Top 10 Most Underrated Disney Channel Shows

Disney tends to prioritize family-friendly content, especially when it comes to the brand's often quite sanitized TV programs. Along with featuring all sorts of paranormal entities, "So Weird" lives up to its name by going against the grain when it comes to the channel’s typical shows. Focusing on a girl's repeated attempts to contact her deceased father while also battling banshees and Scottish Will o' Wisps, "So Weird" is surprisingly dark, at least for a Disney Channel show. The music is also all-around great, mostly thanks to Mackenzie Phillips' Molly character.

On the surface, "The Famous Jett Jackson" follows Disney's standard formula of centering around a teenager trying to balance a normal life with that of a celebrity; however, what separates this classic series from stuff like "Hannah Montana" is a genuine attempt at realism. When not starring in an over-the-top spy thriller, Jett often deals with socially relevant issues like racial discrimination or the challenges of living in a single parent home. "The Famous Jett Jackson" proved popular enough to spawn a movie, while the show's aesthetic and tone are quite a departure from later Disney Channel live-action series.

Describing a series with over a hundred episodes as "underrated" may seem like somewhat of a stretch, but this quirky slice-of-life sitcom tends to be overlooked for some of the Disney Channel's other modern cartoons. "Fish Hooks" follows three fish attending school in an aquarium, with the focus mainly being on the relationships between the main characters. While the occasional surreal moment is to be expected, the cartoon’s humor is quite accessible and will probably hit home for fans of "Gravity Falls,” especially since “Fish Hooks’” co-developer, Alex Hirsch, also worked on the more popular series.

Created by Craig McCracken, the same person behind the original "Powerpuff Girls" and parts of "Dexter's Laboratory," "Wander Over Yonder" would not look out of place in Cartoon Network's late '90s block. Centering around a pair of aliens getting into mishaps all across the universe, "Wander Over Yonder" is a delight for the eyes and ears, with its distinct visual style perfectly complimenting the smart and often hilarious writing. Boasting the same frantic and wacky humor seen in cartoons of yesteryear, "Wander Over Yonder" is a blast from the past set across the endless reaches of space.

One of the stranger live-action sitcoms to grace the Disney Channel, "The Jersey" is based on a series of books revolving around a magical shirt that lets the wearer jump into the bodies of a variety of athletes from all sorts of popular sports. Along with paving the way for dozens of guest stars, "The Jersey" does work as a coming-of-age story for its four main teenagers, so the sitcom is not just one big advertisement for the NFL. A must-watch for sports fans and a welcome distraction for everyone else, "The Jersey" works far better than it has any right to.

Another cartoon with a particularly strong premise, 2006's "The Replacements" follows two sibling orphans who discover a phone with the power to swap out anyone for a superior version. Todd and Riley end up adopted by a female 007 and an Evel Knievel wannabe, which plays into “The Replacements’” love for paying homage to old spy movies, even if the episodes themselves tend to stick to the same basic formula of the children's chosen replacement often proving worse than the original. While nothing groundbreaking, "The Replacements" is an entertaining cartoon with a solid central concept.

Debuting on Télétoon in Canada and the Disney Channel in the United States, “My Babysitter’s a Vampire” is the unlikely follow-up to a surprisingly well-received 2010 film with the same name. As the Disney Channel's first show not to be rated TV-G, “My Babysitter’s a Vampire” benefits from a lack of gloss commonly found in the station's other programs; in fact, the supernatural comedy looks like something that could have aired on CW. Putting aside the occasionally hammy moment, the cast does quite a good job of bringing to life the witty, if slightly cheesy, dialogue and the show start off strong right out of the gate.

Weirdly enough, this cartoon predated another series about characters who get stranded and lost in a strange location by only a month. "Brandy & Mr. Whiskers" tasks a coddled anthropomorphic dog and an energizer bunny with persevering in the Amazon rainforest. Like most odd couples, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers gradually grow to appreciate each other's company, while the cartoon also devotes time to developing the rainforest' natural inhabitants. Rather than just coming across as a series of misadventures, "Brandy & Mr. Whiskers" has a genuine sense of progression. While the rainforest causes the main characters to change, the same also holds true in reverse.

Sort of like a blend of “3rd Rock from the Sun” and every sci-fi series ever, “Phil of the Future” is an endearing slice of life that stands out among the Disney Channel’s back catalog. The premise is brilliantly kooky; the wealthy Diffy family are time-travelers from the 22nd century who end up stranded in the early 2000s, leading to a ton of fish-out-of-water type jokes. While the inoffensive humor usually hits the mark, “Phil of the Future” injects a decent amount of heart into its stories, particularly when it comes to the relationship between Phil and Keely, the protagonist's best friend and main love interest.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

“Lilo & Stitch: The Series” (2003-06)

“The Emperor's New School” (2006-08)

“American Dragon: Jake Long” (2005-07)

“Flash Forward” (1995-97)

“Dave the Barbarian” (2004-05)

Lasting less than two years, this 2014 comedy stars Olivia Holt of "Cloak & Dagger" fame as one half of a pair of sibling twins attending high school. With the exception of the first season utilizing a framing device to present the episodes in flashbacks, "I Didn't Do It" is a Disney show without any character gimmicks, hooks, or magic. The show is solely a coming-of-age comedy about the lives of a group of relatively normal teenagers and feels slightly more mature than some of the channel's other sitcoms. While it practically offers nothing new, "I Didn't Do It" is a likable comedy with a strong cast.