7 Fan-Favorite Netflix Shows Nobody Remembers

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Published Apr 12, 2026, 2:50 PM EDT

Anja Djuricic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1992. Her first interest in film started very early, as she learned to speak English by watching Disney animated movies (and many, many reruns). Anja soon became inspired to learn more foreign languages to understand more movies, so she entered the Japanese language and literature Bachelor Studies at the University of Belgrade.

Anja is also one of the founders of the DJ duo Vazda Garant, specializing in underground electronic music influenced by various electronic genres.

Anja loves to do puzzles in her spare time, pet cats wherever she meets them, and play The Sims. Anja's Letterboxd four includes Memories of Murder, Parasite, Nope, and The Road to El Dorado.

With Netflix producing content at a staggering pace, it's easy to forget shows that came out a month ago, let alone since the streamer started operating. And now, the problem isn't that some shows are bad (though many admittedly are) — it's that Netflix's algorithm has a short-term memory as the library fills up with more original content. This level of production is impressive but also conveyor-belt-like, forcing fans to chase the latest thrills and not look back on some classic fan favorites.

There are many shows that were once fan favorites, earning dedicated followings and critical praise, yet they've been buried under the avalanche of new content. From dark comedy and sci-fi to mystery thrillers and horror, here are seven fan-favorite Netflix shows nobody remembers, but which deserve a second (or third or fourth) look.

1 'Sense8' (2015–2018)

The cast of Sense8 blow out the candles on a birthday cake.

The one time The Wachowskis stepped away from filmmaking and decided to create a TV series was when they wrote and directed Sense8 for Netflix. This was seemingly their passion project, and just like their foray into action epics with The Matrix, they made Sense8 to be unlike anything else on television. However, the show turned out to have a massive budget (due to filming entirely on location across the globe), which, together with its niche appeal, pushed Netflix to cancel it after two seasons. A massive fan outcry prompted a two-hour series finale, but the show never regained momentum; today, Sense8 is a cult classic beloved by its devoted fans but largely unknown to newer Netflix subscribers.

Sense8 follows eight strangers from cities around the world — Chicago, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Seoul, Mumbai, Nairobi, and Mexico City — who suddenly become mentally and emotionally linked. Known as "sensates," they can see, hear, and feel everything each other experiences, transcending language, culture, and geography. As they learn to control their connections, they discover they're being hunted by a shadowy organization that wants to eliminate them. The show is a globe-spanning sci-fi thriller that celebrates diversity, queerness, and the power of human connection. While it may not mean anything in terms of evolving Sense8 beyond its cancellation, the main cast got close during filming, and their chemistry is one of the things that still lingers in the minds of fans who loved the series.

2 'She's Gotta Have It' (2017–2019)

dewanda-shes-gotta-have-it-social-featured

Spike Lee's 1986 cult film She's Gotta Have It was revived by the director himself for Netflix in 2017. It was updated for modern times but filmed in many of the same locations across Brooklyn as the feature film. It was directed entirely by Lee, who is generally a critical darling, but despite his involvement and strong reviews, She's Gotta Have It was canceled after two seasons in 2019. Lee reportedly planned to shop the series elsewhere, but no network picked it up, leaving it to obscurity after the final moments of the last episode aired.

She's Gotta Have It follows Nola Darling (the brilliant DeWanda Wise), a young, polyamorous Brooklyn-based artist juggling her career, friendships, and three very different lovers: the protective model Greer (Cleo Anthony), the charismatic narcissist Jamie (Lyriq Bent), and the immature but charming Mars (Anthony Ramos). The series adapts the story for the modern era, addressing issues of race, sexuality, gentrification, and artistic freedom. Nola refuses to be defined by anyone's expectations, and she fights to maintain her independence in a world that constantly tries to label her. The show's honest portrayal of female sexuality and polyamory was groundbreaking, but She's Gotta Have It never really managed to reach mainstream audiences.

3 'Easy' (2016–2019)

A woman sits with her boyfriend as the happy couple pose for a selfie in a living room.

Easy must be a name you haven't heard in a while; can you believe it's been a decade since its debut on Netflix? Easy, created by Joe Swanberg, was a critical success, with each season earning higher Rotten Tomatoes ratings. The show is an anthology series that talks about modern love, sex, friendships, and family dynamics, featuring an incredible roster of actors, including Orlando Bloom, Dave Franco, Malin Åkerman, and Melanie Lynskey (among many others). However, because it was an anthology with no ongoing plot or recurring characters (aside from cameos), it never developed the type of fan base that keeps shows alive in memory, and Netflix found the anthology format underwhelming.

Easy is made up of three seasons and 25 episodes set in Chicago that explore the messy, complicated lives of various characters as they navigate love, sex, technology, and modern relationships. From a married couple attempting to spice up their sex life with a dating app to a musician reconnecting with an old flame, each story is intimate, awkward, and human. The show features an ever-changing cast of Chicago residents, with recurring characters appearing in multiple episodes. Today, Easy is the definition of a forgotten gem: loved by critics but barely remembered by audiences. The show was shot entirely on location in Chicago, and many characters were based on the actors themselves.

Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown

Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn't write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.

🤠Yellowstone

🛢️Landman

👑Tulsa King

⚖️Mayor of Kingstown

FIND YOUR WORLD →

Where does your power come from? In Sheridan's world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.

ALand, legacy, and a name that's been feared and respected for generations. BKnowing the deal better than anyone else in the room — and being willing to walk away first. CReputation. I've earned it the hard way, and everyone in the room knows it. DBeing the only person both sides will talk to. That makes me indispensable — and dangerous.

NEXT QUESTION →

Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan's universe is always absolute — and always costly.

AFamily — blood or chosen. The ranch, the name, the people who carry it with me. BThe company — or whoever's signing the cheques. Loyalty follows the contract. CMy crew. The men who stood with me when it counted — I don't abandon them for anything. DMy community — even when my community is a powder keg and I'm the only thing stopping it from blowing.

NEXT QUESTION →

Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it's crossed.

AQuietly, decisively, and in a way that sends a message to everyone watching. BI outmanoeuvre them legally, financially, and politically before they even know I've moved. CDirectly. Old school. You cross me, you hear about it to your face — and then you deal with the consequences. DI absorb it, calculate the fallout, and find the move that keeps the whole system from collapsing.

NEXT QUESTION →

Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan's worlds are as much about place as they are about people.

AWide open land — mountains, sky, silence. Somewhere you can see trouble coming from a mile away. BThe oil fields of West Texas — brutal, lucrative, and indifferent to whoever happens to be standing on top of them. CA mid-size city where the rules haven't quite caught up yet — fertile ground for someone with vision and nerve. DA rust-belt town built around a prison — where everyone's life is shaped by what's inside those walls.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.

AI do what has to be done to protect what's mine. I'll answer for it eventually — but not today. BGrey is just business. The line moves depending on what's at stake, and I move with it. CI have a code — it's not the law's code, but it's mine, and I don't break it. DI've made peace with it. Keeping the peace requires compromises most people don't have the stomach for.

NEXT QUESTION →

What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they're defending.

AA way of life that the modern world is doing everything it can to erase. BMy position — and the leverage that comes with being the person everyone needs to close a deal. CRelevance. I've been away, I've been written off — and I'm proving that was a mistake. DWhatever fragile order I've managed to build — because without it, everything burns.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan's world is never given — it's established, maintained, and constantly tested.

ABy example and force of will. People follow me because they believe in what I'm protecting — and because they know what happens if they don't. BThrough negotiation and leverage. I don't need people to like me — I need them to need me. CBy being the smartest, most experienced person in the room and making sure everyone quietly knows it. DBy being the calm centre of a situation that would spiral without me — and accepting that nobody thanks you for it.

NEXT QUESTION →

Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.

AThey'll learn. Or they won't. Either way, the land was here before them and it'll be here after. BI figure out what they want, what they're worth, and whether they're an asset or a problem — fast. CI was the outsider once. I give them a chance — one — to show they understand respect. DNew players destabilise everything I've built. I assess the threat and manage it before it manages me.

NEXT QUESTION →

What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.

AMy family's peace — maybe their innocence. The ranch demands everything, and I've let it take too much. BRelationships, time, any version of a normal life. The job eats everything that isn't nailed down. CYears. Decades in some cases. Time I can't get back — but I'm not done yet. DMy conscience, mostly. And the ability to ever fully trust anyone on either side of the wall.

NEXT QUESTION →

When it's over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan's characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.

AThat I held the line. That the land is still ours and everything I did was worth it. BThat I was the best at what I did and that no deal ever got closed without me at the table. CThat I built something real, somewhere nobody expected it, and I did it on my own terms. DThat I kept the peace when nobody else could — and that the town is still standing because of it.

REVEAL MY SHOW →

Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…

The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you're complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.

🤠 Yellowstone

🛢️ Landman

👑 Tulsa King

⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown

You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world's indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you're willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family's weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what's yours, you don't escalate — you finish it. You're not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone's world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn't make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.

You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You're a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they'll do to get it. You're not naive enough to think this world is fair. You're smart enough to be the one deciding who it's fair to.

You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you're not above reminding people that the two aren't mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they'd be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they're more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don't need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.

You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you're the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky's world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You've made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

4 'Marianne' (2019)

Marianne is one of the scariest shows Netflix has ever produced, and many viewers have probably never heard of it. It's one of Stephen King's favorite horror series, which he calls "truly terrifying." The French-language horror series received high praise, but Netflix canceled it after one season, leaving many plot threads unresolved. The cancellation was frustrating because of those unresolved plots, but also because there's a lack of high-quality horror series in general, and continuing the series would have fleshed out Marianne further. Marianne is now a cult favorite among hardcore horror fans, but the majority of Netflix subscribers are unaware of it.

Marianne follows Emma (Victoire Du Bois), a well-known horror novelist who has built her career by writing about a terrifying witch named Marianne, a figure who haunted her nightmares as a child. When she returns to her hometown, she discovers that Marianne exists — and she's furious that she's been trapped in Emma's stories for so long. To get rid of Marianne, Emma must confront the childhood trauma that created the witch in the first place. Marianne is a show that horror fans, including the aforementioned King, strongly recommend to anyone who will listen.

5 'Bloodline' (2015–2017)

Ben Mendelsohn looks distraught standing in a room with blinds on the window in Netflix's Bloodline.

Have you heard of Bloodline? Can you believe it's one of the best and earliest prestige dramas on Netflix? Despite mixed reviews for Seasons 2 and 3, the show maintains the narrative and serves as the foundation for the streaming service's subsequent crime thrillers, such as Ozark and The Waterfront. Starring Kyle Chandler and Ben Mendelsohn, Mendelsohn won an Emmy for his performance, and the show received nominations for several awards during its run. Despite that, the slow-burn pacing and dark tone failed to attract a large audience, and Netflix canceled it after three seasons. This decision resulted in a rushed and shortened final season, casting a shadow over a series that could have had a long-term place in the prestige drama genre.

Bloodline follows the Rayburn family, who run a beautiful, crumbling inn in the Florida Keys. On the surface, they appear to be a successful, respectable clan, but when the family's black sheep, eldest son Danny (Mendelsohn), returns for the 45th anniversary celebration, decades of secrets, betrayals, and resentments emerge. What begins as a tense family drama gradually evolves into a dark thriller about what people are willing to do to protect their reputation and how far they will go to bury the past. Bloodline, which was shot on location in the Florida Keys, has a dark tint throughout that transforms the sun-soaked family business into a twisted ordeal; the cinematography is exquisite and frequently sets the tone for the plot. Bloodline is rarely mentioned in "best of Netflix" discussions anymore, but those who saw it still consider it one of the greatest things the streamer has ever produced.

6 'Santa Clarita Diet' (2017–2019)

Sheila and Joel smiling and covered in dirt as Sheila holds a severed arm in Netflix's Santa Clarita Diet.

Santa Clarita Diet is one of the earliest original series on Netflix, and it's a wild ride. Deadpan comedy meets some family drama, though the show never gets serious enough to raise stakes or put the protagonists in genuine danger, considering its theme; it's basically a gory sitcom that stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. Despite an 89% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a rabid fan base, Netflix canceled Santa Clarita Diet after three seasons, leaving it on a massive cliffhanger. Barrymore and Olyphant deliver some of their best comedic performances, but the show simply got lost in Netflix's crowded library after it was slashed.

Santa Clarita Diet follows Sheila and Joel Hammond, who are a perfectly normal real estate couple living in the California suburbs — the titular Santa Clarita. One day, Sheila suddenly dies and comes back to life as a flesh-eating zombie, but instead of panicking, she discovers that her condition gives her superhuman strength and an insatiable appetite. That appetite, sadly, is only reserved for people. With Joel's reluctant help, the couple begins hunting and disposing of bad guys to keep their family fed, all while navigating PTA meetings, their son's teenage development, and the increasingly suspicious behavior of their neighbors. Santa Clarita Diet is rarely mentioned nowadays, though hardcore fans remember it well.

7 'GLOW' (2017–2020)

Alison Brie as Ruth/Zoya the Destroya in scene from GLOW

GLOW was a critical and commercial success, and many people still talk about it fondly, but the audience does not appear to be as large as expected. GLOW has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes rating across all three seasons, as well as multiple Emmy nominations. It was renewed for a fourth and final season, but then COVID-19 struck. Production was delayed, and Netflix abruptly reversed its decision, canceling the final season due to the logistical challenges of working during a global health crisis. This meant that the show would end on a massive cliffhanger, with fans never receiving closure. Today, GLOW is a painful memory for its devoted audience, as well as for its cast, most notably the lead, Alison Brie.

Inspired by the real-life 1980s women's wrestling league and the wrestling TV show of the same name, GLOW follows Ruth Wilder (Brie), a struggling actress in Los Angeles who auditions for a bizarre new show called "Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling" (aka GLOW). Ruth, along with a diverse cast of wannabes, trains to become a larger-than-life wrestling villain while dealing with sexism in the industry, personal rivalries, and the absurdity of 1980s pop culture. The show is a hilarious and heartfelt mix of wrestling antics and character drama, and it achieves it better than most shows due to the cast's diversity and the production's willingness to accept its actresses for who they are. With such freedom comes a less restrained performance, and GLOW is the ultimate empowering and beautiful show that we must try to save from Netflix's vast algorithm.