Whoever deemed nerds as the weird guys and gals no one was ever supposed to date? Can we just come together and declare that person was way off base? Because some of those smarty pants are the most attractive we’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s their intellect; Maybe it’s the way they stray from the crowd. Something about a geek lights the fires within our souls.
Whatever it is, they are totally endearing and not only are they the hottest geeks but some of the hottest peeps around. From scientists to FBI agents to complete psychopaths, these are the hottest nerds in pop culture to have ever hit the small screen:
1. Jessica Day on New Girl
Who’s that girl? Well, obviously, it’s Jess! She says some pretty dorky things, but it’s like the term adorkable was made just for her. Whether she’s knitting or crying over a breakup watching Dirty Dancing, she is the epitome of hot geek. Plus, she was a teacher, a vice principal and now the head honcho principal… she loves school just as much as we did!
2. J.D. on Scrubs
Yes, J.D. wound up breaking our hearts when he left Scrubs but we somehow found it in our hearts to forgive him because with him out, Dave Franco was in. The cuter younger Franco aside, J.D. was this dorky dude who wanted to be a great doctor. He often was inside his head too much and clearly loved his BFF way more he could love you… but his innocent intentions always made him have a special place in our hearts.
3. Tina Belcher on Bob’s Burgers
Not since Daria has a teenage girl connected with so many people. A strong, independent woman, Tina Belcher is the reason many continue to tune into Bob’s Burgers year after year. Her one liners, erotic zombie writings, and simplistic take on fashion have made her not only an icon but a girl we can all see our 13-year-old selves dating. If we were animated of course. Step off Jimmy Jr.!
4. Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds
He’s been in almost 300 episodes of Criminal Minds but it only took one for us to fall head over heels for Spencer Reid. Yeah, yeah Shemar Moore was hard to ignore but we can’t deny that Matthew Gray Gubler‘s Spencer Reid was the one for us. It’s that quick thinking mind that we just cannot get enough of. Total babe.
5. Steve Urkel on Family Matters
All hail the original nerd! In the ’90s this guy was the definition of nerd, geek, dork, dweeb. All of the above. Always busting through the Winslow’s door unannounced, he was kind of annoying. But at the end of the day, we preferred the suspenders and the pitchy voice over when he transformed into that too-cool-for-school guy, Stefan.
6. Felicity Smoak on Arrow
Girlfriend could literally hack basically any computer or phone in Starling City, graduated from MIT and was an integral part of a vigilante superhero’s mission to save his city. Not only that, but she’s been known to perform medical operations on the members of Team Arrow and isn’t quite helpless when it comes to physical fights. All that, plus her bold taste in lipsticks? Most fans can’t decide if they want to be her or want to date her — and that’s fine by us.
7. Pam Beesly on The Office
Remember that one time Timothy Olyphant‘s Danny Cordray called Pam a dork on The Office and we totally didn’t see why that was a problem? Whatever Danny Cordray. You weren’t anything to write home about, either. (Totally a lie, he is HOT.) But we will defend our artistic receptionist/salesman/office manager always and forever.
8. Lindsay Weir on Freaks and Geeks
Lindsay may have traded in her Mathlete membership for a spot at the stoner table, but there’s no denying that the girl was always a geek — even when hanging with the “freaks.” It probably worked in her favor that Linda Cardellini is drop-dead gorgeous — but I still could never understand why James Franco‘s character, Daniel, was always giving her the runaround.
9. Sam Winchester on Supernatural
Any dude who literally surrounds himself with actual monsters and what-not is a badass. So that’s why we’re all about Supernatural‘s Sam Winchester. He’s not only smart when it comes to hunting and tackling demons, he’s also got a history of law in his back pocket that we find incredibly attractive. Plus, have you seen him? Ain’t too bad on the eyes. That’s all I’m saying.
10. Dexter Morgan on Dexter
Okay, so he may be a bit of a psycho but at the end of the day, he was just trying to do what he thought was right. So we’re letting his serial killer ways off the hook and just focusing on how fast his brain worked when at a crime scene… and when he was about to get caught.
11. Tia Landry on Sister, Sister
There are talks of a Sister, Sister revival which would reunite us with the beloved Tia Landry. It was damn near impossible to tell Tia and Tamera Mowry apart on the show. The only real tell was that Tia was always the more responsible one who was great at school. While some loved Tamera for her wild spirit, we were all about Tia’s mannered and nerdy ways.
12. Liz Lemon on 30 Rock
Tina Fey herself is a real life geek who is gorgeous, and that really doesn’t change when you’re talking about her character Liz Lemon on 30 Rock. Let’s be real, how much nerdier does it get than getting married dressed like Princess Leia? Not much darling, not much.
13. Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory
When you’re on a show like The Big Bang Theory, it’s really hard to pick just one hot nerd. We’ll be honest, this whole list could have been jam packed with solely that cast but we decided to play favorites with Jim Parsons‘ Sheldon Cooper. His sexiness is often times completely unexplainable, but hey what can we say… we’d hit it!
14. Chuck on Chuck
What isn’t hot about a man who knows his way around a computer? Yeah, Zachary Levi is physically better looking than Bill Gates but we swear that has nothing to do with it. Levi’s Chuck wasn’t just great at computers, but he was then enlisted by the government for top secret missions. How. Freaking. Cool. Is. That? When Gates does that, then maybe we’ll add him to the list.
15. Topanga Lawrence on Boy Meets World
After so many smart dudes early on, Topanga was a beacon of light for all the girls out there who excelled at school and were proud of it. Honor roll girls put your hands up! That, partnered with the fact that she was in love with Cory when Shawn was obviously cuter made her that much better in our eyes.
16. Lip Gallagher on Shameless
Lip from Shameless is by far the most low-key geek on this list because anyone who’s watched the show knows that Lip has the brains but can be trouble. His mind intertwined with that bad boy vibe definitely makes him a hot geek. He covers a lot of bases with those!
17. Amy Santiago on Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Brooklyn Nine-Nine would not be the same without the rule-abiding, binder-making, hard ass that is Amy Santiago. Organization nerds fell hard for this cop when she first came on the screen on the Fox comedy back in 2013, and we’re all still jealous AF that Andy Samberg‘s character is dating her now. Okay, the jealousy goes both ways because we love him too.
18. Alex Dunphy on Modern Family
Displaying the classic middle child syndrome since the start of Modern Family, Alex Dunphy was the outsider’s hero from day one. Which is hard because that whole cast is gold, right? Nevertheless, Alex is our queen bee always and forever.
19. Dana Scully on The X-Files
Dana got to live the ultimate fanperson’s dream every week on The X-Files chasing aliens. She made us all believe all while making our hearts race alongside Mulder. You can’t even imagine how excited we were to see her back on TV when Fox finally agreed to bring it back.
20. Willow Rosenberg on Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Honestly no one else could make the jump from nerdy high school bookworm to bad-ass (still nerdy) witch like Willow Rosenberg. While in high school she was often the go-to girl for study sessions and after-school tutoring, she became a staple of the Scoobie gang with her computer and research skills… and eventually her incredible power with witchcraft. TBH, Willow basically wrote the book on being a hot nerd.
21. Seth Cohen on The O.C.
The year was 2003 and Beyoncé was teaching us all how to be “Crazy in Love.” That song was the perfect anthem for our teenage hearts as they all were starting to fall madly in love with Seth Cohen on The O.C. He was the ultimate boy next door, and all anyone ever wanted to do was be the girl of his dreams AKA Summer Roberts. He collected comic books, liked indie music, and had a plastic horse that he loved with all his heart. He was basically the cutest boy in the whole wide world, and now with the power of Hulu, he’s invading the hearts of teenage girls all over again.