# Which TV shows have had more memorable characters than "The Wire"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619 "2014-03-13T15:38:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/21 "2014-03-14T01:31:14Z")
It hasn’t been popular in syndication, but [St. Elsewhere](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elsewhere) was the first real exposure for a lot of soon to be stars, including: Denzel Washington Alfre Woodard Howie Mandel Ed Begley, Jr. Bruce Greenwood David Morse Nancy Stafford And maybe some others. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/22 "2014-03-14T15:00:47Z")
Freaks and Geeks, maybe? James Franco Seth Rogen Jason Segel have all become big movie stars. Busy Phillips Linda Cardellini have shown up in other shows. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/23 "2014-03-14T15:24:52Z")
> [@alexandra](#): > > I’m not sure he had anything half as big as Luther. Maybe he had a bit part in Casualty like every other British actor. _checks IMDB_ No, but he was in The Bill. It’s a long, long way from tv bit parts (pre The Wire) to having your own BBC1 drama vehicle (post The Wire). Other than Luther he seems film-orientated now. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/24 "2014-03-16T02:22:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I guess I’d like to know who I’ve been missing – I always like to see cast from The Wire do well. It’s my impression that most have not gotten any obvious boost, but I would love to be enlightened to the contrary. Wendel Pierce (Bunk Moreland) had a major roll in Treme, and also was Michael J. Fox’s boss in Fox’s recent (now cancelled) sitcom, and Clark Peters (Lester Freamon) was on Treme. Treme, of course, was done by David Simon. As for non Treme people, Lawrence Gillard (D’Angelo) is on the Walking Dead, and Chris Bauer (Frank) is on True Blood. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/25 "2014-03-16T02:29:41Z")
Let’s see: [ol] [li] **Happy Days** - All of the main cast are easily recognizable when seen in other projects. As are many of the minor actors[/li][li] **Law and Order** (The original series)- Again, all of the main cast (living or deceased) would be recognized if they are seen in other series or in films.[/li][li] **Barney Miller** - The entire cast who are still alive are easily recognizable almost 40 years after the end of the series[/li][li] **The Love Boat** - The entire main cast from the all but the last year of the series are recognizable in othe projects.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/26 "2014-03-16T05:15:44Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Maybe “broken out” is inaccurate, but I continue to see _The Wire_ actors in roles here and there. Example shows recently: > > True Detective > The Good Wife > Justified > Boardwalk Empire > > And even though I didn’t watch the show, I believe _Treme_ had quite a few veterans in their cast. > > As for numbers, I suspect IMDb might have an episode count of the key players in the shows worth considering. Offhand I’d suggest at least 10 episodes as a measure of how “regular” a character might be. Not to mention Idris Elba. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/27 "2014-03-16T16:07:41Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Freaks and Geeks, maybe? > > James Franco > Seth Rogen > Jason Segel > > have all become big movie stars. > > Busy Phillips > Linda Cardellini > > have shown up in other shows. John Francis Daley has long played the young FBI psychologist who gets derided by his _actually-good-at-something-physically-quantifiable_ colleagues on **Bones**. He also pops up in small movie roles by dint of simply writing the films: **Horrible Bosses** , for example, and **The Incredible Burt Wonderstone**. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/28 "2014-03-16T18:03:42Z")
_The Dick Van Dyke show_ ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/29 "2014-03-18T15:01:19Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > It’s a long, long way from tv bit parts (pre The Wire) to having your own BBC1 drama vehicle (post The Wire). Other than Luther he seems film-orientated now. I know, that was my point. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/30 "2014-03-18T15:20:26Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The I am sad to say The Wire does not qualify. I can’t think of any Wire actors that can really been said to have “broken out,” because of their roles. Idris Elba (Stringer Bell) went on to be in \*Thor, Prometheus \*and _Pacific Rim_. Few TV actors get to break into the big leagues of Hollywood. Aidan Gillen (Carcetti) had a bit part in the third _Batman_ and of course landed a major role in _Game of Thrones_. As for Sonja Sohn (Kima), she almost broke out… of acting, as she’s now head of a community program in B’more, leveraging her \*Wire \*fame to reach out to at-risk kids. Which is pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619/31 "2014-03-19T19:43:43Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Let’s see: > > [ol] > [li] **Happy Days** - All of the main cast are easily recognizable when seen in other projects. As are many of the minor actors[/li][li] **Law and Order** (The original series)- Again, all of the main cast (living or deceased) would be recognized if they are seen in other series or in films.[/li][li] **Barney Miller** - The entire cast who are still alive are easily recognizable almost 40 years after the end of the series[/li][li] **The Love Boat** - The entire main cast from the all but the last year of the series are recognizable in other projects.[/li][/ol] I’d add **M.A.S.H.** to this list [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-tv-shows-have-had-more-memorable-characters-than-the-wire/683619.md?page=1)