Tag Archives: Power Rankings

Power Rankings: Law & Order, Law edition, Part 1

19 Dec

(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)

Last week, it was Order, this week it’s Law, and the actors and actresses who played the lawyers on the 20 year show get their chance to shine.  I think overall the cops have done more, but the lawyers have had their share of productive work as well.  Since people have been on the show drastically different lengths of time, I’ll give a slight credit to people who have had less post-L&O time to appear in TV and movies.  Let’s rank ’em.

13.  Steven Hill (as Adam Schiff, seasons 1-10) –  Hill’s 89 now, and was 78 when his time on Law & Order wrapped up.  Besides his age, his orthodox Judaism makes it difficult to work.  Suffice it to say, Law & Order was his last role.  Sometimes I like to make a comment about what a loser the last person on a rankings is, but Hill was old and had a long and distinguished acting career.

12.  Sam Waterston (as Jack McCoy, seasons 5-20) – He’s done nothing yet but he’s slated to be in an upcoming Aaron Sorkin series for HBO based around TV news and starring Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer.  I hate having to put the man  behind the legendary McCoy, with the second most episodes of Law & Order of any actor, this low, but I have no alternative until his new show airs.

11.  Carey Lowell (as Jaime Ross, seasons 7-8) – She was in a couple of episodes of short-lived Ed O’Neill series Big Apple.  She was in two episodes of the short-lived Law & Order spin-off Trial by Jury as her Law & Order character, now a judge.  She had a small role in the TV miniseries Empire Falls based on the novel of the same name.  She had a recurring role in one season J.J. Abrams series Six Degrees.

10.  Fred Thompson (as Arthur Branch, seasons 13-17) – Thompson played President Ulysses S. Grant in TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and then attempted to play the real president with a relatively quickly aborted run at the 2008 Republican nomination.  Afterwards, he was in movie Secretariat and episodes of Life on Mars and The Good Wife.

9.  Linus Roache (as Michael Cutter, seasons 18-20) – The British Mr. Roache appeared in five episodes of British soap Coronation Street, which has starred Roache’s father for many years (Would a twitter “Occupy Coronation Street” trend be funny in the UK?).  He appeared in four episodes as his Law & Order character in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in which he’s been promoted to bureau chief.  He will soon be starring in British series Titanic.

8.  Alana De La Garza (as Connie Rubirosa, seasons 17-20) – She spun off from Law & Order into the one season Law & Order: LA, playing the same character.  De La Garza reprised her role in CSI:Miami from Season 4 appearing a apparition to Horatio (her character had died earlier in the series).

7.  Michael Moriarty (as Ben Stone, seasons 1-4) – Moriarty has become a certified kind of crazy person, with such wonderful statements as, “ The Supreme Court took a once individually free nation and corrupted it by the lie of Science that fetuses are, in their first two trimesters, no more than egg yolk.”  He’s done some acting too though.  In the ‘90s, he was in movies Courage Under Fire and Shiloh and TV movies Children of the Dust, Cagney and Lacey: True Convictions, Crime of the Century, The Arrow, Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants, and Earthquake in New York.  Later he was in episodes of Touched by an Angel, The Outer Limits, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The 4400 and Masters of Horror.  He was in Along Came a Spider and won an Emmy for his role in a James Dean TV movie in 2001, where he played Dean’s father.

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Power Rankings: Law & Order, Order edition, Part 2

13 Dec

Law & Order Power Rankings, Order edition has been chopped into two parts for convenience – you can find the first part here.

4.  George Dzundza (as Max Greevey, season 1) – Dzundza has had the most time to work, participating in a mere 1/20th of the series. After he left, he appeared in Basic Instinct, Dangerous Minds, That Darn Cat, Species II and several episodes of the Batman animated series as Scarface and several of the Superman animated series as Perry White.  He was a regular in Christina Applegate’s one season Jesse and appeared on episodes of Matlock, Touched by an Angel, Third Watch and The Agency.  He was in films Instinct and City by the Sea in the early ‘00s and was a main cast member in one season Hack.  He was in seven episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and episodes of October Road and Stargate SG-1.

3.  Dann Florek (as Donald Cragen, season 1-3) – After his role on classic L&O ended, Florek bounced around, appearing in episodes of Wings, Ellen, The John Laroquette Show, Roseanne, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, NYPD Blue, The Pretender and The Practice.  He was in two episodes of astronaut miniseries From the Earth to the Moon.  In the short-lived The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, Florek played Abraham Lincoln.  In TV movie Exiled, he reprised his role as Captain Kragen, and he was in six episodes of Smart Guy as a gym teacher and basketball coach.  In 1999, he got what he’s now best known for, a role as his old Law & Order character Captain Kragen, this time working with the Special Victims Unit.  He’s been doing it for 13 years so far.  He’s been a main character on a 13 season show but I’m deducting a little bit because he’s playing the same character as on regular Law & Order and it’s kind of cheating.

2.  Benjamin Bratt (as Rey Curtis, season 6-9) – He’s appeared in many movies since his term on Law & Order ended, such as Red Planet, Miss Congeniality, Traffic, Abandon, The Woodsman, Catwoman, Thumbsucker and as a voice in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  He starred in the one season E-Ring on NBC in 2005 about the Pentagon and in the two season A&E show The Cleaner about a recovering drug addict who helps other drug addicts recover (there are a thousand better shows that could be made based on the title “The Cleaner”).  He starred in a miniseries based on The Andromeda Strain and he has become a regular as of current season five of Private Practice as Dr. Jake Reilly.  He’s also appeared in two episodes of Modern Family as Manny’s dad and Gloria’s ex-husband.

1A.  Jerry Orbach (as Lenny Briscoe, season 3-14) – he deserved a spot on the list.  This is merely an honorary spot and conveys no true ranking except to specifically note that Jerry Orbach is awesome.

1.  Chris Noth (as Mike Logan, season 1-6) – His first couple of years post Law & Order were filled with TV movies, including Nothing Lasts Forever, Abducted: A Father’s Love, Born Free: A New Adventure, Rough Riders, Medusa’s Child, and Exiled, in which he starred as his Law & Order character.  In Castaway, he plays the man who marries Tom Hanks’ wife, while Hanks is, well, castaway.  In 1998, he got his biggest post-Law & Order role as Mr. Big in Sex and the City.  Mr. Big is Carrie’s most important love interest over the course of the series, and they get together several times before finally getting married at the end of the first movie and they remain married through the second movie through some difficulties.  He was in a couple of episodes of Crossing Jordan with former Law & Order co-star Jill Hennessy and TV movies The Judge, This is Your Country, and Bad Apple.  He returned to the Law & Order franchise in Criminal Intent for a couple of seasons as his old character Mike Logan.  Since 2009, he has been a recurring cast member, as the bad husband of the titular The Good Wife, now in its third season, appearing in the majority of the episodes of the series.

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Power Rankings: Law & Order, Order edition, Part 1

12 Dec

(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 going to take on a major challenge this week in Power Rankings.  We’re raking just the actors (and actresses) who who have played detectives on the “order” section of Law & Order.  Because the show lasted 20 years, some cast members have had more time to build up their resumes since their tenure ended, so we’ll do our best to take that into consideration but it will still be admittedly unfair (ie. Jeremy Sisto is not expected to have done as much as Paul Sorvino to get the same rankings).  I’ll make note of what seasons every character was on.  Eventually, we’ll return with the attorneys.  Sadly, Jerry Orbach died shortly after he left the show, after he had just filmed a couple of episodes of short-lived spin off Law & Order: Trial By Jury.  He won’t be included formally, but will get a special shout out.  We begin.

11.  S. Epatha Merkerson (as Anita Van Buren, season 4-20) – She was in 391 episodes, more than any other cast member.  Unfortunately, since she was on until the end, she hasn’t done anything since the show’s finale.  It’s rough and kind of unfair, but hey, I don’t make the rules.  She’ll be in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln next year.

10.  Jessie L. Martin (as Ed Green, season 10-18) – He cameoed in A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa and he co-starred in NBC’s one season The Philanthropist, about a billionaire playboy who decides to devote his fortune to helping others.  He was in the Shakespeare in the Park Central Park productions of The Winter’s Tale and The Merchant of Venice in 2010.

9.  Anthony Anderson (as Kevin Bernard, season 18-20) – Just out of L&O, he was in Scream 4 and The Big Year and an episode of Shameless.  He’s lined up to be in Scary Movie 5.

8.  Milena Govich (as Nina Cassady, season 17) –  Govich portrayed the only female detective, and by far the most irritating detective in Law & Order’s 20 year run, and not because of her gender.  Cassady was in four episodes of K-Ville with fellow Law & Order detective Anthony Anderson and was in 16 episodes of Rescue Me as a con-woman and prostitute.  She was in one episode of Psych and Body of Proof and two of The Defenders.

7.  Paul Sorvino (as Phil Cerreta, season 2) – He spent the ‘90s with steady TV movie work, with the titles including A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives, Parallel Lives, The Art of the Cigar, Escape Clause, Houdini, The Championship Season, and best remembered by me, Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way, in which he played Joe Torre.  He was in movies Nixon, Romeo + Juliet, Money Talks, Most Wanted, and Bulworth.  For two seasons starting in 2000, he starred in CBS drama That’s Life alongside Ellen Burstyn.  He was in four episodes of Still Standing.  He’s been in The Cooler, Hey Arnold: The Movie, Mr. 3000, Repo! The Genetic Opera and a host of smaller projects including a TV movie with the fantastic name Mafia Doctor.

6. Jeremy Sisto (as Cyrus Lupo, season 18-20) – He’s basically only been done a year and in that time he’s hooked up with ABC surprise hit Suburgatory which has been picked up for a full season.  Sisto plays dad George Altman who moved his daughter from the city to the suburbs after finding condoms in her drawer.

5.  Dennis Farina (as Joe Fontana, season 15-16) – He was in What Happens in Vegas and in lesser known films The Grand, You Kill Me, Bottle Shock, and The Last Rites of Joe May.  He’s currently the host of Unsolved Mysteries on Lifetime and will be co-starring in Luck on HBO with Dustin Hoffman where he’ll play Hoffman’s character’s driver.

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Power Rankings: Happy Days, Part 2

6 Dec

We’ve broken the Happy Days Power Rankings into two parts because they’re damn long.  You can find part 1 here.

4.  Pat Morita (as Matsuo “Arnold” Takahashi) – Morita’s most well known role came right after Happy Days, with 1984’s The Karate Kid, in which he played martial arts mentor Mr. Miyagi.  He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and revived the role in three sequels and a short-lived TV show.  He was in TV movies Blind Alleys, The Vegas Strip War, Amos, Alice in Wonderland and What Has Four Wheels and Flies.  He starred for two seasons in Ohara as a police lieutenant.  He provided narration in TV special Big Bird in Japan, marking the second Happy Days actor to have an association with Sesame Street.  He was in Honeymoon in Vegas and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and in episodes of Dave’s World, The French Prince of Bel-Air, Burke’s Law, Murder, She Wrote, Married with Children, Boy Meets World, The Outer Limits, Diagnosis: Murder, and Caroline in the City.  He starred in four season Nickelodeon show The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo as Shelby’s grandfather.  He was in three episodes of The Hughleys and five of Baywatch and voiced the emperor of China in Mulan and its sequel as well as in Kingdom Hearts.  In the 2000s he also appeared in episodes of Yes, Dear and Spongebob Squarepants before dying in 2005.  He’s ahead of Bosley for working longer even though he’s only a couple years younger and for getting an Academy Award nomination.

3.  Scott Baio (as Chachi Arcola) – After Happy Days, Baio moved right into starring in Charles in Charge, a sitcom which lasted five seasons, half on CBS, and half in first run syndication until 1990.  While that show was airing, he was in an episode of Full House, an episode of My Two Dads, a couple of episodes of Out of This World, and TV movies The Truth About Alex and Alice in Wonderland,  Baio was in the second season of two season show Baby Talk and starred for two seasons in Dick Van Dyke drama Diagnosis: Murder.  He has been in episodes of The Nanny, Veronica’s Closet, Touched by An Angel, and four episodes of Arrested Development as lawyer Bob Loblaw.  He also appeared in MTV reality programs Scott Baio is 45…and Single and Scott Baio is 46…and Pregnant.  Baio also directed several episodes of The Wayans Bros. and Out of this World as well as 36 episodes of Charles in Charge.  He’s ahead of Morita for having the most successful post-Happy Days show.

2.  Henry Winkler (as Arthur Fonzanelli) – while to this day Winkler is best known as Fonzie, he’s been busy, particularly in the last decade.  He barely acted at all in the second half of the 1980s, apparently only as a voice in TV movies Happily Ever After and Two Daddies? and in an episode of Pryor’s Place.  After dipping his toe back in the television water in the early ‘90s with TV movies The Only Way Out and Absolute Strangers and an episode of MacGyver, he starred in short-lived 13 episode series Monty, in which he played a conservative Rush Limbaugh-esque commentator.  He finished out the rest of the ‘90s with more TV movies One Christmas (with Katherine Hepburn), A Child is Missing, Dad’s Week Off, and Detention: The Siege at Johnson High, appearances in The Larry Sanders Show, South Park and The Simpsons and roles in films The Waterboy and Scream.  He was busier in the first half of the next decade, most notably as incompetent attorney Barry Zuckerkorn in Arrested Development, but also appearing in episodes of King of the Hill, Blue’s Clues, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and The Drew Carey Show.  He was in three of Third Watch and three of The Practice and in films Down to You, Little Nicky, and Holes.  He was a main cast member as one of a family of doctors in the one season Out of Practice and lent his voice to the extremely short-lived and terrible Mitch Hurwitz cartoon Sit Down Shut Up.  He was in two episodes of Crossing Jordan, three of Numb3rs, and appeared in Click.  Most recently he’s had a recurring role on USA’s Royal Pains as the father of the main two characters and has appeared in Adult Swim’s Childrens Hospital as hospital administrator Sy Mittleman.  He’s ahead of Baio for appearing many times more often in the last decade.

1.  Ron Howard (as Richie Cunningham) – Well, he got largely out of the acting game after Happy Days, only acting again as his The Andy Griffith Show character in TV special Return to Mayberry and as the narrator for Arrested Development.  Ron Howard has been best known for his film directing work, with his big break being 1982’s Nightshift.  Afterward, he’s directed Splash, Coccoon, Willow, Parenthood, Backdraft, Far and Away, The Paper, Apollo 13, Ransom, EdTV, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Beautiful Mind, The Missing, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, Frost/Nixon and Angels and Demons (this is a long list I know, and I was going to take out totally unheard of titles, but there really aren’t any).  He was nominated for the Best Director Academy Award for Frost/Nixon and won for A Beautiful Mind.  He’s also a prominent producer with partner Brian Grazer.  He’s executively produced such TV shows as Arrested Development, Sports Night, The PJs, and Felicity as well as his own movies.  It’s hard to compare directing to acting, but Howard’s films have been of the commercial and critical level that I think he’s a pretty clear #1.

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Power Rankings: Happy Days, Part 1

5 Dec

(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)

Happy Days this week.  This is a very long one, so it’s getting split into two parts.  I went with a slightly more expanded cast then I felt I needed to because why not and I kind of wanted to cover Pat Morita.  A surprising amount of the cast found a surprising amount of success after the show.  Let’s go.

12.  Lynda Goodfriend (as Lori Beth Allen Cunningham) – She had small roles in Beaches and Pretty Woman.  I’m always glad when there’s one person with almost nothing.  It’s easier to write and it lets the rankings build.

11.  Al Molinaro (as Al Delvecchio) – After Happy Days, Molinaro was in an episode of Punky Brewster.  He was in the main cast of one season series The Family Man in 1991 and in a Step by Step episode in 1992.  He appeared in Weezer’s Buddy Holly video introducing the band.

10.  Cathy Silvers (as Jenny Piccalo) – She was in a The Love Boat, a Punky Brewster and a Wings, and co-starred in one season series Foley Square.  More interesting to me, she’s the son of Phil Silvers, best known as Sgt. Bilko.  Most interesting to me, she voiced Marie Dodo in fantastic Sesame Street movie Follow That Bird.  She gets ahead of Molinaro for that last credit.

9.  Erin Moran (as Joannie Cunningham) – She was in six episodes of The Love Boat (was anybody acting on ‘70s TV not in The Love Boat?) and episodes of Glitter, Murder, She Wrote and Diagnosis: Murder.  She took a decade before her next roles in TV movie Mother Goose Parade and an episode of The Bold and the Beautiful in 2009.  She was a contestant on Celebrity Fit Club in 2008 and appeared in Not Another B Movie in 2011.

8.  Don Most (as Ralph Malph) – After Happy Days, he appeared in three seasons of Dungeons & Dragons on CBS and as a voice on both seasons of the animated Teen Wolf show.  Afterwards, he was in episodes of The Munsters Today, Charles in Charge, Murder, She Wrote, Baywatch, Sliders, Dark Skies and Diagnosis Murder.  In the 2000s, he appeared in episodes of Yes, Dear, Star Trek: Voyager, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Century City, Men of a Certain Age and Glee.

7.  Anson Williams (as Potsie Weber) – I want to take a moment and note that the character shares his actual name with my dad – Warren Weber.  Okay, now that that’s acknowledged, I will get to describing Williams’ work, and note the gap between Most and Williams, even with Most clearly ahead of Moran.  I didn’t exactly know how to evaluate TV direction, so Williams is stuck here but the remaining seven people have all had exemplary careers.  Williams was in TV movie I Married a Centerfold in 1984, didn’t work for a decade, was in an episode of Fudge in 1995, didn’t work for a half decade, and was in two episodes of Baywatch.  Since then he’s been in episodes of Son of the Beach, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and TV movie Take 2.  I was about to chalk Williams up as a loser here, until I realized that his real forte since the early ‘80s has been in TV directing.  He’s directed dozens of episodes of well-known shows.  He started with an ABC Afterschool Special and an L.A. Law in the 1980s, and afterwards added four Diagnosis Murders, seven Fudges, seven Seaquest 2032s and individual episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, The Pretender and Clueless.  He directed multiple episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills 90210, The Profiler, Charmed, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Lizzie McGuire and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

6.  Marion Ross (as Marion Cunningham) – Ross spent the post-Happy Days ‘80s appearing in single episodes of TV shows Hotel, Glitter, You Are the Jury, You Again?, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Night Court, Sister Kate, and MacGyver along with a recurring role in Love Boat as Emily Haywood, who marries Captain Merrill Stubing.  She starred as the mother in the critical acclaimed two season Brooklyn Bridge, which started in 1991 and like Happy Days was also set in the 1950s.  Afterwards, she was in episodes of Dream On, Sweet Justice, The John Laroquette Show, Burke’s Law, Promised Land, Early Edition and Family Law as well as TV movies Hidden in Silence, A Perfect Stranger, Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart, The Third Twin and About Sarah.  She was in four episodes of That ‘70s Show as Eric Forman’s grandmother and four episodes of Touched by An Angel.  She played Drew Carey’s mom in 14 episodes of The Drew Carey Show.  She showed up in six episodes of Gilmore Girls and in three episodes of Brothers & Sisters and The Boondocks.  She was in episodes of Out of Practice, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Nurse Jackie and Grey’s Anatomy.  She also lent her voice to episodes of King of the Hill, Spongebob Squarepants and two TV Scooby-Doo movies.

5.  Tom Bosley (as Howard Cunningham) – He was in TV movies Private Sessions and Perry Mason: The Case of the Notorious Nun and five episodes of The Love Boat.  He was a recurring character in 19 episodes of Murder She Wrote as Cabot Cove’s local sheriff, Amos Tupping, and picked up possibly his second most famous role starring in four seasons of Father Downling Mysteries as the titular priest during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.  Afterwards, he primarily guested in individual episodes of television series, including Rugrats, Burke’s Law, Johnny Bravo, Early Edition, Port Charles, Jack & Jill,Walker, Texas Ranger, ER, Family Law, Touched by an Angel, One Tree Hill, Still Standing and Family Guy.  He was in Jennifer Lopez movie The Backup Plan before he sadly passed away in 2010.

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Power Rankings: Wings

28 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)

Wings lasted for eight seasons and 172 episodes and I have never seen a single episode nor even knew it existed while it was airing, from 1990 to 1997.  Since then I’ve been made aware of the show and have picked up a couple of facts about it, like the name of the airline (Sandpiper) and the name of the airport (Tom Nevers Field), but still best know the show for a couple of actors who made their bones there before showing up elsewhere.

9.  David Schramm (as Roy Biggins) – After last week’s all around success story, it’s nice to get to a good old fashioned power rankings loser. Schramm has a mere one credit after the end of Wings, a voice role in an episode of Hercules in 1998.

8.  Crystal Bernard (as Helen Chapel-Hackett) – While Schramm’s work makes Bernard seem prolific, Bernard’s post Wings work pretty much consists of a series of TV movies – Grave Misconduct, The Secret Path, A Face to Kill For, To Love, Honor & Betray, Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus and its sequel Meet the Santas.  She appeared in an episode of According to Jim.  Yikes.  She also had a #25 single on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1999 with “Don’t Touch Me There.”

7.  Rebecca Schull (as Fay Cochran) – Almost 80 now, I’m giving her the tiebreaker against Bernard if for no other reason than for her age.  She has been in episodes of Frasier, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Damages, and three of Suits.  She’s also appeared in The Odd Couple II, Analyze This, Analyze That, United 93 and Little Children.

6.  Farrah Forke (as Alex Lambert) – Forke had the smallest role on Wings for anyone I included, as she was a main cast member for just one season and was off the show by 1995.  Afterwards, she had a recurring role as district attorney Mayson Drake on Lois and Clarke: The New Adventures of Superman.  She was a main cast member in two subsequent one season sitcoms, 1995’s Dweebs, as an office manager of a software company and as a guidance counselor on 1996’s Mr. Rhodes.  She was in an episode of Ned & Stacey, one of Jenny, one of the Fantasy Island remake and in three of Party of Five.  Since the turn of the century the only role she’s had is voicing heroine Big Barda in one episode of Batman Beyond and two of Justice League.

5.  Amy Yasbeck (as Casey Chapel Davenport) – Immediately after Wings, Yasbeck co-starred in the one season Alright Already which doesn’t even warrant a wikipedia page.  In 2005, she co-starred in the equally short-lived Life on a Stick.  She’s also been in episodes of It’s Like, You Know, Just Shoot Me!, That’s so Raven, Hot in Cleveland and Worst Week.  Yasbeck gets the nod over Forke for having appeared in person in a role after 2000.

4.  Steven Weber (as Brian Hackett) – There’s a huge jump between Yasbeck and Weber.  The top four on Wings have all had exemplary post-Wings careers and the rankings would be almost more accurate listed simply in two tiers than in numbering further.  That said, we must rank on.  Weber was a voice in the All Dogs Go to Heaven TV series and acted in a number of TV movies including Thanks of a Grateful Nation, Love Letters, Late Last Night, and Common Ground.  He was in episodes of The Outer Limits, The Simpsons, Extreme Ghostbusters and Stark Raving Mad.  Weber starred in a failed sitcom fittingly called The Weber Show in 2000.  He had a recurring role in nine episodes of Once and Again as Billy Campbell’s friend. He was then in episodes of Monk, The Lyon’s Den, American Dad and Will & Grace.  He co-starred in high-priced flop Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as network head Jack Rudolph.  He appeared in one episode of Psych, three of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and four of Without a Trace.  He was in eight episodes of Brothers and Sisters, three of In Plain Sight and Falling Skies, and one of Desperate Housewives, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Party Down as a gangster of indeterminate eastern European origin who was just acquitted of murder.  He was in the main cast of unsuccessful 2010 midseason replacement Happy Town.  He’ll be voicing Norman Osborn in the upcoming Ultimate Spider-man cartoon series.

3.  Thomas Hayden Church (as Lowell Mather) – Church left Wings after the fifth season, after which he starred in sitcom Ned and Stacey alongside Debra Messing for two seasons.  He appeared in movies George of the Jungle, 3000 Miles to Graceland, The Specials, Spanglish and Idiocracy.  His most notable film roles may be that of Jack in Sideways and of Sandman in Spider-man 3.  He had voice roles in Over the Hedge, Charlotte’s Web and Aliens in the Attic.  He appeared in episodes of Lucky and Miss Match and in miniseries Broken Trail.  Most recently, he’s been in films Smart People, All About Steve, Easy A and will be in We Bought A Zoo.

2.  Tim Daly (as Joe Hackett) – After the end of Wings, Daly appeared in The Object of My Affection and in four episodes of astronaut mini-series From The Earth to the Moon as Jim Lovell, who Tom Hanks portrayed in Apollo 13.  He starred in Stephen King mini-series Storm of the Century which I watched while on vacation as it aired.  He voiced Superman in the popular ‘90s animated series, most of which aired after Wings ended.  He starred in several failed series including 2000’s remake of The Fugitive, where Daly played Richard Kimble, 2005 ABC private investigation series Eyes, and 2006’s bank heist drama The Nine.  He had a memorable recurring role in The Sopranos as J.T. Dolan, a drug-addicted screenwriter, who Chris bonds with in rehab and then has beaten up when Dolan doesn’t pay back money on time.  He was in episodes of Monk, Chasing Amy, and Commander in Chief.  He currently co-stars in Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Private Practice as Pete Wilder who has lots of crazy affairs and events over the course of the five year run of the show if his character’s wikipedia page is to be believed.

1.  Tony Shalhoub (as Antonio Scarpacci) – You might say Shalhoub’s done okay since Wings ended.  Before the ‘90s were out, Shalhoub appeared in films Men in Black, Gattica, A Life Less Ordinary, Primary Colours, The Siege, A Civil Action and Galaxy Quest.  He also appeared in an episode of Ally McBeal and starred in the short-lived sitcom Stark Raving Mad with Neil Patrick Harris.  In the 2000s, he appeared in Men in Black 2, the Sky Kids series of films, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Thir13en Ghosts, Life or Something Like It, 1408, and as a voice in Cars.  In 2002, he landed his biggest role as the star of USA’s Monk, which lasted eight seasons and starred Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, a retired but brilliant detective with obsessive compulsive disorder who helps the police solve murder cases in San Francisco.  He won three Emmy awards for the role.  Post-Monk he has so far appeared in film How Do You Know and HBO movie Too Big To Fail.

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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: 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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