Stars Who Have Made Satellite Tv Their Home

For some actors and actresses who find themselves starring on a satellite TV show, the goal is to get themselves out of there as fast as possible. They want to be able make it onto the silver screen, where they will become famous around the world instead of just amongst a few thousand fans of the average network television program. But there are others, character actors and comedians mostly but also some dramatists, who find a home on satellite TV and never leave. They star in various series and become mega stars in their own rights, but never make the leap to Hollywood movies. Here are some of the best, most dedicated actors on television today:

Julianna Marguiles

Born to parents of Eastern European Jewish descent, Julianna Marguilies has wowed audiences with her dark, mysterious good looks since she first debuted as Nurse Anne Hathaway on the primetime NBC hit ER in 1994. She and George Clooneys character, the affable pediatrician Dr. Doug Ross, had an on-again-off-again relationship that kept audiences glued to their television screens week after week. She left the show after 6 seasons in 2000, but despite roles in movies like Snakes on a Plane, audiences never really took to her in that format. She did better in her guest appearances on satellite TV shows like The Sopranos and Scrubs. And she has finally come into her own again as an actress on the hit drama The Good Wife, which is currently in its second season and stars such powerhouses as Chris Noth and Chrsitine Baranski.

Matthew Perry

Raised in Ottawa, Ontario in the 1970s and 80s, Matthew Perry went on star on one of the most successful sitcoms in the history of satellite TV: NBCs Friends, which ran for 10 seasons on the network. Along with his five other principal cast members, Perry is said to have been paid $1 million per episode in the final season of the show. The actor starred in a few movies during the Friends heyday, the most notable being The Whole Nine Yards alongside Bruce Willis and Amanda Peet. But Perry has always been more comfortable telling his jokes to a live audience. He starred in the briefly critically acclaimed Aaron Sorkin vehicle Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, which jumped the shark and lost all of its fans in the course of the 2006-2007 season. But Perry was no worse for the wear, going on to create his own comedy series Mr. Sunshine in 2011, in which he stars as the manager of an arena in San Diego.

Peter Krause

Fans of HBO will instantly recognize Peter Krause as the face of Nate Fisher on the critically acclaimed drama Six Feet Under, which took place in a family-owned funeral home in California. The satellite TV show ran from 2001-2005 and became a cult hit appropriate for its subject matter. Krause had first come into prominence as the sports anchor Casey McCall on Sports Night from 1998-2000. He currently stars alongside Lauren Graham and Monica Potter on the NBC family drama Parenthood.