Best Ensemble TV Show

[saintsaucey]

I was thinking this the other night because Brother's and Sisters was on the tv in the break room at work. I've never watched the show but it has to have one of the greatest Ensemble casts ever. Ron Rifkin, Calista Flockhart, Rob Lowe, Balthezar(sp) Getty and a host of others.

Like wise, The West Wing had an undeniable cast as well. though fokes like Brad Whitford, Janel Maloney the lady who played CJ were un known to me at the time the show was still one of the most ensemble teams ever.

what other shows had great casts like this.

and do you think Brothers and Sisters will get the emmy this year

[Thorlief]

http://www.episodeguides.com/images/cast/frasier.jpg

http://www.startrekdesktopwallpaper.com/wallpapers/18_Star_Trek_DeepSpaceNine_crew_wallpaper_l.jpg

you don't get much better than this, imo

[Fish Sauce]

Arrested Development had a damn solid cast in my opinion.

[TheLazy]

DS9-great chemistry between everyone, which I think contributed to the overall plot, i mean could you imagine different actors as Quark or Odo? And Avery Brooks would put Stewart or Shatner straight on the floor.

Band of Brothers had a good cast that seemed to play well off each other, especially a surprisingly great performance from David Schwimmer

[saintsaucey]

deep space nine had an amazing cast and they had an amazing reoccuring cast as well. the actors who played Martock, Ducat, Damar, Garak, Vic Fontain, and Sloan were wonderful. and thats just naming a few

[Ilash]

The West Wing would be my pick. Seriously, why aren't all the actors from there not getting much in the way of work since the show ended. People like Richard Schiff, Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford should really be headlining a bunch of movies but for some reason Hollywood seems to be overlooking them.

[jessecuster3]

yeah West Wing is my favorite as well, right now however, I would go with:


http://www.givememyremote.com/uploaded_images/Office_Walking_EW-769873.png

[Albert]

There are better to be sure, but WKRP in Cincinnati has always been one of my favorites. The last season was particularly good, as they seemed to be wading into darker waters than one would expect for a show of its time.

[FanboyStranger]

If we're talking of the moment, I'd have to go with The Wire on this. It has the most incredibly diverse and talented cast of any show currently on television, as well as probably the largest. Each character has his/her unique identity upon his/her first appearance, and I think that's a testament to the actors on the show, many who have been around for awhile but generally as supporting actors (John Doman, Frankie Faison, Paul Ben-Gurion, etc.), were more stage or international actors (Dominic West, Idris Elba, Jim True-Frost, etc.), or came from another medium altogether (Method Man).

The Shield is like that as well. Obviously, you have the long-time TV vets in Michael Chiklis and CCH Pounder, a bunch of supporting movie actors in Walton Goggins, Kenneth Johnson (both of whom appeared together in Major League III, of all things), Benito Hernandez, and Michael Jace, and a stand-up turned scene stealer in Jay Karnes, but they were also able to mix in Academy Award winners Forrest Whittaker and Glenn Close as well as Anthony Anderson, who was pushed for a while as "the next big thing" until King's Ransom.

The greatest ensemble cast ever, in my opinion, has to go to The Larry Sanders Show-- Garry Shandling, Rip Torn, Jeffrey Tambor, Penny Johnson, Wallace Langham, Jeremy Piven, Janeanne Garofalo, Mary Lynn Raskoub, Scott Thompson, Sarah Silverman, Bob Odenkirk, John Stewart, and on and on, plus reoccuring "guest" slots for David Duchovny, Ellen DeGenerous, and Bruno Kirby. It was basically the training ground for the so-called "new" comedy, and the talent that passed through that show was just unbelievable in terms of both quanity and qualiity.

[hoffmandu]

I'll throw my vote in for Deadwood, season one.

[pauwoo]

Has to be friends, this was huge all round the world and most people have probably seen an episode somewhere and or at least know the tune.

It did everything a show was supposed to, it was funny and you could relate to the characters, as good as some of the other shows mentioned are, they are not that well known in some places.

[TheLazy]

The Shield is like that as well. Obviously, you have the long-time TV vets in Michael Chiklis and CCH Pounder, a bunch of supporting movie actors in Walton Goggins, Kenneth Johnson (both of whom appeared together in Major League III, of all things), Benito Hernandez, and Michael Jace, and a stand-up turned scene stealer in Jay Karnes, but they were also able to mix in Academy Award winners Forrest Whittaker and Glenn Close as well as Anthony Anderson, who was pushed for a while as "the next big thing" until King's Ransom.
.


Yeah, The Shields cast is amazing. Jay Karnes owns that show though, during the first season when he gets obsessed with 'Sally'...priceless

[TheLazy]

Has to be friends, this was huge all round the world and most people have probably seen an episode somewhere and or at least know the tune.

It did everything a show was supposed to, it was funny and you could relate to the characters, as good as some of the other shows mentioned are, they are not that well known in some places.

By the end of the shows run Chandler/Mathew Perry was the only one I could stand. The actors fit their characters well, but the characters themselves weren't to great

[DDM]

The Waltons: Each characer got the spotlight from the Mother, Father, Grandfather, Grandmother, & all of the children, although the center is always John-Boy Walton. I like the fact when the characters who played Grandfather & Grandmother Walton died, they were not replaced with other actors. Their characters died too. The producers made the mistake of replacing the John-Boy I with John-Boy II though.

Little House on the Prairie: Although Laura Ingels is the center, other characters did get the spotlight & developed from the immediate family & supporting cast.

The Brady Bunch: Everyone got the spotlight, including the maid, Alice.

Alice: The original cast with Flo is the best with Alice being the center for every other weird character such as Vera, Flo, & Mel.

[brundlefly]

Much love for the ensemble cast of Homicide: Life on the Street. Probably my favorite cast of characters on a TV show.

And both the Sopranos and OZ had great casts that played well off of each other, too.

Agreed on the Shield, Wire, Deadwood, etc. Some great casts already mentioned.

[Jamal]

If we're talking of the moment, I'd have to go with The Wire on this. It has the most incredibly diverse and talented cast of any show currently on television, as well as probably the largest. Each character has his/her unique identity upon his/her first appearance, and I think that's a testament to the actors on the show, many who have been around for awhile but generally as supporting actors (John Doman, Frankie Faison, Paul Ben-Gurion, etc.), were more stage or international actors (Dominic West, Idris Elba, Jim True-Frost, etc.), or came from another medium altogether (Method Man).

The Wire would also be my choice, the cast gets more amazing every season.

[Aggie]

since my first 3 choices were already mentioned (AD, the office, the wire)...i'm gonna go old school and say "the golden girls" and for my hour long "buffy the vampire slayer"...

[Deep_Sleeper]

I'm gonna go with Firefly. Joss Whedon is a god!

[Pinnacle]

I'm going with The West Wing. And I totally agree with a previous post that this cast should be getting movie roles. Since the show ended, Martin Sheen was great in The Departed and I liked Bradley Whitford in Studio 60. I hope some of the cast shows up in Charlie Wilson's War. I had to read that book for a graduate class on the Modern Middle East (it's about the CIA helping the Afghans fighting the Soviets in the 80s and the title character is a rogue member of the House of Representatives). Sorkin is going to adapt it to screen and Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman (I think he should play the title character but my professor says he could also see Hanks as the title character) are going to star. I could easily see Richard Schiff in this movie.

[Chiasm]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel: The ensemble on it and later on Angel were so good that most fans actually liked many of the supporting characters better than the lead character. In fact, I'd say that of the main characters Buffy probably ranked below Willow, Xander, Anya, Spike, and Giles in terms of popularity. She probably only beats Dawn and Kennedy out of the season VII regulars. And Angel is probably beaten by Wesley, Fred, Lorne, and Spike.

[kalorama]

NewsRadio, Taxi, Buffy, Angel, Stargate SG-1 (original cast).

[hoffmandu]

NewsRadio, Taxi, Buffy, Angel, Stargate SG-1 (original cast).


NewsRadio ,easy. Good eye, Kal.

[Phil Clark]

Soap:
http://entimg.msn.com/i/150/TV/soap_cast_150x225.jpg

Blakes 7:
http://www.cultv.co.uk/blakes%207%20gang.jpg

[Thorlief]

http://www.retrobug.com/cheers/pictures/004.jpg

[jesse_custer]

As far as varied personalities and talent goes, you can't really beat Deadwood. Probably the most versatile cast of all time.

[Your Imaginary Pal]

Figured M*A*S*H was a shoe in on these boards.
as for HBO shows I think Rome needs a mention Entourage as well.
that 70's Show is a good group as well as the Freaks & Geeks cast.

[kalorama]

Can't believe I forgot Cheers. Also gotta add Hill Street Blues.

[Thorlief]

Hill Street Blues.

absolutely. That cast is exceptional
http://www.teletronic.co.uk/hillstreetblues.jpg

p.s. I always thought Renko was played by Donny Most..and Lucy was gorgeously HOT

[StoneGold]

I'm going to throw some qualifiers in here, but the best hour long network ensemble on today is Boston Legal. Hell, the entire cast is made up of people in half the shows mentioned already. When your worst actor is Shatner (and OK, there have been other actors who are worse, but they tend to get fired off the show pretty fast) you know you've got one hell of an ensemble.