From Inside the Box

Zap2it's Year in Review: Underrated performers of 2008

By Rick Porter

   |  

December 20, 2008 12:00 PM

Sarahshahi_nbcpresstour08_240 This is the third time around for our annual list of underrated actors/TV personalities, and we have to admit, it was a little tougher to put this one together than the past two have been.

That's partly our own fault. The very act of singling out someone as underrated tends to boost that person's ranking somewhat -- it's like a celebrity version of the quantum-mechanical principle that the act of observation changes the nature of the thing being observed. So once again, we adhered to the no-repeats rule in the third annual Underrated Actors list.

But it's also a measure of the relative lack of must-see new shows on TV this season. We haven't been wowed by a lot of the new offerings on TV this year, so consequently there haven't been as many under-the-radar performances that have caught our eye. So we had to bend the no-stars rule a little: You'll see Sarah Shahi, the No. 2 lead on NBC's Life, in there, along with our favorite father of multiple multiples, Jon Gosselin. They're certainly not under the radar, but within the context of their own shows, they don't get near the attention of their co-stars.

Then again, we think we've done a pretty good job of unearthing a few of the small-but-sweet roles that help make our jobs of endlessly consuming TV worthwhile. You may not immediately recognize the names Zuzanna Szadkowski, Kevin Brown or Jessica Lowndes, but if you're like us, you're happy when you see Gossip Girl's Dorota, 30 Rock's Dotcom and 90210's Adriana pop up on screen.

So without further ado, we present The Underrated of 2008. Have a look (and check out the 2007 and 2006 lists too), and let us know what you think and who you'd put on your own list.


11 Comments

btw, i hate slideshow lists!!!


Amen to that. Just put a list with links.


They have to make money somehow...

There's fourteen slides, so you'll have to see fourteen pages...

The more pages you see, the more ads you'll see...and the higher the likelihood you'll bite into something...

If they just put a list with links, you wouldn't have to see 14 pages...


"The more pages you see, the more ads you'll see"

Not if one is intelligent enough to be using an ad blocker! I looked at all 14 pages but didn't see even *one* ad.


Actually, our use of slideshow presentations has nothing to do with the number of ads they serve. It's more the feedback that people want big photos and slideshows are the best ways to serve those up.


suggestion to Zap@it:

then put a cover page (1st page) with the full list and then slideshow after that for each one individually for ppl who want more info/bigger photo's for each. because most of us just want to see the list!


Where's Ellen Greene? She is absolutely brilliant on PUSHING DAISIES, but you never hear anyone talking about her.


Slide show is not the issue, ever heard of Ajax / DHTML? You can run that whole slide show with proper web programming and not force people to load a new page every time. I mean the technology has only existed for several years now.

So either you have terrible web programmers or you do want people to load 14 pages.


Some cranky people. (Stressed out by the holidays?)

Thanks for the shout out for Jasika Nicole. She's been a favorite since the beginning of "Fringe." Even when all they had her do was stand around in the background, she still managed to catch my eye. I'm glad they're beefing up her role.


Vincent D'Onofrio should be on this list every year.


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