5 Great TV Shows You Probably Aren't Watching

April 11, 2013— -- intro: If you don't watch Game of Thrones or never got around to catching up on Mad Men or haven't formed a very strong opinion about Girls, then what do you even do with your time? If you don't spend half your work week reading recaps of these shows or arguing about how much the latest season of Community and/or The Walking Dead definitely does/does not suck, then what are you doing?

While the internet has a way of grasping onto a handful of shows (and with good reason, sure -- a lot of those aforementioned shows are great or great-adjcacent), there's a lot of other stuff out there that may not have the online following or media-courting capabilities of Game of Thrones or Girls, but are still well worth following and discussing. And. GIFing.

quicklist: 1title: That Sex Showtext: Shows about sex are blessed and cursed in that they cover a topic that quite a lot of people are deeply interested in, but are also deeply embarrassed to discuss in great personal detail. LOGO's That Sex Show works because it addresses even the most... unusual... viewer questions in a way that's smart, straightforward, non-judgmental, informative, and, yup, funny. I mean, we're talking about naked bodies rolling together. Hilarity can and will ensue.

The show is hosted by "lesbian next door" Heidi Hamilton, who expertly moderates discussion among panelists Katie Morgan (a former porn star), Dougall Fraser (a psychic), and Dr. Mike Dow (a psychotherapist). Finally, a show where we can discuss Rusty Trombones like ADULTS. Also: Tiffany Pollard (better known as "New York") was once a guest on the show, which, if you're anything like me, says all you need to know.

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quicklist: 2title: Happy Endingstext: Sure, there's been some chatter about ABC's Happy Endings online from time to time -- the show is pretty much an ongoing series of .gifs strung together by puns -- but not nearly enough. Guys, this show is great. If you're a Nielsen family, 1) you are severely terrible, probably, and 2) you need to start watching this show. Ostensibly, the show is about a group of friends who blah blah blah. Do you care what a sitcom is *about*? No. They're always about quirky friends or dysfunctional families. What separates good sitcoms from great sitcoms is chemistry, and the inclusion of Damon Wayans, Jr.

On a deeper level, the show is about six incredibly deranged-but-lovable people who are all so incredibly smart, stylish, nice, creative, elegant, attractive, and very good dancers. It's joke-per-minute ratio is unparalleled, and it revels in all that is meta and self-referential. Just please watch it and talk about it all the time, because I'm tired of reading about sitcoms I hate.

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quicklist: 3title: Too Cute!text: Animal Planet. Puppies and kittens. Like. What more do you want, you monster?

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quicklist: 4title: Out Theretext: This IFC series, from the lead animator of South Park, is very much an animated Napoleon Dynamite. It takes place in a small, rural town named Holford and centers on a teen boy/catwolfhamster named Chad. Chad has a loving, but eccentric family and a best friend named Chris who wears overalls and has a bad haircut and hits awfully close to home. Bonus: Fred Armisen does the voice of Terry, the bizarre, New Age-y, damaged live-in boyfriend of Chris' mother.

The series achieves a wonderful balance between that completely relatable near-suffocating anxiety that comes with growing up (particularly in a small town) and the sheer absurdity of catwolfhamster people living in a cartoon world. It's funny and awkward and sad and mystifying and you will develop a crush on it but will be too nervous to let it know.

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quicklist: 5title: Top of the Laketext: Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men's Peggy, migraine sufferer) stars in this Sundance Channel series as Robin Griffin, a detective who ventures home to New Zeland and soon finds herself immersed in a case involving a missing 12-year-old pregnant girl. It has a definite Twin Peaks-meets-Men who Hate Women vibe about it and, more importantly, it isn't The Killing. Do watch!

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