Best Offbeat Movies & TV Shows

A stand-up comedian and his three offbeat friends weather the pitfalls and payoffs of life in New York City in the '90s. It's a show about nothing.

Fran, fresh out of her job as a bridal consultant in her boyfriend’s shop, first appears on the doorstep of Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield peddling cosmetics, and quickly stumbled upon the opportunity to become The Nanny for his three children. But soon Fran, with her offbeat nurturing and no-nonsense honesty, touches Maxwell as well as the kids.

James is 17 and is pretty sure he is a psychopath. Alyssa, also 17, is the cool and moody new girl at school. The pair make a connection and she persuades him to embark on a darkly comedic road trip in search of her real father.

Offbeat comic James Acaster covers the strange, the mundane and everything in between in this collection of four wide-ranging stand-up specials.

An offbeat, irreverent musical documentary that tells the story of a group of Jewish songwriters, including Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, Gloria Shayne Baker and Johnny Marks, who wrote the soundtrack to Christianity’s most musical holiday. It’s an amazing tale of immigrant outsiders who became irreplaceable players in pop culture’s mainstream – a generation of songwriters who found in Christmas the perfect holiday in which to imagine a better world, and for at least one day a year, make us believe.

A security consultant hunts for a ruthless assassin. Equally obsessed with each other, they go head to head in an epic game of cat-and-mouse.

Richie Richard (socially awkward, sexually inexperienced) and Eddie Hitler (carefree alcoholic ) are two social outcasts living on the dole. Trapped together in a squalid flat in Hammersmith, London they are perpetually skint, bored and sexually frustrated. They spend their days scheming, bickering, and being nasty and sadistic to each other.

Complex, offbeat Detective Charlie Crews returns to the force after serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Crews’ new lease on life has provided him with a Zen-like outlook, peace of mind and no need for vengeance, an attitude which can be challenging to maintain when someone he cares about is threatened — or when he is investigating the mystery surrounding the murder he was falsely accused of.

Ted, a successful but morally conscious man, runs a research and development department at a morally questionable corporation, Veridian Technologies. No achievement is too far fetched and no invention too unorthodox for Veridian. Ted loves his seemingly perfect job; he loves his superhuman boss, Veronica, and colleagues Lem, Phil and Linda, but he's starting to take a closer look at the company's extremely questionable practices... especially when they try to cryogenically freeze one of Ted's scientists for testing purposes.

Offbeat documentarian Chris Smith provides a behind-the-scenes look at how Jim Carrey adopted the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon.

This offbeat dark comedy take place when four friends have a backyard bar-b-q and decide to come up on some bud. Not knowing where to turn, because the streets have been dry for a few months, they end up scoring from the son of a over protective mob figure by the name of Fredrico, who vows, if anything should happen to his son, their will be hell to pay. After a tragic accident, the four friends are on the run with only one person to turn to, Krego, Brisco's long time friend. Krego confirms to them, Fredrico is a very powerful man, and there is no escaping his fury. Their only option is to change their appearance through underground plastic surgery, which would take them on a five hundred mile road trip. Along the way, they will have to avoid Fredrico's beautiful assassin, Venus, and other unsavory characters, leaving them to ponder the question, was it just dumb luck, or was it the bud?

Felix the Cat follows the offbeat adventures of that curious feline, Felix. Although he was quickly overshadowed by Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, America's favorite cat still remains a classic.

Nadia keeps dying and reliving her 36th birthday party. She's trapped in a surreal time loop -- and staring down the barrel of her own mortality.

Jessica Day is an offbeat and adorable girl in her late 20s who, after a bad breakup, moves in with three single guys. Goofy, positive, vulnerable and honest to a fault, Jess has faith in people, even when she shouldn't. Although she's dorky and awkward, she's comfortable in her own skin. More prone to friendships with women, she's not used to hanging with the boys—especially at home.

The offbeat adventures of 10-year-old Cricket Green, a mischievous and optimistic country boy who moves to the big city with his wildly out of place family – older sister Tilly, father Bill and Gramma Alice.

Set in the dark heart of Victorian London, Detective Inspector Rabbit is a hardened booze-hound who's seen it all. Rabbit's been chasing bad guys for as long as he can remember, but these days his heart keeps stopping at inopportune moments.

The offbeat cast and crew of a sports news show deal with professional, personal, and ethical challenges while functioning in a pressure-cooker work environment.

Welcome to the world of Cardinal Burns, the E4 comedy series in which Seb Cardinal and Dustin Demri-Burns invite us into their surreal and offbeat minds, and unleash a cast of uniquely funny characters.

Tony Scali is a former Brooklyn cop now the Police Commissioner of a small upstate city. But for Scali, this is no desk job. He's a tough yet compassionate boss, a loving husband and father, and a hands-on law enforcer with an unorthodox style of bending the rules. From parenthood to politics, from sex crimes to murder cases, one man takes it day-to-day with offbeat humor and street- smart skill.

truTV Presents: World's Dumbest... is a cable television series produced by Meetinghouse Productions, Inc. and is airing on truTV. Originally known as World's Dumbest Criminals, it is a weekly countdown that takes a comedic look at 20 half-witted and offbeat events caught on camera and sometimes by 911 dispatchers. These events are now broken down into topics such as Criminals, Drivers, Daredevils, Partiers, etc. and features commentary from B to C-list comedians and writers such as Jared Logan, Chris Fairbanks, Kevin McCaffrey, Jaime Andrews, Brendon Walsh, Ted Jessup, Brad Loekle, Daisy Gardner, Billy Kimball, Mike Trainor, John Enos, Jamie Lee, Rachel Feinstein, Mike O'Gorman, Amanda Landry, and Gilbert Gottfried. Because the series' original focus was on criminals bungling their acts of crime, commentary used to rely heavily on celebrities who have been known for their own past brushes with the law, including Danny Bonaduce, Leif Garrett, Tonya Harding, Todd Bridges, Daniel Baldwin, and Gary Busey. Often times, and when video clips have no audio track, sound effects and mock commentators are added to enhance the humor of the events.

Bill Nye the Science Guy is an educational television program that originally aired from September 10, 1993 to June 20, 1998, hosted by William "Bill" Nye and produced by Buena Vista Television. The show aired on PBS Kids and was also syndicated to local stations. Each of the 100 episodes aims to teach a specific topic in science to a preteen audience. The show is frequently used in schools as an education medium, and it still airs on some PBS stations for this reason. Created by comedian Ross Shafer and based on sketches on KING-TV's sketch program Almost Live!, Bill Nye the Science Guy was produced by Disney Educational Productions and KCTS-TV of Seattle. Bill Nye the Science Guy won nineteen Emmy Awards during its run.

A single-camera half-hour comedy based on what Maria Bamford has accepted to be "her life." It's the sometimes surreal story of a woman who loses — and then finds — her s**t.

When a struggling comedian shows one act of kindness to a vulnerable woman, it sparks a suffocating obsession which threatens to wreck both their lives.

Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

Offbeat Civil War drama in which a wounded Yankee soldier, after finding refuge in an isolated girls' school in the South towards the end of the war, becomes the object of the young women's sexual fantasies. The soldier manipulates the situation for his own gratification, but when he refuses to completely comply with the girls' wishes, they make it very difficult for him to leave.

Kevin Delaney leaves his lab behind to hit the streets for experiments that are so unusual, offbeat, and so unexpected they will blow your mind.

An offbeat, pseudo modern-day fable of one deranged animal and his even more deranged roommates. Pickle the adrenaline-junkie bunny, Merl the safety-conscious squirrel, and Gull the loving seagull find themselves in ridiculously dangerous and always hilarious situations whenever they try to go about their daily life.

Dr. Mark Sloan is a good-natured, offbeat physician who is called upon to solve murders.

A middle-aged man recently ditched by his long-term girlfriend, ‘Karl’ lives with his elderly Auntie and his closest companion is his doppelgänger alter ego.

There is no such thing as an ordinary interaction in this offbeat sketch comedy series that features a deep roster of guest stars.

Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.

Aladdin is an animated television series made by Walt Disney Television which aired from 1994 to 1995, based on the original 1992 feature. It was animated at the Slightly Offbeat Productions Studios in Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. Coming on the heels of the direct-to-video sequel The Return of Jafar, the series picked up where that installment left off, with Aladdin now living in the palace, engaged to beautiful and spunky Princess Jasmine. "Al" and Jasmine went together into peril among sorcerers, monsters, thieves, and more. Monkey sidekick Abu, the animated Magic Carpet, and the fast-talking, shape-shifting Genie came along to help, as did sassy, complaining parrot Iago, formerly Jafar’s pet but now an antihero. Jafar, having previously been destroyed in the second movie, returns in only one episode which also serves as a crossover with Hercules: The Animated Series.

A hit man named Kai flies into Bangkok, gets a gun, and orders a cab. He offers a professional female driver big money to be his all-night driver. But when she realizes Kai is committing brutal murders at each stop, it's too late to walk away. Meanwhile, an offbeat police detective races to decode the string of slayings before more blood is spilled.

An offbeat observation of refugees waiting to be granted asylum on a fictional remote Scottish island. It focuses on Omar, a young Syrian musician who is burdened by the weight of his grandfather’s oud, which he has carried all the way from his homeland.

Bang Bang - It's Reeves and Mortimer continues the anarchic and surreal blend of offbeat comedy that has made the duo so popular. The series is arguably a continuation of The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, although a number of new characters were added. There's also a spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary about Baron's Night Club – a clear precursor to Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights . The high-voiced Stott brothers--who appeared in Vic Reeves Big Night Out --return to terrorise celebrities. The show capitalised on the duo's success with the spoof game show Shooting Stars and brought in a darker edge to their humour.

A Hispanic family find hope in their extraordinary son named Sailboat when a personal gesture awakens a global desire. Armed with a "little guitar", Sailboat leads an offbeat cast into the miraculous story of the greatest secret never told.

A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.

This comedy drama series featured Terry McCann, a former boxer with a conviction for G.B.H., and Arthur Daley, a second-hand car dealer with an eye for a nice little earner. Alongside his many business ventures, Arthur would regularly hire Terry out as a minder or bodyguard, later replaced by nephew, Ray Daley.

On Christmas Eve, snowplow driver Leo races to clear the streets of Montreal and complete his holiday shopping in time for midnight Mass. The feature directorial debut of celebrated filmmaker Gilles Carle (The Death of a Lumberjack), The Merry World of Leopold Z is an offbeat holiday treat that builds to a disarmingly resonant conclusion.

Still grieving over the loss of his wife, widowed lawyer Jim Crawford (Michael Flynn) discovers a pack of orphaned wolf cubs who face certain death unless he takes them in. Unprepared for the task, but unwilling to see them suffer, he takes them into his care and keeping...with the help of an offbeat angel. It is a daunting task with unintended...sometimes hilarious consequences. As the wolf cubs grow, so does Jim's love for them. But wolves are creatures of the wild, and Jim is faced with the excruciating decision to return his companions from whence they came. When a greedy real estate developer (David Nibley) plans threaten the wolves survival, Jim must protect them in their natural habitat...and in the courtroom. Friends For Life is a heartwarming 3D adventure appropriate for all ages

Ian McKay and his best friend Shinky are two young punks searching for their great destinies in the back alleys of Calgary Alberta, circa 1980. Together, these friends will face down cowboys and oilmen, hockey goons and movie snobs, odd-jobbers and hairdressers… and through it all they’ll find a way to grow up without selling out. With the help of Ian’s flawed, but loving family (father Lloyd, mom Helen, and his outrageously outgoing sister Belinda), Ian and Shinky find new opportunities to blow minds every week, exporting their special brand of offbeat revolution for the 80’s – seeking out love and working to change the world, one young drunk punk at a time.

Funland is a comedy thriller serial, produced by the BBC, about a detective who arrives in Blackpool to find the killer of his mother with only the flimsiest of clues to go on. It was first screened from 23 October 2005 to 7 November 2005, on the digital channel BBC Three. Created by Jeremy Dyson and Simon Ashdown, the series consists of a fifty-minute opening episode followed by ten half-hour installments.

In a series of savage, often offbeat, comedic sketches, Like Me! illustrates the myriad facets—emotions, friendships and sex lives—of the Millennial generation. A mixed bag of absurd send-ups, laser-sharp observations and raw dialogue, the show explores a world where relationships are disposable, sentiment is recyclable, and pleasure is marketable.

A husband-and-wife team play detective, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, the happy duo helps others solve their existential issues, the kind that keep you up at night, wondering what it all means.

That Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier in the 1960s.

After feeling he has nothing left to live for on earth, a lonely geologist tries to qualify for a one-way mission to Mars with the help of an offbeat musician who is just as lost as he is.

An action/comedy about two offbeat filmmakers reuniting the Asian bad guys from action films from the 80s and 90s, to carry off one impossible mission.

Flame of the West has always attracted more attention than most of Johnny Mack Brown's Monogram westerns, if for no other reason than the offbeat casting of Douglass Dumbrille. Usually seen in villainous roles, Dumbrille herein offers a sincere, effective performance as a scrupulously honest US marshal named Nightlander. When he takes on a gang of crooked gamblers, Nightlander is shot down in cold blood, compelling frontier doctor John Poole (Johnny Mack Brown) to put his Hippocratic oath on the back burner and strap on the shootin' irons.

Also released as Montana Mike, Heaven Only Knows is an offbeat western with fantasy overtones. Hard-bitten gambling boss Brian Donlevy rules his frontier community with brawn and bullets. To his dismay, Donlevy discovers that he has a guardian angel (Robert Cummings), who shows up in the guise of an Eastern tenderfoot. The angel has been sent from Above to save Donlevy's soul, and to that end encourages the one-time villain to squire a minister's daughter (Jorja Curtwright) rather than his usual dance-hall girls. Donlevy is also given tips on winning against his enemies without resorting to gunplay. The gambler finally redeems himself with Heaven by rescuing the angel from a lynch mob (how can you lynch an angel?) Heaven Only Knows deserves an "E" for Effort for bringing a fresh twist to the venerable western genre.

Lily is a twenty-something aspiring writer who receives an invitation to attend a wedding reception with Jonathan, a handsome entomologist who also happens to be the man of her dreams. The only problem is that she's in San Francisco and the wedding is in L.A. Lily is therefore forced to enlist the aid of her friend Frances, an unrepentant party girl who has the L.A. nightclub scene wired. Their plans are completely derailed when they inadvertently lose the all important wedding invitation. This sets in motion an evening full of near misses with Jonathan, and thrusts Lily and Frances into a swarm of offbeat encounters with the underground Hollywood crowd. Off they go from club to club, from party to party and from boy to boy in an effort to find the wedding reception.