The 7 Most Underrated Hot Chicks on TV

It's easy to appreciate the Tricia Helfers and Hayden Panettieres currently strolling across our TV screens, making us disappointed with the caliber of girls that are actually willing to spend time with us. But there are other ladies out there in TV land that have all the hotness without the hype.

7. Kari Byron

Character: Kari Byron from Mythbusters
Why she's underrated: The battle for nerd crush supremacy is a brutal one. With Tricia Helfer and Summer Glau on the dramatic side and Olivia Munn and Morgan Webb delivering the nerd news, Kari can get lost in the shuffle. Put some make-up on any decent-looking girl and stand her next to Adam Sessler and she's going to look hot. But Kari doesn't need to get all dolled up. In fact, since I've started watching Mythbusters, I can't even get it up anymore unless the girl is wearing a welding mask and a huge rubber apron. Or at least a skin-tight, white body suit.

6. Dania Ramírez

Character: Maya on Heroes
Why she's underrated: There are actually two reasons Dania tends to get overlooked. The first is that she's surrounded by Hayden Panettiere, Kristen Bell and Ali Larter all the time, which makes her kind of like Chris Mullen on the original Dream Team. It also doesn't help that she has one of the worst special abilities on the show. Maybe if her character could fly or was indestructible, she wouldn't be stuck hanging around with Suresh as he turns into whatever the hell it is he's turning into.

5. Kaitlin Olson

Character: Sweet Dee on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Why she's underrated: It seems like you can't say the words "funny," "hot" and "woman" right now without everyone's minds jumping directly to Tina Fey. While I totally admit that Tina has a lot going for her, I still think Kaitlin deserves a little more credit. She's younger, taller and blonder so she should appeal to a whole different group of people, namely, guys who like hot chicks. It also doesn't help, though, that a good portion of her laughs on the show revolve around her appearance being compared to that of a giant bird.

4. Mary-Louise Parker

Character: Nancy Botwin on Weeds
Why she's underrated: I have actually seen Mary-Louise make a "hottest chicks on TV" list or two and the comments are always littered with people calling foul because she's "too old." Bullshit. After seeing her get naked this season, I'm convinced that she has some kind of magic potion that Showtime feeds her in order to reverse the aging process. Think about it this way, she's actually a year older than Sarah Jessica Parker and, well, let's just say she hasn't held up as well (I thought it was too mean to say she looks like a garden gnome, only instead of a point hat she has a big head full of straw hair.)

3. Jennifer Carpenter

Character: Debra Morgan on Dexter
Why she's underrated: I know, she just played the lead role in Quarantine, but, if you're an average Joe the Plumber, there's a decent chance you didn't even know her name until you looked at this article. For a long time, I was just calling her, "Dexter's sister." But, if you can get around her tendency to overact, you'll find a incredibly attractive woman. And I don't want to hear about her being too skinny. People love Keira Knightley, and for my money, I'll take Jennifer over her any day. At least she wouldn't make me sit through a bunch of boring period pieces.

2. Katrina Bowden

Character: Cerie on 30 Rock
Why she's underrated: Her role is too small. As a dim-witted tramp, Cerie isn't exactly the kind of character you can build a lot of episodes around (unless you're Sex and the City, of course), but every time she walks on screen it's like a nice little surprise. She even got her own sub-plot last season, which was really very nice. But, even with her small amount of screen time, I definitely put her in the running for the hottest chick on TV. Feel free to angrily disagree in the comments.

1. Missy Peregrym

Character: Andi from Reaper
Why she's underrated: The fact that her show is on the CW probably has more than a little to do with it. She had a short role on Heroes, but was again overpowered by the huge stack of hot chicks they have on that show. That has been the story of her life in a way. She was on Dark Angel against Jessica Alba and Tru Calling where she had to compete with Eliza Dushku. At least Reaper gives her a chance to shine.