With different media platforms constantly competing for our attention, swaths of great programming can easily slip under the radar. Didn’t go viral? Didn’t get recognized by Oscar? Didn’t have U.S.-sized failure-defying marketing dollars? Doesn’t mean the quality’s not there, to be unearthed with diligent research. Enter my dayjob: I spend a significant amount of my time watching junk (er, researching). Here, a few current suggestions for your viewing pleasure.

Internet
It’s astounding how many people still watch YouTube videos of cute cats or failblog when there are many awesome series online. Two prime examples: the very slick Mortal Kombat: Legacy and Keifer Sutherland’s 10-part The Confession. Still, I like my YouTube raw and edited using scotch tape, which is precisely why I love Epic Meal Time, a “cooking” show best described as Jackass for food lovers. It features a gang of Jack Daniels–loving Montrealers making extraordinary concoctions, from a breakfast sandwich built with 80 Egg McMuffins to the Turbaconepiccentipede — a delight consisting of a quail, a Cornish hen, a chicken, a duck, a pig and a turkey, wrapped in bacon, stuffed inside of one another. Although most would never actually want to eat what these guys make, the show is addictive because you can’t wait to see what insane ideas they will come up with next.

DVD
Rent or buy Passenger Side, directed by Matt Bissonnette and described by L.A. Weekly as the “thinking man’s Judd Apatow flick.” You may not know leading man Adam Scott but a quick Google search will likely prove he’s participated in some hilarious flick, video or series you’ve seen (Parks and Recreation and Step Brothers, to name but two). He’s got charm and comedic chops to spare, and shows them both off in this Canuck film set in Los Angeles. Passenger Side is about the strained relationship between two brothers who drive around the city on a series of odd errands. They share honesty, lies and some fun little adventures. The film won’t change your life, but you’ll be asking yourself why you didn’t hear about it or what took you so long to watch it.

TV
Watch this series before it gets cancelled: Michael: Tuesday and Thursdays is the sort of thing Woody Allen would make if he did TV. It also happens to be one of the bravest shows CBC has put into production: It’s not broadly funny like Corner Gas, nor a sketch comedy like Kids in the Hall, nor cheesy like, well, other Canadian TV programming. (Note: I’m only talking comedies, here. CBC makes some damn good dramas, such as Republic of Doyle.) MTandT is about a guy with some major personality issues who sees a shrink, you guessed it, twice a week. This shrink sees another shrink to talk about his problems. The neuroses (yes, plural) of the week, the underdog nature of the leads and the quiet, witty dialogue make this a show critics love and audiences need to find. Besides, watching from the comfort of your own couch might save you the bucks and disclosure involved in seeing your own psychiatrist.

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Image courtesy of Luke Hayfield Photography.