This isn't about cougars chasing after twentysomething guys or college students hooking up with professors. We're talking about relationships between adults and underage teenagers that are actually illegal, among other things. Yet, while they're illicit, ill conceived and dangerous in the real world, we can't get enough of them on scripted TV. Hell, some of them are our favorite small-screen couples of all time. While there is a current rash of hot-for-teacher storylines, there have also been plenty of other underage characters who've fallen for someone far too old for them.

They say there are no small parts, only small actors. But this year, there are actually plenty of big roles on TV for little people -- at least, there are on HBO. Peter Dinklage has a major role in HBO's medieval drama Game of Thrones, while Ricky Gervais begins filming Life's Too Short, a sitcom starring Warwick Davis as an egomaniacal dwarf talent agent, for the network in May. And that's not even counting the numerous reality shows on the air about bakers and dog trainers who also happen to be little people. Considering how rare it is that we see actors with dwarfism on television in significant recurring roles, this double news item got us thinking about the last time a little person was on our TV on a regular basis. Then, once we remembered how bad The Cape was, we decided to look back further. Here are the best and worst.

Not having lived in a college dorm room for for a few years, I find that keeping up with what's going on on Cartoon Network's [adult swim] isn't really that high up on my to-do list any more. This is mostly because I have to be awake before noon, not to mention how the deeper meanings behind the absurdity of a talking ball of meat is lost without a room full of friends who can relate to him all too well. Tuning in a few days ago I was glad to see that most of [adult swim]'s original programing isn't much different, however the channel is really slacking with the syndicated programing choices.