As 2012 winds down, you'll be seeing all sorts of lists about the 10 best this and 5 worst that -- almost all of them focusing on shows as a whole or above-the-line stars. Here at Zap2it, though, we have a different tradition.

We present to you our seventh annual list of underrated TV stars -- the ones who might not be the main attraction but who inevitably make the shows they're on better. This year's honorees play characters ranging from a group of aspiring dancers to a possessed nun to a troubled war veteran.

The thing they have in common is that we feel like they deserve some major props.

As always, the rules are: No lead actors of series, no Emmy winners and no one who's been on one of our previous underrated lists. Because if we talk about how underrated you are, you can't really be underrated anymore.

Congratulations to this year's honorees, and thanks for making our jobs covering TV more fun.

-- The Zap2it team

Related:

Previous underrated lists: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006