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Power Rankings: The Practice

14 Nov

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

The Practice was one of a handful of shows I watched regularly with my parents, up until the last couple seasons when I was at college. I have a lot of fond memories of watching it, which maybe I’ll share later in another post.  Today though, power rankings.  James Spader and Rhona Mitra starred in the weird last season when much of the regular cast was dismissed, but they’re not here; that season was not much more than a set up for spin off Boston Legal.

8. Lara Flynn Boyle (as Helen Gamble) – She appeared in five episodes of Hank Azaria series Huff and in eight of NBC’s can’t-believe-it-was-on-as-long-as-it-was Las Vegas.  She was in a couple of TV movies and in Law & Order episode Submission in which she plays a devious reporter.

7.  Michael Badalucco (as Jimmy Berluti) – He’s been in episodes of Joan of Arcadia, Justice, Bones, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Monk, Cold Case, In Plain Sight and Private Practice.  He was in two Boardwalk Empires, three of short-lived 2011 series Chaos, and eight of soap The Young and the Restless.  He had small roles in films Bewitched and The Departed.

6.  Marla Sokoloff (as Lucy Hatcher) – She was in three episodes of Desperate Housewives and co-starred in very short-lived CW show Modern Men in 2006.  Sokoloff starred as the bride in 12 episode ABC show Big Day, a sitcom which takes place entirely on the day of a wedding.  She showed up in episodes of Burn Notice, Drop Dead Diva and CSI:New York.

5.  Steve Harris (as Eugene Young) – After The Practice, Harris appeared in Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman and co-starred in short-lived NBC series Heist about well, a crack team planning a massive jewelry store heist, starring Dougray Scott.  He appeared in a Grey’s Anatomy and as the voice of Clayface in 11 episodes of animated series The Batman.  He was in film Quarentine and three episodes of Eli Stone and in six in the last two seasons of Friday Night Lights as main character Jess’s father who owned a barbecue joint and played high school football growing up.  He was in Takers and will be a regular cast member of midseason series Awake set to debut next winter starring Jason Issacs.  He’s also the older brother of Wood Harris, best know as Avon Barksdale from The Wire.

4.  Lisa Gay Hamilton (as Rebecca Washington) – She was in episodes of The L Word, ER, Without a Trace, Numb3rs, and two of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.  She appeared in films Deception, Beastly, The Soloist and Take Shelter.  She was a regular on two season critically acclaimed TNT show Men of a Certain Age as Andre Braugher’s character’s wife, Melissa.

3.  Kelli Williams (as Lindsay Dole) – She appeared on three episodes of Rob Lowe one season The Lyon’s Den and one of Hack and Third Watch each before co-starring in one season NBC drama Medical Investigation.  She was in six episodes of ABC’s two season Men in Trees.  She was in episodes of Law & Order; Criminal Intent, Criminal Minds and The Mentalist and she co-starred in all three seasons of Tim Roth Fox procedural Lie To Me.

2. Camryn Manheim (as Ellenor Frutt) – Manheim gets to be in the second position because she had a regular role on a non-Practice television show for longer than anyone else.  She was on a season longer than Williams in Lie to Me, and although I was tempted to rate that as better than Manheim’s show, Lie to Me suffered low ratings constantly even though Fox pushed it heavily its first year.  Manheim was in episodes of Strong Medicine and Two and a Half Men and four of The L Word.  She played Elvis’s mother Gladys in 2005 miniseries Elvis and she appeared in a How I Met Your Mother episode (as a woman who runs a company which matches up people with a computer program) and in two of Hannah Montana.  She was a regular in the last four seasons of the five season – can’t-believe-it-went-on-as-long-as-it-did Ghost Whisperer.  After that program ended in 2010, she appeared in three episodes of Harry’s Law.

1.  Dylan McDermott (as Bobby Donnell) – McDermott gets first because while Manheim had a more stable role on a TV show, McDermott has always been the main star of every show he’s been in, and though it will probably not last as long, the show he’s on now has already generated more buzz in 3 episodes than Ghost Whisperer did in its entire run.  Immediately after The Practice’s end, McDermott co-starred in TNT miniseries The Grid (my favorite all-time ridiculous T-shirt is a The Grid shirt my dad came upon somehow).  He appeared in a few minor movies and an unaired pilot called 3lbs, which aired for a mere three episodes, but featured Stanley Tucci in McDermott’s role.  He got his next shot on TV in Big Shots in the 2007-08 season which aired on ABC for 11 episodes and co-starred Michael Vartan, Joshua Molina and Christopher Titus.  He appeared for two seasons in TNT’s Dark Blue as the leader of an undercover unit of the LA police and now stars in FX’s American Horror Story as part of a family stuck in a haunted house in Los Angeles.

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Power Rankings: M*A*S*H

7 Nov

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

It’s been almost three decades since the legendary finale of M*A*S*H aired and the cast had various levels of success since then.  You’ll see lots of Murder, She Wrote episodes, lots of TV movies (I continue to insist that TV movies have the best names around) and as I was familiar with fewer of the cast members than with other shows I’ve ranked, a genuinely surprising ordering.  Also typing M*A*S*H is incredibly irritating – thank goodness for find and replace.

11.  Gary Burghoff (as Walter Eugene “Radar” O’Reilly) – He was in a couple of episodes of The Love Boat and Fantasy Island as well as two of spinoff After M*A*S*H.  He was in an episode of Burke’s Law before taking a 15 year retirement, breaking it only to appear in Christian movie Daniel’s Lot in 2010.

10.  Loretta Swit (as Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan) – Most of her post-M*A*S*H work was in TV movies.  These include The Execution, Sam, Miracle at Moreaux, 14 Going on 30, Dreams of Gold: The Mel Fisher Story, Hell Hath No Fury, A Matter of Principle and A Killer Among Friends.  She was in episodes of Batman, Murder She Wrote, Burke’s Law, Cow and Chicken and Diagnosis Murder.  She hasn’t worked in film or TV since the new millennium began.

9.  William Christopher (as Father John Francis Patrick Mulcahy) – He appeared in two seasons of After M*A*S*H as Father Mulcahy, and also in episodes of Murder, She Wrote, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Diagnosis Murder, Team Knight Rider and Mad About You.

8.  Jamie Farr (as Maxwell Q. Klinger) – He appeared in Cannonball Run II.  He starred for two seasons in M*A*S*H spinoff After M*A*S*H as Klinger.  He was in episodes of Murder She Wrote, Men Behaving Badly, Mad About You, Port Charles and Hey Arnold!  After years without work, he appeared in an episode of The War At Home in 2007 and TV movie A Grandpa for Christmas.

7. Larry Linville (as Frank Burns) – Burns left M*A*S*H after the fifth season.  The next year he co-starred in ridiculous sounding one season series Grandpa Goes to Washington with Jack Albertson.  He was in four Love Boat episodes, two of CHIPs, one of Lou Grant and two of The Jeffersons.  He was three Fantasy Island episodes and co-starred in the one season Paper Dolls, a primetime soap set in theNew York fashion industry.  He was in episodes of Airwolf, Riptide, Night Court, Dream On, A Different World, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and of course, three of Muder, She Wrote.  He was in Earth Girls are Easy.  Sadly, Linville passed away in 2000.

6. Harry Morgan (as Sherman T. Potter) – Morgan is the oldest major cast member, still kicking at the age of 96.  He was one of three cast members (with Farr and Christopher) to appear in spin off After M*A*S*H.  He was in a short-lived series with Hal Linden about a magician who solves crimes called Blacke’s Magic in 1986 (I really hope it’s as amazing as it sounds).  He also co-starred in a short-lived series based on the play You Can’t Take It With You.  Like many of the cast members, he was in an episode of Murder, She Wrote.  He was also in episodes of The Twilight Zone, Renegade, Grace Under Fire, The Jeff Foxworthy Show and three of 3rd Rock From the Sun.  He was also in TV movies 14 Going on 30, The Incident and Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore.

5.  Wayne Rogers (as John Francis Xavier “Trapper” McIntyre) – Rogers left M*A*S*H after three seasons.  After leaving M*A*S*H, he starred in one season Stephen J. Cannell detective show City of Angels and in 1979 began starring in three season CBS hospital drama House Calls with Lynn Redgrave and Sharon Gless.  He filled out the ‘70s and ‘80s with an impressive resume of TV movies, including but not limited to Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, Having Babies 2, The November Plan, It Happened One Christmas, He’s Fired She’s Hired, The Girl Who Spelled Freedom, Drop-Out Mother and One Terrific Guy and mini-series Chiefs.  He appeared in five episodes of Murder, She Wrote, as expected, and in single episodes of Diagnosis Murder and The Larry Sanders Show.  He now appears as a regular panel member on Fox News Channel investment show Cashin’ In, having made tons of money post M*A*S*H through investing.

4. McLean Stevenson (as Henry Blake) – Stevenson, like Wayne Rogers, left M*A*S*H after three seasons.  He finished out the ‘70s and early ‘80s with an incredible run of four one-season sitcoms.  First he starred in The McLean Stevenson Show, then In the Beginning, then Hello Larry and finally in Condo in 1983.  Wikipedia adds the particularly harsh statement that “All four sitcoms were dismissed by audiences and lambasted by critics.”(lambasted! ouch!)  He appeared in six episodes of Diff’rent Strokes as his Hello, Larry character.  He guested in four episodes of The Love Boat, one of Golden Girls and three of beloved childhood learning program (to me) Square One TV.  He also appeared in the one season Dirty Dancing show, based on the film (with Melora Hardin in the Jennifer Grey role).  He guest-hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 58 times, into the mid-80s.  He sadly passed away in 1996 at the age of 68.

3. Mike Farrell (as B.J. Honnicut) – He spent the ‘80s working in TV movies, from Memorial Day to Choices of the Heart to Private Sessions, Vanishing Act, A Deadly Silence, Incident at Dark River, The Price of the Bride and as JFK in J.F.K.: A One Man Show.  He was in episodes of Murder, She Wrote like all good M*A*S*H cast members and Coach and two of Matlock.  He was back to TV movie work in the ‘90s, with appearances in Silent Motive, Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die, Vows of Deception and Sins of the Mind.  He voiced Jonathan Kent, Superman’s dad in Superman in 9 episodes.  He co-starred in NBC’s five seasonProvidenceas Dr. Jim Hansen, the father of main character Dr. Sydney Hansen.  He was in episodes of Smith, Without a Trace, Ghost Whisperer, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Miami Medical and three of Desperate Housewives.

2.  David Ogden Stiers (as Charles Emerson Winchester III) – He was in The Innocents Abroad episode of Great Performances and in TV movies Anatomy of an Illness and The Bad Seed.  He co-starred in two editions of popular ‘80s civil war miniseries North and South.  He co-starred in several made for television Perry Mason movies as DA Michael Reston in the mid-to-late ‘80s.  He was in two episodes of ALF, three of Matlock and TV movies Day One, Final Notice, The Kissing Place, How To Murder a Millionaire and Wife, Mother, Murderer.  He was in single episodes of Wings, Married People, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Jack’s Place.  He was in movies such as The Accidental Tourist, Meet Wally Sparks and Jungle 2 Jungle and in Woody Allen films Mighty Aphrodite, Everyone Says I Love You, and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.  He had several major voice roles in Disney films Beauty and the Beast as Cogsworth, Pocahontas as Governor Ratcliffe, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Atlantics; The Lost Empire and Lilo & Stitch.  He was in three episodes of Murder, She Wrote, 13 episodes of Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place and 13 of short-lived show Love & Money.  He was in four episodes of Bull and three episodes of Stargate: Atlantis.  He was in forty episodes, half of the run, of USA’s The Dead Zone in the mid-00s as Reverend Eugene Purdy.

1.  Alan Alda (as Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce) – I think the top three are really close – they’re a tier above the rest of the cast members, and I had a hard time deciding between them.  I gave Alda the slight edge because the show in which he appeared regularly in the ’00s was the most well known, even though he appeared in the fewest episodes.  Alda’s been active since M*A*S*H ended in 1983.  He appeared in a couple of Woody Allen movies, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Everyone Says I Love You.  He appeared in Murder at 1600, Canadian Bacon and TV movie and And the Band Played On.  He was in Mad City, The Object of My Affection, What Women Want and appeared as Senator Brewster in The Aviator.  He was in five episodes of ER and 28 of The West Wing as moderate Republican presidential candidate of Senator Arnold Vinick.  He was in three episodes of 30 Rock as Alec Baldwin’s possible father and in three of The Big C.  He’s now in Tower Heist as a Bernie Madoff-like figure.

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Power Rankings – Buffy the Vampire Slayer

31 Oct

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer power rankings this week.  We’re covering a lot of actors and actresses who have been in the cast over the seven seasons of the show, but we had to draw an episode cut off line somewhere.  Apologies Eliza Dushku and Mark Blucas.  That said, it’s a fairly impressive bunch.

11.  Amber Benson (as Tara Maclay) – She’s mostly been in a series of indie films and single episode appearances of shows such as Cold Case, The Inside, Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy and Supernatural.  She’s also written a handful of books with Christopher Golden.

10.  Emma Caulfield (as Anya) – She appeared in a Monk episode and in a couple of Robot Chickens as well as a Private Practice.  She was a recurring character in one-season TeenNick show Gigantic and in 11 episodes of CW two season show Life Unexpected.

9.  Charisma Carpenter (as Cordelia Chase) – She moved over to Angel along with David Boreanaz.  After her role there ended, she appeared in four episodes of Miss Match and episodes of The Division, Charmed, LAX, Big Shots and Back to You.  She was a recurring character as Kendall Casablancas in 11 episodes of Veronica Mars.  She’s also appeared in episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Legend of the Seeker, Burn Notice and Supernatural, and in four episodes of ABC Family’s Greek.  Last year she appeared in feature film The Expendables.

8.  Nicholas Brandon (as Xander Harris) – After Buffy ended, he starred in short-lived Fox series Kitchen Confidential based on Anthony Bourdain’s book of the same name with Bradley Cooper and John Francis Daley.  He voiced Huntsboy #89 (I have no idea what this means) in six episodes of animated program American Dragon: Jake Long.  He plays a recurring character Kevin Lynch on CBS’s Criminal Minds, having appeared in 11 episodes.  He appeared in TV movie Relative Chaos with Buffy co-star Charisma Carpenter and in four episodes of Private Practice last year playing a mentally disturbed man.

7.   James Marsters (as Spike) – He moved over to Angel for a season after Buffy ended.  He appeared in a supporting role in P.S. I Love You.  He was in four episodes of Without A Trace.  He appeared as villain Brainiac in 14 episodes of Smallville and as a recurring character in one season Syfy Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica.  He also appeared as Piccolo in the live action film adaptation Dragonball: Evolution and in three episodes of Torchwood.  Most recently he appeared in episodes of Hawaii Five-0 and Supernatural.

6. Michelle Trachtenberg (as Dawn Summers) – An actress from an early age, after Buffy, she portrayed pop star Celeste in four episodes of Six Feet Under.  She starred in the kids movie Ice Princess and guest starred in episodes of House M.D. and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.  She appeared in 17 Again and as recurring character Georgina Sparks in 14 episodes of Gossip Girl.  She starred in the one season hospital drama Mercy and was in four episodes of Weeds.

5.  Sarah Michelle Gellar (as Buffy Summers) – Gellar’s career seemed on the rise as Buffy ended, but that momentum largely stalled after the series ended.  She appeared in the second Scooby Doo movie Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed as Daphne (she had appeared in the same role in the first while Buffy was airing) which was a commercial success but a critical bomb.  She also appeared in the first and second Grudge movies and Richard Kelly’s disappointing Donnie Darko follow up Southland Tales.  She also appeared in six episodes of Robot Chicken and The Air That I Breathe.  She’s now starring in the first season of CW series Ringer which got picked up for a full season’s worth of episodes.

4. Anthony Stewart Head (as Rupert Giles)  – the oldest member of the Buffy cast by a good deal (closest is Marsters), Head did little in America but has been quite busy in his native Britain.  He had a small role in Woody Allen’s Scoop and starred in the cult horror rock opera Repo! The Genetic Opera.  He was a regular in British sketch show Little Britain and narrated Doctor Who documentary series Doctor Who Confidential.  He co-starred in BBC series Merlin as Arthur’s father King Uther Pendragon and co-starred as the boss in the successful BBC series Free Agents and the unsuccessful American remake of the same name.

3. Alyson Hannigan (as Willow Rosenberg) – Best known outside of Buffy at the time for her role in the American Pie series of movies, she’ll be reprising her role as Michelle in 2012’s American Reunion.  She appeared in Date Movie, but she’s best known for her ongoing role as one of five main cast members in CBS’s multi-camera sitcom smash How I Met Your Mother, currently in its 7th season.  Hannigan plays Lily Aldrin, kindergarden teacher and wife of Jason Segal’s Marshall Erikssen.

2.  Seth Green (as Oz) – Green left Buffy after the third season.  He’s continued his voice role as Chris Griffin on Family Guy which continues to this day and created and contributed his voice to five seasons of Robot Chicken on Adult Swim, which is still airing.  He guest-starred in in five episodes of That ‘70s Show, two of Will and Grace, and three of Entourage as an exaggerated version of himself.  He starred in one season NBC sitcom Four Kings and appeared in two episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and three of Heroes.  He’s contributed to various voice roles in American Dad!, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Cleveland Show, stop-motion Adult Swim series Titan Maximum and the Mass Effect series of video games.  He’s also appeared in feature films The Italian Job, Without a Paddle, Sex Drive and Old Dogs.

1.  David Boreanaz (as Angel) – Boreanz left Buffy after the third season and starred in spin off Angel as the same character in Los Angeles, which lasted five seasons and ended a year after Buffy.  Like Hannigan, Boreanaz has essentially only done one major project since leaving the Buffy-verse, but like Hannigan’s, it’s a seriously big one.   The year after Angel ended, in 2005, he started his ongoing role as FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth, one of the main two characters in Fox’s Bones.  Bones has been extremely successful and its seventh season will premier this week.

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Power Rankings: The West Wing

24 Oct

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

Admittedly the past couple of power rankings have been kind of weak.  It’s time to change that in a big way.  The West Wing, like last week’s Malcolm in the Middle, also ended fairly recently in 2006 but its cast members have generally been far more active.  Oh, and RIP John Spencer, elected Vice President forever in my heart.  Sorry Mary McCormack, Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda.  I had to draw the episode cut off somewhere.  Wait for the In Plain Sight, NYPD Blue and M*A*S*H Power Rankings.

9.  Stockard Channing (as Abbey Bartlett) – she was in small films Sparkle and Multiple Sarcasms and in TV movie Sundays at Tiffany’s.  She was also in an episode of The Cleveland Show and in Pal Joey on Broadway, for which she was nominated for an Tony.  She also narrated the last season of Meekrat Manor.

8. Janel Moloney (as Donna Moss) – She appeared in six episodes of Showtime three season show Brotherhood and in a House, M.D. and a 30 Rock.  She also appeared in a Life on Mars and a Law & Order: Criminal Intent.  That puts her in the bottom rungs on this power rankings, but in less headier competition she’d be in the top half with just that.

7.  Martin Sheen (as Jed Bartlett) – They’re pretty much all winners from here on, so the ordering gets more difficult.  The year of The West Wing’s end, he appeared in Bobby and The Departed.  In future years, he was in films Imagine That, Talk to Me, Echelon Conspiracy as well as a voice in the video game series Mass Effect.  He’ll be appearing as Uncle Ben in the preboot The Amazing Spider-man next year.

6. Bradley Whitford (as Josh Lyman) – Immediately after The West Wing, Whitford joined ill-fated Aaron Sorkin project Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as producer Danny Tripp.    He co-starred in a British mini-series about climate change called Burning Up as an oil lobbyist.  He appeared in episodes of Monk, The Sarah Silverman Program, In Plain Sight, Law & Order: LA and The Mentalist and TV movie Off Duty.  He also co-starred in short-lived Fox show The Good Guys with Colin Hanks.

5.  Joshua Molina – Molina replaced Rob Lowe after the latter’s much publicized departure from The West Wing.  After the show ended, he appeared in three episodes of Numb3rs, one of Stargate: SG1, and two of The Nine.  He co-starred in one season show Big Shots on ABC with Dylan McDermott.  Since then he has appeared in single episodes of:  Medium, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, iCarly, House M.D., Psych, Bones, The Big Bang Theory, CSI: Miami, and Private Practice.  Wow.  He also is a recurring character in In Plain Sight, having appeared in 17 episodes as a car dealership owner dating the main character’s sister.

4. Richard Schiff (as Toby Ziegler) – in 2007, he appeared in two episodes of Burn Notice.  The next year, he was in an Eli Stone, a Monk, and a Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles as well as in the film Last Chance Harvey with Dustin Hoffman.  The next year, 2009, featured a In Plain Sight as well as films Another Harvest Moon with Ernest Borgnine, Imagine That with Eddie Murphy and Solitary Man with Michael Douglas.  In 2010 it was supporting roles in movies The Infidel and Made in Dagenham, a main cast role in short-lived Fox series Past Life and an episode of British Jim Broadbent series Any Human Heart.  This current year he’s been busier than ever with three episodes of The Cape, one of White Collar, four of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, one of Up All Night and a role in Rowan Atkinson James Bond spoof Johnny English Reborn.  He’ll co-star in a new Showtime comedy with Don Cheadle and Kirsten Bell next year.

3.  Alison Janney (as CJ Craig) – After The West Wing ended, Janney appeared in a Two and a Half Men and had supporting roles in Hairspray and Juno.  She was in an episode of Aaron Sorkin drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.  In 2008 she appeared in the satirical Prop 8: the Musical and in the film Pretty Ugly People.  In 2009, she was in Away We Go and Life During Wartime.  She voiced a role in four episodes of Phineas and Ferb.  She was in a Family Guy, two In Plain Sights, and in one of the last episodes of Lost as the mother to the Man in Black and Jacob.  She co-starred in Matthew Perry’s failed series Mr. Sunshine and in this summer’s The Help.

2.  Dule Hill (as Charlie Young) – Hill hasn’t had a whole lot of variety since leaving The West Wing but he has had a very successful role in a very successful cable series, Psych, on USA, as Burton Guster, the straight man in the partnership with Shawn Spencer that run the detective agency Psych as well as a pharmaceutical representative.  Hill has played the role for five seasons so far and the sixth is currently airing.

1.  Rob Lowe – Lowe left the West Wing after season 3 when he was downgraded from the main character to one of an ensemble.  The season after his West Wing run ended, he got a chance to star in his own series, The Lyon’s Den which went all of 13 episodes.  The next year he got a new series on CBS, Dr. Vegas, which also ended after a single season.  He starred in a TV miniseries remake ofSalem’sLoton TNT.  On 2006, he finally found his way onto a show the lasted, as a main character in an ensemble again on Brothers and Sisters.  He left before the last season to co-star in NBC’s Parks and Recreation as state auditor Chris Traeger, known for being a physical fitness freak and his pronounciation of literally as “litrally”

Power Rankings: Malcolm in the Middle

17 Oct

 

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

We’re on a bit of a dip in these power rankings as for two consecutive weeks it turns out children who star in sitcoms aren’t often so successful afterwards.  I thought about throwing in a side character or two, but it’s not like any of them have much to write home about.  Admittedly it has only been five years since the show ended, but it doesn’t exactly seem like any of the younger actors have much momentum.  Alas, at least this show had one star who’s made something of a career for himself afterwards.

6.  Erik Per Sullivan (as Dewey) – It’s way too weird to think that Dewey is currently 20.  That said, his acting career hasn’t exactly taken off as he’s gotten older.  He appeared in an independent film called Mo in 2007 and in Joel Schumacher film Twelve in 2010.

5.  Justin Berfield (as Reese) – He was in one episode of Sons of Tuscon.  That’s it for acting.  However, he’s been more active as a producer, executively producing the short-lived Sons of Tuscon and now working as Chief Creative Officer of Virgin Produced, the television and film arm of Virgin Group.

4.  Frankie Muniz (as Malcolm) – Muniz hasn’t done so much acting in the years since Malcolm in the Middle – he was a serial killer in a Criminal Minds episode, and he had a cameo as Buddy Holly in Walk Hard.  That said, he’s probably the only actor to participate in open-wheel racing, where he competed in the Atlantic Championship in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

3.  Christopher Masterson (as Francis) – I knew this particular power ranking was not going to be the most fruitful, but I didn’t realize it was going to be this bad.  Masterson co-starred in independent films The Art of Travel,  Made for Each Other, and Impulse and appeared in a White Collar episode.

2.  Jane Kaczmarek (as Lois) – Immediately after Malcolm ended, she co-starred in short-lived Ted Danson sitcom Help Me Help You.  A couple of years later she starred as Judge Trudy Kessler for the two season TNT legal drama Raising the Bar.  In 2010, she was in Lifetime movie Reviving Ophelia.  She appeared on an episode of Wilfred, portrays Whitney Cummings’ mom on new series Whitney and has appeared multiple times in The Simpsons as Judge Constance Harm.

1.  Bryan Cranston (as Hal) –Cranston has been quite busy since Malcolm ended, but even if he hadn’t, he’d be on top of this list because of two words – Breaking Bad. Cranston has starred for four seasons as chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-maker Walter White, who has quickly become one of the great characters in television history.  Breaking Bad has received acclaim from all corners and each season moves up in the all-time television pantheon. For what it’s worth, he’s won three emmys for the role so far.  Cranston portrayed Ted’s boss in How I Met Your Mother in two episodes.  He appeared in ABC Family miniseries Fallen.  He also had supporting roles in 2011 movies The Lincoln Lawyer, Larry Crowne, Contagion and Drive.

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Power Rankings: Home Improvement

10 Oct

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

We’ve got a relatively short one this week – last week I did a show I barely watched when it was on (3rd Rock from the Sun) and was surprised how well the actors had done.  This week I take on a show that I saw every week for years and the actors have not fared so well.  We’re giving Earl Hindman a pass because he died in 2003.  RIP,Wilson.

7.  Taran Noah Smith (as Mark Taylor) – that’s it.  Seriously.  There is nothing on his IMDB page after 1999.

6.  Debbe Dunning (as Heidi Keppert) – she was in one episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and seven of something called Wicked Wicked Games.  This cast is brutal.

5.  Jonathan Taylor Thomas (as Randy Taylor) – the breakout star of the show at the time, he was big enough that he quit the last season of Home Improvement, and didn’t even return for the series finale.  That was the height of his powers sadly.  Afterwards, he’s appeared in a couple of indie films, an episode of Ally McBeal, two of Smallville, three of 8 Simple Rules and one Veronica Mars.  He also voiced a character in a Simpsons episode and five of The Wild Thornberrys.

4.  Zachery Ty Brian (as Brad Taylor) – At least he’s working as an actor.  Since Home Improvement ended, he’s been mostly working in single episode appearances.  Two episodes of Family Law, one of Touched by an Angel, one of ER, and three of Boston Public.  He was in one Buffy, one Smallville, two Veronica Mars, three of Center of the Universe, and one Cold Case.  He was in two K-ville, one of the new Knight Rider and one Burn Notice.  Oh, and he’s cousins with Broncos QB Brady Quinn.

3.  Patricia Richardson (as Jill Taylor) – She appeared in Lifetime’s Strong Medicine in a starring role for it’s three seasons.  She also appeared in nine episodes of The West Wing as the campaign director for Alan Alda’s Republican presidential candidate.  Since, she’s been in a couple of TV movies.

2.  Richard Karn (as Al Boreand) – When Karn is ranked second, you know you’re in trouble.  His most prominent work by far has been as host of Family Feud from 2002-2006.  Currently, he hosts the Game Show Network’s Bingo America.  Aside from that, he appeared in a couple of Air Bud direct to video sequels and a That ‘70s Show episode.

1. Tim Allen (as Tim Taylor) – Most of his biggest work after Home Improvement has been sequels to movies he made while starring in the show.  This includes two Toy Storys and two Santa Clauses.  Aside from that, he’s mostly been in bombs like Big Trouble and Christmas with the Kranks.   He’s also had a successful career narrating commercials, for Chevrolet and Campbell’s soup.  He’ll be starring in Last Man Standing this fall, which I don’t expect to last much longer.

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Power Rankings: 3rd Rock From the Sun

3 Oct


(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

3rd Rock From The Sun – for a show I barely watched, this is a far more impressive Power Rankings than I was expecting.  Let’s go.

7. Simbi Khali (as Nina Campbell) – Every power rankings has to have a last place.  Khali in We Were Soldiers, in single episodes of That ‘80s Show and The Bernie Mac Show and as a voice in The Incredible Hulk video game.  Moving on.

6. Elmarie Wendel (as Mamie Dubcek) – She appeared in six episodes of NYPD Blue, 11 episodes of George Lopez, and in an American Dad and a Criminal Minds.

5. Kristen Johnson (as Sally Solomon) – in 2003 she appeared in a single episode of Queens Supreme and then in 2004 in a Sex in the City, in which she plays an aging party girl who falls out of her window and dies, forcing Carrie to reflect on her life.  She guest starred in six episodes of ER and in three of Ugly Betty.  She was in one episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine and in the second season premiere of Bored to Death as a dominatrix.

4. Jane Curtin (as Mary Albright) – her post 3rd Rock career started slowly.  She appeared in a series of TV movies, most notably as a librarian in the first The Librarian movie starring Noah Wyle, and she has reprised that role in two other The Librarian teleivision movies since.  She co-starred in short-lived Fred Savage 2006 series Crumbs, and appeared in two episodes of Gary Unmarried.  She played Paul Rudd’s mother in I Love You, Man and appears in 2011’s I Don’t Know How She Does It.

3. French Stewart (as Harry Solomon) – the man has kept far more busy than I had realized, albeit mostly in work that flies under the radar.  Within a year of the end of 3rd Rock, he appeared in single episodes of Ally McBeal, Becker and That ‘70s Show as well as as Inspector Gadget in the straight-to-video Inspector Gadget 2.  In 2004 and 2005 he appeared in single episodes of The Drew Carey Show and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as well as three episodes of Less Than Perfect.  In the years since, the guest appearances have continued in force, with Stewart showing up in episodes of Pepper Dennis, Bones, The Closer, Cavemen, Pushing Daisies, Castle, Private Practice and SGU Stargate Universe.  He will be starring in a voice role in Fox cartoon Allen Gregory this fall.

2. John Lithgow (as Dick Solomon) –  at the same time 3rd Rock was wrapping up, Lithgow voiced the villainous Lord Farquaad in Shrek, and played Colin Hanks’ father in 2002 in Orange County.  He played Blake Edwards in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, and Alfred Kinsey’s strict father in Kinsey, both in 2004.  In 2006, he had a small role in Dreamgirls, and starred in a thirteen episode series, Twenty Good Years on NBC, with Jeffrey Tambor.  In 2009, he had perhaps his most memorable role since 3rd Rock, as Dexter nemesis and Trinity Killer Arthur Mitchell on the fourth season of Dexter, for which he won an Emmy.  Since then he appeared in Leap Year, in two episodes of How I Met Your Mother as Barney’s dad, and in Rise of the Planet of the Apes as James Franco’s dad

1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Tommy Solomon) – It took Gordon-Levitt, the youngest main cast member, a little while to gain some career traction after the show ended, but since he grabbed it, he hasn’t given it up.  His first big post-3rd Rock break was 2005’s Brick, a high school film noir, for which he attracted rave reviews.  In the next couple of years, he appeared in Havoc and Shadowboxer, before appearing in The Lookout in 2007, for which he again received raves.  After Stop-Loss, The Miracle and Santa Anna and Killshot, he appeared in 2009’s (500) Days of Summer, an indie comedy smash, and as the villain, Cobra Commander in blockbuster G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  2010 brought a key role in Christopher Nolan’s Inception and in 2011 he’s co-starring with Seth Rogan in cancer dramedy 50/50.  His future looks just as bright as he’s slated to appear in the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, and as Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’sLincoln.

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Power Rankings: Full House

26 Sep

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

Back to back early 90s show rankings.  Sometimes it just goes that way.

9.  Andrea Barber (as Kimmy Gibbler) – Yeah, she retired from acting after Full House ended.  Oh well.

8. Jodie Sweetin (as Stephanie Tanner) – She was in two episodes of Party of Five, one of Yes, Dear and hosted the second season of Fuse show Pants Off Dance Off.  That’s just about it.

7.  Dave Coulier – (as Joey Gladstone) – Most of his post-Full House work has been voice roles, including individual episodes of Pinky and the Brain, Extreme Ghostbusters, Dexter’s Laboratory, Teen Titans and six episodes of Robot Chicken.  He appeared in person in an episode of Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, four of George & Leo and in The Even Stevens Movie.

6. Candace Cameron (as DJ Tanner) – She appeared in a number of TV movies in the late ‘90s, and in single episodes of Boy Meets World and That’s So Raven.  She finally got another real shot with her role in ABC Family gymnast show Make It Or Break It, where she is a regular and plays Summer Van Horn, a true to real life a devout Christian, who is also manager of the gym.

5. Ashley Olsen (as Michelle Tanner) – Here’s how this is going to work.  95% of Ashley’s post-Full House work is the same as Mary-Kate’s.  We’ll discuss that here.  Under Mary-Kate, we’ll just work with her separate work, which is why she’s ahead.  They both appeared in at the end of Full House and right after video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley and You’re Invited to Mary-Kate and Ashley’s….  They starred together in a number of twin related films, such as It Takes Two in 1995, Passport to Paris in 1999, When In Rome in 2002, and New York Minute in 2004.  They also had their own animated series Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! in 2001.

4.  Mary-Kate Olsen (also as Michelle Tanner) – she’s got all that Ashley good stuff, and 8 episodes of Weeds and 2011 film Beastly.  And yeah, when you’re that similar, that’s all you need to get ahead.

3.  Lori Loughlin (as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis) – The last three are quite close, and I’m honestly not sure how to rank them at all.  Loughlin is probably the single most underrated cast member. Loughlin has appeared on a number of shows since the end of Full House.  She starred immediately after Full House ended in Hudson Street for its one season next to co-star Tony Danza.  Like many of her fellow cast members she spent the late ‘90s doing TV movies, but she also appeared in a Suddenly Susan and a Seinfeld as Patty, Jerry’s girlfriend who tries to get him to be more in touch with his feelings.  In 2001 she was on three Spin Citys and in 2002 she was on two Drew Carey Shows.  In 2004, she co-created and starred in Summerland on the WB as a fashion designer.  The show lasted a year.  She appeared on episodes of Ghost Whisperer and Jake In Progress, and from 2008 to 2011 starred in 90210 as Debbie Wilson.

2. Bob Sagat (as Danny Tanner) – Saget also struggled post-Full House, though his second gig as host of America’s Funniest Home Videos lasted a couple years after the end of Full House’s run.  He starred in the 21-episode WB series Raising Dad again as a widower, this time with two kids, Kat Dennings and Brie Larson.  He appeared in Dumb and Dumberer and in single episodes of Huff and Listen Up.  He directed the Norm McDonald film Dirty Work. In 2005, he started his role as the narrator of How I Met Your Mother, which he continues to this day.  He hosted the two year game show 1 vs. 100 and guest starred in episodes of Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.  He also starred in the short-lived 2009 ABC sitcom Surviving Suburbia and has made multiple appearances as an exaggerated version of himself on Entourage.

1. John Stamos (as Jesse Katsopolis) – Stamos’ post-Full House career started out slower than he would have liked, as Stamos did nothing but a handful of TV movies until 2000, with names like Sealed with a Kiss and The Marriage Fool.  Time was kind though.  In 2001, he got a starring role in the show Thieves, which failed after 10 episodes.  2003 saw an appearance in a Friends episode and appearance in TV movie The Reagans.  In 2005, he starred in short-lived Jake in Progress and got a role on ER which he continued until the show’s end, for four seasons.  In 2010, he got involved in recurring roles in both Entourage, as himself, and Glee, as dentist Carl Howell.  In 2011, he appeared in a Law & Order: SVU.

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Power Rankings: Saved by the Bell

19 Sep

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

We’re taking on Saved by the Bell this week, which like most rankings has some pretty good winners and some pretty miserable losers.  Note ahead of time that I’m not mentioning Saved by the Bell: The College Years for everybody; that’s just kind of assumed.

7.  Dustin Diamond (as Samuel “Screech” Powers) – Diamond’s post Saved by the Bell career has been much more as a punchline than as an actor.  He was one of two Saved by the Bell cast members to put their inevitable career decline on hold with a spot in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, which ran until 2000, and in which he appeared in 67 episodes as principal Belding’s assistant.  After that his career consisted mostly of a handful of cameos as himself and appearances on reality shows.  The cameos include in Big Fat Liar, Pauly Shore is Dead and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star and the reality shows include The Weakest Link, Celebrity Boxing 2 and Celebrity Fit Club.

6.  Dennis Haskins – (as Richard Belding) Like Diamond, Haskins appeared as his Saved by the Bell character in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, but he actually appeared in just about every episode and was the only consistent character throughout the run of the series. He’s had few roles since then, mostly appearing in single episodes of TV shows, but at least, unlike with Diamond, it’s been as a character and not as himself.  These shows include The Practice, JAG and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  He also showed up most recently in three episodes of Men of a Certain Age.

5. Lark Voorhies (as Lisa Turtle) – After Saved by the Bell, Voorhies worked for a year in soap The Bold and the Beautiful before she left when her character was asked to do sex scenes, which she declined to do for religious reasons.  She was a recurring character in NBC and later UPN sitcom In the House which starred LL Cool J and Maia Campbell.  She appeared in single episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Family Matters, Malcolm & Eddie, and Grown Ups.  She played a major character in the 2001 film How High.  She also appeared in music videos, including Boyz II Men’s On Bended Knee and Dru Hill’s These Are The Times, amongst others.

4. Elizabeth Berkley (as Jessie Spano) – Post Saved by the Bell, Berkley is best known for what she did immediately after, which is appear in cult film and massive critical and commercial failure Showgirls, one of the only mainstream films with an NC-17 rating.  She played a small role in The First Wives Club after that.  In the 2000s, she has appeared in a number of TV shows, such as in two episodes of NYPD Blue, three of Titus, a CSI, a Without a Trace, and a Law & Order Criminal Intent.  She also featured in four episodes of The L Word and nine of CSI:Miami.  In addition, she’s had a successful stage career, appearing in such plays as Sly Fox and Hurlyburly.

3. Mario Lopez (as A.C. Slater) – Lopez’s first big role after Saved by the Bell was as Greg Louganis in 1997’s Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis story.  In 1998, he got the role of Bobby Cruz in USA’s cop drama Pacific Blue, which he held for two seasons.  He guested in episodes of Popular and Eve and in 2006 worked a year on The Bold at the Beautiful.  In 2009, he started an eight episode run as a plastic surgeon in Nip/Tuck.  In addition to a successful acting career, Lopez has become a successful host.  He co-hosted short-lived talk show The Other Half, designed as a male counterpart to The View.  He hosted a show on Animal Planet called Pet Star, America’s Most Talented Kid on NBC, and several Miss America and Miss Teen USA pageants.  He currently hosts America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV and will host H8R on the CW.

2. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (as Zack Morris) – Gosselaar’s first significant roles post-Saved by the Bell were 1998’s feature film Dead Man on Campus (the last film he’s been in) and 1998 WB drama Hyperion Bay which lasted one season beginning in 1998.  He starred in another short-lived WB series, D.C., in 2000.  He guested on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2001 before getting partnered up with Dennis Franz in season 9 of NYPD Blue, replacing Rick Schroder.  He played the role of Detective John Clark for four years, until the end of the series.  He appeared in ten episodes of short-lived ABC Geena Davis series Commander in Chief.  He was in three episodes of HBO”s John from Cincinnati and starred for a season in TNT’s Raising the Bar, as a public defender.  TNT didn’t blame the failure on the show on him, casting him in his current role as Bash in Franklin & Bash, again as a lawyer.

1. Tiffani Thiessen (as Kelly Kapowski) – going with the “Amber” in the middle of her name for much of her career, it’s now been eliminated in her more mature days.  Immediately after Saved by the Bell ended she landed a role in Aaron Spelling’s Beverly Hills, 90210 as bad girl Valerie Malone.  She entered in season 5 and stuck around until season 9, being generally micheivious and dating nearly all of the major and minor male cast members.  She starred in a number of made for television movies in the mid-90s, and starred in two short-lived series, Fastlane, with Bill Bellamy and Peter Facinelli in 2002, and ABC’s What About Brian in 2007.  She appeared in three episodes of Will and Grace, eight of Two Guys, a Girl, and A Pizza Place and 11 of the two season Good Morning Miami.  Most recently, she found success with a lead role, albeit the smallest lead role in the show, but still, in USA’s very successful White Collar as FBI agent Peter Burke’s wife, Elizabeth.

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Power Rankings: Saturday Night Live, Season 6 – 1980-81

12 Sep

(Power Rankings sum up:  Each week, we’ll pick a television show and rank the actors/actresses/contestants/correspondents/etc. based on what they’ve done after the series ended (unless we’re ranking a current series, in which case we’ll have to bend the rules).  Preference will be given to more recent work, but if the work was a long time ago, but much more important/relevant, that will be factored in as well)

Not all power rankings can be power-packed, and some of them have to sink pretty low.  Not too many will get lower than this one, I predict and hope though.  We’re going to take a stab at a ranking for the legendarily terrible 1980-81 (season 6) season of Saturday Night Live.  A quick backstory:  Before this season, Lorne Michaels, SNL’s famous producer left, along with the entire cast.  After the season, the entire cast aside from two members were replaced.  Get ready, because this could get brutal.

7.  Ann Risley – it’s never a great sign when your wikipedia article mentions the number of movies you’ve been in the first lines, and it’s in single digits.  Even those movies were all before SNL.  After, Risley’s got a bunch of TV movies from the early ‘90s with names like Telling Secrets, Jericho Fever, and Four Eyes and Six Guns (I really want to know what these are about).

6.  Joe Piscopo – Piscopo was actually kept on SNL and stuck around ’til 1984, becoming one of the most important actors on the show.  Sadly, that was the highlight of his career.  He appeared in the 1986 “Let’s Go Mets Go” music video (one of the many elements which dates the video) and films Johnny Dangerously, Wise Guys and Dead Heat.  He had a voice role in 2000’s Nickelodeon series 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd.  He also appeared in three episodes of Law & Order.

5.  Gail Matthius – Matthius, who co-hosted Weekend Update, did about nothing live action, but had a bit of success with voice acting.  The most notable of these roles were as Bobby’s mom Martha Generic in cult favorite Bobby’s World and as Shirley the Loon in Tiny Toon Advenures.  She also appeared in several episodes of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain.

4.   Denny Dillon – the shortest ever SNL cast member by stature at 4’11”, she had to be one of the shortest by tenure as well.  It took a while, but unlike many of the cast members, Dillon was actually able to find some regular work.  She showed up in a couple of episodes of the TV show Fame, and then in the main cast of one season sitcom Women in Prison, about, well, women in prison.  She got her big role on HBO’s Dream On, one of HBO’s first sitcoms, which employed a gimmick of using old black and white clips to show the main character’s feelings.  Dillon appeared on much of the series as Toby Pedalbee, the main character’s assistant.

3. Charles Rocket – the other half of the Weekend Update team, Rocket was fired immediately after cursing during a sketch on air.  Rocket actually had a far more productive career than I had realized.  He appeared in episodes of Remington Steele, Hardcastle and McCormick, and Miami Vice, and four of Max Headroom and six of Moonlighting.  He appeared in three separate failed series over a decade, Tequila and Bonetti in 1992, The Home Court in 1995, and Normal, Ohio in 2000.  He appeared in Earth Girls Are Easy, as Pat-stalker Kyle in It’s Pat (which is sadly how I best know him) and as villainous Nicholas Andre in Dumb and Dumber.  Later he appeared in 10 episodes of Touched by an Angel, and single episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The King of Queens, and 3rd Rock From the Sun.  Sadly, he killed himself in 2005.

2. Gilbert Gottfried – probably the second biggest name to come out of this season, Gottfried is best known for his irritating voice, but apparently didn’t use it much in SNL.  Because of this voice, he is probably best known for his vocal roles – chief among them Iago from Aladdin in the movie and many other tv and video game incarnations.  He also lent his voice to Fairly Oddparents and Cyberchoice and as Mr Mxyzptlk in Superman: The Animated Series.  Amongst his most famous non-vocal roles are his role as a sleazy orphanage employee in Problem Child and well, appearing at just about every Comedy Central roast.  He also told one of the most memorable renditions of the title joke in the movie The Aristocrats and was the voice of the Aflac duck until he was fired for insensitive comments about the Japanese tsunami.

1. Eddie Murphy – so this isn’t really fair.  I don’t think there’s been a power rankings yet where the #1 has been so far ahead of the #2.  Piscopo and Murphy were the only two cast members asked back from this miserable season, and of course Murphy became a massive star.  His film roles are too numerous to name, but include bona fide ‘80s classics like Trading Places, 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America.  Murphy fell into a bit of a slump in the early ‘90s, but came back with box office success, if not the critical success he enjoyed earlier with films like The Nutty Professor, Dr. Doolittle, Daddy Day Care (the movie made $164 million – I didn’t believe it either) and voice roles in Shrek and Mulan (we’ll forget about Holy Man and The Adventures of Pluto Nash)   His non-Shrek career hasn’t been so great at least, but he was nominated for an Oscar for his work in Dreamgirls.

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