# "Perfect Attendance Index" for TV shows
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 29, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420 "2016-08-29T18:05:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/1 "2016-08-29T18:05:43Z")
I started a thread a while back about how remarkable it was that the six principal actors on _Friends_ each appeared in every one of the show’s 236 episodes, and I solicited examples of other shows with similar full-cast longevity. People responded with examples like _Cheers_ and _Seinfeld_, which didn’t quite fit what I was getting at. I blame myself for not explaining the concept clearly.
So I came up with a way to express it numerically, with something I call the Perfect Attendance Index. The way it works is, you take any TV show, list the actors who appeared in _every episode_ of said show, then multiply the number of actors in the list by the number of episodes in the series.
Examples:
\*Friends: \*6 actors
Jennifer Aniston
Courteney Cox
Lisa Kudrow
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Perry
David Scwimmer
x 236 episodes = PAI 1416.
\*Cheers: \*4 actors
Ted Danson
Rhea Perlman
John Ratzenberger
George Wendt
x 271 episodes = PAI 1084
\*Seinfeld: \*2 actors (Michael Richards and Julia Luis-Dreyfus did not appear in one episode each)
Jerry Seinfeld
Jason Alexander
x 173 episodes = PAI 346
The long-running \*Law & Order \*gets a big ol’ zero, as does _ER_, since nobody was in every episode. _Gunsmoke_ gets a 635 on the shoulders of James Arness alone.
I wasn’t sure if I could find any series that could beat _Friends_’ 1416, but I did!
\*Hill Street Blues: \*10 actors
Daniel J. Travanti
Michael Warren
Bruce Weitz
James Sikking
Joe Spano
Taurean Blaque
Kiel Martin
Betty Thomas
Charles Haid
Veronica Hamel
x 144 episodes = PAI 1440
Before anybody mentions _The Simpsons_, which has an impressive PAI of 3075 and counting, I’m not including it for 2 reasons: 1. It’s an animated show. Voice work is a whole different animal, and I’m only going for live-action on-camera appearances here. (My game, my rules!) 2. It’s still in production. A single missed episode by one or more of the principal cast could send that number plummeting. So let’s not count our chickens before they’re hatched.
Can anybody find a show that beats _Hill Street Blues_? Remember, actors have to have been in _every_ episode to be listed.
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### Author:  [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/2 "2016-08-29T18:19:18Z")
I was thinking Frasier had a shot, but 5 times 263 is 1315. If Eddie had been in every episode…
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/3 "2016-08-29T18:29:07Z")
> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> \*Seinfeld: \*2 actors (Michael Richards and Julia Luis-Dreyfus did not appear in one episode each)
> Jerry Seinfeld
> Jason Alexander
> x 173 episodes = PAI 346
Sorry, there is [one episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pen) without Jason Alexander.
---
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/4 "2016-08-29T18:35:05Z")
_HSB_ may get it based on the number of actors involved. My first though - _Frasier_ - has only 5 but they were in 263 episodes, for a 1315 PAI. Not good enough!
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/5 "2016-08-29T18:36:04Z")
Out of curiosity, what are you basing the “perfect attendance” on? [imdb.com](http://imdb.com)? Because I don’t trust it - I was checking the stats for Married with Children, which lists Katey Sagal as appearing in all 263 episodes. That isn’t true - she missed several after suffering a miscarriage. They shipped her character Peggy off to Wanker county to account for her absence. True, she called back a few times, but there were a couple of episodes where she wasn’t seen or heard at all.
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/6 "2016-08-29T18:50:24Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> Sorry, there is [one episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pen) without Jason Alexander.
Right you are.
> [@muldoonthief](#):
>
> Out of curiosity, what are you basing the “perfect attendance” on? [imdb.com](http://imdb.com)? Because I don’t trust it - I was checking the stats for Married with Children, which lists Katey Sagal as appearing in all 263 episodes. That isn’t true - she missed several after suffering a miscarriage. They shipped her character Peggy off to Wanker county to account for her absence. True, she called back a few times, but there were a couple of episodes where she wasn’t seen or heard at all.
I was indeed trusting imdb for my calculations, though now that I look more closely (as in the above Seinfeld example) they include “credit only” listings in their count. Which brings my Hill Street Blues number into question. (But not Friends. I know for a fact that one’s accurate.)
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/7 "2016-08-29T18:53:35Z")
> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> I started a thread a while back about how remarkable it was that the six principal actors on _Friends_ each appeared in every one of the show’s 236 episodes
Whenever I see that (for any show), I always assume that either all the actors took off for the same amount of episodes (so maybe there were 246 episodes and each actor took off for one week per season) or they are all have contracts that state they are to be listed in the credits for every episode even if they aren’t in that episode.
Either way, wiki specifically mentions that all 6 were in every single episode. That’s pretty good for 6 actors over 10 years.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/8 "2016-08-29T19:12:17Z")
Plus IMDb is including un-aired pilots a la “Lost in Space.”
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### Author:  [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/9 "2016-08-29T19:14:48Z")
Using IMDB Deep Space 9 has a score of 1211 and NCIS is 1220
I looked at Law & Order and SVU but not enough have been in every episode.
Any Soap Operas with even one every episode actor?
Brian
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/10 "2016-08-29T19:15:18Z")
How does _Gilligan’s Island_ rate?
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/11 "2016-08-29T19:21:58Z")
Damn, not even Bob Barker (6719).
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/12 "2016-08-29T19:27:17Z")
> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> I was indeed trusting imdb for my calculations, though now that I look more closely (as in the above Seinfeld example) they include “credit only” listings in their count. Which brings my Hill Street Blues number into question.
Try [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hill_Street_Blues_episodes) instead.
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/13 "2016-08-29T19:36:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> How does _Gilligan’s Island_ rate?
99 x 4 = 396. Russell Johnson, Tina Louise, and Dawn Wells are all listed as 98.
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/14 "2016-08-29T19:41:02Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> Try [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hill_Street_Blues_episodes) instead.
I don’t see where that page shows a comprehensive cast list. However, Wikipedia and imdb disagree on the total episode count. Interesting.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/15 "2016-08-29T19:43:46Z")
> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> 99 x 4 = 396. Russell Johnson, Tina Louise, and Dawn Wells are all listed as 98.
What I said up-thread: IMDb is including the un-aired pilot in that total. The real total should be 686.
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### Author:  [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/16 "2016-08-29T19:47:34Z")
> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> Before anybody mentions _The Simpsons_, which has an impressive PAI of 3075 and counting
3075 is not a multiple of six, so it appears to leave one of the regulars out - I am guessing Hank Azaria, as he was not in the “starring” credits in season 1. The fact that this includes 19 episodes that have not aired yet notwithstanding, Julie Kavner was not in “Krusty Gets Kancelled” (she had one line - she was in the traffic jam looking at the Gabbo billboard - but it was cut), so the actual current PAI = 596 x 4 = 2384.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/17 "2016-08-29T19:48:59Z")
> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> I don’t see where that page shows a comprehensive cast list. However, Wikipedia and imdb disagree on the total episode count. Interesting.
Look for characters/actors listed as not appearing and compare that against IMDb.
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### Author:  [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/18 "2016-08-29T19:50:25Z")
Married with children? Ninjas!
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### Author:  [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/19 "2016-08-29T19:51:05Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> Damn, not even Bob Barker (6719).
Even before Drew Carey took over TPIR, Barker missed a day of taping in one of the earliest seasons, and Dennis James substituted for him for three episodes.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/perfect-attendance-index-for-tv-shows/764420/20 "2016-08-29T19:56:40Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#):
>
> Even before Drew Carey took over TPIR, Barker missed a day of taping in one of the earliest seasons, and Dennis James substituted for him for three episodes.
You’re DON PARDO, aren’t you?
Oh, the days when you could tape the whole week on Monday. \>sniff\<
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