Tv's Worst Actors

In truth, Matthew Fox isn't a terrible actor. But judged against his mostly decent co-stars, this former "Party of Five" star is the only one who is truly lost. Why producers decided to progressively zoom in on Fox's weepy Jack Shephard as the most important ... moresurvivor of Oceanic 815 is a mystery deeper than those Dharma Initiative bunkers. Clearly, his character's emotional baggage exceeds Fox's carry-on limits
Jennifer Love Hewitt, "Ghost Whisperer"
In "Party of Five," Jennifer Love Hewitt couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. "Ghost Whisperer" proves that she's up for the struggle, although the bag is still winning. As Melinda Gordon, crossing guard for the dead, Hewitt reacts the ... moresame way to the same situation every week. Her eyes well up and her lower lip quivers as she watches the latest ghost tie up its earthly loose ends and move on. Network executives must surely disagree, otherwise her acting career (like her singing career) would have long ago passed into the light
Chad Michael Murray, "One Tree Hill"
As mostly shirtless basketball hero Lucas Scott, Chad Michael Murray proves that good abs can sometimes take you where good acting should. Murray is capable of an emotional range running the gamut from brooding to brooding, and millions of ... moreteenage girls couldn't be happier. Wisely, the producers of the movie "House of Wax" pitted Murray against Paris Hilton in order to make their starlet appear lifelike. It nearly worked. But, in Murray's defense, no one's THAT bad an actor

Some actors don't just get on our collective nerves, they cauterize them. We've compiled a gallery of well-known TV stars who are celebrated for an ability that, frankly, we often just don't see. Some rely on bizarre mannerisms that don't just... more suspend disbelief -- they beat it to within an inch of its life. Others achieve drama only by sucking in ways that haven't been defined yet.
William Shatner, "Boston Legal"
When I was 8 years old, there was no better actor in the universe than William Shatner. It ... was ... magnificent ... how ... he ... could ... isolate ... thefirstwordsinasentenceandracethroughtherest. Then I grew up and realized that actors aren't... more supposed to call attention to their method; they're supposed to make you believe their characters are real. And ... I've ... never ... met ... anyone ... whotalkslikethisinreallife. Sometime during his rocket ride from career bottom ("Rescue 911") to self-aware hipness (his Priceline commercials), the 77-year-old learned to average out the lengths between memorized words. Maybe that's why Shatner now owns two Emmys for portraying Denny Crane, the egomaniacal veteran attorney struggling with shortcomings both in memory and ethics, on "The Practice" and "Boston Legal." Either that, or the Emmys are voted on by 8-year-olds.
The Girls of the New "90210"
The new "90210" thought it could better "Beverly Hills, 90210" with just a few hip updates: a black Brandon (Tristan Wilds), better-looking parents (Rob Estes and Lori Loughlin), and "Gossip Girl"-style dialog. But when two boring classmates from the ... moreoriginal series (Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty) are more exciting than any of the students at the thick of the melodrama, something's wrong. And that something is the squinting, preening and whining that Shenae Grimes (pictured, left), AnnaLynne McCord and Jessica Stroup (pictured, right) rely upon from week to week.
David Caruso, "CSI: Miami"
It's not David Caruso's fault that the writers of "CSI: Miami" give Lt. Horatio Caine so many campy one-liners. But no one else is to blame for how Caruso chooses to deliver most of them: uttering half a sentence like John Wayne ordering the wagons to ... morecircle, pausing to suavely slip on his sunglasses, then finishing the sentence. It's clear that Caruso, still most famous for trading "NYPD Blue" for a decade of oblivion, has a career self-destructive streak. Too bad that streak is not (sunglasses pause) more interesting to watch
Spencer Pratt, "The Hills"
Some people like to think of Spencer Pratt as manipulative, evil and stupid. But I think of him as just the opposite. He's stupid first, then evil, then manipulative. What he's definitely not is an actor, which is a shame because that's his job. (Sorry,... more true believers. The last time I checked, reality didn't come with a script. And if "The Hills" was real in any way, how come its subjects are not celebrities within the show yet?) The Pratt method of acting is to alter the length of one's flesh-colored beard. Short indicates light-to-medium jerkiness. Scraggy indicates the imminent instigation of a major fight for no justifiable reason with Heidi Montag (Heidi Montag). MTV gave birth to reality TV with the terrific "Real World." Does that really give it the right to kill it off, too?
Gillian Anderson, "The X-Files"
As Agent Scully, Gillian Anderson's acting was so bad that even Agent Mulder couldn't believe. It's possible that Anderson doesn't have any dramatic ability. However, it's more likely that she tried for nonchalance, but overshot and achieved nonliving.... more As the partner supposedly grounded in science and logic, Anderson's lack of reaction to obviously real ghosts and space aliens always seemed misplaced. She and David Duchovny went together like peanut butter and cheese (or is that macaroni and jelly?).