144 replies to this topic

[SpicyWildflower]

What shows have the best chemistry on prime time television? There are obvious answers like Friends. They all gelled extremely well and it was the chemistry between them that really sold the show. They made you believe they were friends. But then there are some instances where the chemistry doesn't flow for the show as a whole ... like Moonlight. Jason Dohring's trying his best, but he can't carry the show on his shoulders alone. Especially when he plays second fiddle to the boring lead.

Grey's Anatomy for all it's flaws, has a great cast overall that gels. The characters work perfectly as a whole. The individual couples on the other hand. George and Izzie? Blackhole of suckage right there. No chemistry whatsoever as a couple and the pairing is ruining whatever chemistry they had as friends.

How I Met Your Mother - I believe this group could be friends. Like Friends, the writers have managed to put together characters who have chemistry as a group and in any pairing. Marshall and Barney? Barney and Lily? Ted and Marshall? Robin and Lily? They all work.

The show with the best family chemistry? Tie between The Winchester Brothers of Supernatural and Brothers & Sisters. Even loner Tommy has his very Walker moments, where his outsider status gets tossed aside and the chemistry he has with his tv siblings shines through.

What other shows has good chemistry, either as a whole or otherwise?

[Sara2009]

I think "The Office" is a great example of this. I actually love ALL the main romantic couples on the show, but I also love all the platonic friendships. I think all the actors gel really well together.

[Mack the Spoon]

Numbers has a great cast. They all come together very well, especially the Eppes family.

[Split Ends]

I love the cast of The Shield. Everybody interacts so well, so dynamically. It's complicated, and yet I never disbelieve anyone's interaction with anyone else. Sometimes, the guest stars actually stand out as ones who don't entirely fit in -- both Forest Whitaker and Glenn Close seemed slightly out of place at times.

Also, the cast of Pushing Daisies. They have such rapid speech, and that kind of thing only works when the cast is in tune with each other to a fabulous degree.

[jessicajason]

Without a doubt one of the best examples of great chemistry would have to be Shawn and Gus on Psych. James Roday and Dule Hill really seem like they've been friends forever.

Edited by jessicajason, Nov 3, 2007 @ 6:28 PM.

[thuganomics85]

Also, the cast of Pushing Daisies. They have such rapid speech, and that kind of thing only works when the cast is in tune with each other to a fabulous degree.

I agree. I love everyone in that cast, which is rare these days. What makes it great is there is that it doesn't matter what kind of combination of Ned/Chuck/Emerson/Olive are in the scene; they all have their own special way of interacting and playing off each other, from Ned/Chuck, to Ned/Emerson, to Olive/Emerson, and even Olive/Chuck. It's rare, but I enjoy every kind of pairing, romantic/nonromantic, on that show.

Favortie Married Chemistry will go to Eric & Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights. And I think Everwood had some of the best family chemistry, between Andy Brown & Ephram/Deliah, and the entire Abbott clan (including Irv.)

Edited by thuganomics85, Nov 3, 2007 @ 6:45 PM.

[SheenieB]

Throwing my .2 in, I thought that The OC cast had good chemistry. I bought the friendship between Ryan and Seth, and as for marriage chemistry, Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan had it in spades.

Can't forget to add the cast of Dirty Sexy Money to the list. If you weren't sold on it before, the scene with all the Darling bros. playing video games sealed it. They just all gel together perfectly.

Edited by SheenieB, Nov 3, 2007 @ 6:51 PM.

[Backstagebear]

Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams on Laverne & Shirley, as well as Peter Scolari and Tom Hanks on Bosom Buddies. I had no problem at all believing that the two pairs were best friends in the world and had a long history previous to their "adventures" on their respective shows.

I'd also say that the entire cast of Arrested Development had amazing chemistry with each other, and comic timing.

[BostonTeaParty]

George and Izzie? Blackhole of suckage right there. No chemistry whatsoever as a couple and the pairing is ruining whatever chemistry they had as friends.

T.R. Knight has zero sexual chemistry with women. Zip. Zero. It's painful to watch.

Can't forget to add the cast of Dirty Sexy Money to the list. If you weren't sold on it before, the scene with all the Darling bros. playing video games sealed it. They just all gel together perfectly.

I loved that scene! I thought it was such a honest portrayal of brotherly love without resorting to the cheap histrionics dramas typically rely on. Well played, show.

[Francie Nolan]

Without a doubt one of the best examples of great chemistry would have to be Shawn and Gus on Psych. James Roday and Dule Hill really seem like they've been friends forever.

ITA, but I think one of the big factors is that James Roday could have chemistry with a table lamp. He sparks w/ every member of the cast. That boy has charisma oozing from every pore.


Hmm, guess I need to take this to the tv character crush thread.

[Irish Wolf]

No contest.

Admiral William Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), on Battlestar Galactica. They've got more chemistry in a simple phone conversation than most pairings on most shows can fit into an entire love scene!

[GreenPhoenix]

To add my two cents to the references to families, I like the chemistry between the family members in Heroes. Even when things are awkward (the lying and sneaking around, all those daddy issues, etc.), they were familially (not a word, I know) awkward.

On a separate show, many of my fellow West Wingers know that Stockard Channing and Martin Sheen had not met until production on The West Wing began. Add their amazing chemistry to the camaraderie among the staff and you get a show with great relationships.

[Brakchi]

All time chemistry to me would be the friendship of Capt. Frank Furillo and Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues. That show never was as strong again after Michael Conrad's death.

There's so many types of chemistry. In the last decade, I'd go with antivillian/henchman (Al and Dan on Deadwood); family (both Sammlers and Mannings on Once and Again); high school friends (Buffy, Willow and Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer); lovers (Ashley and Spencer on South of Nowhere); hot for each other and trying to hide it (the just consummated twosome of Nancy and Conrad on Weeds); platonic same sex couple (Dr. Sean and Dr. Christian on Nip/Tuck); comedic imbecile team (Darren and Barry on Extras); comedic ensemble (BBC's The Office); hatred of each other that oozes from the screen (Vic and Jon Kavanaugh on The Shield); genre show ensemble (Firefly); high school friends (the freaks from Freaks and Geeks); married couple (Homer and Marge from The Simpsons); one sided friendship (Butters and Cartman from South Park) and siblings (Claire, Nate and David on Six Feet Under).

The best chemistry I've seen overall on any show is The Wire with partners in crime (Stringer and Avon); detectives (McNulty, Bunk, Kima); the young teens from season 4; and one of the most intriguing friendships on television (Lester and Prez).

Edited by Brakchi, Nov 3, 2007 @ 11:40 PM.

[emjay1116]

Meredith and Cristina from Greys. Their friendship is one of the only good things about the show. And Bailey's ass-kicking mentor relationship to her interns. Actually, I think I like most if not all of the non-romantic relationships (Burke and Cristina used to be the exception, back in the beginning) on that show.



I too love the chemistry of the cast of How I Met Your Mother. It's so nice to see a sitcom where people don't hate each other, even when they're disagreeing/arguing.



I like the chemistry of Heroes cast too. But I guess it helps that they all seem to love each other in real life.


Edit, and the Walkers from Brothers and Sisters. (They so remind me of a more waspy, wealthy, wine-guzzling version of my family. heh)

Edited by emjay1116, Nov 3, 2007 @ 11:34 PM.

[SpicyWildflower]

I've always found Rivals/Enemies Chemistry to be particularly entertaining. Sark/Sydney on Alias, had more chemistry to me than Sydney/Vaughn.

After a while I didn't buy the chemistry between Lorelai and Luke anymore. Hell there was a time when Lorelai and Dean had more chemistry than Dean and Rory. And part of me wanted to see ... well let's not get into that. Lorelai and Rory had a wonderful chemistry. It is what made the show.

Mark and Derek have great friendship chemistry as do Christina and Meredith.

Sheenie, ditto on Seth and Ryan. I was also very impressed by the chemistry between Kirsten and Ryan, which made the fact that the writers never fully committed to him being her son, even more sad. And hell yeah to the Darling brothers. That one scene Wednesday, did more to establish their relationship than any amount of exposition could. They were just so comfortable with each other. It did not seem ridiculous at all to me that a Senatorial candidate, his druggie brother and their insane reverend brother would be sitting around playing video games. That was a great scene and worked because the chemistry gelled so perfectly.

Don't even get me started on little Gustav and Brian. They're so weirdly cute together.

For me it was the storyline that was far more intriguing than any chemistry between Ryan and Marissa, which to me personally was lacking.

On Chuck, the chick that plays his sister Ellie, I wasn't much of a fan of hers before, but the chemistry she brings as Chuck's sister totally works for me. I believe they're brother and sister, without getting that creepy incest vibe that I get from Dan and Jenny on Gossip Girl.

And like I said above about Brothers & Sisters, their chemistry is so great. I buy each of the siblings regardless of pairing. Kevin and Kitty? Yeah they said in the first epi that she and Justin were always closer, but for me Kevin is the center of the great vibe those siblings have. His closeness with Kitty is so believable that it doesn't even phase me that they have such different politics and in some regards they're opposites. I totally buy into the fact that inspite of all that, these two would be calling each other up at the most ridiculous times/inconvenient opportunities, just to check in or have a little chat. Ditto for Kitty and Sarah.

Kevin blends well with all of them. Matthey Rhys has amazing chemistry with every single cast member, which makes Kevin such a delight to watch.

[The Mad Maple]

I'm totally with you on Heroes and HIMYM. You can tell that the casts of those shows definitely get along great off-screen, and it really carries over to the show.

Keith and Veronica Mars were great together, too. They played off each other so well, you'd almost believe the actors really were father and daughter.

I think the four main characters from Carpoolers are starting to mesh together well, too. Hope the show lasts long enough to get to know them all a bit better.

Edited by The Mad Maple, Nov 4, 2007 @ 7:18 AM.

[ReadIshmael]

Without a doubt one of the best examples of great chemistry would have to be Shawn and Gus on Psych. James Roday and Dule Hill really seem like they've been friends forever.

Absolutely. I think the whole cast has great chemistry. Every dynamic is fun and unique and spot-on perfect because, with the possible exception of Shawn/Lassiter, which might be a little bit more HoYay-tastic than intended, they all have the exact right kind of chemistry. Shawn and Henry are really believable as father and son, Lassiter and Juliet are perfect (and adorable) as partners, and Shawn and Juliet are absolutely selling the mutual (though superficial) crushing and the growing, more sincere friendship. I could go on, but I won't. The Shawn/Gus chemistry, though, really is the single best thing about the show.

I also agree about the casts of Pushing Daisies and Heroes (especially Jack Coleman and Hayden Panetierre who have really fantastic and believable [and never squicky] father-daughter chemistry).

[Split Ends]

On Chuck, the chick that plays his sister Ellie, I wasn't much of a fan of hers before, but the chemistry she brings as Chuck's sister totally works for me. I believe they're brother and sister, without getting that creepy incest vibe that I get from Dan and Jenny on Gossip Girl.

Agreed! I don't watch Gossip Girl, but Ellie and Chuck are believable siblings. Ellie has a slightly maternal air about wanting what's best for her brother and pushing him to succeed, while he protects her from disappointment over him and the danger of his life. They aren't the typical competitive siblings we see on TV, and without that friction I think we're less likely to have the incest-y stuff we get out of other shows.

I am a huge fan of Life and I think Damian Lewis, as main character Charlie Crews, brings oodles of chemistry with both his partner, Dani, and his lawyer, Constance. I prefer Dani to Constance, but the scene where Constance asks him if he's going to go "all in" was pretty damn hot. Charlie's laid back, zen approach to his relationship with Dani allows for a lot of unspoken conversation between these two. The shower scene in the pilot gave us a taste of how awesome a pairing of these two terribly damaged people could be. In a moment not meant to be hot at all, they were still hot, and yet tragic and emotional. And not a word said.

I think one of the biggest black holes of antichemistry was Noah Wyle as Carter on ER. He had chemistry with Benton, the mentor-mentee type chemistry, and I think a lot of that had to do with Eriq LaSalle. He also had chemistry with Sherry Stringfield in the first few seasons of the show, but when she left, the chemistry evaporated so when she came back, it was forced. Carter and Abby were dreadful; Carter and Lucy, Carter and Maria Bello, Carter and Kem.....blech. ER's worst years were between the time Doug left and Carter left -- it was only when Wyle finally left the show that ER could get back some of its rhythm and life.

[SpicyWildflower]

ER's worst years were between the time Doug left and Carter left

Which of course brings to mind, Doug and Carol. Those two had serious chemistry. More chemistry than any other pairing on this show. Doug was so dynamic, the show lost something when George left. That one moment after he came back for Julianne's finale was just so fantastic. In less than two minutes, they lifted the entire episode and maybe the entire season.

On Journeyman, it's amazing how how well the casting director did with Dan and Jack. Not only do they look like brothers, but the chemistry between the characters is so on point. The frustrated, overbearing, yet caring emotions between the two come over so well on screen. Perfect casting there.

[beckyg]

I agree that the cast of Heroes has great chemistry. So far nearly every group or pairing I've seen works amazingly well.

I would also say the cast of Lost works well together. There are the obvious smoldering couples like Sun and Jin, and Kate and Sawyer, but then there are the great friendships like Hurley and Sawyer, and the awesome tension between Sayid and Locke.

And as far as romantic chemistry goes, nothing and no one will ever beat John and Aeryn from Farscape. They just sizzled, right from day one. Watching their relationship progress over four years is absolutely fascinating.

[harvestbasket]

Friends-great cast. They sold the show. Poorly written episodes were tolerable because of their chemistry.
HIMYM-similar vibe to Friends.
Lost-agree with that amazing chemistry.
Alias-SpyDaddy and Sydney were great. Not to mention, Marshall, Dixon. IMO, an underrated cast.
Brothers and Sisters-the Walker clan has great chemistry. Particularly the boys and I sense more with the females this year.
Grey's Anatomy-Meredith and Cristina. I believe their friendship on screen.
Veronica Mars-Keith and Veronica were my second favorite father/daughter on tv (second to the Bristow clan).
The OC-I agree that I truly believed Ryan and Seth's relationship. Also Kirsten/Sandy. When their marriage struggled, I felt the show did as well.

[Mr. Excitement]

I've always had trouble getting my head around the concept of "chemistry", possibly because, for as important an element of a television series as it seems to be, it seems to elude definition to the point that we can't predict it based on past performance and only know it when we see it, and even then it's still largely subjective.

I'd be interested in opinions on this: is it is an unpredictable undercurrent of actual feeling between performers that carries over in their scenes, or is it something that actors can control, just as they can play hate or love?

If the former, does real-life friendship potentiate chemistry, and if so, are actors who don't happen to form friendships with each other not doing their jobs in a certain sense?

If it's the latter, can it be learned and taught, like enunciation or stage combat? Are some actors better able to tease "chemistry" out of their fellow actors by dint of their craft regardless of personal interaction?

Does the written relationship between characters have any influence on it? We've all seen romantic pairings that don't seem credible because they seem motivated entirely by plot mechanics, but does that mean that the actors absolutely don't have "chemistry", or that the groundwork wasn't laid properly (It's generally accepted that Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy had spectacular chemistry, and they had a deep and lengthy offscreen relationship, but how much of what comes across between them onscreen comes out of the fact that they were paired in splendidly written films that gave them smart, engaging characters presented as equals)? Is it a multi-factorial combination of all of these?

[LolaRuns]

I gotta agree that chemistry is a strange concept. Especially since seems that ever since it became propular, everybody and their dog wants to claim it for their couple. Which leads to particularly off situations on soap operas where half of the viewership swears that a couple has the best history since the creation of the universe and the other half swears that they have no chemistry at all. Which has lead me to the conviction that the word is hopelessly overused. In fact, maybe overused to an extent that it has virtually lost all meaning (especially in a romantic sense).

Regarding real life relationships... I actually heard a bunch of cases/stories of real stable and happy couples who had no chemistry whatsoever on screen. I have heard stories of people who hated each other off screen and had great chemistry on screen. I heard a bunch of stories that chemistry was great while a couple was starting to hook up with each other, but when the real life relationship went sour, so did the on screen chemistry. Not to mention the case of gay men having great sexual chemistry with female co-stars.

I do wonder if there aren't ways to encourage chemistry as an actor... a lot of eye contact, invasion of personal space, lots of little details like always paying attention to what the supposed love interest character is doing during a scene, little touches and such...

I remember a story about a love soap opera actress who was often considered to have sexual chemisty with everybody, including in places where it shouldn't have existed (like with actors who were playing her son or son-in-law). I remember some of her detractors arguing that she always acted very flirty and almost submissive in almost any scene with a man and that always gave any interaction a sexual tinge.

Edited by LolaRuns, Nov 4, 2007 @ 3:48 PM.

[Brakchi]

Regarding real life relationships... I actually heard a bunch of cases/stories of real stable and happy couples who had no chemistry whatsoever on screen. I have heard stories of people who hated each other off screen and had great chemistry on screen. I heard a bunch of stories that chemistry was great while a couple was starting to hook up with each other, but when the real life relationship went sour, so did the on screen chemistry. Not to mention the case of gay men having great sexual chemistry with female co-stars.

In my experience this is dead on. When I started making short films in high school, I made the mistake early on of casting real life happy couples as on screen couples. The footage was almost always too self aware, dull and uninvolving. After a couple of these short amateurish endeavors and seeing me blame only myself, my Dad made me watch A Place In The Sun with Liz Taylor and Montgomery Clift. Afterwards he gave me the heads up on Montgomery Clift. Mr. Excitement, another film he used was Adam's Rib wth Tracy and Hepburn and advised of the rumors concerning both Tracy and Hepburn's real lives (stuff now pretty well out there). The advise was that real life off screen means nothing. What does mean something is how the actors react off each other. Even extreme hatred between actors can be used to promising effect giving a sharp bit of antagonism that can be seen as sparks. What kills chemistry is an attempt by actors to not allow the audience to see something as real or to see too closely into reality. What helps chemistry is when actors want the audience to believe and are unconcerned about anything but that.

Edited by Brakchi, Nov 4, 2007 @ 7:03 PM.

[gabrieller92]

I'd be interested in opinions on this: is it is an unpredictable undercurrent of actual feeling between performers that carries over in their scenes, or is it something that actors can control, just as they can play hate or love?

I don't think it's actual feelings so much as believing that they're the character. I doubt that actors can control it. Good questions, though.

If the former, does real-life friendship potentiate chemistry, and if so, are actors who don't happen to form friendships with each other not doing their jobs in a certain sense?

I think real life friendships definately help chemistry because chemistry's all about a form of comfort. If you get to hang out with your friend all day, you're bound to be comfortable. That's probably why a lot of real life couples have no onscreen chemistry: they're uncomfortable with putting their relationship out there, even if it is through other characters.

Then again, how many stories are there of people who hate each other off screen and have wonderful chemistry onscreen?

If it's the latter, can it be learned and taught, like enunciation or stage combat? Are some actors better able to tease "chemistry" out of their fellow actors by dint of their craft regardless of personal interaction?

While I personally think chemistry is either there or not, I do think that some actors are just better at bringing it out of others by forcing them to react.

I think a lot of it, though, has to do with good acting. If Actor A wraps themselves up in their character and Actor B wraps themselves in their character, they'd believe that their two characters love each other and that will hopefully translate on screen.

Does the written relationship between characters have any influence on it?

I think so. I mean, if two people are given super crappy lines, no amount of natural chemistry and ability will save it and it'll just be painful to watch. Chemistry is so much about a natural flow and that's easy to show if the lines are easier to say. If the words have a nice rythym, it's easier for the actors to get a grip on it. It's all about playing off of each other, I think.

I think the cast of My Boys, Grey's Anatomy, and The Office have exceptional chemistry. With the first and last, I believe that they're really friends. And the GA cast has chemistry despite the characters.

Romantically, I think Logan and Veronica had insane chemistry in S1-S2 and lost some of it in S3 because the material they were given was just... not good. It's almost like the actors have no idea how to play it. It's not a surprise that, when actually given a good script, they shined again. Seth/Summer were also great, because the characters baited and inticed and reacted so well to each other.

Best friend-wise, Seth/Ryan were amazing, but I can't see that relationship not having chemistry. The chemistry on paper and the characters as written have insane chemistry that it almost seems to me that the actors couldn't not have chemistry. Serena/Blair are also great. I can't even explain why.

I feel like I've been talking in circles. Does anyone understand what I'm saying?

Edited by gabrieller92, Nov 4, 2007 @ 7:06 PM.

[GeoBQn]

Good thing I read though the thread, because I was about to post my gripes on how chemistry experiments are done on TV. Anyway, I think that Don Draper and Rachel Menken on Mad Men have the best chemistry. Not only are they hot together, but they have allowed themselves to be more vulnerable with each other than they have ever been with anyone else, including Draper with his wife. Mad Men--the show that makes you root for adultery.

[supposebly]

Best chemistry ever for me is between Mulder and Scully. The first encounter between them was like a chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen. Mulder wearing the dorky glasses and Scully looking for all the world like a blue stocking. More and better articulated people have discussed the whys, the hows, the ins and outs, and whatnots on their relationship but regardless of the relationship between Duchovny and Anderson, they had it.

[doguncle]

The original "Scooby Gang" on Buffy, Cordelia included, was a great example of friends chemistry. The Winchester brothers on Supernatural are great together. I agree with Rachel, Ross, Monica and company and will throw in earlier examples: the MASH cast, the Cartwrights on Bonanza and the Mayberry crew before Don Knotts left.

[MaggieCat]

And as far as romantic chemistry goes, nothing and no one will ever beat John and Aeryn from Farscape. They just sizzled, right from day one. Watching their relationship progress over four years is absolutely fascinating.

I'd say the whole cast of Farscape; they all managed to have chemistry with the muppet for heaven's sake! While John and Aeryn were admittedly amazing, one of my favorites from that show tends to be overlooked- Aeryn and D'Argo. From the beginning of the show when they hated each one the simple basis of race and military affiliation and the nicest thing D'Argo can say in Exodus From Genesis is "The part of me that wants Aeryn to live is greater than the part of me that wants all Peacekeepers to die" all the way through to the point in Kansas where Aeryn is trying to protect him and says without hesitation that he's her brother, you believed every moment of it.

[pinkmoon]

I'd say the whole cast of Farscape; they all managed to have chemistry with the muppet for heaven's sake!

That's so true, MaggieCat. I know people that could never get into Farscape because of the muppet, but after a couple of episodes I completely forgot that Rygel and Pilot were puppets.

Still, Mulder and Scully are the definition of chemistry to me. Maybe because they were my first 'ship. I think I was around 11 when I first saw The X Files and I didn't even know what chemistry was, but I knew that they had it. Oh boy, they had it. And it's funny because most of the time their relationship was strictly platonic and with just one look they were able to made the tv screen melt.

Edited by pinkmoon, Nov 4, 2007 @ 10:29 PM.