Top 5 Greatest Sitcom Casts EVER

So here is something I have always wanted to do. For a sitcom to be successful it helps if you have a strong cast. Of course most successful shows do (and I’ve talked about the shows that didn’t but fixed it later). What do I mean by a strong cast? Actors that not only elevated the material of the show they were in, . But even more than that,  a cast where EVERYONE elevated the material. Some shows will have a main character or two and the rest of the characters are just there, to be there. They contribute nothing except getting in some jokes. A good example is Murphy Brown, there were plenty of episode where the other characters either had one line and then vanished or didn't appear at all! The best casts get contributions from every member, every episode. Not just when the plot needs it. And it also helps if the actors went on to be successful long after the show ended

Just for fun, and in my opinion, which five shows had the best cast of them all? A little criteria here. It had to have been a hit show, that’s kind of a no brainer, lasing at least four seasons. Also adding to the cast is fine but it has to be a cast where few if any left (a character leaving for a spin off DOES NOT count). If the show ended with an entirely different cast than it started that’s not the same. So no Happy Days even though the cast they had for the bulk of their run was fantastic. And more than four leads, because if I add the shows with smaller casts we’ll be here all day!


#5.WKRP in Cincinnati

This barely counts being only four seasons but I’m counting it. This was not the greatest show ever, by far, but one thing I always admired was the cast for this show. Gary Sandy, Gordon Jump, Frank Bonner, Richard Sanders, Tim Reid. These were all supporting actors who came together and melded in this show. Howard Hesseman of course and Jan Smithers. Oh did I mention Loni Anderson? Wow. This show wasn’t much, it was the cast that made it work.







#4.Taxi

I mean, what a dream team! Every one of these actors went on to have distinguished careers. We had Judd Hirsch, Jeff Conaway, Danny Devito, Tony Danza, Andy Kaufman, Christopher Lloyd, Marilu Henner and even the ever talented Carol Kane. To be fair there was another character in Season 1 played by Randall Carver no one remember. So if this was such a great why #4? I think that despite the cast, the show has not survived the test of time like others. I think if you told most young people these actors were in this show they’d be surprised. That could be a testament to the actors, most of whom have seriously done bigger and better things. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s how it seems.







#3.Friends

What I love about this cast isn’t that Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer were big stars before the show. Most weren’t. But that they managed to have decent careers after. Yeah yeah you can say some did it better than others, but these six are still around and working. But the best part that puts it abov Taxi? It was the exact same cast in the end that it was at the beginning. After ten years that is amazing. None of these other shows listed here can say that. The show worked because of the structure and the writing, but it was these six actors who made us want to come back every week for ten years.


I considered Gilligan’s Island but that show didn’t last long enough to make this list.






#2.Mary Tyler Moore

First of all, yes that picture sucks. Sorry about that. The thing I love about this show is the cast. Mary, of course, and we also had Ed Asner, Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight, Valerie Harper, Chloris Leachman and later on of course Georgia Engel and Betty White. What a dream team! This gets the #2 spot for a very simple reason. I never really watched the show, and yet I know this cast and these characters so well because they have gone beyond the show to become part of pop culture. Though I still enjoy Betty White more on Golden Girls, but I digress! I also love how Betty White was a late edition, something that usually kills a show, and she became so beloved it's easy to forget she wasn't there for half the series! 







#1.Cheers

How solid was this cast? The show survived the departure of one of its leads and only got better! It’s pretty cool only person left, Shelly Long of course (obviously can’t blame Nicholas Colosanto for passing away, he played Coach of course). But what I love is that the additions they did made only enhanced the show. Kirstie Alley, Woody Harrelson, Kelsey Grammar and Bebe Neuwerth were late additions but it’s hard to believe they weren’t always there. Ted Danson, George Wendt, John Ratzenbeger and Rhea Pearlman were there from day one. And they have all survived since then, as a friend of mine here pointed out in another article awhile back. So what is it that makes this cast #1? Because when the show went off the air in 1993 the characters were just as funny and fresh as they were when the show started in 1982. Yep it’s been 25 years since Cheers went off the air, and no show has ever quite captured what this one managed to do.



And yes, Cheer's spin-off had a pretty decent cast too

So who do you think should be on here? The Office had a tremendous cast but not sure if how strong it was. Weren’t they mostly background characters? And I hear people screaming MASH but….well, they ended up with a great cast. I’ll leave it at that.