The Five: Great ensemble casts

Gilligan, the Skipper too,
the Millionaire, and his Wife,
the Movie Star, the Professor and Mary Ann

Well you can't ignore Gilligan, the Skipper too, the Millionaire and his Wife, the Movie Star, the Professor and Mary Ann, no matter how much the network execs wanted to. (Read Sherwood Schwartz's book on "Gilligan's Island" to see how they wanted to change each character - outrageous!)

First of all, why isn't there an Emmy for this category? And secondly, OZ OZ OZ. I think that part of what makes a great ensemble is if it lasts throughout the series even if one of the ensemble is gone. Newsradio was an amazing show, but it was TERRIBLE after Phil Hartman died. OZ killed off a number of characters in the main ensemble (which at one time included Edie Falco) but remained strong. OZ gets my #1.

While this is one of those debates that is more about the discussion than the actual results I will have to 2nd the Buffy/Angle Vote. And as much as I loved Firefly I agree it needed to be on just a bit longer to really qualify.

But my main point is we look not only at the top five but many of the other mentioned:

Dick VanDyke
Mary Tyler-Moore
Bob Newhart (the first one, not that Newhart wasn't bad)
Mash
Taxi
Cheers
Friends

They all are related. . .writers/directors/(cast) went from one show to the other teaching and passing on TV Greatness from one generation to the next. You Can actually trace Friends all the way back to Dick Van Dyke through James Burrows (Director). Check him out on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0123273/. Now i'm not saying that its all him, just that he's an example of how great The Dick VanDyke show was that it has influenced great TV for decades.

Oh yea and I agree Sports night needs to be on the list.

Ok I agree that "OZ" should be on the top 10 list. Even though many of the regulars would die at some point there were alot of people that made it through to the end like: Beacher, Kelly, Seid, the warden, the govenor, Sister Pete, the Preist (B.D Wong is hot), The old guys who's name I can not remeber, Poet, and Schillinger (the Ayran bastard).

Also a show that people foget because it only lasted 2 season's on the WB in the early years of the network is the show "Popular". That show had 12 yes count then 12 regulars on just about every episode and the show rocked! "Popular" is one of my all time favorite show. A 1 hour comedy/drama. It was "Grey's Anatomy" before there ever was a "Grey's" and it was a shit load funnier. Everyone should buy seasons 1 and 2 on DVD and see what I mean.

The Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel Both.

cant find chemistry as good as that and have done it a lot longer than Arrested dysfunctions, and The Orifice

now if you had said, The office (UK) then I would agree.

Grey's Anatomy is going to have to go on there before too long...

3 sitcoms you missed
FRIENDS...6 characters with something to do each time
SOAP...2 families...20 nut balls
HAPPY DAYS...Not just Fonzie and Richie but a large cast of characters
NIGHT COURT...Bull, Dan, Harry, Christine, Mac, Selma, etc.

3 Dramas you missed
ST. ELSEWHERE
HILL STREET BLUES
FREAKS & GEEKS

Come on... I'm as much a Firefly/Serenity fanatic as the next guy, but I wouldn't think they belong on this list. A great ensamb. cast (to me) is defined by how great everyone interacts with each other. The characters on Firefly mainly interacted with certian other charcters (Simon/River, Simon/Kaylee, Wash/Zoe, etc). A GREAT cast has so many wonderfully woven inter-relationship stories (and what I did there with the English language was just wrong). I'll add Sportsnight to the list, as all of the main characters had special relationships with each other. Firefly just didn't get the opportunity to be there yet.

A Top Five list I'd like to see is best cadre of guest stars or recurring guest stars. I'm sure the L&O shows would be there, but I'm watching all of the West Wing DVDs now, and I'm struck by how seemingly EVERYONE was on the show at some point.

Stargate anyone?