Top 5 television casts of characters of all time
 

So I was reading through the top 5 characters..and I couldn't think of just one from certain shows. There are shows where the whole cast meshing together is what makes it so great! So what are your top 5(or whatever) shows where all the characters were so great that the it's hard to just pick a favorite, as in the whole cast was superb!

Mine are:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Simpsons
Freaks & Geeks
Strangers with Candy
The O.C.

honorable mention:

South Park
Futurama


** sorry if this is a repeat topic...couldnt find anything like it

That looks more like a favourite shows list than an ensemble cast list, IMHO.

For older shows, I'd choose I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners. Despite both shows being almost the exact same formula, the casts performed so well that they were both very distinctive.

For more recent, I'd go with:
M*A*S*H
The later years of Night Court after Charles Robinson and Marsha Warfield came onboard.
Seinfeld - Even though I absolutely despise this show, I have to admit that it wouldn't have worked as well without the cast that they had.

How can you hate Seinfeld?

I guess, but my favorite casts would obviously make up some of my favorite shows. I didn't put a lot of shows that I enjoy because of the premise or maybe like two characters. I honestly can say I adore each and everyone of the characters on those shows, the bad (Spike, Julie Cooper, etc), the ugly (Jerri Blank hahaha), even the downright obnoxious (Marisa Cooper from the O.C.)

I can only think of three:

M*A*S*H (the Henry Blake seasons)
Frasier
WKRP In Cincinnati

I agree with most of the ones already named. I'll add:

Homicide: Life on the Streets
Hill Street Blues
The Dick Van Dyck Show

I do not know how old you are, but your list does not seem like and "All Time" list.

1. M.A.S.H is by far the number one cast of chacters. They really grew into a family within a few seasons.

Below are very honorable mentions, but not in any order:
-Carol Burnett Show was funny/great because of the cast that played off each other perfectly
-Dick Van Dyke Show
-The Andy Griffith Show - Andy Taylor, Ron Howard, Don Knotts, Jim Nabors and many more - All had long running TV/Movie/Singing carrers. Not many other shows can boast of such talent.
-Seinfield had great cast and really played off each other well

Cheers...even after the cast change, it still worked out very well.

Deep Space Nine, probably the best Trek cast ever. I can't think of a solitary annoying character during that run, while other Trek series certainly had them.

Simpsons. I think maybe animated shows will not be considered by many here because of whatever reason, but the fact that those voice actors have worked together for so long on that show, they work well with what they do.

MASH--every season, and that show had quite a few cast changes over the 11 year run, but they always brought somebody on who worked so well with the cast.

Frasier-great group of people to watch together.

ps--I don't know about "all time," but these are my current choices. There are some classic shows I rarely or never have watched, so what do I know? How can you make a list like this and leave off shows like I Love Lucy and the Honeymooners? I think those are worthy to be mentioned as well as others.

Some that haven't been mentioned yet that I'd consider

The West Wing
Friends
The first few seasons of ER

Arrested Development could eventually make the list.

http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/...infeld_200.jpg I'm going with Seinfeld

There are a lot of shows that come to mind when I think about great and memorable casts.

Just in the comedy department there's:
The Honeymooners,
The Andy Griffith Show,
The Mary Tyler Moore Show,
All in the Family,
Cheers... and that's just to name five

I think the core ensemble of four from Seinfeld could stand up against the regular cast of any of the shows I've listed, and any shows anybody else would care to name. (Ironically, it's Jerry Seinfeld playing himself who is the weakest one in the bunch.)

But what sets Seinfeld apart is the great casting that happened with the guest and recurring guest actors/characters.

Wayne Knight as Newman; Patrick Warburton as Puddy; Jerry Stiller and Estelle Harris as George's parents; John O'Hurley as J. Peterman

Jerry's parents; Susan Ross and her parents; Uncle Leo (Hello!)

Think about all the actresses (some who were then unknown and have gone on to great success) who played girlfriends on the show:
Courtney Cox, Kristin Davis, Jane Leeves, Debra Messing, Teri Hatcher, Lori Loughlin, Lauren Graham, Janeane Garofalo, Amanda Peet, Maggie Wheeler, Jessica Lundy, Rena Sofer, Jami Gertz, Megan Mullaly, Alexandra Wentworth.

And all the characters (some who only appeared once in the series) who have become instantly recognizable:
The Soup Nazi, Jackie Chiles, Izzy "It's go time!" Mandelbaum, NBC exec Russell Dalrymple, Lt Bookman the library detective, Babu Bhat, Crazy Joe Davola, Kenny Bania, Tim Whatley the dentist, Sally Weaver, Sue Ellen Mishkie, The Maestro --just to name a dozen.

What I'm trying to say is that what makes Seinfeld the show with the all-time greatest cast is that beyond the greatness of the show's stars, the guest cast was always great. Actors/actresses would come on the show once or twice and play a character that was unforgetable, and to which they will always be linked.
http://www.visimag.com/tvzone/images/t185_con_th.jpg
Lois Lane? A desperate housewife? She'll always be Sidra with the spectacular breasts to me.

I've always liked series with an ensemble cast with a few quirky characters, so my list would include, in no particular order;
Star Trek
Cheers
Rockford Files
Gilmore Girls
M*A*S*H

I've never seen an episode of Seinfeld or Friends, so I can't compare them.

I forgot Star Trek, what fun it was to watch the main 3.

Buffy
The Wire
Seinfeld
Get Smart
South Park

I thought he was funny when I first saw him as a stand-up comic. Then after watching him do the same routine for several years, I hated him. That hatred got transferred to his show. :-)

http://epguides.com/Cheers/cast.jpg

http://sfon.tv/Television/S/Star_Tre...prise_Crew.jpg

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr...s/emmys/ed.jpg

http://www.sdc.org/~ragan/farscape.jpg

http://www.dvdfuture.com/images/upload/nexp_cast.jpg

Mine are:
CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU?
WKRP IN CINCINATTI
HE AND SHE
CHEERS
DOBIE GILLIS

Buffy
Angel
Freaks & Geeks
Friends
Futurama
Family Guy
The Simpsons
Seinfeld
Malcolm in the Middle

G.I. Joe Season One

It's an all-time in my life-time. I'm 19.


Also, I agree with everyone that put frasier down. Excellent, excellent cast and all around excellent show.

I think Count Dooku brought up a good point about the Seinfeld cast. Outside of the main 4 characters, there are other, and new, likable and memorable characters each and every week. I can't think of another show where that could be said.

FRIENDS

Definately my favorite cast. All the actors totally meshed well together and had great chemisty. They are even great friends in real life, unlike the cast of Desperate Housewives.

Twin Peaks

Will & Grace

I don't think any cast can top Mary Tyler Moore: MTM, Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Gavin McLeoud, John Amos (first few years) and Betty White.

All in the Family, Happy Days, South Park, Friends, and Three's Company