This may take some poking around at IMDb and similar sites, but after the main characters have been accounted for in the cast list or credits of your regular TV shows, who are the ones you count on for consistent quality?
A few examples of my choices ought to make it easier to decide the category I’m talking about.
Anyway,
-- Kim Coates ... Alex 'Tig' Trager (82 episodes, 2008-2013)
-- Tim Kang ... Kimball Cho (129 episodes, 2008-2014)
-- Archie Panjabi ... Kalinda Sharma (102 episodes, 2009-2014)
-- Jacob Pitts ... Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Gutterson (60 episodes, 2010-2014)
-- T.J. Thyne ... Dr. Jack Hodgins (179 episodes, 2005-2014)
-- Michael K. Williams ... Chalky White (48 episodes, 2010-2013)
-- Olivia Munn ... Sloan Sabbith (19 episodes, 2012-2013)
Put a different way, when you start watching a favorite show, other than the lead players, who is it you’re hoping will show up in the episode because you really like their work or just the character itself?
And, yes, I have asked similar questions in earlier threads but I figured I’d start a new one instead of poking a zombie.
Alex ‘Tig’ Trager – Sons of Anarchy
Kimball Cho – The Mentalist
Kalinda Sharma – The Good Wife
Deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Gutterson – Justified
Dr. Jack Hodgins – Bones
Chalky White – Boardwalk Empire
Sloan Sabbith – The Newsroom
Chloe O’Brien on 24 - the part just grew and grew, so she was a co-star by the end, a perfectly rendered version of Jack Bauer as an IT person.
Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers, the wise-cracking ME on Law and Order for most of its run. “Is that it? I’ve got a guy on my table with a javelin in his head.” “Rodgers, why do you do this job?” “Free javelins!”
Loretta McReady, the pot-slinging orphan on Justified. “It was my understanding you didn’t pursue sellers of herbal relief, Marshal.”
Flynn and Provenza of The Closer. The season highlight for me was the annual ep with them as the focus. Runner up: Asst. Chief Pope.
Artemis (Artemis Pebdani) on It’s Always Sunny. Rosalie Aprile (Sharon Angela) on The Sopranos [the episode when she and Carmela go to Paris is perfect]. Drusilla (Juliet Landau) on Buffy. Lumpy Space Princess (Pendleton Ward) on Adventure Time. Beverly (Estelle Parsons) on Roseanne.
Bob "Better Call Saul!"Odenkirk and Jonathan “Mike” Banks from Breaking Bad. Although in S4, Jonathan Banks is more a regular than a supporting cast member.
Jere Burns (Wynn Duffy) and Damon Herriman (Dewey Crowe) both turn in consistently entertaining performances on Justified.
And speaking of both Breaking Bad and Justified, Jim Beaver turns in memorable performances and holds his own quite handily alongside main-cast members.
Wouldn’t Jacob Pitts as Tim Gunderson count as a lead character? He certainly doesn’t get included in as many episodes as he should, but he’s credited during the opening along with the other regulars.