Underrated TV shows

[China Rider]

as an 11 year old i liked the show that starred grown-up fred savage, 'working'(1997-1999)

not sure how i would feel about it today

 

[sarcophagus.heels]

In the category of shows that were cancelled way too early...
A bit of a throwback, but My So-Called Life was such an incredible show! It's a tragedy that they cancelled it after only one season.
Dead Like Me remains one of my favorite series - great concept, smart, well-written, and funny as hell.
United States of Tara! I know so few people that watched it, but I really loved that show. Granted, it wasn't very good towards the end, but I'll give them some slack because they were suddenly notified that the show wasn't being renewed, so they kind of had to rush into a series ending.

Community! How has no one mentioned Community? IMHO, it's the smartest and funniest show currently running on television. Come on, they had an episode called "Remedial Chaos Theory" where after making a decision after rolling a die, the show followed every possible timeline to each conclusion. It was genius, and fucking hysterical.

 

['medicine cabinet']

King of the hill - Never really seemed to get much mainstream attention, such a great show/. i know there is a thread on it in film and tv.

the critic- show on fox a long time ago, cartoon voiced by jon lovitz. realy funny stuff. wouldnt make much sense these days as it had a lot of movie parodies from back in the mid 90s

 

[XThexXTank]

Jersey Shore. Nobody seems to like it but its fuckin awesome

 

[ForEverAfter]

I always thought Upright Citizen's Brigade deserved a bigger following. As far as skit shows go, it is one of the best. Whenever I encounter someone who likes U.C.B, I add them to my list of people I will spare when I go on my killing spree.

Community! How has no one mentioned Community?

Everybody loves it. It's not underrated, critically or otherwise. It is one of the most popular shows on television.

Jersey Shore. Nobody seems to like it but its fuckin awesome

No. It's not. It's a incestuous abortion. The first time I saw it, I had a mini-stroke.

 

[sarcophagus.heels]

Everybody loves it. It's not underrated, critically or otherwise. It is one of the most popular shows on television.

It's certainly not critically underrated, but it's no where near the most popular show on television. I was on hiatus and in danger of being cancelled until the internet had a collective seizure over it. The ratings for the show had been pretty bad. Probably because the only people watching it are in the generation that doesn't buy cable. As Dan Harmon said, "it was a terrible business decision to write a show for the 'smart and nice' demographic. I may as well have written for three-legged unicorns.”

Jersey Shore, however, is one of the most popular shows on television, which makes my brain ache every time I think about it

 

[AmorRoark]

You mean don't own TVs at all right? Community is on basic TV - NBC.

 

[ForEverAfter]

It's certainly not critically underrated, but it's no where near the most popular show on television. I was on hiatus and in danger of being cancelled until the internet had a collective seizure over it. The ratings for the show had been pretty bad.

The internet seizure occurred during a planned hiatus, to make room for the cast and crew's other commitments. NBC never had any intention, whatsoever, of cancelling the show mid-season. The ratings have been solid throughout the entire season, ranging from just under 5 million to almost 8 million viewers. When I said "it is one of the most popular shows on television," however, I wasn't referring to statistics. Community is one of the most popular shows on television among people with taste; I exclude the Jersey Shore demographic from my observations, just as I excuse the opinions of weasels and vampire bats.

As for not owning TV and not having access to shows, I haven't watched a televised program for at least five years. My aerial is not plugged in. Even if you don't have cable, or a TV, there is still Community. For people who are capable of opening boxes of cereal without observing the instructional "open here" diagrams, non-weasels, non-vampire bats, and people who own either a computer or a television: there really is no excuse.

 

[coelophysis]

Mr. Show with Bob & David
I've been watching the 4 seasons of it constantly since 8th grade. I really wish they had made more.

 

[hiphophippy]

samurai mother fucking jack

 

[shimazu]

Jersey Shore was ridiculously popular for the first two seasons not sure how you would say otherwise. And my motto for Jersey has always been North Jersey is on New Yorks dick, South Jersey is on Phillys dick, and Central Jersey is just weird. Not to mention every shitty driver I see in PA is usually from Jersey.

anywho, Superjail! has got to be one of the most underrated cartoons ever. A bit graphic, but still pretty funny and trippy at the same time.

 

[MrGrunge]

Mr. Show with Bob & David
I've been watching the 4 seasons of it constantly since 8th grade. I really wish they had made more.

Right on - Mr. Show rules. I wish David Cross would have kept himself busy with more stuff like Mr. Show instead of participating in that Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. (Although Todd Margaret is pretty funny too)

 

[sarcophagus.heels]

The internet seizure occurred during a planned hiatus, to make room for the cast and crew's other commitments. NBC never had any intention, whatsoever, of cancelling the show mid-season. The ratings have been solid throughout the entire season, ranging from just under 5 million to almost 8 million viewers. When I said "it is one of the most popular shows on television," however, I wasn't referring to statistics. Community is one of the most popular shows on television among people with taste; I exclude the Jersey Shore demographic from my observations, just as I excuse the opinions of weasels and vampire bats.

As for not owning TV and not having access to shows, I haven't watched a televised program for at least five years. My aerial is not plugged in. Even if you don't have cable, or a TV, there is still Community. For people who are capable of opening boxes of cereal without observing the instructional "open here" diagrams, non-weasels, non-vampire bats, and people who own either a computer or a television: there really is no excuse.

Eh, you're right that cancellation mid-season wasn't a fear, but judging by the reaction of the cast and Dan Harmon when NBC announced their spring schedule, it was not anticipated on their part. And I guess I'm biased because the only people I know that watch the show are friends at my college - with a few exceptions, no one that I know from high school who's going to one of the state colleges or community college has seen the show, and a lot of them don't even know the show exists. I've been trying to sell the show so hard to a lot of my old friends :/

Ha, I haven't had cable in three years...I have a computer, and an Xbox with Netflix - absolutely no need to throw money at the cable companies.

Mr. Show with Bob & David
I've been watching the 4 seasons of it constantly since 8th grade. I really wish they had made more.

Ahh, how could I forget Mr. Show! So brilliant.

 

[alasdairm]

Mr. Show with Bob & David
I've been watching the 4 seasons of it constantly since 8th grade. I really wish they had made more.

i don't think mr. show is under-rated at all. i would say the general consensus is that it was surreal, intelligent, laugh-out-loud, inventive, incredible comedy.

underexposed? sure. under-rated? definitely not.

alasdair

 

[Offtheastro]

The Wire - Probably one of my favorite shows but never got the respect it deserved.

The Whitest Kids U Know - Sketch comedy team. Ran for 5 seasons on IFC. Besides some of the more silly, raunchy, and benign stuff, they had some really clever ideas and solid acting which puts other late night sketch comedy to shame

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - It's gotten more attention lately however with the re-runs on Comedy Central

King Of The Hill - Most people I know could never really appreciate the classic subtleties of the show

 

[coelophysis]

i don't think mr. show is under-rated at all. i would say the general consensus is that it was surreal, intelligent, laugh-out-loud, inventive, incredible comedy.

underexposed? sure. under-rated? definitely not.

alasdair

It's purely an assumption as I don't follow ratings of success. I figured a show that only made it to a 4th season would have to be underrated.

 

[alasdairm]

some of the most acclaimed uk comedy series had far shorter runs than that. fawlty towers had only 2 series with a total of 12 episodes; the uk office had only 2 series and an xmas special with a total of 14 episodes.

sometimes, you make something even greater by killing it off after only a couple of seasons at the height of its greatness instead of letting it limp on for 10, 11, 12 seasons...

alasdair

 

[alasdairm]

The Wire - Probably one of my favorite shows but never got the respect it deserved.

you've got to be joking?

the wire is one of the most critically acclaimed tv shows. ever.

the shortest, briefest, least scientific search on the internet will confirm that the wire received a huge amount of respect from critics, peers and the public.

you can say a lot of things about the wire - again, underexposed perhaps - but underrated or lacking respect? not at all.

alasdair

 

[CoffeeDrinker]

I think Psyche is hilarious yet USA seems to insist on running law and order well over 80% of the time. I guess it's not all bad because I can't seem to pull away when Psyche's on, but during a Law and Order marathon I'm at my most productive.

 

[ForEverAfter]

sometimes, you make something even greater by killing it off after only a couple of seasons at the height of its greatness instead of letting it limp on for 10, 11, 12 seasons...

If Jim Morrison was alive today he would be fat and drug-fucked like a mix between old Elvis and Ozzy Osbourne.