Best ensemble cast?

Taxi
MTM
Cheers
Wings

 

I think if you're going for the last 40+ years, the only debate is Taxi vs. MTM...

 

A great ensemble is stocked with actors who are equally adept at carrying a scene or supporting another actor. MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, West Wing, Homicide and I've always thought The Closer/Major Crimes has one of the best top to bottom of casts of any show on TV. All of the characters are well fleshed out. It probably helps that the actors playing detectives on the show have a ton of guest starring stints on TV where you have to come in, establish a compelling character and be gone in 45 minutes.

 

21 Jump Street. 4 Characters, 1 future star & doesn't Holly Robinson still have a career?

 

Even though one show is still on the other has only been gone a couple years, we're already seeing this...

Chris Pratt is going to be the biggest star from Parks and Rec.

 

Are we looking for great ensemble casts, or those that have had subsequent success?

 

Ian Ziering went from 90210 to Sharknado. I'd take that career arc any day of the week.

 

I know we're not including sketch shows, like SNL, but Mr. Show would be on any of these lists...

Bob Odenkirk
David Cross
Tom Kenny
Scott Adsit
Scott Aukerman
Jack Black
Brian Posehn
Mary Lynn Rajskub
Sarah Silverman
Paul F. Tompkins

 

After the first year, Andy went from being the focal point to being the sideman/straight man who played off everyone else. Those black and white shows were as a good as it go. Color shows? Not so much. (Same with The Beverly Hillbillies. Show got bad when it went to color.)

 

Jennie Garth matured nicely, no?

 

That was my question as well.

The West Wing, to me, was a perfect example of a great ensemble cast. They had a mixture of established actors and relative unknowns and they worked extremely well together.

Also, do you figure in actors playing recurring roles who were not part of the regular cast? The West Wing had some very strong work in those types of roles from Oliver Platt, Mark Harmon, Marlee Matlin, John Amos, Ron Silver, Tim Matheson, Matthew Perry....(that list could go on for quite a while).

That said, I don't think you could say any of the member of the primary cast went on to bigger things once the show was over.