Long ago, there was a separation between film and television. Actors who excelled in one rarely transitioned over to the other. The industry catered to Movie Stars and Television stars, and all was right with the world. Gradually, more TV stars started to make the leap to movie stardom. Many of them failed, but several broke out, and continue to enjoy massive success to this day. (Fascinatingly, movie actors also started to go back to television during the advent of the streaming service, but that’s a different topic). Here are 32 TV shows that helped launch a young actor’s career. How many have you seen?
Saturday Night Live
The obvious answer, but that doesn’t make it any less correct. Since its earliest days, Saturday Night Live has been turning cast members like Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Mike Meyers, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig into huge movie stars. It’s a proving ground for unproven talent, and remains that way to this day.
In Living Color
It doesn’t have the proven track record of SNL, but the sketch comedy show In Living Color did give the world Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson, as well as multiple members of the Wayans family.
Moonlighting
Recently, we have been lamenting the retirement of the great Bruce Willis, who has been diagnosed with aphasia. And the return of Moonlighting to Hulu serves as a wonderful reminder of the snap and crackle that launched his star into the stratosphere. His detective character, David Addison, was an instant classic, and Moonlighting remains one of the sharpest written programs in TV history.
Mork and Mindy
Robin Williams’ brand of comedy was out of this world. He resembled an extraterrestrial, with his strange voices and unusually quick brain. So making him an actual alien, Mork from Ork, in the winning Mork and Mindy proved to be a genius stroke for this 1970s sitcom.
Happy Days
Back in the day, The Fonz (Henry Winkler) epitomized “cool.” It’s hilarious to see what Winkler has become, a cuddly, neurotic character actor who can be comfortable in an Adam Sandler comedy, and the pitch black satire Barry. In addition to Winkler, Happy Days shined a brighter light on Ron Howard and Penny Marshall, who became major storytellers for the next generation.
Laverne and Shirley
The Happy Days spinoff took the characters we loved on Happy Days and gave them a larger platform. It still makes me laugh that Michael McKean, who played Lenny of “Lenny and Squiggy” fame, went on to give perhaps one of the greatest dramatic performances of all time as Chuck on Better Call Saul.
Growing Pains
Growing Pains was a vehicle for Kirk Cameron, who has gone on to be a pretty big star in his own corner of Hollywood. But here’s a fun fact. The amiable sitcom about the Seaver family also played host to a very young Brad Pitt, and a very young Leonardo Dicaprio. I wonder if Quentin Tarantino is a huge Growing Pains fan?
Alias
A terrific spy thriller with the beating heart of a coming of age soap opera. Alias capitalized on the white-hot charisma (and physical prowess) of Jennifer Garner, who’d go on to become Elektra and, eventually, a rom-com superstar. Also, look for a young Bradley Cooper in the show, as well.
The Facts of Life
You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have a TV sitcom that hosted George Clooney, Helen Hunt, Molly Ringwald, David Spade and Cloris Leachman as they dipped back and forth between movies and television.
Diff’rent Strokes
Diff’rent Strokes was a sweet show about a lonely, wealthy man who rediscovered family by bringing in two foster kids, brothers Arnold (Gary Coleman) and Willis (Todd Bridges). The ensemble was stellar, but there aren’t enough words to describe how big of a star Coleman became from this show. He’d always be known as Arnold, his catchphrase “Whatchoo talkin’ bout, Willis?” becoming the stuff of legend.
Dawson’s Creek
Sometimes, the right ensemble comes together and creates on screen magic, which was the case for Dawson's Creek. This earnest teenage show set in coastal North Carolina focused on young James Van Der Beek as film student Dawson, but had two wild cards in Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes as the best friends and occasional love interests over the course of the show.
Friends
Speaking of “the right ensemble,” TV sitcoms don’t hit home runs like Friends all that often. But an incredibly simple premise – three girls and three guys try to make it in New York City – became the voice of a generation, while making massive stars of each friend. Jennifer Aniston probably has enjoyed the most successful post-Friends career, but it’s the late Matthew Perry who probably remains the most beloved of the crew.
Freaks and Geeks
Paul Feig and Judd Apatow have their fingerprints all over modern comedy. But their roots trace back to Freaks and Geeks, a short-lived television program that boasted Seth Rogen, Linda Cardellini, James Franco, and Jason Segel at the beginning of their career arcs.
That '70s Show
Similarly, That ‘70s Show explored the lives of suburban teenagers while shaping some talents that would create memorable movies for years to come. Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Topher Grace, and Laura Prepon probably benefited the most from their '70s Show bump, but the whole crew enjoyed post-Show success.
Parks and Recreation
Thanks to Saturday Night Live, Amy Poehler already was a household name when Parks and Recreation launched. But the show helped to elevate the status of Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza and – in easily one of the most unexpected moves – Chris Pratt, who went from shlubby Andy to the chiseled Star Lord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Office
What started as a riff on a beloved English sitcom became the most-watched TV sitcom for an American audience. Steve Carell cemented his status as a comedic legend, and John Krasinski turned the role of Jim into a budding action hero and directorial career. But everyone in The Office went on to become more famous than they ever were before the show. It’s impressive.
Bosom Buddies
Certain shows worked very well for their time, but probably wouldn’t make it today. In Bosom Buddies, Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari dressed up in drag and pretended to be women to get affordable rent in New York City. Like Moonlighting for Bruce Willis, the show acted as a launch pad for one of the industry’s biggest and brightest stars in Hanks.
E.R.
Medical dramas will never lose their luster. Just ask the cast of Grey’s Anatomy. E.R. was that show in its prime, and made a star out of George Clooney (who had been acting in things for years). Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle, Julianna Margulies, Eriq La Salle, and Laura Innes also shined, but Clooney used E.R. to reach superstar status.
Roseanne
When Roseanne started, co-leads Roseanne Barr and John Goodman were proven talents. As they show developed, though, it made household names out of wild talents like Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, Johnny Galecki, and Sarah Chalke. Watching the show return to form in recent times has been a delight.
21 Jump Street
It’s a terrific premise for a television program. Cops who look too young for the force are assigned back to high school, where they crack down on crimes affecting teenagers. We joke about Richard Grieco being a standout, but 21 Jump Street forever will be associated with the rise of Johnny Depp, still one of the biggest movie stars in modern times.
Cheers
The bar where everybody knows your name. Additionally, the sitcom that launched the careers of a dozen proven talents, from Ted Danson, Shelley Long, and Kelsey Grammer (who continues to play Dr. Frasier Crane to this day) to the legendary Woody Harrelson, a comedic and dramatic icon of impressive range.
Stranger Things
So many of the shows on this list are network television shows, which always was the high-profile showcase for young talent. In time, streaming programs took over that mantle, with Stranger Things becoming a serious launch pad for incredible young personalities like Millie Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink, David Harbour, and Finn Wolfhard.
Family Ties
What would we do, baby, without us? Well, without Family Ties, we might not have Michael J. Fox, who charmed audiences as the conservative financial wizard Alex P. Keaton, and used that notoriety to land the all-time gig of Marty McFly in Back to the Future.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
There was a time when Will Smith was one of the biggest movie stars on the planet. Big Will owned Fourth of July weekend with sci-fi blockbusters such as Independence Day and Men In Black. Smith would go on to become notorious for some bad behavior at the Oscars, but he owes his start to the sitcom that introduced the kid from West Philadelphia, born and raised.
Friday Night Lights
High school football in Texas is no joke. Communities rally around the hometown team, and Hollywood tried to tap into that loyalty. There was a movie with Billy Bob Thornton, but the T show kicked off real talent, showcasing Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Michael B. Jordan, Jesse Plemons, Minka Kelly, Jurnee Smollett, and Taylor Kitsch.
3rd Rock From The Sun
This was a weird little show carried by an outlandish John Lithgow performance (and, for some reason, our collective delight in French Stewart). But it also gave us young Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who continues to entertain on the big and small screen.
The Wire
Is it the best television program ever created? Some argue this, while others take the side of Breaking Bad. Both of them are essential viewing. But The Wire did more in terms of introducing young talent to a fascinated industry, giving crucial roles to a young Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba, Michael K. Williams, Wood Harris, and the versatile Amy Ryan. The cast was stacked with heavy hitters, and makes this show so rewarding on a rewatch every time.
Welcome Back, Kotter
Let’s throw it into the wayback machine, to a time when Welcome Back, Kotter cast Gabe Kaplan as a teacher forced to return to his old high school and educate a group known as the Sweathogs. And in that group? Blossoming talent John Travolta, who’d go on to appear in some of the biggest movies of this or any other era.
St. Elsewhere
Similar to E.R., St. Elsewhere was a weekly medical drama that rode on the backs of its incredible ensemble. Some new faces that we found on the St, Elsewhere staff? Ed Begley Jr., the brilliant David Morse, Howie Mandel, and Denzel Washington!
Silver Spoons
This was one of my favorite shows growing up. Ricky Schroder was a born star, playing a young boy who wants to move in with the father he never knew. But the standout in the cast, and the young actor destined for much bigger things, was Jason Bateman, who parlayed Silver Spoons into recurring roles on It’s Your Move and the smash hit Valerie, which lasted for 110 episodes.
The Cosby Show
It was an enormous show, structured around the personality of a popular stand up comic. But The Cosby Show also helped launch the careers of several young talents, including Lisa Bonet, Tempestt Bledsoe, Raven-Symone, and the incomparable Keshia Knight Pulliam. They would be linked to The Cosby Show for years, with Bonet pushing herself dramatically to distance herself from the show’s legacy. But there’s no denying the influence this sitcom had on their careers.
Shake It Up
What if I told you that the two stars of Shake It Up, Zendaya and Bella Thorne, would go on to become some of the most famous talents of their generation? We all have to start somewhere, and for so many young actors, the Disney Channel was that place. But Shake It Up stood out by being an entertaining program with two magnetic leads.
And those are just some of the TV shows that helped launch the careers of budding talent.
