History Main / CastFullOfWriters

Common in SketchComedy, as well as {{Video Review Show}}s and Internet AbridgedSeries due to their one-man-show nature. The trope can crop up in other types of show as well; it's especially common in {{Sit Com}}s, as sitcom writers often have backgrounds in performance (specifically [[RecordedAndStandUpComedy stand-up]] and/or sketch comedy) and are susceptible to being called upon to act.

A show or movie where the main cast also serve as the writers of the piece. Common in SketchComedy, as well as {{Video Review Show}}s and Internet AbridgedSeries due to their one-man-show nature. The trope can crop up in other types of show as well; it's especially common in {{Sit Com}}s, as sitcom writers often have backgrounds in performance (specifically [[RecordedAndStandUpComedy stand-up]] and/or sketch comedy) and are susceptible to being called upon to act.

When actors get their first writing credit on series they're ''already'' starring in, that's WrittenByCastMember.

* Pretty much anything on ''Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses''.

** ''Series/FawltyTowers'' starred and was written by Creator/JohnCleese and [[CreatorCouple his then-wife]] Connie Booth.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' has a lot of this: writer/creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer spend a lot of time [[TalkingToHimself talking to themselves]]; between them they voice something like twelve characters.

* The original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' duology were written by Creator/DanAykroyd and Creator/HaroldRamis.

* Creator/LauraDern and Mike White created and starred in ''Series/{{Enlightened}}'', with White writing ''every'' episode.

* Series creator Creator/RobMcElhenney, co-developer Creator/GlennHowerton, and writer Creator/CharlieDay all have lead roles on ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia''. Another co-writer, David Hornsby, plays recurring character Rickety Cricket.

* ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' has its writing credit read "The Cast and Jeremy Dyson", and it's roughly that literal--beyond crowd scenes and the ''occasional'' woman, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single character not played by series writers Creator/MarkGatiss, Creator/StevePemberton or Creator/ReeceShearsmith.

* The Monty Python team wrote and starred in their movies.

* Many cases on Website/RoosterTeeth.

* ''Radio Active'' was so full of writers that Helen Atkinson-Wood was the only one who didn't chip in on that front.

* ''TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' has its writing credit read "The Cast and Jeremy Dyson", and it's roughly that literal--beyond crowd scenes and the ''occasional'' woman, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single character not played by series writers Creator/MarkGatiss, Creator/StevePemberton or Creator/ReeceShearsmith.

* ''WebVideo/TheOtherSide'' is written primarily by the actors who play Colorado, Virginia and Turk, the three central characters.

* ''TheState''

* In Magazine/{{MAD}}'s parody of ''AnimalHouse'', when Dean Wormer threatens the Deltas, one remarks they have more power than he does because some of them are writers of the movie.
* The ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' films were written by Creator/DanAykroyd and Harold Ramis.

* Series creator Creator/RobMcElhenney, co-developer Creator/GlennHowerton, and writer Creator/CharlieDay all have lead roles on ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia''. Another co-writer, David Hornsby, plays recurring character Rickety Cricket.

* Creator/SethMacFarlane and Alex Borstein both write and perform for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.

* ''PuzzleClubhouse'' has a lot of this -- it's a series of episodic games created on a fast-paced schedule (a new game releases on the first of each month), and having all the voice actors on site makes for faster iteration and development. The majority of characters are voiced by Schell Games developers (who also write the episodes, design the games, create the artwork, etc).