The 5 Most Underrated Sitcoms of the 1990s

BEFORE REALITY SHOWS invaded television like a contagious disease, the sitcom was the American public's drug of choice. Twenty-two minutes that required little to no thought, unless you count recognizing when to chuckle along with the laugh track as free will.

The hit '90s shows "Friends," "Seinfeld," "and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" were easily digestible, amazingly overrated and will live on in syndicated history forever (or, at least as long as "Baywatch").

Flying under the radar during most of its 1995-1999 run, "Caroline in the City" starred Lea Thompson as a cartoonist who constantly found herself in a variety of love triangles: Caroline, her fiance Del and her colorist Richard? Caroline, Richard and his girlfriend Julia? Caroline, her new fiance Randy and (yet again) Richard?

The show's first season is now out on DVD, and in rewatching reminds that it may have had too soap-opera-like in its romances — this was before sexploits such as "The O.C." and "Gossip Girl" were commonplace, mind you — for it to become popular in prime time. But there was something charming in its ridiculousness: white people living in New York City, their contrived romances and cliched plot twists — yay! (Sounds like "Friends" light — if that's possible.)

Yet some '90s sitcoms didn't fit that tried-and-true formula — and, in many cases, didn't last too long on the airwaves. But as "Arrested Development" proved recently, a show can be as critically loved and hilariously awkward as possible and still get canceled — read on for our list of the five most underrated sitcoms that started in the 1990s.

» DINOSAURS (ABC, 1991-1994)
A year after Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park" presented dinosaurs as the flesh-eating, bloodthirsty creatures they probably were, ABC's "Dinosaurs" took a somewhat different, more serious look at the ancient animals, using them as stand-ins for a critique of the current human condition. With lots of tongue-in-cheek humor — such as a countdown from B.C. to A.D., constant breakings of the fourth wall and jokes about humans' intelligence — the show thrived on tackling timely issues such as the Persian Gulf War (episode "Nuts to War") and environmental responsibility (series finale "Changing Nature"). Even though the show starred walking, talking dinosaurs, a program for kids this was not, as main character Earl Sinclair even tells viewers in episode "How to Pick Up Girls:" "You'd think that because they're puppets, so the show seems to have a children's aesthetic, yet the dialogue is unquestionably sharp-edged, witty and thematically skewed to adults." Though the show only lasted four seasons — not even its affiliation with Jim Henson Productions could save it — it served its purpose well; in the words of Earl Sinclair, "Dinosaurs. Big laughs. Small brains."

» CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL (Nickelodeon, 1991-1994)
Melissa Joan Hart scored success in the mid-'90s with the remake of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," but before she fell in love with Harvey, hung out with Salem and traveled through a closet to the Nether-realm, Hart explained it all as Clarissa. While other popular sitcoms of the time such as "Full House," "Family Matters" and "Blossom" dealt with topics such as drinking, bullying, peer pressure and sex in "very special" episodes, Clarissa handled them straight-on, talking directly to her audience in a matter-of-fact way. The breaking of the fourth wall — as well as Clarissa's inherent cool factor (she loved They Might Be Giants, Pearl Jam and The Violent Femmes; the girl had good taste) — was what made the show, but it was Hart who made it believable. You're a lucky man, Harvey.

» NEWSRADIO (NBC, 1995-1999)
Few shows do the contained-episode-thing well, but "NewsRadio" always kept things fresh with an ensemble cast and absurd storylines. The program was about the staff of WNYX, a fake AM station in New York City, and watching the show now is an exercise in spotting as many now-famous actors/comedians as possible: for example, Joe Rogan, Jon Lovitz, Andy Dick, Dave Foley and Phil Hartman were all members of the regular cast, while David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn and Lauren Graham and others appeared as recurring characters. Despite whip-sharp writing, a slapstick-y sense of humor and entertaining turns from Dick and Rogan, Hartman's tragic death at the hands of his wife in 1998 derailed the show, and NBC (who was never too happy with its low ratings, anyway) canceled it after the fifth season.

» 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN (NBC, 1996-2001)
Similar to "Dinosaurs" in its parody of human society, "3rd Rock From the Sun" took a television staple — aliens — and yanked the extraterrestrial group from the science-fiction galaxy into the comedy one (but they came in peace, of course). As a group of alien scientists sent to Earth to pose as a faux-family in order to learn more about the human race, John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were pretty good at being clueless. Each character's double life — for example, Lithgow's character, Dick Solomon, was high commander of the group and a respected physics professor, but also a bumbling, arrogant moron — could be counted on for laughs, and the physical humor of the show (see: everything about Stewart) was consistently unexpected, but often great. Add in amusing guest turns from William Shatner as The Big Giant Head and Wayne Knight as Officer Don Leslie Orville, the unlikely love interest for Johnston's character, Sally, and the show only got better. Though "3rd Rock" is often disregarded for its silly plotlines and reliance on physical humor, and lost viewers when placed in a timeslot against "The Drew Carey Show," the show kept viewers around for its bizarre insights. While fronting as a half-hour about the aliens' eccentricity and troubles with acclimating to Earth, "3rd Rock" often cast a light on the weirdness of the human race itself. Strange stuff.

» JUST SHOOT ME! (NBC, 1997-2003)
Is there anyone more snarky than David Spade? As Dennis Finch on "Just Shoot Me!", Spade was a scheming, manipulative, sarcastic S-O-B who lusted after models, conned one into dating him (Rebecca Romijn as self-confidence-lacking Adrienne Barker) and idolized his boss, Jack Gallo (George Segal), editor of Blush Magazine. Though Spade was the show's most hilarious element, other characters — such as washed-up former model Nina Van Horn (Wendie Malick) and the self-absorbed, egotistical photographer Elliot DiMauro (Enrico Colantoni) — also helped carry the show. But just as NBC was never too pleased with "NewsRadio," the network also tried meddling with "Just Shoot Me" — their forced addition of actress Rena Sofer into the cast during the show's final season infuriated fans, and put the show into a nearly six-month hiatus, from November 2002 to April 2003, as ratings dropped because of Sofer's addition. At least we'll always have "Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!" (oh, David Cross).

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photos by Carsey-Werner/NBC (top) and Chris Haston/NBC