10 TV Shows That Became Way Bigger Than I Ever Thought They Would

Summary

  • Several TV shows, like Schitt’s Creek, Succession, and Rick and Morty, exceeded expectations to become major hits in popular culture.
  • Schitt’s Creek, initially underestimated, steadily built up an audience and swept major awards in its final season, surpassing all expectations.
  • The unpredictability of TV success is evident in shows like The Bear and Baby Reindeer, which gained unexpected popularity and critical acclaim.



Plenty of TV shows in recent years have far exceeded my expectations for how popular they would become. While lots of these shows were favorites of mine that I had hoped would succeed, I’ve been continually shocked at just how much particular series have become entrenched in popular culture. In contrast, other high-quality series were doomed to irrelevance. It’s always interesting to try and predict which TV shows will become insanely popular. Still, it’s even more exciting to witness the ones that became way bigger than I ever expected.

This was the case for comedies, dramas, and even animated series that rose above their humble beginnings to become some of the best shows ever made. I’m thankful that so many incredible shows could surpass even the most outrageous expectations to become touchstones of popular culture and have seen major success worldwide. It’s a testament to TV’s consistent ability to surprise viewers that I didn’t see these shows’ incredible success coming.



10 Schitt’s Creek (2015 – 2020)

6 seasons

Schitt’s Creek was a well-written sitcom with a strong concept, but when I first encountered it, it did not seem like the type of series that had enduring appeal. With the formally wealthy Rose family as its central focus, Schitt’s Creek looked like the kind of show that could alienate viewers, and the family’s wayward adaptation to how the other half lived looked set to run out of steam pretty quickly. However, Schitt’s Creek steadily built up an audience over the years, and before long, I was shocked to see it become way bigger than I ever thought it would.


Schitt’s Creek built up its viewership through streaming and received plenty of extra exposure through its regional appearance on Netflix and dynamic social media presence. Not only that, but Schitt’s Creek improved throughout its run and maintained its high quality right up until its final sixth season. Although I doubted Schitt’s Creek’s potential in its early days, I was absolutely delighted to see it make history by sweeping all seven major comedy categories at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards for its final season.

9 Succession (2018 – 2023)

4 seasons


I was always a huge fan of the British writer Jesse Armstrong, who co-created iconic sitcoms like Peep Show and Fresh Meat, so of course, I was going to check out his latest HBO series, Succession. While I knew this was a great show right from the get-go, I wasn’t convinced that Armstrong’s British sensibilities and tendency toward extremely cringe-inducing writing would translate well to an American audience. That’s why I was so surprised to see Succession not only find success in the US but become one of the most talked about series in living memory.

I knew Succession would have fantastic writing and humor, but the popularity of the show grew far beyond anything I ever expected. Brian Cox gave a career-defining performance as Logan Roy, and it was impressive to witness one of the greatest ensembles ever assembled, as each character contributed something important to the show’s success. I never expected Succession to become a critical darling and cultural phenomenon, but I am so thankful it did and look forward to whatever genius idea Armstrong decides to pursue next.


8 Breaking Bad (2008 – 2013)

5 seasons

When I first heard there was a new TV show starring Hal from Malcolm in the Middle as a high school chemistry teacher turned meth cook, I assumed it was a wacky half-hour sitcom. Then, imagine my shock when I tuned in to witness not just an intense drama but one of the greatest television viewing experiences of my life. While I connected deeply with Breaking Bad, nobody I talked to seemed to be watching the series as it flew under the radar in its earliest seasons.


However, this all changed in seasons four and five when Breaking Bad hit Netflix, and everybody who had been sleeping on this incredible show caught up on it. While I always knew Breaking Bad was great, I never expected it to expand into a major franchise with the equally astounding prequel show Better Call Saul and the Jesse-focused movie El Camino. Breaking Bad became bigger than I ever imagined, and I’m so thankful it did because it always kept its quality high and stood among the greatest character studies ever depicted on the small screen.


7 The Bear (2022 – Present)

3 seasons

Before the FX for Hulu series The Bear premiered, it looked like a series that would fly under the radar. As an insightful dramedy about a talented chef inheriting his brother’s New York sandwich shop, I prejudged The Bear as the type of show that would gain a lot of critical acclaim for its impressive writing and talented performers but was destined to become an underappreciated cult classic. These expectations were well and truly confounded, and I was delighted to see The Bear become one of the most hyped-up shows of 2022.


The Bear struck a chord with viewers because so many audience members had experience in the service industry, and the show perfectly captured the anxiety, joy, and stresses of these kinds of jobs. With a talented cast, The Bear made stars out of Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri, and I think its incredible performances and realistic writing made for compelling viewing. What I found even more surprising was how The Bear’s aesthetic has affected contemporary fashion trends, as it’s hard to walk into a restaurant these days without spotting a stressed chef sporting one of Carmy’s signature white T-shirts.

6 Rick And Morty (2013 – Present)

7 seasons


I became a fan of the Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon through his excellent sitcom Community. I soon found myself diving into his earlier work, making hilarious shorts for Channel 101. This introduced me to Justin Roiland’s unique comedic style. I was then delighted to hear that the two creators were collaborating on a new animated series based on Roiland’s Back to the Future parody short. Considering both creators often struggled to find mainstream appeal, I expected Rick and Morty to become a cult favorite with about as much cultural relevance as any other underrated Adult Swim series.

Rick and Morty surprised me big time, as not only did the show find success, it became a worldwide hit that spawned endless merchandise and whose quotes have been entrenched in popular culture. While viewers’ reactions to Pickle Rick or the show’s Szechuan sauce sanctification could be grating at times, these aspects made Rick and Morty far more popular than I could have ever imagined. With seven seasons and counting, Rick and Morty truly exceeded all expectations to become the best of all of Adult Swim’s original programming.


5 The Mandalorian (2019 – Present)

3 seasons

The Mandalorian premiered in 2019, the same year that the final installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker, was released. I, like so many others, was disappointed in the sequel trilogy and felt like the great set-up of The Force Awakens had been squandered by a lack of consistent vision throughout the subsequent films. With this in mind, I didn’t have a lot of hope for Disney’s attempts to bring Star Wars to Disney+ with the television series The Mandalorian.


I thought that viewers were reaching a point of Star Wars fatigue and that putting out more TV shows would lead to an overload of content and that viewers would tune out. I couldn’t have been more wrong, as The Mandalorian captured what was great about Star Wars and delivered fun-filled space Western adventures each week. Not only that, but the cute baby Yoda-like Grogu helped catapult the series to popularity beyond anything I could have expected and greatly contributed to the show’s incredible appeal.

4 Squid Game (2021 – Present)

1 season


It’s truly hard to predict which TV shows will become major talking points and which will be released to little fanfare or engagement, and I believe it could have gone either way for Squid Game. As a South Korean television series that was deeply inspired by its creator Hwang Dong-hyuk’s economic struggles and the class disparity seen in South Korea, this could have been a show entirely ignored by Western audiences. However, these themes were also universal, and Squid Game struck a chord with viewers, making it one of Netflix’s most-watched series.

Squid Game certainly exceeded my expectations and became far bigger than I ever could have imagined. Not only were hordes of viewers tuning in to watch Squid Game in record numbers, but it also spawned a reality show called Squid Game: The Challenge, where players competed for the largest cash prize ever seen on television. It remains to be seen if Squid Game Season 2 will be able to repeat this success, but one thing’s for sure: I won’t underestimate its appeal again.


3 Baby Reindeer (2024)

1 season

The British black comedy thriller series Baby Reindeer dealt with incredibly dark topics of stalking, sexual assault, and trauma. These deeply controversial topics made Baby Reindeer a series that I thought would gain critical acclaim, but I was unsure of its potential to reach a mainstream audience. However, these prejudices were soon confounded as I witnessed Baby Reindeer become the most talked about Netflix series in living memory as viewers unpacked the shocking acts of Martha Scott.


While I was surprised to see Baby Reindeer gain such strong viewership, I was happy for its creator, writer, and star, Richard Gadd, to gain such incredible exposure. Gadd’s difficult story deserved to be told, and I was impressed with the nuanced way he shone a light on issues of male fragility and the emotional complexity of a confused sexual orientation. Baby Reindeer was a unique show, and I was glad to see so many viewers go outside their comfort zones to take in its unsettling narrative.

2 Stranger Things (2016 – Present)

4 seasons


Back when the first season of Stranger Things aired in 2016, I immediately connected with its nostalgia-driven aesthetic that brought to mind the works of Steven Spielberg, H.P. Lovecraft, and Stephen King. The show was an immediate hit and one of the major releases that solidified Netflix’s position as a producer of some of the most engaging content today. However, if you told me back then that Stranger Things would still be at the forefront of popular culture almost a decade later, I would have been shocked.

While Stranger Things deserves all the acclaim it received and has stood out as among the best Netflix shows, its staying power has far exceeded anything I could have imagined. With every subsequent season, Stranger Things became grander and more ambitious, and I look forward to seeing how it will outdo itself again in its upcoming final season. Stranger Things made major stars out of its cast, and I have been consistently impressed by how actors like Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard have used the show as a springboard to major success in Hollywood.


1 The Office (2005 – 2013)

9 seasons

The Office has become such a touchstone of popular culture that it’s hard to even remember the early days before it achieved such widespread success. But looking back, I recall the success of The Office was not such a sure thing, and the plotlines from its first episodes were simply copied and pasted from the original Ricky Gervais UK version of the show. Had the series not found a way to carve its own path, that could have been where the story ended, and the enduring legacy of The Office may never have happened at all.


However, all that changed when Steve Carell’s portrayal of Michael Scott was reimagined in a way that played better to that actor’s strengths and imitated less from Gervais’ David Brent. After making that change, The Office became far bigger than I ever could have imagined, and its popularity has only increased through its exposure on streaming platforms. The Office has now become the comfort show of countless viewers and has achieved enduring success way beyond anybody’s wildest expectations.

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