...and an all-star cast (TV version)

I am going to assume that SNL is too easy.

The Office...
Steve Carrell
Rainn Wilson
John Krasinski
Jenna Fisher
Ed Helms
BJ Novak
Rashida Jones

 

Other than Carrell (and maybe Helms) are any of them really "stars" outside the TV show?

 

What about Roots? Even though it was a mini-series not a show:

LeVar Burton
Ben Vereen
Louis Gossett Jr.
Vic Morrow
Edward Asner
Robert Reed
Lynda Day George
John Amos
Leslie Uggams
Sandy Duncan
Chuck Connors
Lorne Greene
Scatman Crothers
George Hamilton
Richard Roundtree
Cicely Tyson

 

True, though such a cast was made possible by the fact that it was a mini-series. If Roots had been conceived as something that would be on for several years, there wouldn't have been such a fantastic roster. However, if the show had been successful enough in a multi-season format, it would be on this thread for making a bunch of A-list stars.

 

Studio 60 had as good a TV cast as you'll find with Perry, Whitford, Peet, Hirsch, Weber, Asner...

and it still failed.

 

To be fair, Hirsch wasn't on it for long and if I remember correctly, Asner didn't really have that much screen time. I actually completely forgot that Asner was on it and I really liked the show.

I thought Timothy Busfield was really good on that one, too.

 

James Spader!