The TV show that was so good fans paid to have a movie made.

If you’re a Veronica Mars fan you know that no show – before or after it – has come close to recreating the magic of this smart teen drama.

It was a mostly underrated show that crept in under the radar and redefined our expectations of what a teen show could be.

In case you missed it, the series stars Kristen Bell as the title character.

LISTEN: Laura Brodnik, Clare Stephens and Gemma Garkut discuss why this show has such a cult following, even after it was cancelled. Post continues after audio….

By day, Veronica must navigate high school like any average teenage girl. By night, she’s a fearless 17-year-old apprentice private investigator dedicated to solving the Californian town of Neptune’s toughest mysteries.

Veronica Mars tackles some big topics like murder, sexual assault, incest, racism and discrimination, and does it all with a smart, dark sense of humour.

When we first meet Veronica she’s a bit of a social outcast. We soon learn that her best friend, Lily Kane, was murdered almost a year ago, shortly after Lily’s brother Duncan abruptly broke up with Veronica.

Duncan, Lily’s boyfriend Logan, and the rest of the 09-ers (the school’s elite) have cut Veronica out of their lives after her dad and former town sheriff, Keith Mars, accused Lily’s dad of having something to do with his own daughter’s death.

As you can see this is a pretty complicated little town.

Veronica’s gone from being a “have” to a “have not” and she’s now navigating the murky underworld of Neptune at night, while also trying to solve her best friend’s murder.

Add to this a suspected sexual assault and a new mystery that Veronica must solve every episode, and you’ve got a teen drama so captivating and so unusual, it kind of broke the mould.

It's also responsible for possibly the best onscreen romance of all time - Veronica and her one-time nemesis Logan Echolls.

Logan is one of the most complex and nuanced characters we've ever seen on a teen drama.

No other show has been able to introduce us to a character we hate and then make us turn around and absolutely love him and his burgeoning relationship with Veronica in just one season.

Veronica Mars was also ahead of its time in so many regards.

It was incredibly diverse with many of Veronica's friends coming from different cultural backgrounds and it really shone a light on race relations and the unspoken class system in the United States.

Veronica Mars also dealt with sexual assault in a way that no other teen show - before or after it - has been able to.

At the start of season one we learn that Veronica believes she was drugged and sexually assaulted at a classmate's party. This topic is explored further throughout the series - and I don't want to give away too many spoilers here - but it does it in a way that's so harrowing yet helpful.

LISTEN: Veronica Mars is the smartest teen show around and all the TV shows you should be watching this week. Post continues after audio...

After Veronica wakes up in a bedroom at the party the next morning, she immediately goes to the police to report the sexual assault. There, she is basically laughed out the door. However, she never gives up and is determined to find out what happened to her.

In the end, we find out the answer but we also learn that although consent is often murky, there is always a clear victim and a clear perpetrator when it comes to sexual assault.

Unfortunately, the juggernaut that was Veronica Mars was abruptly cancelled after just three seasons.

In 2013, Kristen Bell and creator Rob Thomas, rallied the troops and asked their cult following of super fans to crowdfund so they could make a Veronica Mars movie.

The fans raised $5 million and the movie was released in 2014. Now there's a talk of follow up Veronica Mars mini-series.

Finger-crossed this happens because we could all do with a little more Veronica and Logan in our lives.

You can watch all three seasons of Veronica Mars on Stan now.

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