The fall TV schedule has largely arrived, and there will be a few series from ABC and Fox that may rank among the underrated shows on Hulu. But for October, our choices include an FX comedy that premiered earlier this year to a lot less attention than The Bear gets. That’s the harsh lesson for TV lovers: Not every show is going to be a hit out of the gate.
Our other picks this month include a Western series that has some modern flair, as well as one of the all-time great TV comedy/dramas that had fallen into obscurity before this year.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new shows to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, the best shows on Max, and the best shows on Disney+.
English Teacher (2024)
FX’s English Teacher features Brian Jordan Alvarez as Evan Marquez, an openly gay English teacher at Morrison-Hensley High School. His now former boyfriend, Malcolm (Jordan Firstman), no longer works at the school, but a kiss between them still manages to cause problems for Evan.
Evan tries to avoid conflict whenever possible, sometimes to a ridiculous degree. His best friend, Gwen Sanders (Stephanie Koenig), is also a teacher at Morrison-Hensley, and she gets into a few of her own situations while navigating the high school and its students. TV veteran Enrico Colantoni also stars as the school’s principal, Grant Moretti, and he’s an underrated performer in his own right.
Watch English Teacher on Hulu.
Hell on Wheels (2011-2016)
Before he went all over the universe in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Anson Mount established himself as a leading man in AMC’s Western series Hell on Wheels. The title refers to the mobile camp that accompanies the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad after the Civil War. Mount plays Cullen Bohannon, an ex-Confederate soldier who is only working at the camp to find the man who murdered his family.
Common plays Elam Ferguson, a former slave who steps into a leadership role among the other freedmen. Elam and Cullen don’t always see eye to eye, but they do have more in common with each other than they do with their greedy boss, Thomas “Doc” Durant (as played by another Star Trek veteran, Colm Meaney). Don’t get too used to the status quo on this show. Fortunes can rise and fall very quickly on the railroad, and Cullen’s situation quickly becomes more complex.
Watch Hell on Wheels on Hulu.
Moonlighting (1985-1989)
Until fairly recently, Moonlighting was one of those older TV shows that was doomed to be forgotten since it couldn’t be streamed due the music rights. But now the show that made Bruce Willis a star before Die Hard can find a new generation of fans. Willis plays David Addison, the lead detective of the Blue Moon Detective Agency. David’s boss, and the owner of the company, is Madolyn “Maddie” Hayes (Cybill Shepherd), an ex-model facing bankruptcy. The agency is all that Maddie has left, but David convinces her to keep it so they can work together while solving mysteries.
The slow-burn romance of David and Maddie is famous among classic TV lovers, although they don’t follow a normal relationship trajectory. You can attribute that to the sexual politics of 1980s TV networks. Yet, during its five-season run, Moonlighting helped redefine what a network series can be, and it even broke the fourth wall a few times.
Watch Moonlighting on Hulu.