I like the show "Dexter", but the actress who plays Dexter's sister is unbearably bad. How could they miss so badly on such a major role?
Got me thinking: what are some other examples of good TV shows that have terrible actors in prominent roles?

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

Not so much a great show, but a popular one anyway, with a horrible lead...CSI Miami.

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Larry David's wife on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Cheryl Hines I think is the name? She's too wooden and stiff...and she doesn't get me stiff...which is bad as well.

I always thought Talia Shire was an awful actress, especially in The Godfather. That whole scene at the end where she is crying with Michael was a snapshot of bad acting. Made me think she only got the role because the director was her brother.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

I have to nominate the whole cast:

Killer V, you're referring to David Caruso, who many thought committed career suicide when he left "NYPD Blue" after the first season, 1993-94, in hopes of becoming a bigger star in the movies. That never quite materialized, but creator David E. Kelley's gritty cop show did just fine when Jimmy Smits & Mark Paul Gosselaar became the show's leading men. On "The Soup" with Joel McHale weekends on E!, Joel makes fun of Caruso and the way he puts on the shades before The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" theme plays at the start of every "CSI: Miami" episode.

Full House? Long before "America's Funniest Home Videos", that was Bob Saget's claim to fame, as well as those filthy rich Olsen twins!

I've hated David Caruso since his days of playing the non tough Irish street gang leader in Hill Street Blues. I was too young to remember much about the show but I do remember this pasty redheaded fuck in a sea of color when the police had their gang summits. Is there a less tough guy who has played tough guy roles his entire career?

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I've always thought Nicholas Cage was a horrible actor but he gets a lot of big roles. Another non tough guy getting tough guy roles.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Really? Who knew?

Matthew Fox on Lost.

Prominent Role. yep

Good Show. yep

Bad Actor. Absolutely

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that's debatable.

Lost?

Whats it about...gimme a quick summary and get me up to date...So theyre on a plane...GO

Don't forget his turn as Deputy Mitch in First Blood. The only officer in the movie who really seemed to understand the conflicted John Rambo.

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all three of House's assistants. kumar as a doctor=

Jake on two and a half men

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team Mully & Hanley
team Meatpants

Hey, it was a good show...for about 1 1/2 seasons...at best..

But it does get 13-15 million viewers and a lot of emmy nominations, etc so someone likes it i guess.

matthew fox = bad




It's all quite clear..

After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island holds many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, the hatch, polar bears, a strange French woman and another group of island residents known as 'The Others'. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, the remains of an ancient statue and bunkers belonging to the Dharma Initiative, a group of scientific researchers.

As the days slowly turn into weeks, the survivors dig deeper in the many secrets of the island and then six of them manage to find their way home -- but we soon learn that was the worst thing that could have happened..

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Not a TV show, but I remember well Keanu Reeves ruining an otherwise enjoyable The Devil's Advocate.

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Reeves has had a bunch of bad acting roles. In Point Break, he forgot to break character from Bill and Ted's Eexcellent Adventure.

the lead actress (greek chick) on CSI: NY
Marg Helgenberger on CSI
Ice T on Law and Order
Ben Bratt during his time on Law and Order

This is like shooting fish in a barrel

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SJBoyd, the "greek chick" on "CSI: NY" is Melina Kanakaredes. Melina was one of the stars of the short-lived NBC drama "Providence" earlier this decade, which also starred longtime "M*A*S*H" co-star Mike Farrell. On "M*A*S*H", Mike played "B.J." from 1975 to the show's finale in 1983.

I don't know about these two. I can kind of understand why you'd say Ice T since it seems as though he's just playing Ice T. There were a few episodes where he had to deal with his sons homosexuality which I thought he did a pretty good job with.I never really noticed Bratt's bad acting. I think that is the good thing about Law & Order. The actors aren't required to do too much and they are completely expendable...

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I've always found the irony in Ice T causing controversy for his song Cop Killer years ago, yet his two most well known acting roles (Scotty in New Jack City and Fin in Law and Order) involve him being a cop.

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You have seen the skank he's boning, right Darkside?

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Ivan, you bring up a very valid point about "Law & Order". Even though it's one of the longest-running dramas on TV today, and constantly rerun on TNT for that matter, cast members who work on the original "L & O" don't last that long. The average length of a cast member on "L & O" is only three seasons. It's unclear if cast members have a tough time having to deal with creator/executive producer Dick Wolf and the show's many storylines, including those "ripped from the headlines", such as the one involving a "Jon & Kate"-like storyline airing tonight @ 7p on NBC5.

It's one of the things I love about the show. You never really learn a lot about the characters personal lives. Just enough for you to care somewhat about them. Therefore it's not terribly devistating when they are eventually killed off. It was crazy the first few seasons when Chris Noth had to get a new fat partner every few episodes until they finally stuck with Lenny Brisco (R.I.P.) .

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I watched the first season of CSI: Miami but couldn't take Caruso's over-the-top acting, so I haven't been back since. However, Caruso was absolutely brilliant in his role as John Kelley on NYPD Blue. I defy anyone to watch the only season he was on and tell me otherwise. He played that character as a tough guy with a heart and he played it very well, without all of the posing his charcter on CSI has.

My nomination would be Adrian Grenier, who plays Vince, the main character on Entourage. Terrible. Second choice? Mary Lynn Rajskub. She plays Chloe O'Brien on 24. Wow, is she bad. Janeane Garofalo sucked on that show last season, too.

When Tony Kornheiser had a sports talk show on ESPN Radio many years ago, while he expressed his likeness for "24", he wasn't thrilled one bit whenever Kiefer Sutherland's TV daughter in the first 2 "days", or seasons. That's Canadian Elisha Cuthbert who played "Jack Bauer's" daughter if memory serves...

Tina Yothers...Wow!

Tina Yothers was bad, but that crown has been squarely passed to the kid on 2 1/2 men (as someone else already mentioned)

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Yeah. The kid is like 30 now and he still blows...

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