Creator: David Hackel
Years: 1998-2004

Ted Danson.

Don’t know if I need to say much else to justify the ranking. For the second time he carried an entire sitcom on his back and he did it by playing a new type of character, a misanthropic (but deep down a really caring) doctor. Everybody else on the show is there just to play off of him. The ditzy waitress. The blind man. The skeezy super. They’re all stereotypes capable of little more than one-liners while Danson plays a memorable character that evokes empathy and belly laughs.

I will say that while I understood them getting rid of Terry Farrell as her character had stalled, her replacement Nancy Travis was just horrendous. No chemistry with Danson at all. I was hopeful as I liked her fine in So I Married an Axe Murderer and Greedy, but this was not the show for her.