It’s always great to check out new high-quality TV shows, but when you do, you can also end up stumbling across one that isn’t quite as good. The funny part? You still find yourself having a great time watching it. That’s because there are series that really aren’t all that great, whether in terms of creative or more technical standards, but that’s what makes them entertaining. And sometimes, they can even make for a much better watch than a serious production that desperately wants to seem interesting, important, or epic. You can tell that something about the episodes isn’t working quite the way it should, but it still keeps you curious.
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Of course, there’s a big difference between a bad TV show and one that’s just boring and completely misses the point, but we’ve picked out 4 that lean more toward the fun side of that equation. So, no, none of them are critically acclaimed series, but maybe, if they were, they wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable to watch.
4) Emily in Paris
Some people look at Emily in Paris and can’t believe it has made it this far: six seasons (the latest one premiering soon). The show follows Emily Cooper (Lily Collins), a young American who moves to Paris to work at a marketing agency and, before long, her routine starts involving bosses who don’t like her, several absurd campaigns, friendships, and an impressive number of men she probably shouldn’t get involved with. The show is basically about this character’s life in a different country. However, even though Season 1 won over a lot of people, some viewers started losing interest in the show over time, largely because of the direction the plot itself takes.
The problem with the writing is that nothing that happens really has any lasting consequences: Emily can make a professional mistake, complicate a relationship, or turn a simple situation into a complete disaster, and then, very shortly afterward, everything seems to be fine again. That can be a little frustrating since it doesn’t exactly line up with reality. On the other hand, if you’re not looking for something too serious and just want to have fun with a simple narrative, Emily in Paris is perfect. It can be pretty silly, but sometimes it’s nice to have a comfort show to come back to, right?
3) Dynasty
Dynasty is one of the older ones on this list, having premiered almost a decade ago, and it never had much interest in doing things halfway. This one is a reboot of a classic ’80s soap opera, following the Carrington family in Atlanta, who are extremely wealthy and spend most of their time fighting over money, power, and control of the family business, while betrayals, romances, murders, and secrets keep popping up. And the truth is that the further the series goes, the less sense it makes to try to follow everything as if it were a serious drama. A character disappears? They can come back with a different face. A marriage seems stable? Give it a few episodes. Someone just discovered something that could destroy the family? There’s probably something even worse to be revealed.
Since this is a new version of a soap opera, it obviously needs to be a little exaggerated, which means it won’t be for everyone. The characters’ outfits are incredibly extravagant, the arguments are much bigger than the situation actually calls for, and the show comes with twists that would be ridiculous in almost any other drama. In other words, it’s safe to say Dynasty is a guilty pleasure. You don’t have to believe anything that’s happening, much less take it seriously — you just have to sit back and enjoy the chaos.
2) Scream Queens
There was a time when Ryan Murphy’s productions were everywhere, with shows like American Horror Story, Glee, and, in this case, Scream Queens. But unlike most of them, this one was meant to completely move away from seriousness. Today, it’s barely remembered, but just mentioning its name is enough to bring up a large audience that watched it back in the day. The story starts with a killer dressed as the Red Devil who begins murdering members of a college sorority, while Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) tries to figure out who is behind the crimes. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is just another slasher to add to the list, as it’s a mix of horror movies, Mean Girls, absurd comedy, and satire, with an amazing cast that goes from Jamie Lee Curtis to Ariana Grande.
And is it really that bad? Well, you can’t exactly look at it as an excellent production with an incredible story, but that’s because that was never really the point. Nobody in this show seems to behave like a normal person, the death scenes are wild, and some of the jokes feel like they were written by a writers’ room that thought it would be way too funny not to make them. Scream Queens does have some problems as a TV series, but it’s totally easy to enjoy because of the dynamics and interactions between everyone. So no, it’s not a good horror show, but the sheer level of insanity makes you want to keep watching just to keep laughing along the way.
1) All’s Fair
A controversial show, All’s Fair is actually proof that Murphy knows how to make productions that, deep down, know exactly how to get the audience curious in ways that are hard to explain. The idea here is to be a legal drama, following Allura (Kim Kardashian), Liberty (Naomi Watts), and Emerald (Niecy Nash) at a law firm in Los Angeles as they deal with high-profile divorces, professional rivalries, and, of course, personal problems. However, what really makes everything stand out is the cast, because alongside Kardashian, Watts, and Nash, you also have Glenn Close, Sarah Paulson, and Teyana Taylor. So you end up watching with a certain curiosity, almost trying to understand why this group agreed to be in this series and wanting to see just how far everything is going to go.
Also, you start realizing the script has plenty of dramatic dialogue, situations that keep getting more unbelievable (especially when it comes to Carrington), and an aesthetic tremendously luxurious. In the end, you find yourself watching one episode of All’s Fair after another just to see what the next questionable decision from the script will be. Basically, it’s a campy, melodramatic, and exaggerated show, much like Scream Queens (just aimed at a different audience). And to give an idea, it had around 3 million viewers globally in its first few days, reached the top of Hulu’s most-watched list, and Season 2 is on the way.
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