Hulu rightfully gets a lot of attention for its stellar lineup of movies, but its TV shows are also very impressive. Although Fox no longer has a stake in Hulu, the entire fall lineup from that network and ABC are available to stream during the season. But this month’s picks for the three underrated shows on Hulu that you need to watch are going a little deeper.
Our first choice is a show that was briefly one of Fox’s signature originals in the late ’90s, and it just made its Hulu debut this month. After that, we’ve got an unexpectedly fun music documentary series followed by a the dramatic story of a Mexican revolutionary.
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+.
Ally McBeal (1997-2002)
Although its impact has been dulled with the passage of time, Ally McBeal was once one of the buzziest TV shows on Fox. David E. Kelley’s legal comedy/drama felt revolutionary for the time, especially when the title character, Ally McBeal (Calista Flockhart), daydreamed herself into some fantasy situations. If you remember the dancing baby — one of the original internet sensations — it came from this show.
Ally is a lawyer at a law firm where she has to work alongside her ex-boyfriend, Billy Allen Thomas (Gil Bellows), and Billy’s wife, Georgia Thomas (Courtney Thorne-Smith). That leads to a lot of unresolved feelings coming out from Ally and Billy. This was also the show where Lucy Liu broke out as Ally’s rival, Ling Woo. But for many fans, the late addition of Robert Downey Jr. — at a critical moment in his career — as Ally’s new love interest, Larry Paul, helped elevate the show.
Watch Ally McBeal on Hulu.
It’s All Country (2024)
Country music is a very American art form, as the first country song was reportedly recorded 100 years ago. To celebrate the long legacy of country, Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning are producing Hulu’s new documentary series, It’s All Country.
In each episode, Bryan takes viewers behind-the-scenes with some of country’s hottest acts — including Luke Combs, Lady A, Wynonna Judd, Kane Brown, Mickey Guyton, and Sheryl Crow — as they share the stories and the life experiences that shaped their music and influenced their voices. Admittedly, this is geared more toward country fans than not. But even if country isn’t your thing, it’s a fascinating look at what drives these musicians.
Watch It’s All Country on Hulu.
Pancho Villa: The Centaur of the North (2023)
Even outside of Mexico, the reputation of the iconic revolutionary Pancho Villa (Jorge A. Jiménez) seems larger than life. But he wasn’t always Pancho Villa, and he didn’t become a revolutionary overnight. Pancho Villa: The Centaur of the North rolls back the clock to when he was simply Doroteo Arango, a young man on the wrong side of the law who rose from obscurity to become the face of the Mexican Revolution.
Villa understood how to craft his own personal mythology and make himself seem like a giant among men. As you might expect, this made him more than a few enemies even among his own side. Yet even a century after his death, Villa’s legend lives on through this series.
Watch Pancho Villa: The Centaur of the North on Hulu.