What TV Star was just Perfect for the Role

[lilhave]

The ones that stand out in my mind, never to be replaced include

1. Phil Silvers in the Phil Silvers Show
2. Jackie Gleason as Rlaph Kramden in the Honeymooners
3. Peter Falk as Lt. Colombo in Colombo
4. Jack Webb as Joe Friday in Dragnet

Harvey

[dlemond]

Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker - All in the Family

Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford - Sanford and Son

[digitalmonkey]

John Ritter as Jack Tripper

[T-Greg]

Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker - All in the Family

Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford - Sanford and Son

I have to agree with those, as well as Gleason as Ralph Kramden. As far as Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, you'd never know how liberal he really was. He played someone the complete opposite of his true self.

[RedWhine56]

I have to agree with those, as well as Gleason as Ralph Kramden. As far as Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, you'd never know how liberal he really was. He played someone the complete opposite of his true self.

IIRC, in recent years, Rob Reiner stated that when they were taping "Archie Bunker", Carroll O'Connor was more liberal than he was.

[T-Greg]

IIRC, in recent years, Rob Reiner stated that when they were taping "Archie Bunker", Carroll O'Connor was more liberal than he was.

Here's a funny story about Rob Reiner. I think he talked about this on a Tonight Show appearance. This took place when he was a kid of about 13 or 14 years old on the Mary Tyler Moore set with his dad Carl. He really had the hots for MTM, so one day with the raging hormones, she walked past him and he squeezed her butt. He said he could not help himself. MTM told Carl about it. Rob said his dad told him not to do it again, but had this "thumbs up" look about him, like he wished he could get away with it and that he was happy that his son liked girls.:lol:

[TVFactFan]

Jackie Gleason as ralph kramden(-will watch all 39 eps on DVD this weekend)

Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson

[Lex Luthor]

David Carradine - Kung Fu
Jackie Gleason- Honeymooners
Carol O'Conner - All in the Family
Michael Landon - In anything

[Bobby F.]

Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane

David Hyde Pierce as Niles Crane

McClean Stevenson as Henry Blake

Larry Linville as Frank Burns

Drew Carey as....well...Drew Carey:D

[CHERISLAND]

Elizabeth Montgomery - Bewitched
Don Adams & Barbara Feldon - Get Smart
Lindsay Wagner - Bionic Woman
Lucille Ball - I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy

[RedWhine56]

You know, before you posted this, I was thinking most of the cast from "Bewitched" was perfect for their roles. (Although I'm not a fan of the 2nd Darren.) But Dick York, Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead (Endora), Paul Lynde (Uncle Arthur), Maurice Evans (Sam's father), Marion Lorne (Aunt Clara), Erin/Diane Murphy (Tabitha), Alice Pearce (I preferred her over Sandra Gould) and Abner (I forget his name)...all were great in their roles, IMO.

[CHERISLAND]

It's like you were reading my mind RedWhine56...I COMPLETELY agree with you regarding the perfect casting in that series. I was debating including all the names you mentioned in your posting as "perfect for their roles"in my initial post. I too much preferred Dick York over Dick Sargent and for me, Alice Pierce will always be the "one and only" Mrs. Kravitz...she was PERFECT in that role...truly hilarious yet vulnerable and totally lovable. What's interesting is as a kid I remember coming home and watching the color eps of Bewitched after school , so for me Sandra Gould was the first Mrs Kravitz I was exposed to. I always thought she was kinda miserable and mean...so different from Alice's portrayal. It wasn't until years later that I got to see the original first two B&W eps with the original Mrs. Kravitz and boy was I surprised...I thought she was SO much better in the role.
Bewitched is one of my all-time top five fave shows.

[TJL]

Last weekend I was watching some of the Brady Bunch Marathon on TVLand and they mentioned between episodes that Gene Hackman was originally up for the role of Mike Brady. While it certainly would have been interesting to see Hackman in that role, Robert Reed will alwyas be Mike Brady. I know Robert Reed had some problems with being Mike Brady, but he was great in that part.

Also Alan Alda was a much better Hawkeye than Donald Sutherland.

;)

[RedWhine56]

It's like you were reading my mind RedWhine56...I COMPLETELY agree with you regarding the perfect casting in that series. I was debating including all the names you mentioned in your posting as "perfect for their roles"in my initial post. I too much preferred Dick York over Dick Sargent and for me, Alice Pierce will always be the "one and only" Mrs. Kravitz...she was PERFECT in that role...truly hilarious yet vulnerable and totally lovable. What's interesting is as a kid I remember coming home and watching the color eps of Bewitched after school , so for me Sandra Gould was the first Mrs Kravitz I was exposed to. I always thought she was kinda miserable and mean...so different from Alice's portrayal. It wasn't until years later that I got to see the original first two B&W eps with the original Mrs. Kravitz and boy was I surprised...I thought she was SO much better in the role.
Bewitched is one of my all-time top five fave shows.

Well, you know what they say about great minds!!! ;)

BTW, I wanted to let you know I LOVE the AbFabs! THANK YOU, again!

[T-Greg]

Last weekend I was watching some of the Brady Bunch Marathon on TVLand and they mentioned between episodes that Gene Hackman was originally up for the role of Mike Brady. While it certainly would have been interesting to see Hackman in that role, Robert Reed will alwyas be Mike Brady. I know Robert Reed had some problems with being Mike Brady, but he was great in that part.

Also Alan Alda was a much better Hawkeye than Donald Sutherland.

;)

I think it has more to do with who you are accustomed to seeing. No one will ever associate Gene Hackman with Mike Brady since he never had the role. We'll never know. Same with Alan Alda as Hawkeye. Sutherland had the role for a lone movie. Alda was the character for 11 seasons.

[RedWhine56]

I think it has more to do with who you are accustomed to seeing. No one will ever associate Gene Hackman with Mike Brady since he never had the role. We'll never know. Same with Alan Alda as Hawkeye. Sutherland had the role for a lone movie. Alda was the character for 11 seasons.

I think much of that is true, but then that's what makes an actor very good in a role - if you cannot imagine anyone else being able to do it as well or better.

Kind of the opposite of this is when you see someone who was perfect in their role & made it stand out in your mind, even if it was not a leading role. Then you see them in something else & they are just awful. Two people (for me) whom this describes is Teresa Russell & Margaret Whitton. Teresa was PERFECT as the husband killer in the movie, "Black Widow" but just awful in everything else I've seen her in. Margaret Whitton was the boss' wife in the movie "Secret of My Success" - perfect. But I've seen her in one or two other things & while not awful, her character just didn't stick with you. My husband says other factors may be involved, such as the director. Plus, the parts may be designed to be unforgettable or forgettable - similar to when they want a naturally beautiful actress to be "plain-ed down" for a particular part.

[dlemond]

Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy in "Married With Children"

[Kristen]

Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown. She absolutely owned that role for 10 seasons. Anybody on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. That whole ensemble was just perfect!

[Mrgman]

will smith as will smith on Fresh prince
Bill Cosby as Cliff Huxtable on the cosby show
Kelsey Grammer as Fraiser Krane on Cheers and Fraiser longest running sitcom character 20 something years

[sweetdiggity]

The King of Queens:

Leah Remini as Carrie Heffernan
Jerry Stiller as Arthur Spooner
Kevin James as Doug Heffernan

Roseanne:

Sara Gilbert as Darlene Connor
John Goodman as Dan Connor
Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris
Obviously Roseanne as Roseanne!:)

Home Improvement:

Jonathon Taylor Thomas as Randy Taylor
Patricia Richardson as Jill Taylor
Tim Allen as Tim Taylor

Joyce DeWitt as Janet Wood on Three's Company

Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker on All In The Family
And of course the already mentioned Carroll O' Connor as Archie Bunker. :)

James Spader as Alan Shore on Boston Legal
William Shatner as Denny Crane on Boston Legal

Fran Drescher as Fran Fine on The Nanny.

[Karen64]

Carrol O'Conner as Archie
Jean Stapleton as Edith
Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor
Don Knotts as Deputy Fife
Freddie Prinze as Chico
Granny in Beverly Hillbillies (can't remember her name)
John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino

[Buffyboy323]

Sitcoms
Carrol O'Connor- Archie Bunker (All In The Family)
Jean Stapleton- Edith Bunker (All In The Family)
Jackie Gleason- Ralph (The Honeymooners)
Audrey Meadows- Alice (The Honeymooners)
John Ritter- Jack Tripper (Three's Comapany)
John Ritter- Paul Hennessey (8 Simple Rules)
Roseanne- Roseanne (Does that Count?)
Mark Paul Gosselaar- Zack Morris (Saved By The Bell)
Kaley Cuoco- Bridget Hennessey (8 Simple Rules)
Lisa Welch- Blair Warner (Facts Of Life)
Gary Coleman- Arnold (Diff'rent Strokes)
Penny Marshall- Laverne Defazio (Laverne and Shirley)

Dramas
Jason Behr- Max Evans (Roswell)
Shiri Appleby- Liz (Roswell)
Patrick Stuart- Captain Picard (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Lauren Graham- Lorelei Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
Sarah Michelle Gellar- Buffy Summers (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
Jennifer Garner- Sydney Bristow (Alias)
Kristin Bell- Veronica Mars
Michael Vartan- Michael Vaughn (Alias)
Gail O'Grady- Helen Pryor (American Dreams)
Marcia Cross- Bree Van De Camp (Desperate Housewives)
Katie Holmes- Joey Potter (Dawson's Creek)
Alyson Hannigan- Willow Rosenberg (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)

[Anthony33]

David Janssen-Dr. Richard Kimble (The Fugitive), although I thought Tim Daly also did a great job in the role in the 2000 series

Larisa Oleynik-Alex Mack (The Secret World of Alex Mack)

Scott Bakula-Sam Beckett (Quantum Leap)

William Peterson-Gil Grissom (CSI)
Marg Helgenberger-Catherine Willows (CSI)

Ted Danson-Dr. John Becker (Becker)

Keifer Sutherland-Jack Baur (24)

Lyndsey Felton-Caitlin Seeger (Caitlin's Way)

Ben Savage-Cory Matthews (Boy Meets World)

David Rasche-Inspector Sledge Hammer-(Sledgehammer!)
Harrison Page-Captain Trunk-(Sledgehammer!)
Anne Marie Martin-Detective Dori Doreau-(Sledgehammer!)

[freshprinceofLA]

carol o'conor as archie bunker- ALL IN THE FAMILY
john ritter as jack tripper- THREE'S COMPANY
john amos as james evans- GOOD TIMES (even tho he got screwed)

[judgestone]

Let see here

Linda Lavin-Alice she also did as director too on the show
Beth Howland-Vera Gorman "Alice" she finally got it.
Harry Anderson- Judge Harry Stone "Night Court"
Markie Post-Christine Sullivan Night Court the producer want her in the beginning but she already star in Fall Guy til her contract ended then they finally got her.

there too many listed but Im not gonna used this space

Patrica Richardson is perfect role as Jill Taylor on Home Improvement boy can she stand up to Tim Taylor.

Well Im not gonna go on that a few.

[EmoJoe]

Patricia Heaton- Debra (Everybody Loves Raymond)
Ed O'Niel- Al Bundy (Married...With Children)
Ben Savage- Cory (Boy Meets World)
Katharine Helmond- Mona (Who's the Boss?)

[Adamantium]

Dave Foley as Dave Nelson (NewsRadio)
Thomas Haden Church as Lowell Mather (Wings)
John Ritter as Jack Tripper (Three's Company)
Art Carney as Ed Norton (The Honeymooners)
Justin Kirk as Uncle Andy Botwin (Weeds)
McLean Stevenson as Lt.Col. Henry Blake (M*A*S*H)
Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden (The Honeymooners)
Maura Tierney as Lisa Miller (NewsRadio)
Jack Albertson as Ed Brown (Chico and the Man)
Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde (That '70s Show)

There are many others, of course.

[Cactus Jack]

Donny Most as Ralph Malph(Happy Days)
Henry Winkler as fonzie(Happy Days)
John Ritter as Jack Tripper, Don KNotts as Furley ( Three's company)
Everyone on Happyl Days :lol:
Paul Lynde-Uncle Arthur( Bewitched)
Michael Richards-Karmer (Seinfeld)
Will Arnett-GOb Bluth (Arrested Development)


and ltos of others Im forgetting :lol:

[treky]

the entire cast of "THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES"

Fess Parker as "DAVY CROCKETT"

Jackie Gleason & Art Carney as Ralph Kramden & Ed Norton

Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway on "STAR TREK: VOYAGER"

Brent Spiner as Data on "STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION"

[freshprinceofLA]

i guess you could say Mr.t as B.A. baracus on the A-team

[Mrs. Periwinkle]

Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker and Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker.
Don Knotts as Barney Fife.
Alvy Moore as Hank Kimball.

And a lot of others, too, but those are the ones that immediately came to my mind.