10 Most Underappreciated Performances On TV Right Now

We're spoilt for choice when it comes to great performances in the current television climate.

Even for the majority of the 21st century, there was usually just a handful of truly great actors on TV to get excited about, and often little argument to be had about who was giving the best performance on TV. The Holy Trinity of snarling bald men (James Gandolfini, Michael Chiklis, and Bryan Cranston) comes to mind.

With more prestige dramas and inventive genre fiction being televised than ever before, innovative and arresting performances are commonplace enough that it's incredibly easy for the best to slip right past you. And that's not even to mention the sterling work being done on less popular shows, or in the avenues of fiction that typically receive less critical attention and praise.

It's always valuable to take a moment and consider these high-quality performances that are going under-utilised and underappreciated.

Whether it's due to being outshone by co-stars, taking on a subtler and more understated character, smaller viewership or by straying a little outside the bounds of convention, there's currently a litany of fantastic performances flying under the radar, quietly delivering excellence without the appropriate song and dance being made about them.

Seems like it's time to try and rectify that.

Despite being placed further down the list because we admittedly might never see or hear from Rachel again, Noël Wells' performance from the first season of Master Of None is a rare example of a romantic interest played with depth and intrigue.

Her occasional sighs and off-shoot glances speak of a richer character backstory than the audience is given the scope to see, and her defiant energy always made her feel like the character of her own story rather than an addition to Dev's. Credit to this must certainly go to Wells' performance over the writing, as in the second series, Alessandra Mastronardi falls at this exact hurdle that Noël had so expertly cleared as the show's primary love interest.

Even though she's barely mentioned in the second season, the spectre of her excellent performance hangs over the show noticeably, with a lack of chemistry and charisma often stalling the sophomore outing.

Wells is yet to be given a role that fully utilises her formidable ability, but this is the closest; a hilarious turn that still affords her plenty of opportunities to showcase bitterness or anger with some of the more cutting remarks.