These TV shows were so good that they launched careers. For this list, we’ll be looking at some of the best television series and the actors who either got their big breaks by being cast in them.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 ♪ Bye bye, little Sebastian ♪
00:05 ♪ You're 5,000 candles in the wind ♪
00:11 - Welcome to Miss Mojo.
00:12 And today we're counting down our picks
00:13 for the top 10 TV shows that were so good,
00:16 they launched careers.
00:18 - Excuse me, my name's Woody Boy.
00:20 - Woody?
00:21 Hi, I'm Sam Malone.
00:22 - For this list, we'll be looking at some
00:24 of the best television series
00:25 and the actors who got their big breaks
00:27 by being cast in them.
00:29 Which show/actor combo is your favorite?
00:32 Leave us a comment below.
00:34 Number 10, "Stranger Things", Millie Bobby Brown.
00:37 It isn't unheard of for a relatively unknown actor
00:40 to become a star after landing a role on a television show.
00:44 "Stranger Things" have happened.
00:46 However, in the case of Millie Bobby Brown,
00:48 it was literally "Stranger Things" that happened.
00:51 - Kind of in between, it's like halfway happy.
00:54 - By 515?
00:57 - 515, yeah, sure.
01:00 - Promise?
01:02 - The show was a hit from the start.
01:04 And by the second and third seasons,
01:06 was setting viewership records on Netflix.
01:09 - Why do you still hope?
01:11 - Because I believe in you.
01:14 - Not to mention the 88 to 97% ratings
01:17 its first four seasons scored on Rotten Tomatoes.
01:20 And there's one more number we have to mention, 11.
01:24 Millie Bobby Brown was only 12 years old
01:26 when she was cast as 11 and it changed her life.
01:30 Roles in two "Godzilla" movies
01:31 and the lead in the "Enola Holmes" franchise
01:34 soon came after "Stranger Things".
01:36 - It's a necessary distraction.
01:38 I was just beginning to master it.
01:41 Phase one of the plan complete.
01:43 I'm coming to find you, mother.
01:45 The game is afoot.
01:47 - Number nine, "Friday Night Lights",
01:49 Taylor Kitsch and Jessie Plemons.
01:52 Given that the show never really drew big audiences,
01:55 the fact that "Friday Night Lights"
01:56 stayed on the air for five years
01:58 is a testament to the high quality of the show.
02:00 - I believe in you, okay?
02:02 I could care less what anyone else thinks.
02:06 I believe in you.
02:07 And I want this for you more than anything.
02:12 - And while most of the younger actors on the show
02:14 were relatively unknown when the series premiered,
02:16 that certainly wasn't the case by the end of its run.
02:18 Taylor Kitsch was probably
02:20 the biggest breakout star of the show.
02:22 - What are we gonna do with that extra grand?
02:24 - What are you talking about?
02:25 What do you mean?
02:26 We got the mortgage covered plus a grand.
02:27 - Kitsch even looked like he might be
02:29 a big movie action star with his starring role in "John Carter".
02:32 That film flopped hard.
02:35 But Kitsch survived and has had a nice career.
02:38 - One of these opportunities,
02:40 you have it for a reason.
02:43 I'm not gonna be that guy to stop you
02:50 from achieving your dreams.
02:51 - Jessie Plemons didn't burn as bright initially,
02:54 but has had a great run in movies and television
02:57 since the show ended.
02:59 Number eight, "Mad Men", Jon Hamm.
03:02 These days, it's hard to imagine Jon Hamm
03:04 being in a television show or a movie
03:06 without his name being front and center
03:08 in advertisements and on posters.
03:10 But before 2007, that was how it was.
03:13 In 2005, people weren't writing
03:15 about his two episode run on CSI Miami.
03:18 But in 2008, he was hosting "Saturday Night Live"
03:22 for the first of three times so far.
03:24 - Let's face it, we live in a fast-paced world.
03:27 But if you're as busy as I am,
03:28 every day you have to make a decision.
03:31 Am I going to eat lunch?
03:32 Or am I going to go to the bathroom?
03:34 Well, now you never have to make that choice again.
03:36 - What took Hamm from random actor to SNL superstar?
03:39 Two words, "Mad Men".
03:41 - Round and around, back home again.
03:49 - A place where we know we're loved.
03:52 - The multi-Emmy-winning show,
03:53 found in the top 10 of many best of lists,
03:57 was a cultural phenomenon and the launchpad
03:59 for Hamm's now rather impressive film and television career.
04:03 - Your reputation precedes you.
04:05 - Thank you, sir.
04:07 - Wasn't a compliment.
04:10 - Number seven, "Parks and Recreation", Chris Pratt.
04:13 - Spread your wings and learn to fly.
04:15 - Horses don't fly.
04:16 That's why I'm telling him, learn to fly.
04:20 - The character of Andy Dwyer was only supposed
04:22 to be a temporary character on "Parks and Recreation",
04:25 but the producers loved him
04:27 and made him a main cast member.
04:29 And the rest is history and a whole lot of working out.
04:33 - Leslie, I typed your symptoms into the thing up here
04:35 and it says you could have network connectivity problems.
04:39 - Because while "Parks and Recreation"
04:40 launched his megastar movie career,
04:42 it did so with Pratt as a buff action star,
04:45 as opposed to the not so buff and not so bright guy
04:49 he was on the show.
04:50 Although the comedy's reviews were mixed for season one,
04:53 once they hit their stride in season two,
04:55 it was pretty much all acclaim from then on.
04:57 This kept the show on the air and allowed Pratt
05:00 to go from a porny to "Jurassic World" and beyond.
05:03 - Trust me.
05:04 - It goes again.
05:05 (dramatic music)
05:08 (dramatic music)
05:11 (dramatic music)
05:14 (dramatic music)
05:18 - Number six, "The Office", Steve Carell and John Krasinski.
05:22 Yes, Steve Carell gained recognition
05:24 from his time on "The Daily Show",
05:26 but it wasn't "The Daily Show"
05:27 that got him paid $5 million to star in "Evan Almighty",
05:31 or a reported 10 to $15 million per movie
05:34 and $1 million per episode of television.
05:37 - Evan Baxter, you have gone from newsman
05:40 to congressman to caveman.
05:43 What makes you so sure God chose you?
05:45 - He chose all of us.
05:47 - That all traces back to "The Office"
05:49 and his brilliant turn as Michael Scott
05:52 on the critically acclaimed sitcom.
05:54 And speaking of "The Office" launch parties,
05:56 the show also no doubt sent John Krasinski's career
05:59 on a path few would have seen coming prior to its premiere.
06:03 - Look at him, he's laughing.
06:05 - Michael and Jan seem to be playing their own separate game
06:09 and it's called, let's see how uncomfortable
06:11 we can make our guests.
06:13 And they're both winning.
06:14 - As one half of the Pam and Jim love affair,
06:17 Krasinski made his way into our hearts
06:19 and has since become TV's Jack Ryan
06:22 and a successful horror film writer/director.
06:26 Number five, "Alias", Jennifer Garner.
06:31 - Hey, what are you guys doing here?
06:35 - We just wanted to come by
06:36 and see how that car trouble thing was going.
06:38 - With all due respect to 2000's "Dude, Where's My Car?"
06:41 we can't really give that surprise box office hit
06:44 credit for Jennifer Garner's career.
06:46 However, we can give that credit to her next project,
06:49 which premiered the following year on television screens.
06:52 - The whole world's a nightmare anyway.
06:54 It's all dangerous no matter what we do.
06:57 I couldn't live with myself.
07:01 I'm saying goodbye to you because of risk.
07:05 It's all a risk.
07:06 - "Alias" was part of the wave of shows
07:08 featuring strong, ass-kicking women.
07:11 And for Garner, that ass-kicking
07:13 kicked her career into overdrive.
07:15 In 2002, she cameoed in "Catch Me If You Can"
07:19 and followed that up over the next couple of years
07:21 with starring roles in "13 Going On 30" and "Elektra".
07:25 And she hasn't looked back since.
07:28 (upbeat music)
07:36 Number four, "Cheers", Woody Harrelson.
07:39 Woody Harrelson didn't show up at "Cheers"
07:41 until the fourth season,
07:42 but arriving late certainly didn't hurt his career.
07:45 - Who's this guy?
07:46 - Well, he's a friend of the coach's
07:47 and he's looking for work.
07:49 What do you think?
07:51 You wanna give him a try?
07:52 - Me?
07:53 Mr. Malone, this is the proudest day of my life.
07:58 - In fact, being on one of the greatest sitcoms
08:00 of all time most certainly helped.
08:02 While the long running top rated show
08:04 made almost every actor on it a household name
08:07 during the '80s and into the '90s,
08:09 not everyone emerged on the other side
08:11 with a career as impressive as Harrelson's.
08:13 - Hey, here's a blushing bridegroom now.
08:15 - Hey, how you doing, Woody?
08:17 (audience laughing)
08:19 - Fine, fine.
08:20 - What you smiling about there?
08:22 - My smiling, Sam?
08:23 Okay, I'll stop.
08:25 - With his newfound fame,
08:26 Harrelson landed a co-starring role
08:28 in the great 1992 comedy "White Men Can't Jump".
08:33 He followed that up with "Indecent Proposal"
08:35 and "Natural Born Killers".
08:37 The 21st century has only seen him do more great work,
08:40 like his amazing performance in the first season
08:43 of HBO's "True Detective" in 2014.
08:46 - I was all right, better than some,
08:49 but I knew how to talk to people, and I was steady.
08:54 - Number three, ER, George Clooney.
08:56 In the '80s, George Clooney had a recurring role in "ER",
09:00 a sitcom that aired on CBS for one season.
09:03 - Mark, I told the doctor that you went upstairs
09:05 to get your ID badge.
09:07 - I did.
09:08 - Well, put it on.
09:09 Do you have to eat?
09:10 - Everybody has to eat, Aunt Joan.
09:12 - The show sucked, and it didn't do much for his career.
09:15 However, a decade later, he would once again head to the ER,
09:19 this time in one of the best medical dramas of all time.
09:22 - I'm fine, I hurt my hand a little bit.
09:25 You wanted to talk to me about-
09:29 - It was about Jake, but it can wait.
09:31 - And this time, his career, following his time on the show,
09:34 would be that of great Hollywood success and stardom.
09:37 From acting to directing, Clooney has seen big box office
09:41 and critical acclaim.
09:42 While most of us hope to never have to go to the ER,
09:45 for Clooney, his second trip there
09:47 was exactly what the career doctor ordered.
09:50 - Because the house always wins.
09:52 Play long enough, you never change the stakes.
09:55 The house takes you,
09:56 unless when that perfect hand comes along,
09:58 you bet big, and then you take the house.
10:00 - Number two, "The Wire," Idris Elba.
10:03 Idris Elba had been acting in television and the movies
10:06 for almost 10 years, when he landed the role
10:09 of Russell Stringer Bell on "The Wire."
10:12 - You want something copied, man?
10:13 Search warrant, court papers,
10:16 anything I do to help, you know?
10:18 - I ain't seen you around the way.
10:20 - I'm not around the way no more.
10:21 You want to find me, I'm right here.
10:23 - And yet, he was, at that point,
10:25 so relatively unknown to American audiences
10:28 that most of us watching surely didn't realize
10:30 he was British and putting on his American accent.
10:33 Since then, however, Elba has become a very prominent
10:36 and successful actor on both continents
10:39 and one time People's Sexiest Man Alive,
10:42 and often mentioned in rumors
10:44 about who will be the next James Bond.
10:46 - Has anyone ever told you
10:47 you look a bit like Sean Connery?
10:48 (audience laughing)
10:51 - As for the series itself,
10:54 while the ratings were never very good,
10:56 "The Wire" was praised by many critics at the time
10:59 and is now often ranked among the five greatest shows ever.
11:02 - I suppose Avon should know about it, though.
11:05 - Yeah, well, I'll handle that.
11:08 - Before we unveil our top pick,
11:09 here are a few honorable mentions.
11:12 The Sopranos, James Gandolfini.
11:14 Often called the best show of all time,
11:16 it brought Gandolfini to true prominence.
11:19 - This isn't gonna work.
11:20 I can't talk about my personal life.
11:22 - My so-called life, Jared Leto.
11:24 In just one season, we all fell in love with the show
11:27 and Jordan Catalano.
11:29 - I was hoping you'd be here.
11:30 - "Game of Thrones," Kit Harington.
11:33 We'd join the Night's Watch for Jon Snow.
11:36 - We never should have left Winterfell.
11:37 - Don't you wish we could go back to the day we left?
11:41 I want to scream at myself, "Don't go, you idiot."
11:47 - How could we know?
11:48 - "Battlestar Galactica," Katie Sackhoff.
11:50 Howard Wolowitz wasn't the only one that fell for Sackhoff
11:53 because of "Battlestar Galactica."
11:55 - Where's Casey?
11:56 - Who's Casey?
11:57 - Casey, she's my daughter.
11:59 - Kara, who's Casey?
12:01 - She's my daughter. - Kara, no!
12:03 Kara, Kara!
12:04 God damn it, Kara, no!
12:06 - "NYPD Blue," David Caruso.
12:08 Caruso left in season two,
12:10 but never did anything that good again.
12:13 - I never raise my hand to a guy if I think he's guilty
12:16 or I'm trying to find out if he's guilty.
12:18 - Before we continue,
12:19 be sure to subscribe to our channel
12:21 and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
12:24 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos
12:27 or all of them.
12:28 If you're on your phone,
12:29 make sure you go into your settings
12:30 and switch on notifications.
12:32 Number one, "Friends," the entire cast.
12:36 To say that "Friends" launched the careers
12:38 of the main cast members is kind of an understatement.
12:41 - Wow, Monica, you look just like your grandmother.
12:44 How old was she there?
12:45 1939. - 39.
12:47 - Yeah, 24, 25. - Yeah.
12:50 Huh, it's like a fun gang.
12:52 - The show is one of the most popular
12:53 and beloved sitcoms of all time.
12:55 And while the six actors all had careers before "Friends,"
12:58 the show basically gave them worldwide superstardom,
13:01 from the Rachel haircut to how you doing.
13:04 The show made a cultural impact
13:06 like few television shows ever have.
13:08 - This was your first home,
13:10 and it was a happy place filled with love and laughter.
13:17 - And the work each of the actors have been able to do since
13:19 is pretty much all thanks to their being cast
13:21 as one of the "Friends."
13:23 Let's just say that as far as their careers go,
13:26 since "Friends" premiered,
13:28 it has definitely been their day,
13:30 their week, their month, and even their years.
13:33 - I feel a connection somehow.
13:36 - Well, I did win the American Law Association
13:40 of America Award three years running.
13:42 - Do you agree with our picks?
13:44 Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo
13:46 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
13:48 to be notified about our latest videos.
13:50 (upbeat music)
13:53 (upbeat music)
13:56 (upbeat music)
13:58 (upbeat music)
14:01 [MUSIC]