# The Former Casts of Popular Shows: Most Successful and Least Successful **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992 "2013-07-31T15:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/21 "2013-07-31T17:00:48Z")
> [@bup](#): > > For _ **Family Ties** _ I’ll say Michael J Fox and Tina Yothers. Tina who? She’s less successful than Justine Bateman. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/22 "2013-07-31T17:08:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Tina who? She’s less successful than Justine Bateman. I did a doubletake as well and then realized it was Fox (most) and Yothers (least). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/23 "2013-07-31T17:28:04Z")
The West Wing: Nobody’s made a huge leap. Dule Hill and Mary McCormack have their own successful TV series. Least successful is hard to pin down - all of the cast has been working steadily (with the obvious exception). ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/24 "2013-07-31T17:39:31Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I did a doubletake as well and then realized it was Fox (most) and Yothers (least). Right. Even Skippy’s had an OK career as a producer. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/25 "2013-07-31T17:59:35Z")
From “Hill Street Blues” I’d say that Betty Thomas (for directing) and Dennis Frantz (for acting) have been the most successful. Least successful is a tough category with this group. I guess I’d say Veronica Hamel, who played beautiful public defender Joyce Davenport in the series and who hasn’t been seen since. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/26 "2013-07-31T18:04:02Z")
It might be an apples-and-oranges thing to compare shows that have children in the cast and those that don’t; longterm child-actor success is pretty random and many legitimately drop out of the business to go to college and whatnot. For shows that have exclusively adult casting… _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_. Betty White is now famous for being Betty White, while Gavin McLeod is making a career out of living off _Love Boat_ glory. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/27 "2013-07-31T18:19:08Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Lease successful (even before his death): Jeff Conaway > He was faded pretty-boy in looks and just a total sad train wreck due to drugs. I wonder how actors like him pay the rent. It’s easy to cover your rent when you’re dead. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/28 "2013-07-31T18:34:15Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > _Firefly_/_Serenity_ > > Most successful- Nathan Fillion (Castle and various movie projects) > > Least successful- Sean Maher (though he quit for a time to be a stay at home dad, which makes me assume his partner is rich) Is that really true though? Nathan Fillion doesn’t seem to be notably more successful than the other main cast members- in particular Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin and Alan Tudyk seem to have been in an awful lot of stuff since Firefly. And if you count pre-Firefly, Adam Baldwin blows them all away. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/29 "2013-07-31T18:46:26Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Is that really true though? Nathan Fillion doesn’t seem to be notably more successful than the other main cast members- in particular Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin and Alan Tudyk seem to have been in an awful lot of stuff since Firefly. Nathan Fillion is far and away the most popular member of the Firefly cast. A starring role on a popular network drama trumps all the rest… Gina Torres has been in the Matrix sequels, appeared as a guest star in a ton of TV shows, and as a regular on Suits. Morena Baccarin was a regular on V and is currently a regular on Homeland. Oh, and she played the hot woman that Marshall dated for a single episode when he and Lily were broken up on How I Met Your Mother. Alan Tudyk has been in a bunch of stuff as a guest star or supporting actor (including V alongside Morena Baccarin), but his biggest claim to fame is as a regular on Suburgatory (and he was just demoted to a recurring character for season 3). ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/30 "2013-07-31T18:53:57Z")
_Friends_: Most-successful: Jennifer Aniston, by a mile. She’s a bankable a box-office star as any actress in Hollywood these days. Least-successful: I’d say David Schwimmer, who, apart from some voice work, doesn’t seem to be doing much these days. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/31 "2013-07-31T18:57:55Z")
_Wings_: Tony Shaloub has definitely had the best post-show career, while Roy Biggins and Helen Chapel probably had the worst. Steven Weber, Tim Daly, and of course Thomas Haden Church are still pretty active. Amy Yasbeck still pops up, but didn’t really need to do much, being married to John Ritter. Boy did the post-career successes of the actors on that show totally not go in the direction I anticipated. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/32 "2013-07-31T19:01:21Z")
_Everybody Loves Raymond_: Most-successful: I’m going to say Patricia Heaton. Her show (_The Middle_) is a huge success. Least-successful: Difficult to say. Peter Boyle is dead, Doris Roberts seems to be getting by on bit parts (including a guest appearance or two on _The Middle_), and Brad Garrett’s TV show (_How To Live With Your Parents For The Rest of Your Life_) was a total dud. Ray Romano has done some big-time voice work (the _Ice Age_ franchise), but as a live-action actor he doesn’t seem to be in demand. I’d say the nod has to go to Doris Roberts. Also- the boys who played the twins on Raymond have both quit acting, according to IMDB. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/33 "2013-07-31T19:13:30Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > Mash. . . . hell, nobody did a lot. I guess Alan Alda, but I was always kinda surprised that he didn’t end up with a major film career. Oh, _come on now!_ :rolleyes: **Radar** was on “Match Game”. It just doesn’t peak any higher than that. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/34 "2013-07-31T19:18:49Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Brad Garrett’s TV show (_How To Live With Your Parents For The Rest of Your Life_) was a total dud. He was the star in [Til Death](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0759475/) which apparently had an eighty-one episode, four year run. Color me surprised – first I heard of the show was a week ago when our vacation home had no cable beyond the very basic networks and we wound up watching some (probably UHF) channel playing syndicated sitcoms when the weather was bad. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/35 "2013-07-31T19:26:21Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > Married… With Children > > Most Successful: Ed O’Neill (with Katie Segal a close second) > > Least Successful: Amanda Bearse (with David Faustino a close second) I’d say Christina Applegate has been pretty successful, too. She has steady work in movies, including the upcoming _Anchorman_ sequel and she’s been in three sitcoms. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/36 "2013-07-31T19:28:41Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > Mash. . . . hell, nobody did a lot. I guess Alan Alda, but I was always kinda surprised that he didn’t end up with a major film career. Going by IMDB entries, I’d have to say it’s a toss-up among Alan Alda and David Ogden Stiers and Harry Morgan with a slight edge to Alan Alda. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/37 "2013-07-31T19:33:30Z")
I thought we were going to name the shows that had the most successful alumni and least successful alumni. i.e. Most successful: SNL and it’s really not even fair to include them Least successful: Gilligan’s Island Hm. I’d say for Star Trek TNG: the most successful is probably Patrick Stewart and the least successful… Tasha Yar? ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/38 "2013-07-31T19:35:39Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > I guess I’d say Veronica Hamel, who played beautiful public defender Joyce Davenport in the series and who hasn’t been seen since. She played Jack’s mom on _Lost_. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/39 "2013-07-31T19:38:50Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > For Growing Pains, I’d guess Jeremy Miller as least successful acting-wise; he hasn’t done much post GP, but I don’t know that he’s really tried. For most successful, Brad Pitt if bit parts count, Alan Thicke if they don’t. I’d give Leonardo DiCaprio–who was a regular during the last season–the edge over Pitt. ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992/40 "2013-07-31T19:40:09Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > For Growing Pains, I’d guess Jeremy Miller as least successful acting-wise; he hasn’t done much post GP, but I don’t know that he’s really tried. For most successful, Brad Pitt if bit parts count, Alan Thicke if they don’t. Wasn’t Leonardo DiCaprio on that show? He’s done ok. On edit I see I got scooped! What’s Boner been up to? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-former-casts-of-popular-shows-most-successful-and-least-successful/664992.md?page=3)