Entertainment
7 Forgotten Mystery Shows That Have Aged Like Fine Wine
The mystery genre is a booming art form full of fascination and intrigue. Where can you find better stories that grip you from start to finish than with this one? It’s dominated storytelling for centuries and heavily influenced cinema over the last 100 years. Lately, it’s taken television by storm, delivering pulse-pounding, suspenseful narratives that have kept viewers coming back every episode and each season to figure out what happens next in the story and characters.
Indeed, mystery television is wildly popular these days. From groundbreaking classics like Columbo and Murder, She Wrote to revolutionary game-changers like David Lynch‘s Twin Peaks and the most recent True Detective, the mystery genre has certainly had an impact on broadcasting history. But, it’s only a shame that not all the greatest mystery shows were highly revered at the time or best remembered today. Unlike some of the more iconic shows, their flawless series have captivated us, shocked us, and pulled us into the mystery each week. Here are the marvelous mystery shows that, while they aren’t as highly regarded or memorable today, have proven to be quite impressive and actually get better with age.
‘Top of the Lake’ (2013–2017)
From the combined efforts of Austrian filmmaker Jane Champion and screenwriter Gerard Lee, Top of the Lake is a two-season mystery drama series hailing from Australia. Featuring a stellar ensemble, including Elisabeth Moss, David Wenham, and Academy Award winners Holly Hunter and Nicole Kidman, it focuses on a separate shocking crime each season, following the lead detective, Robin Griffin (Moss), as she uncovers who was behind them.
Despite its positive reviews and widespread acclaim, Top of the Lake is a hidden gem that even some hardcore mystery fans haven’t even seen. Perhaps due to it not reaching the level of recognition like other American shows or because there’s just such a vast pool of compelling mystery dramas out there, it quietly faded away after its run, but has still, of course, retained its praise. Watching it today still generates the feeling of intrigue and the need to see every episode to see what shocking reveal will happen next. Along with its elevated cast, near-perfect writing, gripping themes, shocking plot twists, and emotional character drama, Top of the Lake is truly a show you wouldn’t skip out on.
‘Pushing Daisies’ (2007–2009)
Certainly one of the most delightfully bizarre and charming mystery shows to appear here, ABC’s Pushing Daisies was a unique comedy-drama series that aired from 2007 to 2009. It was a show not many people were expecting or were ready for, but it has slowly garnered better recognition it deserves. Lee Pace stars as Ned, an ordinary pie-maker with an ability to reanimate anything with a simple touch. Along with the assistance of a private investigator (Chi McBride), he goes on solving how the murder victims were killed.
With a wildly, one-of-a-kind premise like that, it’s no wonder Pushing Daisies is one of the most oddly fascinating and creative mystery shows ever made. Its uniqueness earned it a claim at the time and plenty of Primetime Emmy nominations, but it couldn’t save it from being cut, as a writers’ strike and low ratings cancelled it far too soon. In the years since, it’s not as memorable or has been ranked alongside other iconic shows, but it’s still quite enjoyable. It honestly gets more fun with every rewatch.
‘Monk’ (2002–2009)
Airing eight seasons on the USA Network from 2002 to 2009, Monk is a comedic drama mystery series that follows the life of Adrien Monk (played by Tony Shalhoub), a gifted San Francisco police detective who is put on leave after the traumatic murder of his wife worsens his Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Now working as a private consultant, he helps the police solve unusual cases while trying to overcome his many tics and phobias.
Monk is the right mix of laugh-out comedy and heartfelt drama, all perfectly combined in an exciting detective mystery narrative that clearly takes some inspiration from Columbo. It’s charming, funny, and incredibly emotional at times, and delights with each episode. It’s a shame Monk isn’t as well remembered now as when it was in its heyday, but it nonetheless continues to be a blast upon rewatches, and keeps on being hilarious and charming even after being off the air for nearly two decades.
‘The Killing’ (2011–2014)
An American retelling of the Danish television series Forbrydelsen, The Killing is a mystery crime thriller show which premiered on AMC in 2011 and was picked up for a third season after cancellation by Netflix in 2014. A tense, dark, and eerily atmospheric story, it stars Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman as Seattle detectives tasked with investigating the murder of a local teenage girl. Through slowly piecing together clues and evidence, the two come to suspect the killer was someone close to her.
The Killing instantly grabs you with a huge question of just who committed this tragic crime, and who was the closest one had their own reasons for harming the girl. Each episode leading to the inevitable reveal is packed with perfect suspense and slow-burning tension. It kept audiences glued to their screens when it first came out, and although the mystery was solved at the end of Season 2, it’s still quite fascinating and interesting to come back to rewatch all the clues that may have been missed upon initial viewing.
‘Wallander’ (2008–2016)
Adapted from the novel series by Swedish author Henning Mankell as well as a TV series from his home country, Wallander is a detective crime thriller show following the cases of the titular inspector Kurt Wallander (played by Kenneth Branagh) as he investigates a series of murders and corruption plaguing the small town of Ystad, Sweden.
Like its source material, Wallander is brilliantly written, expertly paced, and full of excellent character development. Branagh was perfectly cast in the title role, capturing this remarkable detective’s intelligence and the character’s personal struggles with being in such a violent and grim profession. Though some could argue its 2005 counterpart is arguably the definitive version of this gripping detective story, the British version can not be ignored, even though it hasn’t gotten much recognition in recent years. It truly gets more impressive upon a second viewing, and can still grip viewers into the mystery.
‘The Outsider’ (2020)
From the masterful work of horror author Stephen King comes one of his most overlooked but greatest TV show adaptations, The Outsider. Released as a miniseries on HBO, this captivating mystery drama does not let go of your attention for a second, as it grips you with a shocking mystery that needs to be solved. Ben Mendelsohn and Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo star in this story about a cynical Georgia detective who is on the case to solve the gruesome murder of a young boy.
It’s a criminally underappreciated series that encompasses the thrilling mystery and drama of some of the greats, and does something completely unique to stand out thanks to King’s exceptional storytelling and, of course, a little help from the talented cast. You’ll be invested right from the start and never want to miss a second as the mystery is slowly pieced together. It’s only a shame it has been overshadowed by King’s other works, as well as other mystery shows, but despite not making as huge a splash as it should have upon release, it’s more than made up for this by getting better with age, and slowly it’s getting the much-deserved recognition it needs.
‘Sherlock Holmes’ (1984–1994)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle‘s legendary Sherlock Holmes character has become immortalized in the annals of pop culture. He is perhaps one of the most iconic figures in all fiction, and his impact on the mystery genre is truly remarkable, especially since he’s appeared in countless adaptations throughout the last two centuries. Though some were tremendous trailblazers and others were huge flops, one Holmes adaptation that certainly deserves more recognition today was the 1984 TV series simply titled Sherlock Holmes.
This show captures everything that makes Sherlock Holmes such a fascinating literary character, as he and his trusted partner Watson are gloriously brought to the small screen through 41 compelling episodes, mostly all of them featuring plots adapted straight from Doyle’s works. Jeremy Brett is widely considered the definitive Holmes for his superb performance, sparking the right balance of intelligence and grace, and sheer determination to solve a mystery. This encompasses the spirit of Doyle’s character and doesn’t feel dull for a moment. While not many viewers are familiar with it now, it certainly needs to be experienced far more than any modern adaptation of the character.
Sherlock Holmes
- Release Date
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April 24, 1984
- Directors
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Paul Annett, John Bruce
- Writers
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John Hawkesworth, Jeremy Paul, T.R. Bowen, Alan Plater
- Franchise(s)
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Sherlock Holmes
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