Entertainment
7 Most Criminally Forgotten Hulu Shows, Ranked
Hulu has had a number of wildly successful original shows over the years, from The Handmaid’s Tale, to Only Murders in the Building, to Paradise. The streaming service has delivered both strong and suspenseful drama series, as well as silly and comforting comedy series. These shows have brought unique original characters, shocking plot twists, and moving character dynamics.
While there are so many hit Hulu shows that nearly everyone has watched, the streamer also has a number of excellent series that have gone under the radar, and that have even been pretty much forgotten aside from their most loyal fanbases. Whether these be series that were sadly deleted from the streamer after an early cancellation, or shows that never quite gained the attention they deserved, these are the most criminally forgotten Hulu shows.
7
‘Reboot’ (2022)
Reboot is a hilarious sitcom that follows a team of people who are all working on the reboot of a wildly popular family sitcom called Step Right Up. While the show was a hit back when it aired, all the cast members’ lives have since fallen apart, and everyone needs this to go well. The writing team behind the reboot is not going to make it easy for them, though, because it is led by the ever-clashing duo of the show’s original creator, Gordon Gelman (Paul Reiser), and his estranged daughter, Hannah (Rachel Bloom).
With clever meta humor and compelling dynamics between its main characters, Reboot was an entertaining and sharply funny sitcom that had a lot of potential. Reboot was sadly cancelled after just one season, just as the Step Right Up reboot was starting to find its sea legs, and as things were starting to get especially messy again between the cast and crew of the once-beloved sitcom.
6
‘Dollface’ (2019–2022)
Dollface follows Jules Wiley (Kat Dennings), a woman who’s reeling after being dumped by her long-term boyfriend, Jeremy (Connor Hines). More upsetting than the breakup itself is the fact that Jeremy had become Jules’ entire social life after she abandoned all her friends to focus on him, and now that the relationship is over, she realizes that she doesn’t actually have anyone else.
Now, Jules works to rekindle her old friendships and make some new ones, slowing building an unlikely friend group made up of her best friends from college, Madison (Brenda Song) and Stella (Shay Mitchell), as well as Jules’ coworker, Izzy (Esther Povitsky). Dollface is a fun and silly hangout comedy with a strong friend group at its center, but the show was sadly cancelled after just two seasons, and even removed from Hulu.
5
‘How to Die Alone’ (2024)
How to Die Alone follows Mel (Natasha Rothwell), a lonely and dissatisfied woman who works at JFK airport. After briefly dying when choking on takeout alone on her 35th birthday, Mel becomes determined to make the most of her second chance at life. She joins a management program in pursuit of a promotion, starts branching out in her friendships, and reconsiders her feelings for her engaged ex and close friend, Alex (Jocko Sims).
Although it was sadly cancelled after just one season, How to Die Alone still makes for an excellent watch. Over the course of the show’s single season, Mel rocks the boat, taking risks that mess up her mundane but comfortable life. In the process, her life starts to become bigger and bolder, and she winds up on the path towards becoming the person she wants to be – while also getting caught in the middle of a compelling love triangle.
4
‘Casual’ (2015–2018)
Casual is a sharply funny and chaotic sitcom that follows two codependent adult siblings named Valerie Meyers (Michaela Watkins) and Alex Cole (Tommy Dewey), and Valerie’s teenage daughter, Laura (Tara Lynne Barr). After being left by her husband of multiple decades for a much younger woman, Valerie takes Laura with her and moves in with Alex, who’s a wealthy bachelor after co-founding a successful dating website.
Alex encourages Valerie to shake things up and experiment with casual dating, while having Valerie and Laura living with him makes Alex realize how lonely he’s been. Casual is a hilarious and unpredictable show with storylines that sees Valerie and Alex trying to forge connections with the people around them, while often doing so in the wrong ways, and regularly sabotaging themselves and each other. For example, Alex secretly becomes best friends with Valerie’s one-night stand, Leon (Nyasha Hatendi), while Valerie goes to bizarre extremes (including crashing a party she’s not invited to) to make friends of her own.
3
‘How I Met Your Father’ (2022–2023)
How I Met Your Mother‘s delightful spin-off series, How I Met Your Father, picks up almost a decade after Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Barney’s (Neil Patrick Harris) wedding. An unrelated woman in her early 30s named Sophie Tompkins (Hilary Duff) is hopeful in her search for love, and on the way to a first date with the man she believes is her soulmate (Daniel Augustin), she meets and befriends the two current residents of Marshall (Jason Sudeikis) and Lily’s (Alyson Hannigan) old apartment: Sid (Suraj Sharma) and Jesse (Christopher Lowell).
Meanwhile, thirty years in the future, an older Sophie (Kim Cattrall) tells her college-age son the story of how she met his father – starting with the night she met four very important men, one of whom she reveals in the first episode is her son’s father. How I Met Your Father is a fun and cozy hangout comedy with swoonworthy romances and a compelling main story, but it was sadly cancelled after just two seasons.
2
‘Love, Victor’ (2020–2022)
Love, Victor is a teen dramedy series that takes place in the same world as Love, Simon. A few years after the events of the film, a closeted gay teenage boy named Victor Salazar (Michael Cimino) moves to Atlanta with his family. Overwhelmed with making new friends, joining Creekwood’s basketball team, and keeping his new crush a secret, Victor starts messaging Creekwood alum Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) for advice.
Love, Victor is one of the best teen shows of recent years, with three seasons that show Victor slowly coming into his own and becoming comfortable living authentically. It has unique and complex characters, some wonderful romances, and a number of Easter eggs that fans of Love, Simon will love. The show never got as much attention as similar series, but it still has a strong fanbase.
1
‘Looking for Alaska’ (2019)
Based on the John Green novel of the same name, Looking for Alaska follows a teenage boy named Miles Halter (Charlie Plummer) who goes away to a boarding school called Culver Creek Academy for his junior year of high school in search of “the Great Perhaps.” While there, Miles joins a close-knit friend group made up of his roommate, Chip “The Colonel” Martin (Denny Love), and his two best friends, Alaska Young (Kristine Froseth) and Takumi Hikohito (Jay Lee).
Miles’ life gets bigger and more interesting at Culver Creek, but it also gets more complicated. He gets wrapped up in a messy war against a group of wealthy students who go home every weekend, and he starts to fall in seemingly unrequited love with Alaska. This coming-of-age miniseries is sharply funny, emotionally devastating, and just a phenomenal book adaptation, but it’s sadly been removed from Hulu.