Today, I want to know your pick for the worst TV child actor of all-time.
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.
Look, I know it’s tough, as these kids are, you know, kids, but darnit, some of these kids are just terrible, so let’s get it all out, tell us who you think is the worst child actor that you’ve seen who is/was a main cast member on a TV series.
I really wanted to pick Jerry Supiran on Small Wonder, but I just can’t, I have to go with the terrible twins, Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush, who played the youngest daughter, Carrie, on Little House of the Prairie.
They were both so bad that the character, ostensibly a main cast member, was essentially removed from the series as an active cast member for the rest of her run. Normally, as child actors age, they get MORE to do, but Carrie got LESS to do as she aged. They could barely deliver lines, let alone do actual acting. Carrie had a single spotlight episode in the series, a terrible Season 5 episode where she imagines a twin to keep her company (this allowed the sisters to act with each other). So bad.
Okay, that’s my pick. But let me know your picks. I might want to do a “Bad Child Actor” tournament this March, so the more suggestions, the merrier!
Jonathan on who’s the boss
I’m torn between Bobby Buntrock from “Hazel” and Larry Matthews from “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Both shouted their lines and were excruciating to watch. I’ll give the nod to Buntrock, though, because of all the pukey dialog they gave him.