What do you think was the best-cast TV show? I thought about it years ago and came up with an answer very quickly.

It is not in my top 10 favorite shows, but my choice would be...

Gilligan's Island.

Not only was it very well-cast, but the acting was done very sincerely for a "silly" show. I have seen the pilot episode with the three actors/actresses who were replaced and the replacements (Russell Johnson, Tina Louise, Dawn Wells) were much better.

For a runner-up, it's hard to pick, but my choice would be...

All in the Family.

THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES

For me it's "The Dick Van Dyke Show" hands down. Every single actor and actress on that show is perfectly cast for the parts they are playing!

There are so many good ones...

Desperate Housewives: Awesome cast! One of the best ever.

Mama's Family: They all complimented each other so well.

Designing Women: I actually think these ladies (the original cast) work better together than the cast of "The Golden Girls".

Step by Step: Great ensemble cast. Good choices on the kids.

Green Acres: Very talented comedic cast. It's a shame the original Doris Ziffel couldn't stay until the end of the series.

The Beverly Hillbillies: Iconic cast.

The Wonder Years: One of the best sitcom casts in history. Very professional actors.

The Big Bang Theory: Even with the girls added it hasn't lost its appeal 10 seasons in.
Gilmore Girls: Just an excellent cast even with Edward Herrman,
Newhart: Just seems like good cast of characters you would see in Vermont.

Some great contenders, but if Sheldon devised a per capita laugh count alga..al-just go with ballpark : The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

China Beach, especially with Dana Delany as Nurse McMurphy and Marg Helgenberger as KC.
St. Elsewhere, because of a few of the regular cast, but also because of the actresses who played the nurses sometimes.

China Beach's cast was really good. Dana, Marg and some of the others were great. some of the acting was really genuine, like with the USO girl(Chloe Webb?) singing to the dying solder. that one was genuine in terms of how the show was acted.

I'll go along with what some others have said. For me I'd say it's between Seinfeld, Gilligan's Island, Cheers, or Green Acres.
Green Acres may have been one of the earliest pioneers among sitcoms to employ an extended, ensemble cast of 10+ regular or recurring characters at a time, and all were brilliantly cast and performed.

I think Bewitched was so successful because of it's supporting cast. Unlike I Dream Of Jeannie, which really had nothing beyond Major Healy and Dr. Bellows, Bewitched had Endora, Larry Tate, Gladys and Abner Kravitz, Aunt Clara, Dr. Bombay, Uncle Arthur, Serena, Tabitha, Maurice, etc.

But the best ensemble cast for me was Frasier...that cast just gelled perfectly.

I Dream of Jeannie -- Major Nelson, Jeannie, Major Healy, Dr. Bellows, Amanda Bellows, General Shaeffer, General Peterson, and Jeannie II were a great cast of characters. I thought all the actors were very talented and extremely funny.

Julia -- Everyone gelled together perfectly.

Good Times -- Perfect combination. Everyone was extremely talented.

Sanford and Son -- You got the feeling that the actors were friends in real life.

The Jeffersons -- Just perfect.......the interactions were great.

Gidget -- The actors were great.

227 -- The actors felt like family and worked together perfectly.

Three's Company -- Excellent chemistry.

I can’t name just one… and I won’t. ;)

NewsRadio - One of the greatest ensembles in sitcom history. Any two actors could play off each other and it worked. They all had such great chemistry with one another. There is no weak link in the lineup.

Cheers - Not only did they have the perfect cast but they were probably the best at replacements. All the actors were great and fit well together.

Community - Just a wonderful cast. There’s nine main characters (not counting the replacements in the later seasons) and they just gel together. The actors are all working on new shows and movies, with the exception of Chevy Chase, so they’re clearly a talented bunch.

Married … With Children - They were all great together and surprisingly all but David Faustino haven’t been typecast. This show could get a little raunchy and stupid at times but the cast kept it entertaining and funny.

Here are mine:

Blackish

Lincoln Heights

Charlie's Angels

The Golden Girls

Soul Food: The Series

I Dream of Jeannie

Sister, Sister

The Love Boat

Mama's Family
The Love Boat
Everybody Loves Raymond
Fantasy Island
CHIPS
Dick Van Dyke
Reba
The Golden Girls
The Jefferson's
All In The Family
Room 222

I really thought Roseanne was well cast. The parents and the kids looked like a typical blue collar family - not like Hollywood actors. However, when they show recast Becky, that was really jarring IMO. The new actress that played Becky looked straight out of Hollywood.

^Agree, especially about the new Becky. I didn't like her at all.

I can’t name just one… and I won’t. ;)

NewsRadio - One of the greatest ensembles in sitcom history. Any two actors could play off each other and it worked. They all had such great chemistry with one another. There is no weak link in the lineup.

Cheers - Not only did they have the perfect cast but they were probably the best at replacements. All the actors were great and fit well together.

Community - Just a wonderful cast. There’s nine main characters (not counting the replacements in the later seasons) and they just gel together. The actors are all working on new shows and movies, with the exception of Chevy Chase, so they’re clearly a talented bunch.

Married … With Children - They were all great together and surprisingly all but David Faustino haven’t been typecast. This show could get a little raunchy and stupid at times but the cast kept it entertaining and funny.
"The actors are all working on new shows and movies, with the exception of Chevy Chase..."

Is that any surprise?:lol:

Hart to Hart, not only because Jonathan and Jennifer Hart had every appearance of being madly in love, but their houseman Max was more than just a houseman; he was family.

Frasier
Roseanne
Ally McBeal

Matlock
China Beach
Remington Steele
Happy Days
The Ghost and Mrs Muir
Cheers
Beverly Hills 90210(Seasons 1-3)
Saved by the Bell(Both High School & College Years)
Charlie's Angels
Emergency
One Day at a Time
Three's Company
Riptide
Knight Rider
Hart to Hart
The Love Boat
Knots Landing

For me it's got to be The Office

Bumping this up: The Streets of San Francisco (1972-77 ABC police/detective series; the late great Karl Malden was magnificent as 24-year SFPD veteran Lt. Mike Stone of the homicide department, who knew what San Francisco was inside and out from being there for so long [at least in context of the show], and so he passed on his skills and know-how to his partners [the longest-serving being Michael Douglas as Insp. Steve Keller, from 1972-76; Richard Hatch as Insp. Dan Robbins was also very good for his one and only season there, that being the fifth and final one, 1976-77]).

Three's Company

Gunsmoke

I Love Lucy

I really thought Roseanne was well cast. The parents and the kids looked like a typical blue collar family - not like Hollywood actors. However, when they show recast Becky, that was really jarring IMO. The new actress that played Becky looked straight out of Hollywood.

Absolutely agree 100%

Breaking Bad was perfectly cast.

Hart to Hart, not only because Jonathan and Jennifer Hart had every appearance of being madly in love, but their houseman Max was more than just a houseman; he was family.

No love for Freeway?

Great show imo.

Starsky and Hutch. Both the stars and the supporting cast were perfect together.

The Andy Griffith Show

the middle.

I would say Friends.

However, I think both Chandler and Ross were a bit too girly as guys. Maybe only needed one of them to be but Joey was more masculine though, and overall it was a good cast.

Other candidates:

Three's Company - original cast of three roommates, but Mr. Furly was also good as landlord.
The Office - original cast (maybe up to addition of Andy).
Facts of Life - when Jo was added, but not the tail end of the series
Roseanne - first five seasons, before Becky replacement.
Golden Girls
Scrubs - early seasons
Laverne & Shirley - Before move to LA

BONANZA

BONANZA

Except for Pernell Roberts. All the other actors had unique qualities and great chemistry but Pernell (while a good actor) didn't make Adam unique and the character could have been played by any strong actor in his late 20s/ early 30s. Plus the fact that the actor didn't like the show and wanted off the show from early on in the series didn't make him the best actor to be cast in that role. Too bad they didn't cast someone like Pernell who actually liked the show.

Richard Long is just a year older than Roberts. He could have stepped right in there.

Other actors born 1927-29 include Jerry Stiller, Spanky McFarland, and George "Goober" Lindsay. Any of them may have taken the show in a different direction, though.

The last three have "quirks" that might not have fit the character of Adam, who was a strong (in build, in looks, in personality) presence in the family.

Richard Long looks like he would have been more of a fit, or either of the two actors brought in during the series who were "family" to the Cartwrights - like Barry Coe, who played Clay Stafford, Little Joe's other half brother or Guy Williams who played cousin Will in a few episodes in season 5, when Pernell was set to leave the series.

I could have seen either Coe or Williams as Adam, from the start of the series, although maybe they were too handsome and looked too much like Little Joe. But that could have worked really well, to have two siblings who had similar features, favoring their father, and Hoss took after his mom's side of the family.

Seinfeld - the secondary characters such as Newman and the Costanzas were perfectly cast.

Friday Night Lights - so many huge careers (Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Michael B. Jordon) came out of that show.