10 TV Shows That Demand Your Attention From Start to Finish

There are a lot of great television shows out there, some that you can watch more casually and others that require your full attention. Instead of putting these shows on in the background, they need to be watched with a great deal of attention due to intricate details and background clues or jokes.

Whether it be for a binge-watch or over a longer period of time, these shows are great watches for fans of continuity, foreshadowing, and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it details. These television shows are the 10 best ones to watch when you are ready to commit to giving a show your full attention.

10 ‘Barry’ (2018-2023)

3 Seasons

Barry was a fast-paced and well-written dark comedy about a hitman who developed a love for acting. The show was incredibly smart with its writing, throwing in intricate details, foreshadowing, and storylines that mirrored iconic literature. There was so much thought put into each plot line that viewers had to pay a great deal of attention in order to really appreciate it.

Additionally, Barry‘s fast pace required viewers to pay attention, especially in its later seasons. So many of the characters’ shocking decisions later on would have made no sense for viewers who had not been paying attention. These include Hank betraying Cristobal, Sally choosing to live off the grid with Barry, and Gene losing everything just for revenge.

6 Seasons

While some sitcoms can be watched in the background, Community was never one of them. The show’s jokes were intricate, well-thought-out, and sometimes even expanding over multiple episodes. There was the iconic Beetlejuice bit, where on the third mention of Beetlejuice, someone dressed like Beetlejuice appeared in the background.

Another great bit was Abed only appearing in the background of one episode, eventually delivering a baby in the background, and then revealing in a much later episode that he had helped deliver a baby. The show was always multiple steps ahead with its jokes, piling on and weaving them throughout.

8 ‘Jane the Virgin’ (2014-2019)

5 Seasons

Jane the Virgin was a decades-long story that started with Jane Villanueva accidentally being artificially inseminated. The show went on to have many complex and interesting story arcs, from Jane’s love life to her family to the underground crime scene at The Marbella. The show required viewers to pay attention because it always had so much going on.

Additionally, the show’s narrator frequently dropped important details, from notable aspects of each character to crucial pieces of foreshadowing. The narrator foreshadowed many crucial details and even a major character’s death.

Watch on Netflix

7 ‘Pushing Daisies’ (2007-2009)

2 Seasons

In just two seasons, Pushing Daisies made quite an impact with its dreamy fairytale setting, interesting characters, and compelling mysteries. While hiding his secret ability to wake the dead with a touch, Ned solved crimes and reconnected with his alive-again childhood sweetheart.

Pushing Daisies required a close watch to guess the murder mysteries and to really understand each character and their motivation. Additionally, the world and its backstories were so complex and well thought out that viewers had to pay attention to each and every detail so as not to miss something.

Watch on Max

6 ‘Ugly Betty’ (2006-2010)

4 Seasons

Ugly Betty was truly one of the most fast-paced TV shows. In just half a season, it would switch everything up with new professional goals for Betty, new love interests, secret relatives, and life-and-death stakes. Ugly Betty demanded your attention because looking away from even one scene could make viewers miss something crucial.

From Wilhelmina Slater’s carefully thought-out schemes to the constant drama of the Meade family and Mode Magazine, there was always so much going on in each plot line. There were deaths of beloved characters, fake deaths, disturbing insemination schemes, and even a very weird cult.

Watch on Netflix

5 ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ (2015-2019)

4 Seasons

From the very beginning of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, it was clear that this story was going somewhere. Every single detail mattered, from throw-away lines in the songs, to little moments here and there. Each piece of Rebecca’s backstory made so much sense for her character, from her college musical to the big reveal about Robert.

Additionally, the show regularly balanced between suspense and comedy, making it impossible to look away for fear of missing a joke or tense moment.The songs were extremely clever and well-thought-out, and each character’s backstories were clearly planned out before they even went onscreen.

4 ‘Galavant’ (2015-2016)

2 Seasons

Galavant is truly one of the most underrated TV shows of all time, with its great setting, hilarious musical numbers, and incredibly smart writing. The musical fairytale comedy followed a knight named Galavant who went on a quest to save his true love, except, of course, nothing was as it seemed.

The show forced viewers to pay attention in order to catch clever and thoughtful jokes and to understand its characters. Galavant had phenomenal character development for all of its characters, especially its original villain, King Richard. The development, character motivation, and eventual backstory would not have made sense if viewers did not pay close attention.

3 ‘The Good Place’ (2016-2020)

4 Seasons

The Good Place was truly a one-of-a-kind sitcom, not just for its premise but also for how it regularly subverted and upended this premise with iconic twists. The show required a great deal of attention in order to really understand it. For example, when Janet was replaced with a Bad Janet for a significant part of Season 4, it was hinted at through subtle clues.

Even the massive Season 1 finale plot twist was foreshadowed. Through certain details, such as Michael kicking the dog, and Jason’s miscategorization in The Good Place, fans could start to guess that there was something up. The show was very careful and intentional with each detail.

2 ‘How I Met Your Mother’ (2005-2014)

Through both its future narration and past stories, How I Met Your Mother always demanded the viewers’ attention. There were constant clues and details that hinted at the future but could easily be missed. The mother’s name was first revealed during a throwaway joke in Season 1, and her death was foreshadowed by moments in Seasons 8 and 9.

Many of the show’s big moments were hinted at ahead of time. The flash-forward in “Single Stamina” revealed Ted and Robin’s breakup way before it happened. There was also the purple and yellow color theory, all of the rules and how they were proven to be true, and the thread of how Tracy was connected to Ted’s life before they ever met.

1 ‘BoJack Horseman’ (2014-2020)

6 Seasons

There is no television show that rewards attention to detail quite like BoJack Horseman. The animated dark comedy series started as a seemingly simple comedy show that followed the life of a washed-up sitcom star, BoJack Horseman. It soon became something really phenomenal, asking questions about the human (animal) condition and using BoJack to contemplate morality.

The show was very precise with details, and not just with the amazing comedic lines and background gags. It planted seeds from the beginning that foreshadowed things like Sarah Lynn’s death, BoJack dealing with the consequences of his actions, and how BoJack’s relationships would turn out. It hinted at characters’ backstories and delivered on these with heartbreaking flashback episodes.

NEXT: 13 TV Dramas That Are Perfect From Start to Finish