Today, I ask you folks to name your picks for the best late in a series addition to a long-running TV series.
Pop Culture Theme Time is a feature where I put a question to you to see what you think about a particular theme. I might later revisit the theme for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns or Top Five.
Generally speaking, the best version of a show’s cast almost always occurs early on in the history of a show. Not always the first season, of course, but by the third season or so, most shows have locked into their peak version of the show’s cast. Then it becomes a cast of trying to hold on as actors slowly but surely leave the series and get replaced by lesser actors. Some shows, like Cheers, were able to make a mid-series adjustment with their leads, while most shows do not do so.
Here, though, we’re specifically looking at the best LATE in series additions to a long-running TV series. Which means someone who was added in either the final or the penultimate season of a TV show that lasted at least five seasons. So, say, Chris Powell as Piz on Veronica Mars would not count (not five seasons). Nor would Buck Taylor as Newly O’Brien on Gunsmoke (he joined up in Season 13, but the show ran 20 seasons). OH! And no James Spader on The Practice or Billy Connolly on Head of the Class (since they were SO good that they were just given spinoffs, so the shows likely would have continued otherwise, so it WOULDN’T have been the end of that show, ya know?).
Essentially, we’re looking at additions that were so good that it was a shame that the show ended when it did, because the new cast members were so good.
Off the top of my head, I think Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda as Presidential candidates Matt Santos and Arnold Vinick on West Wing take the cake.
They REALLY should have just kept the show going with a Matt Santos administration.
What are your picks?
Feel free to suggest other topics for future Pop Culture Theme Times to me at brian@popculturereferences.com.
I don’t think I will be able to top the Milloti addition to HIMYM that someone mentioned on Facebook, but DiCaprio did add a lot to Growing Pain’s final season (complex character, more facets to Cameron’s character, less awkward teen boy). I am not sure when they added the last kid, but I felt like she was around for more than two seasons.
Billy Eichner added to Parks and Rec’s final seasons, but it wasn’t the top cast and I don’t think his name’s In the opening credits.
Cherry Jones on 24?
would Jacob on LOST count?
Nicole de Boer as Ezri Dax on DS9?
Paget Brewster and Keith David in season 6 of Community. Somehow, despite almost a half of the original main cast was absent from the last season it still managed to be fun and I think it partly is because Brewster and Richards were able to give the show some fresh air and new characters that still fit the tone of the series.
Robin Wood and Andrew Wells on Buffy (added in Seasons 7 and 6, respectively).
Philip, Keith David’s line “I’m no one’s fourth ghostbuster!” still has me cracking up
My vote though goes for James Spader’s Alan Shore in the last season of the Practice. So reinvigorated the show David E. Kelley retooled the second half of the season into setting up a new show with him (Boston Legal of course)