- Many British costume dramas fulfill this trope to the letter, though occasionally the names are unknown in Hollywood but considered major stars in Britain.
- The 2005 version of Bleak House starred, among others, Gillian Anderson, Denis "Wedge Antilles" Lawson, Charles Dance, Alun Armstrong, Pauline Collins, Ian Richardson and Anne Reid.
- Pride and Prejudice (1995) has Colin Firth, Alison Steadman, Julia Sawalha and Emilia Fox.
- The 2007 Cranford has Dame Judi Dench, Michael Gambon, Imelda Staunton, Julia Sawalha, Philip Glenister and Eileen Atkins, not to mention a host of beloved British character actors in supporting roles, among them Emma Fielding, Jim Carter, Deborah Findlay, Barbara Flynn, Greg Wise, and Francesca Annis. Return to Cranford upped the ante, adding names like Celia Imrie, Tim Curry, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Dockery, a pre-Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker, and a pre-Avengers Tom Hiddleston.
- Black Bird is filled with big-name talent - Taron Egerton, Paul Walter Hauser, Ray Liotta, Greg Kinnear fill out the main cast.
- Deadwood has a pretty blinding cast for a TV show - Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Powers Boothe, John Hawkes, Brad Dourif, Keith Carradine, Jeffrey Jones and Titus Welliver, with Brian Cox, Stephen Tobolowsky, Kristen Bell and Garret Dillahunt appearing as guest stars.
- The Dropout has, in addition to Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes and Naveen Andrews as Sunny Balwani, William H. Macy, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Ironside, Sam Waterston, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Stephen Fry.
- Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre featured many well-known actors and actresses. There's Shelley Duvall herself, Robin Williams, Eric Idle, Paul Reubens, Mick Jagger, Howie Mandel, Peter Weller, Billy Crystal, and Vincent Price, to name a few. Directors of individual episodes included Francis Ford Coppola and Tim Burton.
- Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme is practically filled with name talent, most of them in cameos: Shelley Duvall (the female lead), Cyndi Lauper, Bobby Brown, Woody Harrelson, Little Richard, Howie Mandel, Cheech Marin... In fact, protagonist Gordon seems to be the only major character to be played by a nobody (albeit in a role that was turned down by Jim Varney).
- Casting for Criminal Minds tends to go this way. In the first two seasons, the cast had the drawing power of noted TV actors Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson and Shemar Moore (well-known in the soap world as Malcolm on The Young and the Restless). The second season saw the addition of TV veteran Paget Brewster, with the third season seeing Patinkin replaced by Joe Mantegna, with the eighth season seeing Brewster replaced by veteran actress Jeanne Tripplehorn (most famous previously for Basic Instinct). The show has also become a Star-Making Role for Matthew Gray Gubler. A lot of guest stars on the show - especially lately - are name actors, with Wil Wheaton, Jason Alexander, Teri Polo and Michelle Trachtenberg, among others, all making appearances.
- Zig-zagged with Glee. When the show started, most of the main actors were mainly unknown, but as time went on they all became hugely popular. They've been flanked by a respectable supporting cast (mainly musical theatre people) that includes Mike O'Malley, Idina Menzel, Neil Patrick Harris, Carol Burnett, Whoopi Goldberg, Kristin Chenoweth, Ken Jeong, Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin.
- A grand total of 90 actors were involved in Home Movie: The Princess Bride, most of whom are recognizable stars in their own right, making this potentially one of the most star-studded live-action motion picture productions ever, ranging from Adam Sandler, Hugh Jackman, Patton Oswalt, Shaquille O'Neal, Elijah Wood, John Malkovich, Neil Patrick Harris, Jack Black, and Andy Serkis, to the likes of Chris Pine, Jason Segel, Dave Bautista, Diego Luna, Nick Kroll, Pedro Pascal hot off of The Mandalorian, John Cho, Taika Waititi, Josh Gad, Sophie Turner, and more.
- The 1992 made-for-TV production of Larry Gelbart's play Mastergate: A Play on Words (a fictionalized Senate hearing about the latest Washington scandal) has to its credit Tim Reid, Marcia Strassman, Buck Henry, Richard Kiley, Ed Begley Jr., David Ogden Stiers, Henry Jones, Bruno Kirby, Ron Vawter, Jerry Orbach, Ben Stein, Ken Howard, Pat Morita, James Coburn, Darren McGavin, Robert Guillaume, Dennis Weaver, and Burgess Meredith.
- Played straight with Ryan Murphy's newest project, Scream Queens (2015), which features (as of season 1) Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Lea Michele, Oliver Hudson, Keke Palmer, Abigail Breslin, Skyler Samuels, Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, Charisma Carpenter and Grace Phipps.
- Jesus of Nazareth has a cast list that would make your eyes spin: Laurence Olivier, Anne Bancroft, Donald Pleasence, Ian Holm, Ian McShane, Michael York, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger and Peter Ustinov.
- Damages has Glenn Close, Ted Danson, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Campbell Scott, Martin Short, Lily Tomlin and John Goodman as part of the regular cast at one point or another along with up and comer Rose Byrne. That roster is enough to make the one off Stunt Casting guest list of some series blush.
- Throughout the late-80's—early-90's, NBC produced a slew of TV movies geared toward the pre-teen—early-teen demographic—Crash Course, Class Cruise, Camp Cucamonga, Dream Date etc. The casts were a hodgepodge of stars of popular NBC series of the era, and even provided a little Retroactive Recognition—Rachel appears in Camp Cucamonga and Dr. Huang in Crash Course. High School U.S.A. has Marty McFly and his dad along with Dr. Greene!
- Aside from starring the prolific Tuncel Kurtiz, Ezel boasts established stars Kenan İmirzalıoğlu, Cansu Dere, Haluk Bilginer, and (guest star) Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ. The cast also features Barış Falay, Yiğit Özşener, Burçin Terzioğlu, Sarp Akkaya, Rıza Kocaoğlu, Berrak Tuzunatac;, and Bade İşçil, who would take on bigger roles after their tenure on the show.
- The HBO miniseries version of Angels in America, with (among others) Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Patrick Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, Mary-Louise Parker and Emma Thompson. Ironically, Wilson only appears on this list in hindsight; this was his Star-Making Role.
- Julius Caesar (2003): Jeremy Sisto as Caesar, Christopher Walken as Cato the Younger, Richard Harris as Sulla, Chris Noth as Pompey Magnus, and Valeria Golino as Calpurnia.
- Big Little Lies starred Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, and Laura Dern, with Alexander Skarsgård and Adam Scott in supporting roles. As if that wasn't enough, Season 2 brings in Meryl Streep.
- While Saturday Night Live is known for casting up-and-coming comedians, the 1984-1985 season was a rare case in which they primarily cast established comedians. New cast members for that season included Billy Crystal (already known for his role in Soap, and had hosted SNL before), Christopher Guest (who had just starred in This is Spın̈al Tap), Harry Shearer (also in Spinal Tap, but had also been on SNL's 1979-1980 season), Martin Short (SCTV), Rich Hall (Not Necessarily the News, Fridays), and Pamela Stephenson (while still unknown in the United States, she had some success in the United Kingdom with Not the Nine O'Clock News). While none of them were necessarily massive stars yet, they certainly stuck out compared to your average group of SNL newcomers.
- By its concept alone, The Masked Singer is a who's-who of celebrities. Celebrities on the show include bonafide singers like Seal, Jesse McCartney, LeAnn Rimes, Nick Lachey, Katherine McPhee, Wilson Philips, Debbie Gibson, Pentatonix and Ne-Yo, hip-hop artists like T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, Wiz Khalifa and Grandmaster Flash, living legends such as Gladys Knight, Donny Osmond, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Brown, William Shatner, Dick Van Dyke and Billie Jean King, actors such as Drew Carey, Mickey Rourke, Danny Trejo, Tyrese Gibson, Kirstie Alley, Howie Mandel and Kevin Hart, athletes like Terry Bradshaw, Tony Hawk, Rob Gronkowski, Mark Sanchez, Caitlyn Jenner, Jordan Mailata, George Foreman and Keenan Allen, and other well-known people which include Ninja, Sarah Palin, Penn & Teller, Chris Jericho and even Kermit the Frog. Even the panel has its fair share of recognition, with the permanent panel having people like Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger among their ranks, and guest panelists including Anthony Anderson, Jamie Foxx, Sharon Osbourne, Gordon Ramsay, Craig Robinson, Rita Wilson, will.i.am, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Miss Piggy.
- The Haunting Hour has a combination of Retroactive Recognition and a who's who list of well-known child and teen actors of the early 2010's — among its cast are Bailee Madison, Calum Worthy, Madison Pettis, Jodelle Ferland, Debby Ryan, Robert Capron, Booboo Stewart, Gregg Sulkin, Joel Courtney, Dylan Minnette, Michelle Creber, Zachary Gordon, Ariel Winter, Rico Rodriguez, Vincent Martella, Katherine McNamara, Sean Giambrone, China Anne McClain, and Joey King.
- Only Murders in the Building boasts Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as its leading cast members, with Cara Delevingne joining the main cast during season 2. The series also boasts an impressive roster of recurring actors that includes Tina Fey, Nathan Lane, Jane Lynch, Andrea Martin, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Michael Rapaport, and Jesse Williams, with Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, and Molly Shannon set to join the upcoming season 4. Guest stars have included Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks, Jimmy Fallon, Shirley Maclaine, Amy Schumer, and Sting. And is if if that somehow wasn't enough, Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep appeared as Special Guests throughout season 3!
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