The Most Underrated TV Shows of All Time

Every so often a new television season launches a sleeper - a show that features quality writing, a great cast, rave reviews, and possibly, an award or two. Yet it fails to gain a foothold in the ratings, or, as is happening more frequently of late, the networks have dwindling patience for a show that doesn't "hit the ground running."

Here are just a few of these shows - my very subjective list, in no particular order - that either should have been given more of a chance before getting shelved, or haven't gotten the recognition they deserve.

1. Gilmore Girls

Despite the downhill slide Gilmore Girls has been experiencing this season due to the departure of original writer and creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, the first six seasons have been stellar. The core of this family-oriented comedy is Lorelai Gilmore, a young single mother, who flees the bonds of her upper-class family to raise her teenaged daughter Rory in a small town in Connecticut. Except it's not always clear who is raising whom, and the bonds of her family are never far away. The show features fun, fast-paced dialogue, and two (among other cast standouts) of the most talented and uncelebrated actresses on television - Lauren Graham as Lorelai and Kelly Bishop as her imperious mother, Emily Gilmore. And watching the development of Lorelai's daughter Rory (the doe-eyed Alexis Bledel) as she navigates through her high school and college years is a joy. But it's a crime (and probably the stigma that other non-cable, non-big-three network shows have experienced) that these women and this show have not once been nominated for a single award.

This is hard to believe, because the show was one of the highest-rated on the former WB network. And harder to believe because retailers can't keep DVD box sets of the first five seasons on the shelves. An eighth season is rumored, and the way the current writers are now ratcheting up the tension on the major plot lines, they might need it.

2. Arrested Development

If the lack of recognition Gilmore Girls receives is a crime, then what happened to Arrested Development is a felony. It won an Emmy. Critics crowed over this dark comedy about the infamous Bluth family, narrated by Ron Howard. Yet Fox kept bouncing it from time slot to time slot and then, finally, didn't see the value in keeping it on at all, despite the urging of its small but vocal fan base. (It ran from November 2, 2003 to February 10, 2006.) Jeffrey Tambor was perfect playing the family's patriarch, white-collar criminal George Bluth, Sr., and his brother Oscar, who was making time with George's wife Lucille (the wonderful Jessica Walter) while George was in prison. Jason Bateman turned out his best role yet as Michael Bluth, the one "good" son who strives to keep his family's business running while trying to teach his son, George Michael, not to end up like the Bluths. Portia de Rossi played Michael's ditzy materialistic sister Lindsay, and by far my favorite character was Will Arnett as Michael's brother Gob (pronounced "Jobe," like that biblical whipping-horse), a wanna-be illusionist whose every trick fails. (Trivia buffs might know that Arnett dated Charlotte in one episode of Sex And The City.)

To quote the chorus of the small but faithful: "Bring it back!"

3. Northern Exposure

In case you missed it, the pilot of this show began with a classic "fish out of water" scenario: Dr. Joel Fleishman (Rob Morrow), fresh from Columbia Medical School (paid for by a scholarship he received from the state of Alaska), thinks he's getting assigned to work in Anchorage but instead is sent to the postage-stamp-sized town of Cicely, to serve as their general practitioner. Joel desperately wants to return to New York, but to do so he must either serve out his term or pay off his scholarship. And since he doesn't have the money, stay he does, whining all the way. As he very reluctantly makes peace with his plight, he and the viewers get to meet the quirky denizens of the town, including cute-as-a-button but hard as nails bush pilot Maggie O'Connell (played by Janine Turner), Chris "Chris in the Morning" Stevens, DJ of the town's only radio station (John Corbett, who would later play Aidan, one of Sarah Jessica Parker's beaux in Sex And The City) and my personal favorite, Ruth-Anne Miller (the late Peg Phillips), proprietress of the town's only store, who was one of the first "older" characters I'd seen on TV who defied the usual stereotypes of the "little old lady." Even though it abounded with award nominations (but won few major awards) CBS ran it for just six seasons (July 12, 1990 to July 26, 1995), most of which are available on DVD.

4. Twin Peaks

Who killed Laura Palmer? Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan, trying to redeem his cred after Dune) wants to know. But unfortunately, nearly everyone in the small, northwestern town of Twin Peaks seems to be guilty. Launched from the imaginations of Mark Frost (who created Hill Street Blues) and filmmaker David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Mullholland Drive), Twin Peaks was dark, twisted, fascinating...and like homecoming queen Laura Palmer, dead and wrapped in plastic after thirty episodes by ABC. It ran from 1990 to 1991 and introduced to the acting world the double threat of Lara Flynn Boyle and Sherilyn Fenn. Kudos to Twin Peaks for giving us the Log Lady and for giving Mod Squad's Peggy Lipton something to do.

5. Once and Again

This show, a thirtysomething for the blended family, centered on almost-divorced mom Lily Manning (played by the beautiful and talented Sela Ward, fresh from Sisters) and the divorced dad (Rick Sammler, played by Bill Campbell) who slowly melds his life with hers. It hit a cultural zeitgeist but despite a Golden Globe for Sela Ward and much critical acclaim, only ran for four seasons. I would have liked to have watched these characters evolve, how Rick and Lily's kids handled the transition as yours and mine become ours (especially Lily's conflicted teen daughter Grace). And I definitely would have liked to watch more of Bill Campbell. At least they all still exist in DVD-land.

6. Freaks and Geeks

Due to its low ratings, NBC aired but twelve episodes (from September 25, 1999 through July 8, 2000) of this nicely-rendered teen dramatic comedy before sending it to Never-Never Land. Even though it was set in a Michigan high school, circa 1980, it could have been about any adolescent experience anytime, anywhere. It was so real I found myself flashing back to the days when I worried about every pimple or whether or not I was wearing the right kind of jeans. The show revolves around the day-to-day conflicts and triumphs of Lindsay and Sam Weir (Linda Cardellini and John Daley), freak and geek siblings (she's the freak; he's the geek). The supporting cast (the Weirs parents and Lindsay and Sam's circle of freaky, geeky friends) was also well acted and developed. A viewer campaign got NBC to film three more episodes, but they were only seen when the show went into syndication on the Fox Family network.

7. Grapevine

I remember stumbling across this tightly-written, fast-paced sitcom set in Miami Beach about a circle of friends and their dating woes. The uniqueness of Grapevine was its intimacy - it dispensed with that "fourth wall" of a typical television show and had the characters talking to the camera, giving brief statements about what "really" happened. This technique was used in some 50s television shows (George Burns employed it, in particular) and in many successful shows that followed Grapevine. But the cancellation of this show was simply ridiculous. Aired as a mid-season replacement that ran for a shameful four weeks (from February 20, 2000 to March 27, 2000), it wasn't even given a chance to find what might have been a very large audience.

8. My So-Called Life

Another very good, very real, critically acclaimed teen drama shelved because it just wasn't understood. It ran for one season on ABC (August 1, 1994 through January 1, 1995). Although the show didn't make it, it helped forward the careers of Claire Danes (painfully real as Angela, the central character) and Jared Leto, who played her crush, Jordan Catalano. Too many questions were left unanswered when these players left the stage, and I would have loved to see the next few acts to see how things turned out.

9. When Things Were Rotten

If you're of "a certain age," you really have to dig deep back into your memory banks (it ran on ABC from September 10, 1975 to December 3, 1975) to recall this Mel Brooks delight. Basically it was Mel doing his thing in Sherwood Forest (I'd argue that Men in Tights was copped from this show). Dick Gautier robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, Playboy Playmate Misty Rowe played Robin Hood's Marion, Dick Van Patten (who would go on to play the befuddled and put-upon father in Eight is Enough.) was Friar Tuck, and Bernie Kopell (remember him from The Love Boat? ) was Alan-A-Dale. I can understand why it didn't make the cut - the networks probably didn't think the always-irreverent Mel was ready for prime time. But it didn't even run long to develop a cult following. Too bad.

10. John Doe

Who is John Doe? A mysterious man (played by the easy-on-the-eyes Dominic Purcell) wakes up naked on an island with total amnesia and a strange-looking scar. He makes his way to Seattle, and slowly discovers that not only does he have psychic abilities but an amazing capacity for trivial information. He becomes a boon to the city's police department, where he whiles away his empty, confused hours helping them solve crimes. He seems to know everything - except his identity. I've included this show mostly for the way in which Fox yanked it at the end of its first season (it ran from September 20, 2002 to April 25, 2003) before we could find out who the heck this guy is. I'm still wondering.