There are so many great movies on Hulu, that it’s easy to overlook the TV selection as well. In the fall season, Hulu gets the all of the shows from Fox and ABC the day after their broadcast premiere. That let’s you sample as many of the new shows on your own time as you like. But in the summer, there just aren’t as many options to watch. So you’ll have to be more discerning about your choices.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of the three underrated shows on Hulu that you need to watch in August. Our first pick is a Hulu original that went largely under the radar last year. Next, we have a short-lived sitcom, followed by a documentary that first made its debut on History over a decade ago.
Black Cake (2023)
Oprah Winfrey produced the adaptation of Charmaine Wilkerson’s novel Black Cake, but it was Marissa Jo Cerar who translated the book to television. The mystery here isn’t about how or why Eleanor Bennett (Chipo Chung) dies in the present, it’s about how she lived. Following Eleanor’s death, her children Byron (Ashley Thomas) and Benny (Adrienne Warren) are given recordings that she made before her passing.
Through these recordings, the narrative shifts to the ’60s as we learn that Eleanor was once known as Covey (Mia Isaac), a young woman from Jamaica whose life was upended by her father. Eleanor kept all of her secrets as Covey until she died, but the revelations of her past will still have an impact on her children in the present.
Watch Black Cake on Hulu.
Not Dead Yet (2023-2024)
ABC may have canceled Not Dead Yet, but like the ghosts on the series itself, it can have a digital afterlife on Hulu despite its short two-season run. Nell Serrano (Gina Rodriguez) isn’t dead, but her journalism career might be after a lengthy hiatus while she was married and living in London. Now that she’s back at the SoCal Independent, Nell is relegated to writing obituaries. And that’s where the ghosts come in.
Either Nell is going crazy or she’s really seeing visions of dead people who have unfinished business on Earth. Sometimes, they help Nell write their obituaries. Other times, they give Nell a much-needed push to work on her own problems.
Watch Not Dead Yet on Hulu.
How Playboy Changed the World (2012)
What images come to mind when you think of Playboy Magazine? The Playboy Bunnies? An elderly Hugh Hefner rocking a smoking jacket? Or all of the naked women who have appeared in centerfolds for decades? The print magazine may be gone, but the brand remains to this day.
History’s documentary How Playboy Changed the World makes the argument that the magazine challenged social norms and helped usher in a sexual revolution. And if you remember the old joke about reading Playboy for the articles, then you may be surprised to learn that the magazine actually ran fiction and nonfiction pieces from some of the most-prominent authors of the era. The magazine has an interesting story, which has been compressed to a feature length documentary for television.
Watch How Playboy Changed the World on Hulu.
