1. The Outer Limits

This anthology series featured episodes that covered the gamut from sci-fi to horror, and it became notorious for scaring the crap out of viewers. The special effects and makeup was truly disturbing, and each episode found new ways to indulge in the weirdest of ideas. 

2. The Interception

This Russian game show had one simple premise – the contestant would be given a car by the producers, who would then inform the police that it was stolen. If the contestant could dodge the cops for 35 minutes, they would win the car. If they got caught however, they’d get some very real kicks to the ribs. 

3. My Strange Addiction

Many of you might have watched this show at some point in time, and it’s stuck around in our brains because it involved people who were addicted to everything from eating the ash remains of their dead husband to a woman who was addicted to eating dirty diapers. 

4. Off The Air

This anthology series from Adult swim simply displays a collection of surreal animations and video clips without any explanation or narration – just strange music, bizarre imagery, striking visuals. It’s truly like a psychedelic trip that’s held together by a thin string of a theme, but the show is still very popular.

5. The Mighty Boosh

Perhaps the most ‘mainstream’ of the shows on this list (and that’s really stretching it), this show features the off-kilter genius of Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. The show is a surreal comic fantasy featuring strange sketches, bizarre musical numbers, and a sense of humour that that’s pretty damn alien.

6. Penitents Compete

This was a Turkish reality TV show in which a Jewish rabbi, a Buddhist monk, an Orthodox priest, and a Muslim imam would sit down with a group of 10 atheists every week, and attempt to convert them to their religion. Those persuaded would be rewarded with a pilgrimage to the spiritual home of their new religion – Mecca for Muslims, Jerusalem for Christians and Jews, and Tibet for Buddhists.

7. Sperm Race

This German reality show took things pretty damn literally. The basic premise was that 12 male contestants would donate their sperm to a lab, after which would doctors observe the ‘seed’ race towards an egg. The owner of the fastest sperm that got there first would win a red Porsche.

8. Rabbits

The godfather of weird, David Lynch himself directed this ‘sitcom’, in his own words. It’s more like a horror show however, featuring three humanoid rabbits in their living room having bizarre conversations that are interrupted with a laugh track at completely inappropriate moments. 

9. Cop Rock

You might have noticed John Oliver feature this show on one of his infamous rants recently, and it’s wholly deserving of one. This musical TV drama even had a song about selling children, so it’s not much of a surprise that it became a cult classic over the years, even if it was a commercial failure at the time. Like I said, people love weird shit. 

10. Candy Or Not Candy

Of course, Japanese TV had to be on here. In fact, the entire article could have been just one big compilation of insane TV shows from Japan, but the psychological recovery time from that would be too much. This show involved contestants biting into random objects to see if they’re actually chocolate. If they were lucky, the the object they bit into was actually delicious chocolate. Other times, it would be a shoe.

How’s that for freaky?!