10 Underrated Television Comedies
ABC
The best television comedies of all time have basically been decided by the gods of Variety, Slate, The AV Club, and Ranker, so I won’t try to undermine their wisdom on the subject. What I do want to turn your attention to, is the fact that sometimes the weird little quirky comedies of yore have not, and do not, get the respect they deserve. Whether they withstood six or more seasons, or were cancelled after only 13 episodes, these comedies have always gotten the shaft when it comes to mass critical and cultural attention, and it’s really quite annoying. These shows are often irreverent, realistic, and heartbreakingly perfect, and it’s time that the people behind them get the respect and acclaim they so rightfully deserve. Without further ado, here are ten underrated comedies for you to binge immediately:
1. Happy Endings
You don’t even know how sad I am that this show was cancelled after only three seasons. Creator David Caspe and ensemble cast member Casey Wilson tried to make another fun show called Marry Me in 2014, but it was also cancelled. The cast have gone on to work on shows like New Girl, The Mindy Project, Future Man, The Ranch, and Parenthood, but this was the ultimate combination of all their talents. This Chicago based ensemble comedy was unique for having an interracial marriage and a three-dimensional gay character, while being heartlessly black, manically off-the-wall, and endearingly sweet. Hopefully the reboot trend will bring this long dead corpse back from the beyond.
Available on Hulu
2. Lovesick
This show was originally called Scrotal Recall, and it played on Britain’s Channel 4 for a season before Netflix snatched it up for a second season. The show follows Dylan (Flynn), Evie (Thomas), and Luke (Ings) along with their friends and former lovers, as Dylan tracks down former flames after learning he has chlamydia. As awkward as that sounds, the show is actually very sensitive and uproaringly funny. A third season will premiere soon, and I urge you to binge this immediately, as there are only about 12 episodes anyway.
Available on Netflix
3. Catastrophe
If you haven’t discovered the immediate pleasure of following Rob Delaney on Twitter, I urge you to do so immediately. He and co-star and co-creator Sharon Horgan have conceived of unique and personable characters that we bond with throughout the show’s three seasons. The show posits that sometimes you settle, and sometimes that makes things easier, and other times it doesn’t. Sharon Horgan is so goddamn funny, and it’s a shame that she isn’t better recognized for her deliberate and sardonically crass sense of humor. There aren’t too many episodes, so get to bingeing!
Available on Amazon Prime
4. Mr. Show
Before there was Arrested Development and Better Call Saul we had Mr. Show, a sketch comedy show that starred David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, and an ensemble that comprised Steve Aukerman, Tom Kenny, Jill Talley, Paul F. Tompkins, John Ennis, and Jay Johnston. Some of the topics covered were pretty edgy for their time, and it parodied things like dating shows, infomercials, conspiracy theorists, and kid’s mascots. While it did enjoy four seasons on the air, and four Primetime Emmy nominations, it didn’t get the gravitas and appreciation that it deserved. Since its untimely end everyone involved has gone on to complete really great work, including writers like Sarah Silverman, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Dino Stamatopoulos.
Available on Amazon Prime, HBO GO and Now
5. Cougar Town
That’s right, I’m one of the meager audience members that stayed with this ABC backed Courtney Cox vehicle all the way to TBS, where it died in obscurity in 2015. Yes, the show did get an actual finale, and it did survive six seasons, a difficult feat for such a scrappy show, but everyone was a complete dick to it throughout its run. Bill Lawrence (Scrubs) created yet another funny, awkward, and lovable comedy, and just because he picked the single stupidest, most deceivably wrong name for it, doesn’t mean it’s a bad show. Hell, even Dan Harmon tried to throw a life raft to it by having crossover cameos with Community, another show that people are far too mean to. The main cast was funny, the premise was simple, and the characters were memorable, and that’s the reputation it deserves.
Available with cable package on TBS.com
6. The Grinder
I was honestly not expecting much from this Rob Lowe headed comedy, but he and Fred Savage portrayed a nice brother-brother relationship onscreen, and by the end of bingeing the first season, I wanted more. Sadly, this and the similarly created Grandfathered didn’t make the cut after the one season mark (also a loss) and the stars have already moved on to things like Friends from College and The Orville. Yes, it was a cheesy show that sometimes focused too much on cliffhangers, and trying to push through stories that made all parties look bad, but it was honestly so much fun to watch, and its cancellation is a tough pill to swallow.
Available on Hulu
7. The Mindy Project
I know that Mindy Kaling has said that she is thankful that she got to make her own show, and she was happy to end it on her terms, but for me that’s not good enough. Mindy Lahiri is a romantic comedy heroine who is strong, flawed, gluttonous, and maternal. She is both a staid professional and a hot mess, and there’s so few female characters that play these contradictions well (Liz Lemon. Leslie Knope, Murphy Brown, and Mary Tyler Moore come to mind). Kaling created, wrote for, and starred in this show for six years, and even had to deal with a move to Hulu at the tail end of the series, coming out with even stronger episodes. I am very sad to see it go, but I will never stop re-watching out of solidarity.
Available on Hulu
8. Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23
The remorse I feel over not discovering this show until after it was cancelled will never be quelled. At the time I just thought it was a show for lovers of Dawson’s Creek, and so I never gave it the chance it deserved, besides the fact that it had a terrible name. Everyone involved in this show has done great work since, including Krysten Ritter on Jessica Jones, Eric Andre with The Eric Andre Show, Dreama Walker’s turn in The Good Wife, and James Van Der Beek is still working, but not as himself. The show was nihilistic, zany, and eccentric in the best of ways, and I still constantly quote it, especially when People comes out with its Sexiest Man Alive issue.
Available on Netflix
9. The Comeback
The Friends curse continues with Lisa Kudrow, who helped create, write, and starred in this HBO mockumentary, as an old sitcom actress, funnily enough. The authenticity and true passion for this show should have been enough to propel it forward, but alas it was not the success one would hope. In a weird twist of fate the show was nominated for three Emmys after the cancellation came through, and when it was finally rebooted for a season two in 2014, Kudrow was again nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. While plans for a season three are on the back burner, I know that this will not be the last we see of Valerie Cherish.
Available on HBO Go and Now
10. Selfie
Emily Kapnak is a great creator who already had As Told by Ginger and Suburgatory under her belt by the time she created this very short lived comedy based on Pygmalion. Karen Gillan and John Cho created multifaceted and original characters, so when the show was cancelled after 13 episodes, six of them left unaired by ABC, I was hopelessly devastated. If America had seen all the episodes, they would know that this show was a wondrous, tiny miracle that should have lasted way longer than Cavemen, which aired one episode more (Seriously?! Boo!). Luckily John Cho is crazy talented and has worked on some great stuff since, and Karen Gillan landed the second Guardians of the Galaxy film, but it’s of little comfort. Excuse me, I’m just going to go cry in the corner now.
Available on Hulu
So there you are: my little unseen, unloved joys. Whether cancelled or cold shouldered, these comedies were wronged in a bevy of ways, and while you’re all shouting for justice for Firefly and The Lone Gunman, I’ll be weeping for the strong female characters that have gotten laid by the wayside thanks to CSI number fifty.
