Alan Ritchson is a major star now, thanks to “Reacher.” But he was busy long before that Prime Video series. He has landed charming one-off roles in shows like “Black Mirror,” “New Girl,” and Nickelodeon’s “Fred.” A new ranking makes the case for his five best TV shows that are not “Reacher.”
This ranking is titled “5 Best Alan Ritchson TV Shows That Aren’t Reacher, Ranked.”, and it spans his career from his early days in superhero movies through a cult comedy. The top spot is undisputed among fans, while the first four positions remain open to dispute.
A One-Episode Hit on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
During the time when the character is at the height of their fame, Ritchson shows up in a single episode of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”. That episode falls within Season 6’s “Hitchcock and Scully.” He plays a younger Scully back in the ’80.
Joel McKinnon Miller’s Scully brings a level of wildness to the role that makes this casting choice stand out. It gives the episode’s cold open takes its time before revealing Ritchson’ its own identity, building toward an amazing moment just before the opening credits.
Young Scully is a part Ritchson has not talked about much. The performance is short and does not reveal a fresh side of his acting. Fans know he excels at playing a cool, tough guy, and that is precisely who Young Scully is. Even so, the role serves him well. He elevates it further whenever he allows small traces of the older Scully to come through.
The Real Aquaman of “Smallville”
Alan Ritchson is the real Aquaman, according to “Smallville” fans, who prefer him over Jason Momoa. He appeared as a young Arthur Curry across four episodes during the back half of the series.
The part gave Ritchson what he later called his first major opportunity. Speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he described the performance as driven by “pure instincts.”, a moment when he had no acting skill at all.
The role also taught him a harsh lesson about Hollywood. The show’s network led him to think he was getting his own spin-off series. That did not happen. He explained that a change in the network from The WB to The CW meant he was suddenly “yanked” from the “Aquaman” spin-off project.
The “Aquaman” pilot was produced without Ritchson. It then got scrapped.
“Nothing is a sure thing in this business,” Ritchson explained. “I learned to hold so loosely to every opportunity that came, to where I would never get too excited … It just helps me navigate this business in a more grounded way. And I learned that right out of the gate with a real tough loss.”
It took Ritchson some time before he became a genuine star, and “Smallville” marked his first step along that path.
Gory Action on “Blood Drive”
In 2017, Ritchson starred in the only season of SYFY’s “Blood Drive.” It was a gory, fast-paced show about a “Mad Max”-style American apocalypse. The series was never a hit and was canceled after just one season.
James Roland had big ideas for Seasons 2 and 3, but none of them came to pass. The character Ritchson plays, Arthur Bailey, shares a great deal with his later “Reacher” role. Bailey is an extremely capable man who holds fast to a strict sense of right and wrong.
“He wants so badly to do the right thing and be different and fight evil with good,” Ritchson explained in a 2017 Daily Dead interview. “You put somebody like that in a world where he’s already a deer in headlights and it sets up a lot of great, fun action and conflict, and that’s a ton of fun to play.”
He recalled the show as another major learning experience. It was his first time leading a TV series. In a 2024 interview with MovieZine, Ritchson said the series helped him let go of some of his “control freak” tendencies. That allowed him to adapt well to his later “Reacher” lead role.
It was a short run, but it mattered.
A Key Role on “Titans”
Ritchson portrayed Hank Hall, a recurring character on “Titans.”, who is a superhero with a hawk theme. In speaking to Collider, he remembered being won over for the role by his agent.
“It’s nothing like the CW. Nobody has done anything like this … We feel like you are the only guy who can do this vigilante, alcoholic, pill-popping hothead,” the agent told him.
After Season 3, the show wrote Hank out, and Ritchson did not seem too bothered by it. When asked about the change in an interview with EW, he said that the show’s choice to reduce its cast, mostly due to budget concerns, was actually for the best.
“I think the show has improved significantly in the third season because the storylines have been focused, the cast has been tightened and slimmed down, and we’re now getting the best of what ‘Titans’ can do,” he said.
“Titans” is a particularly important role because it introduced him to showrunner Greg Walker. Walker is a friend of “Reacher” showrunner Nick Santora.
“When Don Granger and Nick Santora are investigating the possible Reachers, and they start making phone calls to see what kind of guy I am, who do they call? They call Greg Walker,” Ritchson told MovieZine. “And I find out later that Greg Walker was singing my praises.”
The bond proved to be a key factor in steering him toward the part that secured his fame.
The Undisputed Top Pick: “Blue Mountain State”
You probably guessed from the start that “Blue Mountain State,” would be at the top of this list. Over 39 episodes, Ritchson took on the role of Thad Castle, a football team captain who is intensely devoted to his sport.
This part of the story shows the man who would later become known as Jack Reacher in an unflattering light. Thad is frequently the target of the show’s humor. Whenever he becomes upset, he switches into a high-pitched scream, which has made him well-known for that particular trait.
It is hilarious.
Thad is not the show’s main character, but he is its standout. The series’ only spin-off movie is called “Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland.” That tells you everything about how much the character carried the show.
The ranking puts the five shows in this order:
- “Blue Mountain State”
- “Titans”
- “Blood Drive”
- “Smallville”
- “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
The ranking claims no genuine Ritchson fan would dispute this first position. The show offered him a chance to be loud, ridiculous, and entirely committed. That stands far removed from the cool tough guys he often gets cast as nowadays.
The proof lies in the list itself, which shows that Ritchson has a truly varied set of skills on screen. Comedy, drama, and action — he can handle all three. He can play the cool guy or the one making jokes, and those early parts stand up just as well today as they did back then.
Source: tvline.com