14 TV Shows Under 40 Episodes To Watch

It seems like our attention spans get smaller and smaller. Devoting years of our lives to a TV show isn’t something most people have time for anymore. Thankfully, not every series has to span a decade or feature 20+ episode seasons.

Whether a limited series, miniseries, or series that refuses to overstay its welcome, these shows with under 40 episodes are some of the best television you can watch. By refusing to pad their season count and linger for too long, these shows come in, accomplish what they set out, and leave. Sometimes, it’s better to want more than less.

Barry

Airing on HBO, the black comedy/drama series starring Bill Hader, Stephen Root, and Henry Winkler features four seasons, each with eight episodes. It begins with a larger emphasis on comedy, focusing on a former hitman (Hader) trying to make it as an actor in Los Angeles. He soon discovers he cannot escape his past and has to deal with the consequences and how they affect his business partner (Root) and acting coach (Winkler).

Chernobyl

The five-episode miniseries aired on HBO in 2019 and won several awards, including the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series, Directing, and Writing. It focuses on the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, where an explosion took place at a nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union. Despite knowing what happened and the fallout from the disaster, the miniseries still delivers the tension viewers crave in quality television.

Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin has since moved on to become the co-creator and co-writer of HBO’s The Last of Us series.

Band of Brothers

Another HBO miniseries, this one with ten episodes and based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s 19992 novel of the same name. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks created the series, focusing on the (dramatized) history of “Easy” Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II.

Featuring an extensive ensemble cast, Band of Brothers would win a Primetime Emmy and Golden Glove for Outstanding/Best Miniseries.

Fawlty Towers

Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, the British sitcom aired for 12 brilliant episodes across two seasons, one in 1975 and the other in 1979.

Despite mixed reactions when the series first aired, Fawlty Towers has become one of the most acclaimed British sitcoms ever. The series takes place in the titular Fawlty Towers, a fictional hotel, and focuses on how the staff deals with guests.

Pushing Daisies

A victim of the 2007-08 writer’s strike, Pushing Daisies was a series full of imagination, character, and charm. It focuses on Ned, a pie-maker who can bring people back to the dead with one touch. However, another touch kills them forever.

Ned uses his power to help solve crimes for the reward money alongside his partner, private investigator Emerson Cod. Everything goes smoothly until Ned revives his childhood friend and crush, Charlotte “Chuck” Charles, whom he can never touch again.

Despite receiving an epilogue after the show’s finale, fans are still clamoring for a continuation of the story.

Mindhunter

The Netflix series from David Fincher has a cult following that desperately hopes to see its revival after it was canceled in 2019 after two seasons and 19 episodes.

Featuring the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, Mindhunter features infamous serial killers, including Edmund Kemper, David Berkowitz, and Charles Mason, assisting Agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench as they investigate ongoing cases.

Party Down

Before his breakout role on Parks and Rec, Adam Scott starred in Starz’s cult comedy hit Party Down. Scott was part of an ensemble cast featuring Lizz Caplan, Martin Starr, Jane Lynch, and Ken Marino. Due to the show’s Los Angeles setting, the list of guest actors is just as impressive. The first two seasons aired in 2009 and 2010, with a third airing in 2023.

The show focuses on a group of aspiring writers and actors working for a catering company named Party Down. It goes as well as you could imagine, but that’s one of many reasons why we love this comedy.

Derry Girls

A show I’ve seen get its dues on social media recently, Derry Girls is a British comedy series with 19 episodes airing from 2018 to 2022. Set in 1900s Northern Ireland, the main characters are a group of girls attending a Catholic girls’ secondary school (think middle or high school for us in the States). The series focuses on the over-the-top situations they find themselves in.

Derry Girls has been praised for its unpredictable, absurd, and delightful humor and the brilliant chemistry of its cast.

Deadwood

In the mid-2000s, HBO aired 36 episodes of some of the best television we’ve ever seen. The critically acclaimed and beloved Deadwood finally saw a movie revival in 2019. Set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, the show’s ensemble cast plays real-life Deadwood residents such as Seth Bullock and Al Sweaengen, as well as notorious historical figures such as Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and others.

Deadwood has been praised for its gritty depiction of the Old West. Many critics and fans agree that it’s not just one of the most beloved Westerns of all time but possibly one of the greatest television series ever created.

Spaced

Before making it big as a mainstream director, Edgar Wright created the British sitcom Spaced. Before you ask, yes, it stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, two actors who have frequently collaborated with Wright, most notably in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

The series features two twenty-something slackers posing as young professionals as they make their way through life.

Freaks and Geeks

Network television’s biggest crime was canceling Freaks and Geeks, a show with so much star power that you have to wonder what the NBC executives were thinking. Created by Judd Apatow, Freaks and Geeks stars Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Martin Starr, Samm Levine, John Francis Daley, and Busy Phillips.

The teen comedy focuses on the lives of high schoolers in the early 1980s, highlighting how unfair yet unintentionally funny teen life can be. NBC canceled the show after 12 of the 18 episodes aired. Thankfully, it is available on streaming services.

The IT Crowd

Many people today know Matt Berry for his performance on What We Do In The Shadows. His first breakout role was in The IT Crowd alongside Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, and Katherine Parkinson.

Many view The IT Crowd as a version of The Big Bang Theory targeted to the actual nerd culture the show portrays. The jokes are clever and witty and refuse to be dumbed down for a general audience. It is viewed as a cult classic among nerd culture and helped popularize the question “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” whenever someone has any computer problems.

Fleabag

Created, written by, and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag has quickly become one of the funniest shows of all time. It aired for two seasons, each with six episodes, in 2016 and 2019, respectively.

Fleabag succeeds not just due to Waller-Bridge’s charm but also its clever and inventive comedy. The show would win four Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

The Leftovers

Created by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, The Leftovers deals with the fallout of the “Sudden Departure,” a global event where 2% of the world’s population disappeared. After a successful first season, the second and third seasons are met with universal acclaim, resulting in The Leftovers being regarded as one of the best TV shows ever.