Best actor (actress) in a sitcom

I'm glad that someone else thinks so.

 

That show had a terrific cast, from the main characters to Dr. Hartley's patients. My personal favorite is Oliver Clark as Mr. Herd.

 

Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper is amazing (even though the show went south many seasons ago). He's actually too good at it. Once the show is done I don't think he'll ever find another job, most people won't be able to, as they say, "unsee" him as Sheldon.

 

great actor! he played it perfectly.

 

John Cleese and Prunella Scales in Fawlty Towers.

 

Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton.

 

Arthur Lowe in Dad's Army, Ronnie Barker in Porridge, James Bolam in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

 

You made up all of those!

 

Many of the best sitcoms came out of the UK, especially in the 70s.

 

That would be Larry Linville.

 

I think he was very funny.

 

Yes he was, but as Hawkeye's number one target he went down better that anybody.
That didn't come out right.

 

Betty White in The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

jerol

 

Yeah, I'm sure they're real - I just thought all the titles sounded like non-existent shows they would've cited in "Spinal Tap"!

 

It's not his fault - Nothing Frank Burns ever said came out right. Actually I'm thinking of all the people whose character doesn't rely on silly voices or wild mannerisms; they're just the woman who has to say something in order for somebody else to sparkle. Barbara Feldon, for example. To a point, Buddy Ebsen as Jed.

 

John Goodman is pretty great in Roseanne. He can do both comedy and drama well.

 

What I meant was the phrase "he went down better than anybody" didn't come out right, as in the prurient meaning of the phrase "went down", and so a lame attempt at humor that is best forgotten by all.

 

Must...ignore...easy...metaphor...!

 

Caroll O'Connor - Archie Bunker
Jean Stapelton - Edith Bunker
Paul Lynde - Uncle Arthur
Christopher Lloyd Jim Ignatowski
Red Foxx - Fred Sanford
Bob Newhart - Bob Hartley
Agnes Moorehead - Endora
Jackie Gleason - Ralph Kramden
Phil Silvers - Sgt Bilko
Marion Lorne - Aunt Clara
Fred Gwynne - Herman Munster
Frank Nelson - several characters/ Jack Benny Show

 

Leonard Rossiter as Reggie Perrin.

 

The Fathers were both re-cast, Martin for Phil Bruns and Stiller for John Randolph.
Stiller Nails it.

 

Does Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold from Entourage count? That is, if you consider Entourage a sitcom...

Also, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Michael Richards and Jason Alexander from Seinfeld. Not singling out either one as they were all brilliant in their roles. Suppose Larry David deserves a mention for Curb Your Enthusiasm as well. Oh, and Wayne Knight too to a lesser extent.

Fred MacMurray (My Three Sons)
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother)
Robert Guillaume & Rene Auberjoinois (Benson)
Robin Williams (Mork and Mindy)
John Ritter (Three's Company)
Ed O'Neill (Married with Children) - Modern Family never interested me, btw...
Each of the Golden Girls - Estelle Getty, Betty White, Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan
The cast of Everybody Loves Raymond - Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle
John Lithgow (Third Rock from the Sun)
Woody Harrelson (Cheers)
The cast of Friends
Tim Allen (Home Improvement)
Garry Shandling (The Larry Sanders Show)
Robert Wuhl - Arliss

I'm obviously missing many others...

And if you consider the great British comedies as sitcoms...

Ronnie Barker (Open All Hours/Porridge [Richard Beckinsale (Kate's father) was good as well])
David Jason (Open All Hours/Only Fools and Horses)
Rik Mayall & Adrian Edmondson (The Young Ones/Bottom)
Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder/Mr. Bean)
John Cleese & Andrew Sachs (Fawlty Towers)
Michael Crawford (Some Mothers Do 'ave 'em)

 

He improved as the series progressed, but I never thought Jerry Seinfeld was acting much, so much as just being himself.

 

Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett.

There aren't a lot of actors who could spend a 30-minute episode talking to each other in one room and still manage to keep the viewers at home interested. Some episodes of Steptoe and Son were like watching a play. Even though the show is a comedy, sometimes with broad comedic moments, there's a darkness and a tragic undertone to the characters. The dynamic between Albert and Harold is fascinating to watch. The Desperate Hours is a tour de force. I can't recommend it enough.

 

Kelsey Grammer in both Cheers and Fraiser. I don’t agree with his politics but he is probably the best at the Jack Benny “moment” since Benny. Sometimes the reaction to a joke is just as important as the joke itself.