Common Side Effects
Shares rank 39 of 60 TV series by recommenders
Recommended as a brilliant, highly watchable series mixing crime, magic mushrooms and corporate intrigue, though one viewer found it hard to get into.
Recommended as a brilliant, highly watchable series mixing crime, magic mushrooms and corporate intrigue, though one viewer found it hard to get into.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 82%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Crime, magic mushrooms, corporate intrigue plot
“cops, robbers, magic mushrooms, corporate bad guys and the cure for everything.”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Halt and Catch Fire: TV's Best Drama You've Probably Never Heard Of (2021)” “cops, robbers, magic mushrooms, corporate bad guys and the cure for everything”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Halt and Catch Fire: TV's Best Drama You've Probably Never Heard Of (2021)” Praised as brilliant and great
“Absolutely brilliant show. Highly recommend it to anyone.”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Mushroom behind 'tiny people' hallucinations identified” “I thought Common Side Effects was great”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Mushroom behind 'tiny people' hallucinations identified”
Other TV series people recommend
The four most recommended other TV series, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halt and Catch Fire | 166 | 20 | 89% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Babylon 5 | 86 | 21 | 80% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Silicon Valley (TV series) | 52 | 1 | 98% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Andor | 52 | 5 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Common Side EffectsThis page | 9 | 2 | 82% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I thought Common Side Effects was great”
“Absolutely brilliant show. Highly recommend it to anyone.”
“I also enjoyed the more recent Common Side Effects”
“cops, robbers, magic mushrooms, corporate bad guys and the cure for everything”
“I couldn't get into Common Side Effects.”
“cops, robbers, magic mushrooms, corporate bad guys and the cure for everything.”
“a really good series that feels more like watching a feature film”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.