Sometimes TV shows are so good they win Emmy Awards. Sometimes they're so good that they change people's lives or our culture. And sometimes they're so bad we can't stop loving them.
Yes, for every show like HBO Max's "The Pitt"orFX's "The Bear," which have awards and acclaim and seriousness to their credit, there are shows like "Emily in Paris," which have none of those things but a whole lot of heart and fans hanging on every scene. Because sometimes TV shows are so very bad, they're actually good.
And while prestige TV can be wonderful to watch, it's not always what we crave in our entertainment. So for those days when you want something lighter and funnier, we've rounded up the 10 very best bad TV shows you can find.
We should note: there's
an important distinction between TV that's so-bad-it's-good and TV you hate-watch, and that's why shows like Kim Kardashian's "All's Fair," a Hulu show with a huge audience and a basement-level Rotten Tomatoes score, don't make the cut. So-bad-it's-good TV is comforting and brings you joy and energy. Hate-watching can seem fun, but it's inevitably draining and saddening. We're looking for the kind of shows that you can curl up with over the long winter months, not something you want to post about snarkily on social media. We've also excluded reality TV from this list, which can often be so-bad-it's-good in very different ways.
10. 'Virgin River'
There's a reason Netflix just announced this soapy series is coming back for a ninth season, officially making it the longest-running drama on the streaming service. Cozy, melodramatic and full of gently attractive people and beautiful natural backgrounds, "Virgin" is a steaming bowl of mashed potatoes in TV form. It's a comfort watch, but it's not exactly winning any Emmys anytime soon.
9. 'Once Upon a Time'
What if fairy tales were real? And what if all your favorite princesses and villains were also suburban parents with amnesia? And what if we shoe-horned "Frozen" into there somehow? That's the concept of this wild and wonderful ABC drama that embraced its Disney roots combined with "Desperate Housewives" antics (now on Disney+ and Hulu).
8. 'Magnum P.I'
The 1980s embraced cheesy dialogue, over-the-top plots and hammy physical comedy and stunts as a badge of honor, and none of the shows in this genre took it as far as Tom Selleck's detective classic. Considering how many memes it generates 40 years later, imagine how much we would have enjoyed watching it live in the internet era. You can watch it for yourself on Roku.
7. 'Emily in Paris'
Sickly sweet with high fashion and high drama, this Lily Collins-starring dramedy about an American transplant in Paris experiencing culture shock and relationship woes is the poster child for this kind of TV. It's back for a sixth and final season on Netflix this December.
6. 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'
The Canadian series that gave us Drake with a sob story was the guilty pleasure of many a Millennial with its constant plot repetition, crocodile tears and preposterous plots. It's now available on HBO Max.
5. 'Pretty Little Liars'
This Freeform series about teenage girls being harassed by an anonymous stalker was both over-dramatic and unintentionally hilarious over its long seven season run (in which its cast tried to keep up the illusion of being high schoolers as they aged into their 30s). The mysteries never ran out, and neither did the eyeliner. Now streaming on Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max.
4. 'Xena: Warrior Princess'
Kids these days will never understand the corny joy and low production budgets that made afternoon syndicated TV a beloved part of 1990s TV. With big muscles and terrible fight choreography, shows like "Hercules" and "The Legend of Sinbad" were like dimestore novels come to life, but none was better or more culturally impactful than "Xena," a celebration of camp and a hero of queer culture. You can find the joy again on Xumo.
3. 'Riverdale'
There is no absurdity too big or too small for this dark and hilarious adaptation of the Archie comics from the CW (now streaming on Netflix). A romantic drama, mystic mystery thriller and unintentional comedy all-in-one, it is addictive in ways you can't possible logically explain.
2. 'CSI: Miami'
David Caruso and his sunglasses are iconic for a reason, and it's not for the literary power of this show's dialogue. While all the forensic detective "CSI" shows, a staple on CBS in the early 2000s, have a certain cheesy charm, none take it to such delicious heights as the "Miami" spinoff (streaming on Paramount+).
1. 'The Witcher' (Netflix)
You have to ignore the recent, actually so-bad-it's-bad season of the Netflix fantasy series, based on the book and video game series. But back when the show premiered, starring Henry Cavill, it was a full B-movie experience that fully embraced its video-game roots. Cavill's stoic take on the titular monster fighter was hilariously underacted, the plots were convoluted beyond comprehension and "Toss a Coin to Your Witcher" was a breakaway pop hit. You didn't understand it, but it didn't matter. It was pure joy and spectacle.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The best 'so-bad-they're-good' TV shows, from 'Emily in Paris' to 'Virgin River'
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