10 TV Shows That Are Overrated As Hell, And 10 TV Shows That Are So Underrated, It Hurts

    "By the last season, I was asking myself, 'Is this the best show in television?'"

    Morgan Sloss
    by Morgan Sloss

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Recently, Reddit user u/Junkee69420 asked about the most overrated TV shows ever, and Reddit user u/OpulentOwl asked about the most underrated shows of all time. Wow, people did not hold back!

    CBC

    Here are some of the top-voted responses:

    1. Overrated: Breaking Bad

    Walter White and Pinkman dress in yellow hazard suits
    Ursula Coyote / AMC / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "It's good. Great, even! I enjoyed watching it and don't regret the time spent doing so. But if people didn't regularly reference and talk about it online, I wouldn't have thought about it much ever again. It was very entertaining and well made, but that's just not enough to make a lasting impression in my mind. It's not a masterpiece."

    –u/bunch_of_hocus_pocus

    2. Underrated: Miracle Workers

    Daniel Radcliffe shirtless, wearing makeup with sleeves and feathers
    TBS

    "LOVE this show. Such a delightfully random cast (put Lolly Adefope in more stuff) and high-concept but lighthearted humor executed perfectly."

    –u/Princesscrowbar

    "Such a great show. I love how they anthologize it by going to a completely different series each season; the same actors are there, but the characters and plot are entirely new. Daniel Radcliffe as a preacher doing an interpretive live-action soft porn of the seven deadly sins was one of the best things I've seen in TV in years."

    –sweetcuppincakes

    3. Overrated: This Is Us

    Randall, Kate, and Kevin looking at pictures
    Ron Batzdorff / NBC / courtesy Everett Collection

    "It’s trauma porn — intense emotional sensations to get your weekly cry in — which is healthy, sure, but not the masterpiece everyone’s mom makes it out to be."

    –u/Kimbahlee34

    "Agree! It’s cheap emotional writing. My college writing professor called it 'dead dog writing.' Everyone gets sad when a good dog dies. As an author, your job is to make someone feel something without the dog dying, the kid getting cancer, etc."

    –u/julgwill

    4. Underrated: Galavant

    Sir Gary, Izzy, and Sid talking at a table
    Nick Ray / ABC / courtesy Everett Collection

    "This was the show where I realized I didn't hate musicals as a genre. It's largely not a musical, but the musical numbers always had me rolling."

    –u/lolofaf

    "It has the same energy as The Princess Bride. It's honestly a really fun show to watch with friends."

    –u/bentheechidna

    5. Overrated: How I Met Your Mother

    Lily, Ted, and Robin standing together at a kitchen table
    Ricard Cartwright / CBS / courtesy Everett Collection

    "Every episode glorifies Ted’s toxic behavior and makes it look romantic. I get so triggered watching that show."

    –u/Several-Till1393

    "The character I truly couldn't stand was Lily. The shit she pulled was infuriating to watch, made all the worse by the fact that I felt she wasn't meant to be viewed in that light."

    –u/Conquestadore

    "Really stupid what they did with that final season."

    –u/Seredditor7

    6. Underrated: Pushing Daisies

    Ned and Chuck leaning on the bar
    Adam Taylor / ABC / courtesy Everett Collection

    "Best description of Pushing Daisies I've heard is 'morbidly sweet.' Such a good show, probably time to watch it again."

    –u/bitey87

    "Art direction and set design were beautiful. So vivid."

    –u/Rizo1981

    7. Overrated: The Walking Dead

    Rick Grimes talking
    AMC

    "They had the same loop of storyline repeated in every season: They run, they find shelter, they go out for food, someone gets bitten, they get overrun, and they have to find somewhere new. Rinse and repeat for like 10 seasons."

    –u/DanStFella

    "The Walking Dead is basically a soap opera with zombies."

    –u/aceh40

    8. Underrated: The Knick

    Dr. Algernon C. Edwards in a collared shirt
    Mary Cybulski / Cinemax / courtesy Everett Collection

    "It had such an incredible cast. One of those shows for which I actively searched out the actors once it wrapped. I’ll watch André Holland and Jeremy Bobb in anything! Chris Sullivan was sooo good with Cara Seymour."

    –u/CCMacReddit

    9. Overrated: Friends

    The group talking in the apartment
    Paul Drinkwater / Warner Brothers / Courtesy: Everett Collection

    "It’s not bad; it’s just bland and boring and unfunny."

    –u/MannnOfHammm

    "It’s the generic Wonder Bread of TV sitcoms. Bland, tasteless, and no nutritional value."

    –lizziedaydreaming

    10. Underrated: Party Down

    Kevin Marino and Adam Scott in whie button-downs and pink bow ties in a kitchen
    Starz! Movie Channel / ©Starz! Movie Channel/Courtesy Everett Collection

    "I love Party Down because it has so many huge stars right before their peaks."

    –u/sussquatch1

    "Full of amazing, amazing people. Lizzy Caplan, Adam Scott (my first exposure to him — I've loved him ever since), Martin Starr, Jimmi Fuckin' Simpson, and Ken Motherfuckin' Marino. Fantastic cast."

    –u/kasmackity

    "The most underrated comedy since Freaks and Geeks. Really excited for the reunion season being made right now."

    –u/Capricancerous

    11. Overrated: Grey's Anatomy

    Christina and Jackson being held up at gunpoint in the OR
    Scott Garfield / ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "The story is sooo thinned. Everything that could possibly happen to a group of people happened to them. It's like some Final Destination shit."

    –u/babygotbrains

    12. Underrated: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

    Rebecca leaning over Josh's shoulder and reading his phone
    Lisa Rose / The CW Network / courtesy Everett Collection

    "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was better than it had any business being. Netflix kept suggesting it to me, and I was like, 'Ew, no, please stop,' but then one day, I was really stoned and was like, 'Fuck it, show me what you’ve got.' And boy howdy, I’m so glad I did. It’s funny, smart, a little soapy – which I appreciate when you want action that doesn’t feel life or death – and then BOOM, amazing depictions of mental health struggles and toxic parenting. I have literally discussed the song 'Maybe She’s Not Such a Heinous Bitch After All' with my therapist on multiple occasions.

    Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it good? Yes. Should you give it a try? Yes."

    –u/paperbackella

    13. Overrated: Lost

    Mr. Eko talking to Charlie near the water
    Mario Perez / ABC / Courtesy: Everett Collection

    "Lost was a masterpiece in repeatedly teasing and never delivering."

    –u/BestOfTheBlurst

    "It was 10/10 trolling."

    –u/SmLnine

    14. Underrated: The Middle

    Sue in bed with her parents
    Mchael Ansell / ABC / courtesy Everett Collection

    "The show was on for nine seasons, but I feel like no one ever talks about it. Coming from a lower middle-class family myself, it was super refreshing to finally see a family portrayed that wasn’t well-off. It was also absolutely hilarious with quirky but lovable characters that still felt authentic. I saw so much of my own life in that show, and I still rewatch it when I need a good laugh or pick me up."

    –strawberrylumps22

    "YES. It was one of the rare shows that managed to KEEP GETTING BETTER for the entire length of its run, which is amazing given how long it ran."

    –dingospleen

    "I also loved that Sue Heck is allowed to be a normal, awkward teenage girl. She's not hyper-sexualized like so many other teenage girls on TV."

    –christig2

    15. Overrated: Downton Abbey

    Mary talking
    ITV

    "Besides the bizarrely repetitive storylines of each character (accused of a murder they didn't commit, servants for no reason undermining and backstabbing each other, and love interests constantly dying), you have Mary. She is the most unlikable character on the show, always being horrible to everyone and doesn't really apologize. She is despicable. So frustrating that no one calls her on her bullshit. I actively rooted against her to the end. Not to mention the aristocratic apologism. I was hoping for a servant uprising since Episode 1."

    –u/wwj

    16. Underrated: The Great

    Catherine and Orlov talking
    Ollie Upton / Hulu / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "It's...great! Hilarious and charming and occasionally a true story."

    –u/Dusk9K

    "Amazing! Shakespearean plot and drama with modern humor and writing! I remember looking up the actual history to find out what the differences were and reading something about how the writer essentially took a few real names and events from history, and then just had at it and wrote whatever he wanted."

    –u/UpliftingTwist

    "I like to describe it as Downton Abbey meets It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

    –u/SquidwardsKeef

    17. Overrated: The Big Bang Theory

    The group looking at a computer
    Sonja Flemming / CBS / courtesy Everett Collection

    "It's thought of as a sitcom for nerds, but it isn't. It's a sitcom for people who think nerds saying something nerdy is a funny joke. The show doesn't invite the audience to laugh WITH the characters as they make clever jokes that nerds will relate to. It invites the audience to laugh AT the characters for making nerdy pop-culture references. There's nothing nerdy or clever about the show's 'jokes'. The mere fact that the characters are nerds at all IS the joke."

    –u/The_Lawn_Ninja

    18. Underrated: Halt and Catch Fire

    Joe and John talking in an office
    Tina Rowden / AMC / courtesy Everett Collection

    "Halt and Catch Fire is one of those rare ensemble casts where all the actors are equally talented, and they all get perfect character arcs that feel completely natural and real. Lee Pace and Mackenzie Davis are gonna get most of the accolades, but Scoot McNairy and Kerry Bishé are IMO the gems here. 'Who Needs a Guy' is possibly the most perfect episode of any TV show to ever air. I sat in silence staring at the TV for probably 5–10 minutes after it was over, just completely blown away at what the writers and actors had done."

    –u/MordredKLB

    "By the last season, I was asking myself, 'Is this the best show in television?'"

    –u/Ray_Band

    19. Overrated: Money Heist

    Netflix/Antena 3 / Courtesy: Everett Collection

    "This show drives me wild. They want to set up an elaborate, long-term heist that requires everyone to work together and be professional...so they use a bunch of horny idiots with no impulse control."

    –u/agentchuck

    20. Underrated: Derry Girls

    The girls sitting outside the nun's office
    Channel 4

    "No one ever mentions Derry Girls. I think it's funnier than half the stuff popular right now."

    –u/indigosalad

    "100% the best show I’ve watched this year. It is my comfort show that I put on when I just need to feel happy for a bit. I love Northern Ireland, too, so it’s extra lovely for me."

    –u/entropy33

    Which show do you think is totally overrated or way underrated? Sound off in the comments below!

    Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.