Television comedy reached massive heights with mega hits like Seinfeld, and Friends, and beat records or set major influences with shows like The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live. This was nowhere near the end of growth for comedy shows, however, as the some of the best comedy gems of all time such as The Office, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Parks and Recreation, and 30 Rock would soon hit and set a whole new standard.
Amongst all these great shows, however, are many others that just didn’t get the love they deserve for one reason or another. Here are ten incredibly underappreciated shows.
Billy On The Street
Billy Eichner first hit the mainstream with his debut in the amazing NBC show Parks and Recreation, but that wasn’t even close to the pinnacle of Billy’s humor. With clearly no remorse, Billy On The Street sees our host ask random people on the street, random questions, often with rude and upfront responses, hilarious yet pointless prizes, and celebrity guest appearances.
Never afraid to say exactly what he feels, Billy is painfully funny, making other public based humor shows like The Eric Andre Show or Pranked look tame by comparison.
Scrubs
In a somewhat awkward era during the mid-2000s both before and after massive waves of hits, there was a short wave of NBC comedies trying new things, progressing the genre somewhat quietly. It’s arguable that no show did this quite as much or well as Scrubs.
With the fourth wall breaking moments, and a new style of deadpan humor mixed with satire, Scrubs topped it all off with a few strong doses of drama and romance, leading to stories as addicting as they were funny. Scrubs was one of the first of its kind, clearly leading the way for many other comedy show formulas and styles of writing.
The Larry Sanders Show
While Gary Shandling is no doubt considered a legend by many in the comedy community, you can definitely argue that he never reached the level of fame he deserved, and most current audiences are not really aware of his existence, sadly.
The Larry Sanders Show was a groundbreaking, ahead of its time experience, showcasing a brilliant mockumentary style of filming comedy that wouldn’t truly blow up till many years later in the massive hit The Office. Gary himself delivers amazing performances back to back, supported by a fantastic cast. Shown on HBO, Larry would end up being one of their earliest comedy hits to lead to a way to more great HBO material.
Big Mouth
Big Mouth is a fairly new show, and while reviews are generally pretty solid, the show has garnered a very undeserved amount of criticism in a couple of areas. Complaints of poor animation and lewdness are highly unwarranted, and many often judge this show without even seeing it. Some have judged without trying to understand just how smart the nuances of it are, or how cleverly it hides its wholesomeness amongst the nitty-gritty humor.
With one of the best casts of voice actors in a show today, Big Mouth is an introspective and honest show about puberty, that many just can’t seem to grasp for one reason or another.
Nathan For You
Nathan Fielder is a very underrated name in comedy, and for the most part due to his incredibly clever and yet equally crass show.
Playing what could be contrived as very clever “pranks”, in conjunction with setting up highly radical and nonsensical ideas, Nathan’s tone shifts from sarcastic to passive-aggressive, to mocking, to plain chaotic all in a single episode. While it seems Nathan For You will not be back for a fifth season, it’s not too late to watch this limit-pushing comedy.
The Venture Bros
When it comes to underrated shows with a cult following, The Venture Bros is nearly the definition of such. A huge player for years on the incredible “Adult Swim” channel, Venture Bros. is not only one of the longest-running animated shows from the entire network, but it’s still going.
Venture Bros. is a witty mix of nostalgia, satire, deep lore, and rule-breaking nonsense, with a tone that’s like a mix of Rick and Morty and Archer. Carried well by hilarious voice acting and a plot that literally gets more interesting every season, Venture Bros has kept many fans waiting and coming back for good reason.
Son of Zorn
With such a broad and funny basis for a show, its truly a shame things didn’t pan out for the short-lived Son of Zorn. The premise? A magic “He-Man” like warrior from another dimension, who is animated, lives in the real non-animated world, where he tries to raise his son while keeping peace with his non-animated ex-wife.
With Jason Sudeikis killing the lead role, supported well by the likes of Tim Meadows, Cheryl Hines, and Johnny Pemberton, Zorn explored a ton of clever and funny ideas, but never picked up a stable enough audience, and was sadly canceled after only one season.
Teen Titans Go!
A children’s show is often geared with a less complex, easier viewing type formula, often with a simple premise and set of characters. However, there are plenty of great kid’s shows worthy of an adult audience, and while it may not be one of the best, Teen Titans Go! has certainly received far more hate than its warranted.
Angering many fans due to it being a spin-off of the wildly acclaimed and popular original Teen Titans animated series, Teen Titans Go! wasn’t even given a chance from the get-go. With some decent humor peppered in, lots of references to DC lore, and the ability to not take itself to seriously, Teen Titans Go! is easily better than a lot of the children’s shows out there.
Search Party
On one hand, it’s a bit difficult to actually call Search Party a comedy. The show is so utterly grim and dark at times, with a consistently bleak tone, that the constant comedy can often fly right by you. A similar vibe to shows like Barry, or Atlanta, however, is what makes this show dark comedy gold, it’s just unfortunate it’s not nearly as well known as the aforementioned.
Search Party tells a haunting tale of a woman looking for purpose, a supposed murder, a great conspiracy, and a group of friends slowly losing their grip on morality. With season three on the way, it’s time you catch up on one of TV’s most underrated shows.
Dr.Katz
Done with the “squiggle vision” style that was also used in the cult hit Home Movies, Dr.Katz was a show about a therapist, living with his son, and going to work every day - except his clients are all famous comedians.
Jonathan Katz may just be one of the most underrated comedians of all time. Likewise, his 90’s comedy central cult hit Dr.Katz, may not only be one of the most underrated comedies of all time but one of the most underrated shows of all time altogether.
Lead by the man himself, and supported by a young but still dreadfully funny H. Jon Benjamin, Dr. Katz was as clever and deadpan as shows come, and there wasn’t a single episode that didn’t bring a tear to your eye at least once.
