Image via CBS
Published May 12, 2026, 5:44 PM EDT
Christine is a freelance writer for Collider with two decades of experience covering all types of TV shows and movies spanning every genre. With a particular affinity for dramas, true crime, sitcoms, and thrillers, if it's a top TV show, Christine has likely watched it and is eager to share her thoughts. When she's not furiously writing away, you can find her enjoying the next binge obsession with a glass of wine in front of the TV.
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There are so many iconic family sitcoms, from All in the Family to Full House and Modern Family. Each one has its own unique charm, solidifying its spot in TV history. But there are some great underrated ones that are near perfect, yet no one seems to remember them. So many great sitcoms flew under the radar, including ones that were on the air way back in the '80s, but also some from this century.
They have largely been forgotten, but they shouldn't be. These sitcoms, all of which aired for at least a few seasons, were arguably cancelled before they had the chance to really hit their stride. In some cases, they were at a peak when the network or streamer pulled the rug from under them.
'One Day at a Time' (2017–2020)
Image via NetflixOne Day at a Time brought back the bare-bones concept of the 1975 sitcom of the same name, but completely flipped the script. At the center is a Cuban-American family living in a small apartment, including a single mom, her two teenage kids, and her vivacious mother (played by the incomparable Rita Moreno). The landlord is the wealthy but lonely playboy son of the building's owner who befriends the family.
The show tackled serious subjects relevant to modern-day society, from substance abuse to sexual identity, racism to mental illness. While it was bitingly funny, One Day at a Time was also progressive: it pushed the envelope. When Netflix cancelled the series, fans were devastated. It was even brought back for another season on Pop, but the COVID-19 pandemic led to its cancellation a second time. Since then, the show has fallen into obscurity.
'Home Economics' (2021–2023)
Image via ABCDespite being a recent show, it feels like Home Economics came in like a hurricane, entertained for three seasons, then completely disappeared. The sitcom that should have been a hit was unique in its premise, following three siblings, all in different places in their lives. Ironically, the youngest rebellious son is in the best financial position, having founded his own private equity firm. But his personal life is in shambles. The three grown kids and their families get together to help one another through their issues, and maybe cause some, too.
Home Economics is fun and well-acted, with characters to which you can relate and a talented cast. The show has heartfelt moments, chaotic ones, and lots of hilarious banter among the competitive siblings. The idea is to show how very different economic situations have framed the lives of each character. But in the end, they discover what's really important is having one another. The show isn't sappy, though, leaning heavily into humor to deliver a message to which anyone can relate.
'The Bernie Mac Show' (2001–2006)
Image via FOXRevisit The Bernie Mac Show, or watch it for the first time today, and you'll wonder why it doesn't get more attention. The sitcom that feels like it's built for streaming stars the late comedian as a character of the same name, who is loosely based on Bernie Mac himself. In fact, the story is also loosely based on his real life. In the series, Bernie and his wife take in three kids when his sister can no longer care for them. The story follows the couple's journey to becoming parents, and Bernie's strict, tough love, but also hilarious methods.
Mac was a comedic gem and his style of comedy worked so well in this series, one of the first to employ a breaking the fourth wall strategy whereby Mac sits and talks to the camera about the goings-on. His addresses to "America" were so clever and fun, they were arguably the best part of the show. Featuring a long list of celebrity guest stars you probably forgot about, even 20 years later, The Bernie Mac Show will have you in stitches.
'8 Simple Rules' (2002–2005)
Image via ABC8 Simple Rules, originally titled 8 Simple Rules… for Dating My Teenage Daughter was off to such a great start when star John Ritter sadly passed away in the middle of production for the second season. The show continued, writing his death into the plot. But it changed from there and has now since been forgotten. Despite the mid Rotten Tomatoes score, it deserves a rewatch today.
The show was a launching point for Kaley Cuoco's career where she played a character much like Penny in The Big Bang Theory, which went to become her career-defining role. While 8 Simple Rules ended far sooner than it should have, it remains a sitcom to watch about tough parenting, middle-class family life, and coming-of-age.
Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz
Which Taylor Sheridan
Show Do You Belong In?
Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn't write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
FIND YOUR WORLD →
01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan's world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
ALand, legacy, and a name that's been feared and respected for generations. BKnowing the deal better than anyone else in the room — and being willing to walk away first. CReputation. I've earned it the hard way, and everyone in the room knows it. DBeing the only person both sides will talk to. That makes me indispensable — and dangerous.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan's universe is always absolute — and always costly.
AFamily — blood or chosen. The ranch, the name, the people who carry it with me. BThe company — or whoever's signing the cheques. Loyalty follows the contract. CMy crew. The men who stood with me when it counted — I don't abandon them for anything. DMy community — even when my community is a powder keg and I'm the only thing stopping it from blowing.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it's crossed.
AQuietly, decisively, and in a way that sends a message to everyone watching. BI outmanoeuvre them legally, financially, and politically before they even know I've moved. CDirectly. Old school. You cross me, you hear about it to your face — and then you deal with the consequences. DI absorb it, calculate the fallout, and find the move that keeps the whole system from collapsing.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan's worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
AWide open land — mountains, sky, silence. Somewhere you can see trouble coming from a mile away. BThe oil fields of West Texas — brutal, lucrative, and indifferent to whoever happens to be standing on top of them. CA mid-size city where the rules haven't quite caught up yet — fertile ground for someone with vision and nerve. DA rust-belt town built around a prison — where everyone's life is shaped by what's inside those walls.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
AI do what has to be done to protect what's mine. I'll answer for it eventually — but not today. BGrey is just business. The line moves depending on what's at stake, and I move with it. CI have a code — it's not the law's code, but it's mine, and I don't break it. DI've made peace with it. Keeping the peace requires compromises most people don't have the stomach for.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they're defending.
AA way of life that the modern world is doing everything it can to erase. BMy position — and the leverage that comes with being the person everyone needs to close a deal. CRelevance. I've been away, I've been written off — and I'm proving that was a mistake. DWhatever fragile order I've managed to build — because without it, everything burns.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan's world is never given — it's established, maintained, and constantly tested.
ABy example and force of will. People follow me because they believe in what I'm protecting — and because they know what happens if they don't. BThrough negotiation and leverage. I don't need people to like me — I need them to need me. CBy being the smartest, most experienced person in the room and making sure everyone quietly knows it. DBy being the calm centre of a situation that would spiral without me — and accepting that nobody thanks you for it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
AThey'll learn. Or they won't. Either way, the land was here before them and it'll be here after. BI figure out what they want, what they're worth, and whether they're an asset or a problem — fast. CI was the outsider once. I give them a chance — one — to show they understand respect. DNew players destabilise everything I've built. I assess the threat and manage it before it manages me.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
AMy family's peace — maybe their innocence. The ranch demands everything, and I've let it take too much. BRelationships, time, any version of a normal life. The job eats everything that isn't nailed down. CYears. Decades in some cases. Time I can't get back — but I'm not done yet. DMy conscience, mostly. And the ability to ever fully trust anyone on either side of the wall.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
When it's over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan's characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
AThat I held the line. That the land is still ours and everything I did was worth it. BThat I was the best at what I did and that no deal ever got closed without me at the table. CThat I built something real, somewhere nobody expected it, and I did it on my own terms. DThat I kept the peace when nobody else could — and that the town is still standing because of it.
REVEAL MY SHOW →
Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you're complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world's indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you're willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family's weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what's yours, you don't escalate — you finish it. You're not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone's world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn't make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You're a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they'll do to get it. You're not naive enough to think this world is fair. You're smart enough to be the one deciding who it's fair to.
You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you're not above reminding people that the two aren't mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they'd be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they're more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don't need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you're the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky's world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You've made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
'The Kids Are Alright' (2018–2019)
Image via ABCIt was such a disappointment when The Kids Are Alright was cancelled after just a single season of 23 episodes. Michael Cudlitz and Mary McCormack star as Mike and Peggy, parents to eight kids just trying to get by in such a chaotic household. Set in the '70s, the focus was more heavily on the parents than the kids but provided a glimpse into life from a previous decade when times were simpler.
The show has an almost perfect Rotten Tomatoes audience score, and received positive reviews, which made its cancellation puzzling. Inspired by the creator's own childhood in the same vein as shows like The Goldbergs, The Kids Are Alright fell into obscurity once the new decade hit. But it's downright perfect.
'Life in Pieces' (2015–2019)
Life in Pieces had a good run until it was abruptly cancelled following the conclusion of its fourth season. Similar to other sitcoms like Modern Family, the series follows three generations of a family as they navigate their personal lives and interactions with one another. Each episode is uniquely broken up into four parts telling three specific stories then bringing everyone together to tie the theme and plotlines together in the fourth.
The show is better than it gets credit for with a fantastic cast that includes James Brolin, Dianne Wiest, Betsy Brandt, Thomas Sadowski, Colin Hanks, and Zoe Lister-Jones as members of the Short family. From the mix of quirky personalities to family members at different points in their lives and the constant hijinks, the show really should have lasted longer. It's one of those shows even those who watched have completely forgotten about unless you remind them.
'United States of Al' (2021–2022)
Image via CBSUnited States of Al was a big swing for TV juggernaut Chuck Lorre, and it was met with some backlash. But at its heart, the sitcom set out to spread a positive message. Riley (Parker Young) is a war veteran who has returned home and is dealing with PTSD, divorce, and challenges in raising young daughter Hazel (Farrah Mackenzie). He lives at home with his father Art (Dean Norris) and widowed sister Lizzie (Elizabeth Alderfer). But notably, he has welcomed his Afghan interpreter Awalmir (Adhir Kalyan) into the home to help him acclimate to American life.
While Riley and his family set out to help Al, it turns out that Al helps them, too. But there's also the element of culture shock as Al deals with a life completely unlike the one he knew back home. The show did not receive great reviews, some finding the characters one-dimensional and the humor rife with tropes. There was also pushback against the casting of a non-Afghan actor to play the lead. But in terms of helping culturally diversify the sitcom space while also shedding light on serious topics like PTSD and the military, United States of Al deserves some credit.
'Small Wonder' (1985–1989)
Image via Metroland Video ProductionsWay back in the '80s, there was a far ahead of its time sitcom called Small Wonder about Ted (Dick Christie), a robotics engineer who creates a lifelike AI android robot that resembles a young girl. Vicki, technically V.I.C.I. (Voice Input Child Identicant), played by Tiffany Brissette, is brought home to be tested in a family situation, the purpose eventually for robots like her to be able to assist families with disabled children. But instead of revealing the truth to neighbors and other guests, Ted tries to pretend she's human.
Naturally, hilarity ensues as Vicki's robotic nature makes her seem like an odd child; her malfunctions are ones the family needs to quickly figure out how to explain. As a robot, she doesn't understand context nor emotion and interprets things literally. Much of the hilarity comes when the nosy neighbors pop in unexpectedly and the family has to figure out how to explain Vicki's oddities. Small Wonder lasted four seasons and, unsurprisingly, was especially popular with young kids. It's one of the greatest '80s shows nobody remembers and one that could easily be remade today with a much more believable Vicki.
'Empty Nest' (1988–1995)
Image via NBCIt's a concept that every parent deals with at some point but was never really explored in sitcom format until Empty Nest. As a spin-off of The Golden Girls, the sitcom stars Richard Mulligan as widowed Dr. Harry Weston whose daughters return home to live with him now that he is truly empty-nested.
Empty Nest lasted for seven seasons and 170 episodes as the story followed Harry and his adult daughters trying to manage their new lives together, years after the kids have long grown up and previously moved on with their own lives. The poignant theme song "Life Goes On" is a testament to the show, which brings humor to the concept of loss, and hope to those who might be facing similar situations.
'Hangin' With Mr. Cooper' (1992–1997)
Image via ABCEasily ranking among the coolest teachers ever depicted on television, Mr. Mark Cooper (Mark Curry) from Hangin' With Mr. Cooper is a former NBA player who now teaches gym and basketball at a local school in California. The series follows his adjustment to this new life with his roommate and later girlfriend Vanessa (Holly Robinson Peete) and his interactions with the kids.
Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, one of the great '90s shows you probably haven't seen, famously featured appearances from iconic sitcom characters like Jason Seaver (Alan Thicke) from Growing Pains and Michelle Tanner (Mark-Kate and Ashley Olsen) from Full House. It's a wholesome and funny sitcom that the entire family can enjoy.
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