20 TV Shows That Were Impressive Despite Being Small in Scope, Scale or Budget

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20 TV Shows That Were Impressive Despite Being Small in Scope, Scale or Budget

No, we’re not talking about Nick Jr. shows about baby dragons, although those are legit, too. What we mean by “tiny scales” is a limitation, either by necessity or sheer madness, of setting, budget, or both. A series that takes place all in one room, for example, or uses clever tricks to avoid spending money. You ever see that episode of Cheers where Carla’s son lights Frasier’s shoes on fire but they don’t bother with any special effects or even a smoke machine because it’s all happening unseen under a table? Stuff like that. Hey, Cheers was mostly shot on one set, too. Basically, we’re talking about Cheers.

Or rather, Redditor Outside-Swing-3486 is talking about Cheers, they just don’t know it. “I’m talking about stuff where there aren’t massive battles like GoT or Vikings or big lavish sets like The Crown,” they wrote. For example, they praised I, Claudius for “being made with outstanding writing and some of the best actors who ever lived, despite using obvious tricks to keep the budget down (like not actually showing the gladiator battles or using small, restrained sets).” 

To get a few more ideas, they asked r/Television, “What are some shows that impressed you despite being small in scope, scale, or budget?” and Reddit was happy to send them their way.

Schitt’s Creek

Severance

Rectify

The Bear

Over the Garden Wall

Warehouse 13

Spaced

The Booth at the End

Detectorists

Killjoys

Jury Duty

Sharpe

Kingdom

High Maintenance

Blake’s 7

Good Behavior

Travelers

Brand New Cherry Flavor

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