Last year I did an article on the greatest sitcom casts of all time. Now it goes without saying that if a sitcom is successful the cast had to be pretty strong..doesn’t it? I got to thinking if there were any shows that while successful, had a really awful cast. Maybe something else helped it like the main star was such a big star they carried the show, or the writing was just so top notch. Here is what I came up with anyway, and this is just opinion as always.
Now of course unlike last time I am not saying the entire cast was bad since no show can function with a totally bad cast. I am also not blaming the actors in these cases, I’m sure they did there best. These are shows that I feel most of the characters just added nothing to the mix. One rule is that these have to be the primary cast for the bulk of the run, we all know shows can often start with a cast member who suddenly vanishes once creators realize the character isn’t working. The other rule is this has to be a show that was on for awhile, say five years at least.
#5.Mad About You
The winner of the most solid worst supporting cast ever. This show was all about Paul and Jamie…and man was it hard to include anyone one in that mix. It wasn’t soo bad in the early years but as the show went on the supporting cast kept changing. First Ira replaced Shelby. Then Mark and Fran vanished. Then Paul’s parents became main cast members even though that NEVER made sense. Paul’s sister was added while Jamie’s sister disappeared and her mother stuck around, played by Carol Burnett for some reason. and it was just crazy. The show tried to fill in the voids but overall, it failed. If a good solid supporting casts helps keep a series alive, then I guess we know why this series has kind of faded away.
#4.Barney Miller
Yeah I can just feel the pitch forks and torches being taken out for this one. Just opinion here guys. But honestly most of the cast here never did anything for me. Ok Ron Glass is delightful in everything he’s in and Abe Vigoda is always charming. Steve Landesberg is funny to. But the others… I’m not lying when I saw the characters were a part of the reason I never got into this show.
#3.Gimme A Break
I think one of the reasons this show hasn’t lived on vert long is because of the horrible cast. Nell Carter was amazing but man the three girls were boring and stilted. We had Kari Michelson as the flirty one, Lauri Hendler was the brain, and Lara Jill Miller was the baby except she outgrew that. The girls were so boring they had to bring in Thelma Hopkins and Joey Lawrence to help out, and eventually the three were all dropped and the series barely noticed.
#2. 2 Broke Girls
I’ve watched a lot of episodes of this show and it took me a loonng time to get behind the supporting cast in it. The leads, Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings , were fine but man were the others awful. They were all over the top stereotypes and almost never felt like real people. Even Jennifer Cooldige who in her first appearance was fine but once she became a regular she became another stereotype like the others. I think it was trying to be like Friends but they felt like real people. These characters felt like cartoon characters. To be fair the writing was hardly stellar.
#1,
Yeah why do we keep coming back to this show? Dick Christie was stiff, Marla Pennington was a cliche. Jerry Supiran was a cute kid but couldn’t act. Sure Tiffany Brissette was great, but that was about it. And finally the Brindells who, as I mentioned before, were so stereotypical they didn’t feel like real people half the time. And yet, the show had a healthy run and is adored by fans. WEIRD. All of these actors had short lived careers and moved on to other things in their lives. Tiffany is a nurse! And don’t get me wrong, I was a fan too and admit to even liking a few episodes. But man, was the cheese in this show thick!!
Agree? Disagree? Have your own choices? Comment and let me know.
Dick Christie felt like a discount John Ritter.
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