Ask any binge-watcher, and they’ll be quick to rattle off the name of their favorite cult-classic show. In recent years, my go-to answer is The OA, a mysterious Netflix drama that ran for two seasons before its cancellation.

Like many shows with cult followings, you’ll find several relatively unknown actors who later become stars. Sticking with The OA, I didn’t know much about Patrick Gibson at the time, but he has since gone on to headline several shows, including Dexter: Original Sin. The same can be said for Kingsley Ben-Adir, who starred in a Marvel show and appeared in Barbie.

Let’s take things one step further and examine the cult-classic TV shows that became launchpads for celebrities’ careers.

Bosom Buddies

Tom Hanks

Universal approval is a rarity in Hollywood. Tom Hanks might have the best argument for it. Who doesn’t love Hanks, an acting staple for the last 45 years? I know I appreciate Hanks and his movie stardom. The two-time Oscar winner has anchored more classic movies than one can count—a list that includes Big, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and the greatest war movie of all time, Saving Private Ryan.

Like many actors in the late 1970s and early 1980s, television is where many found their big break. For Hanks, it was a starring role in Bosom Buddies, a sitcom about two single men (Hanks and Peter Scolari) who dress as women to afford rent in a cheap New York City apartment. The show ran for two seasons from 1980 to 1982. After the series was canceled, Hanks transitioned more into movies. I think the move worked out for him.

My So-Called Life

Claire Danes and Jared Leto

You’re going to find My So-Called Life listed among many short-lived TV shows, and for good reason. Winnie Holzman’s teen drama was the anti-90210. Instead of going down the teen soap route, My So-Called Life focused more on teenage angst and the issues many high school students face. Abuse, drinking, drugs, and sex are all issues that the fearless show covered on ABC.

The two standouts on My So-Called Life were Claire Danes as Angela Chase, a 15-year-old and narrator of the series, and Jared Leto as Jordan Catalano, Angela’s crush. ABC canceled My So-Called Life after one season, but it was only the beginning for Danes and Leto. Danes has three Emmys and four Golden Globes, while Leto has an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Not bad for two teens on a show that ended too soon.

Freaks and Geeks

James Franco, Linda Cardellini, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and many more

I’m trying to find the right comparison for Freaks and Geeks, a beloved one-season show on NBC that ran from 1999 to 2000. The amount of talent—in front of the camera and behind it—involved in this show is truly insane. It’s a classic high school show centered around Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini), a good kid who rebels by hanging out with the slackers (“freaks”), and her brother, Sam (John Francis Daley), who gravitates toward the nerds (“geeks”).

Again, Freaks and Geeks features a stacked roster of emerging talent, including Cardellini, Daley, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, James Franco, Martin Starr, Samm Levine, and Busy Philipps. I haven’t even mentioned that Paul Feig created the show and Judd Apatow executive produced it. A reboot with this cast feels unlikely because of their busy schedules. Who knows—if the right script (and buckets of money) comes along, it could happen.

Pan Am

Margot Robbie

Considering I wasn’t alive in the 1960s, I never experienced the beginning of the Jet Age. Pan Am dramatizes this era through the eyes of the pilots and stewardesses on a fictional airline. Christina Ricci earned top billing at that time for the 2011 network drama. However, most audiences would eventually come to know the next name on the call sheet, Margot Robbie.

Before she was the Duchess of Bay Ridge in The Wolf of Wall Street, Robbie played Laura Cameron, a beautiful stewardess who recently ran away from her wedding. Would you believe me if I told you this show had a CIA/MI6 intelligence plot where Stranger Things’ David Harbour played a secret agent? That actually happened. The show only aired 14 episodes, which was probably the best case for Robbie, who is now comfortably on Hollywood’s A-list.

Spaced

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright first came on my radar with 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, the zombie comedy that kicked off the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. What I didn’t realize was that the trio first got their big break on Spaced, a British sitcom that ran for two seasons from 1999 to 2001.

Co-creators Pegg and Jessica Stevenson played Tim Bisley and Daisy Steiner, two young adults who pose as a couple to obtain housing in London. Frost played Tim’s best friend, and Wright directed every episode. One of the episodes featured a zombie sequence, which would serve as the inspiration for, you guessed it, Shaun of the Dead.

More shows to watch

It’s a great time to be a television fan, as many new shows continue to debut every week. Some of the more recent highlights include Beef season 2, From season 4, and American Gladiators. Plus, you can catch a new episode of Euphoria every Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max.