic between the reserved, analytical local detective and the brash, bombastic outsider who comes in to asssist with the investigation into a potential murder case. Deadloch manages to balance a compelling mystery with consistently hilarious jokes. Very few comedies place such an emphasis on the twisty plot, but Deadloch fulfils its duties as a crime show first and foremost. Deadloch is one of many brilliant Australian shows which deserve a bigger global audience.
5 Totally Completely Fine (2023)
Audience Score: 92%
Thomasin McKenzie is best known for movies such as Jojo Rabbit and Last Night in Soho, and Totally Completely Fine uses her peculiar charm to full effect. She plays Vivian, a young woman who inherits a house on the edge of a cliff from her grandfather. What she doesn’t realize is that along with the house she inherits the responsibility to talk down everyone who attempts to use the cliff as a place to end their lives. Totally Completely Fine is packed with moments of outrageous black comedy, but it’s also a touching drama about second chances.
4 Three Busy Debras (2020-2022)
Audience Score: 83%
Three Busy Debras follows three housewives, all named Debra, living in a surreal suburb where there’s a reservoir full of milk and a fiercely competitive cartwheeling club to keep people entertained. Each Debra has her own particular foibles, but they are all equally ignorant and self-centered. Three Busy Debras is a bizarre, cartoonish pastiche of sentimental sitcoms and the mid-century idea of the American dream. It has an intelligent style of inane chatter which deconstructs the inherent absurdity of comfortable suburban life. Each episode is just over ten minutes long, making Three Busy Debras a perfect bite-sized slice of silliness.
3 Magpie Murders (2022)
Audience Score: 78%
Based on the novel by Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders tells a story within a story. Susan Ryeland is an editor who receives an unfinished manuscript from a mystery author who is then found dead. The show follows Susan’s investigation as she tries to figure out how the author fell to his death, and also find the missing pages of the novel. Simultaneously, the show portrays the events of the novel in question, with fictional detective Atticus Pünd working in a small English village in the 1950s. It could be classed as “cozy crime,” but Magpie Murders’ shocking ending is delightfully satisfying.
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2 Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House Of Fun (2020)
Audience Score: 94%
Australian sketch comedians Aunty Donna have a dedicated YouTube following, but Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun was their first big TV project. Their surreal sketch comedy swings wildly from pop culture parodies to original songs, with everything in between. The three Aunty Donna boys are joined by a fun cast of guest stars, including Ed Helms, Weird Al Yankovic and Jack Quaid. Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun gained a respectable audience for such an idiosyncratic show, but it didn’t achieve the same widespread success as I Think You Should Leave, another profoundly silly Netflix sketch show.
1 The Lady & The Dale (2021)
Audience Score: 57%
The Lady and the Dale is a documentary which tells the unbelievable but true story of Elizabeth Carmichael, a transgender woman who created a car company before vanishing with millions of dollars of her investor’s money. Its unique collage-style animation sets it apart from most true-crime documentaries, and this quirky visual choice mirrors the tone of the story. The Lady and The Dale keeps things light, and its fun, playful approach highlights the absurdity of Carmichael’s grift and the gaudy three-wheeled monstrosity at the center of it. The story seems implausible, but it’s completely true.
