# Who's the worst actor on tv? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422 "2012-07-16T17:43:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/81 "2012-07-18T12:58:18Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Does anyone remember when he was good in NYPD Blue? I swear to god he really was good in it. Then he lost his mind. I kinda wonder if his portrayal in CSI: Miami was shtick. I don’t recall him being so hammy in NYPD Blue, and I’ve seen him in earlier stuff and supporting roles, and he came across as at least a decent actor. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/82 "2012-07-18T13:14:52Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I kinda wonder if his portrayal in CSI: Miami was shtick. I’m sure it was intended to be “stylish,” if for no other reason than to differentiate “CSI: Miami” from the original show of the franchise. “CSI: New York” pulled it off much better, IMHO. Even Emily Proctor admitted once in an interview that “Miami” was intended to be a “comic book” version of “CSI.” ---
**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 18, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/83 "2012-07-18T13:15:58Z")
Has any of the B-Level actors of those tween shows ever progressed into anything else? I don’t mean the groomed and trained Disney stars but rather “Hey, that’s the woman who used to play the mom in _The Wacky Adventures of Bobbi Sox!_” or something. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/84 "2012-07-18T13:19:35Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > But his show’s gone too. > > The thing is, though, that the worst actor on TV, or even the TEN worst actors, would all be on Nickleodeon shows. Tween shows like “The Suite Life on Deck,” “Victorious” or “iCarly” have acting on them of staggering ineptitude, actors who make Jim Belushi look like a towering master of thespianism. The guy who plays the older brother on “iCarly,” Spencer Shay, is an actor of no talent at all whose only ability is doing a goofy voice. He makes George Lopez look like Sir Laurence Olivier, I shit you not. He literally just looks like a high school improv nerd who somehow stumbled onto the set of a real TV show and the cast doesn’t have the heart to tell him to fuck off. > > I guess that’s unfair to those shows, because they’re budget productions for a less discriminating audience, but it’s true. ALL the worst actors are on tween shows. Nobody on an adult show is even remotely close. Damned shame. When I was a kid, Nickelodeon had some damn fine programming. “You Can’t Do That On Television,” “Salute Your Shorts,” “Afraid of the Dark”, and Linda Ellerbee’s excellent news program were staples in my house. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/85 "2012-07-18T13:21:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Does anyone remember when he was good in NYPD Blue? I swear to god he really was good in it. Then he lost his mind. He was amusing in _Hudson Hawk_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/86 "2012-07-18T13:47:24Z")
> [@HeadNinja](#): > > To get back to throwing people on the bonfire: > Fiona on Burn Notice makes Bruce Campbell seem subtle. Also, I really, really want her to eat something. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/87 "2012-07-18T14:32:19Z")
Jim Carrey’s salute to David Caruso: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stcSeJFB_Ww) ---
**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:** [July 18, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/88 "2012-07-18T17:12:37Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Can I go back a few years? If so, then I nominate the girl who played Wanda (Doogie’s girlfriend) on “Doogie Howser, M. D.” If she’d been any more wooden, they’d have had to treat her for termites. The fact that her badness stands out to me so strongly this many years later must say something. It tells me you never saw “Small Wonder”. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/89 "2012-07-18T17:36:23Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > It tells me you never saw “Small Wonder”. This is true, I haven’t. But wasn’t the girl on there supposed to be playing an android? Wanda on “Doogie Howser” was actually supposed to be a human being showing emotions. I think. I never could tell, because she never actually _did_. Plus she had this weird Valley Girl accent and always referred to her boyfriend as “Diggie,” which was really annoying. ---
**Author:** ![norvalnormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@norvalnormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norvalnormal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/90 "2012-07-18T17:42:15Z")
Sandra Oh (No!) strikes me as particularly godawful. ---
**Author:** ![Coup\_Fourre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@Coup\_Fourre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coup_Fourre)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/91 "2012-07-18T18:53:26Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/92 "2012-07-18T19:05:40Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > He was amusing in _Hudson Hawk_. And King of New York. And Hill Street Blues. Until he became a star. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/93 "2012-07-18T19:07:41Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Damned shame. When I was a kid, Nickelodeon had some damn fine programming. “You Can’t Do That On Television,” “Salute Your Shorts,” “Afraid of the Dark”, and Linda Ellerbee’s excellent news program were staples in my house. I think their animated stuff is still top notch, Avatar being a prime example. But their live stuff is supreme rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/94 "2012-07-18T19:30:56Z")
> [@norvalnormal](#): > > Sandra Oh (No!) strikes me as particularly godawful. LOL are you sure it’s not just the character you hate? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/95 "2012-07-19T00:25:39Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > I have to vote for Joanne Kelly from warehouse 13. She was so bad, I almost stopped watching (and I had to use Google to find her name, because I just couldn’t be bothered). However, I thought the potential for greatness was there and stuck with it. > > It was the first time I’ve ever had such a negative reaction to an actor/actress that I seriously considered quitting watching. She is definitely not the best part of that show. > [@Sampiro](#): > > Damn. > > I concede defeat. He is almost mesmerizingly awful. That…thing that was linked to is a current show on tv? Wow, that was bad! > [@jackdavinci](#): > > I don’t think Kat Dennings is acting badly per se, the issue I’ve noticed with her and the other actors on the show is that they are a little too aware of the studio audience and wait too long for the laughter to die down to deliver their next line. So it comes off more like a winking stage performance than a TV show. Even Stifler’s mom, who has a lot more acting experience, seems to fall into the same trap.\ I think Kat might be a good serious actor, but I think comedy is beyond her skills. Or it’s the writing - the writing is pretty god-awful. > [@](#): > > And sadly, Marina Sirtis. Yeah, she was pretty bad. > [@raran](#): > > [1st post:](http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/thommymac/) > > Chris Elliot > > no qualifiers needed I adore the show “How I Met Your Mother,” but his recurring role as Lily’s dad is the worst part of it. A tiny little bit of him in that role goes a very long way. ---
**Author:** ![charmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@charmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charmstr)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/96 "2012-07-19T04:13:01Z")
> [@HeadNinja](#): > > Fiona on Burn Notice makes Bruce Campbell seem subtle. It was amusing when the writers apparently threw their hands up and told her not to bother with the awful Irish accent anymore. ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/97 "2012-07-19T06:35:38Z")
> [@charmstr](#): > > It was amusing when the writers apparently threw their hands up and told her not to bother with the awful Irish accent anymore. That would have been Season 1 Episode 2. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/98 "2012-07-19T07:02:05Z")
> [@Ephemera](#): > > Pretty much everyone on Big Bang Theory that isn’t Leonard. Really? Because even though I can’t stand that uninspired minstrel show (or anything Chuck Lorre craps out) I have to admit that Jim Parsons is fabulous. I can’t wait until he gets a role on something I’m willing to watch. Meanwhile the guy who plays Leonard has never struck me as anything special. The only two on the show who seem worthless are the woman who plays the neighbor and the guy who plays the broad subcontinental stereotype. On topic, Drew Barrymore has been in a couple of TV movies so I guess she’s fair game. I don’t understand how that woman has a career. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/99 "2012-07-19T07:55:30Z")
> [@D-bear](#): > > That would have been Season 1 Episode 2. Seeing as Gabriel Anwar is English, I guess they decided her fake American accent was better than her fake Irish accent. Anyway, her Oirish may have been bad, but it wasn’t \*Boreanez \*bad. ---
**Author:** ![tellthetruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@tellthetruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellthetruth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/100 "2012-07-19T16:55:47Z")
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