Before I preceded, please bare in mind that this isn't meant to be a broad or general indictment on the show(s) as a whole (meaning just another list of "worst overall TV shows"), such as the writing, direction, music, etc. With that being said, usually good shows are praised for their impeccable casting and extremely well portrayed characters. But what shows suffered from exactly the opposite - awful cast? Basically, a cast that lacks in chemistry (thus, there really isn't one particular "weak-link" to single out since virtually everybody else isn't up to par) and charisma or are simply "wrong" for the parts.

At first I didn't think there was an answer to this question. Then I suddenly remembered Star Trek: Enterprise. In all fairness to its fans, I didn't watch past the first season, but I remembered that the cast definitely lacked a spark and chemistry, and there were no standout actors like in previous ST incarnations. Like, usually, there would always be at least one actor who really "made" the show and who you couldn't imagine being without (Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Robert Picardo, etc.). But Enterprise was a big fat, "Meh." No one was really good, no one made a mark on the show.

It seems to me that TV shows that are now classic and developed a reputation long ago as having had the right cast (The Munsters, I Love Lucy, etc etc) can be found to have some imperfections about the choice of cast if you look at it a certain way.

It has much to do with what you cannot perceive after so much has already been established. All in The Family became known for its 4 main cast members, Archie, Edith, Gloria and Michael. Stanford and Son became known for its main 2 cast members. One Day At A Time became known for its three main cast members, etc.

However if you think about, take Gilligan's Island. No way could anyone else play Gilligan or the Skipper or any of he other characters. It can be said that each cast member was born to play his or her character in the show. Same regarding other TV shows with actors that played certain characters.

There have been situations in which cast members were changed: a different actor played the same character. It may not mean that cast was wrong rather than another actor had to be found for some reason.

In such a classic TV sitcom like Gilligan's Island, though the cast seemed to be the right cast, I used to watch the show as a child and wonder why the cast or the characters were as they were. The show was about people marooned on an island, so the characters of the Skipper and his ship-mate was an appropriate selection of characters, but the rest of the cast-aways were a movie star, a millionaire and his wife, a professor and a young lady who had nothing special about her other than being a young lady.
The movie star was important to certain plots, or parts of plots, for the sake of comedy: A movie star thinking she is so much more glamorous and important than anyone else and sometimes she tries to get her way by flirting with the males of the cast-aways. The Professor was important to solve problems and explain things so that the cast-aways were not always at a lack for what to do when they needed to find a way to grow food or find out when a storm is coming. I did wonder about The Millionaire and his wife. Why not politician and his wife? Why not a mortician and his wife?
"Mary Ann" was simply a young woman who was supposed to be something of a contrast to the Movie Star. She was supposed to be plain, simple and sometimes envious of the Movie Star and sometimes looked down upon by the Movie Star for being so un-glamorous.

But I sometimes wondered why there weren't other "types" in the cast. Maybe a priest or a nun just like there was a priest character in "MASH." Why not a retired General of the Army?
But of course in retrospect it is hard to imagine the plots with different characters than there were.
But also, when actors play characters they might pull it off even though the actors, behind the scenes, don't get along or like each other. Sometimes the actors can get along with each other but don't play their parts well with the other actor(s) whom they are acting with in a TV show.
It might be hard to determine "chemistry."


I will have to think of a TV show in which I think that the cast was all wrong. Usually the entire TV show itself is wrong not just the cast.

Life With Lucy

None of the family members worked, Gale Gordon was too old, and too rusty for the part, and Lucy doing physical comedy at this point in her life was cringe-worthy.

Good Morning World

Considering the behind the scenes talent, Bill Persky, Carl Reiner, Sheldon Leonard, there is no explanation on earth to explain what happened here.

Joby Baker in the lead role was in way over his head.

Julie Parrish, the female lead! Goldie Hawn was staring them right in the face. Ponderous.

Ronnie Schell I love this guy, funny, but I don't think he was right for this part.

Better casting, better time slot, and I think this would have been a hit.

Mrs. Columbo

23 year old Kate Mulgrew as Columbo's wife! Worst casting in history, the show had no chance.

Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden, replacement actors for the (deservedly) final season of Hazel. They were OK actors, just not right for the parts.

Stevea wrote:

Ray Fulmer and Lynn Borden, replacement actors for the (deservedly) final season of Hazel. They were OK actors, just not right for the parts.

I thought they were OK. There were two problems, Shirley Booth was one of the greatest talents of all time, trying to hold your own in a scene with her for young talent was a daunting task. The second problem, this was Hazel's last season, I believe Booth had to put in some dollars to keep the show afloat so the budget was very tight, if things had been a little different they probably would have recruited a more experienced set of costars.

I think Welcome Back, Kotter. Pretty much any of the main group could have been replaced off the street.



There's sometimes speculation that the characters are supposed to represent The Seven Deadly Sins, if you aren't too particular about what the Sins are or who represents which.

Completely agree about WBK. I’ve never been able to watch that show.