What's the most surprised you've ever been at a (non SIMPSONS) TV guest star? [Archive]

Sampiro

02-17-2009, 02:20 AM

I exclude the Simpsons because in addition to being on the air for 20+ years it's hard to top Thomas Pynchon.

Johnny Carson on David Letterman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvHxH7fgrRE) was probably the absolute ultimate, though if you went for sitcoms only his appearance on Newhart was unexpected.

Sticking to sitcoms, I remember being very surprised when Burt Reynolds guest starred on THE GOLDEN GIRLS back when he was still considered a movie star (but was testing the waters of TV). Huge ovation. Bob Hope was also a guest star but it was clearly filmed separately and incorporated; IIRC he didn't interact with the regular cast.

Speaking of animations, Gore Vidal's voice cameo on Family Guy was a shock. (He was later on THE SIMPSONS, which I'll mention because I've already used him in the OP;).)

Mosier

02-17-2009, 02:36 AM

Michael J. Fox walked into the scene in Scrubs, giving me just enough time to say "hey! I know that guy from somewhere!" before he walked off screen again. He walked back on screen, seemed to get frustrated, and walked off yet again. He walked on screen for a third time and, apparently satisfied, continued into the hospital.

His obsessive/compulsive character was probably the best guest star showing I can remember. As a matter of fact, Scrubs featured other fantastic guest star performances by actors I don't usually consider great, like Colin Farrel.

Thalion

02-17-2009, 02:38 AM

The finale of Newhart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYw2i2icNg), with Suzanne Pleshette. One of the greatest surprise guest-shots ever.

Critical1

02-17-2009, 03:07 AM

Alex Trebek on the X-files was pretty damn surprising

well he's back

02-17-2009, 03:19 AM

Sean Penn & Elvis Costello guesting as themselves on "Two and a half Men". I think I win this thread.

BACI

02-17-2009, 03:57 AM

I'm going for Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) on a recent episode of Bones.

Scissorjack

02-17-2009, 03:59 AM

I thought Richard Dawkins in Doctor Who was a nice touch, given that he's married to Lalla Ward, an ex-Time Lady who was previously married to Tom Baker: Ward was introduced to Dawkins by Douglas Adams, who was a writer on the show.

Leaffan

02-17-2009, 08:04 AM

Sammy Davis Jr. on All In The Family gets an honourable mention.

President Nixon on Laugh In.

I'm dating myself here, and also the fact that I don't watch much TV anymore.

Annie-Xmas

02-17-2009, 08:23 AM

Michael Gross as Michael J. Fox's therapist on Spin City

William Shatnet's first appearance as the Big Giant Head on 3rd Rock, with the inside "Twilight Zone" joke.

Dennis Rodmen on 3rd Rock as a alien

furryman

02-17-2009, 09:08 AM

Jackie Mason as a guest voice on Spongebob Squarepants (I also love the appearances of Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway)
Jerry Mathers and Rocki Rhoades on Married With Children
Tammy Fay Bakker's appearance on the Drew Carrey Show was hilarious
Robert Culp and Louis Gossett Jr. in Half Life 2*
Robert Culp on The Cosby Show

* Not a TV show but I just had to mention it

evilhomer

02-17-2009, 09:20 AM

Ethilrist

02-17-2009, 09:24 AM

The entire cast of the original Laugh In as inmates at a magical sanitarium in an episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

Annie-Xmas

02-17-2009, 09:28 AM

Martin Sheen on 2 1/2 Men as Rose's father.
Charlie Sheen's recent cameo on Big Bang.
Lou Diamond Phillips on Spin City.

Mahaloth

02-17-2009, 09:30 AM

Liza Minelli was hilarious and surprising on Arrested Development, as was Charlize Theron.

jayjay

02-17-2009, 10:17 AM

The finale of Newhart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYw2i2icNg), with Suzanne Pleshette. One of the greatest surprise guest-shots ever.

This. I DIED when she rolled over!

Chefguy

02-17-2009, 10:42 AM

John Wayne on Laugh In. In a giant bunny costume.

Janet Reno on SNL.

Rube E. Tewesday

02-17-2009, 11:57 AM

One time Vanessa Del Rio, the porn star, appeared on NYPD Blue as herself. It kind of surprised me -- this was back before porn had mainstreamed, and the detectives pretty much treated her like any celebrity with a problem. It was interesting.

What Exit?

02-17-2009, 12:14 PM

John Wayne on Laugh In. In a giant bunny costume.

Janet Reno on SNL.

I was thinking John Wayne on Maud (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0644311/). I didn't know about the Laugh In appearance.

I would vote for Suzanne Pleshette on the finale of Newhart though as Thalion posted.

TWDuke

02-17-2009, 12:16 PM

Sean Penn & Elvis Costello guesting as themselves on "Two and a half Men". I think I win this thread.Didn't see that, but Costello's appearance as an annoying coffeehouse musician on "Frasier" was an entertaining surprise.

ETA: At the time I hadn't seen much of the new (old) Elvis and knew him as his old (young) self, so I kept saying, "Is that... No. Yes! Is it?" to myself.

Krokodil

02-17-2009, 12:21 PM

I was shocked when Cesar Romero appeared on Batman!

And Rawhide.

And the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.

And Fantasy Island, Tracey Ullman, Magnum PI, Blacke's Magic, Falcon Crest, Murder She Wrote...

..Okay, by Murder She Wrote it stopped being a shock.

Little Nemo

02-17-2009, 12:27 PM

Alex Trebek on the X-files was pretty damn surprisingTrebeck wasn't their first choice. They wrote the scene for Johnny Cash so that there would be the obvious joke of Mulder trying to convince people that Johnny Cash was a Man In Black.

Sampiro

02-17-2009, 12:30 PM

Sean Penn & Elvis Costello guesting as themselves on "Two and a half Men". I think I win this thread.

Sean Penn did a hysterical cameo on Ellen soon after her coming out episode. In the episode Ellen was working as personal assistant to Emma Thompson, who played herself, kinda- she was Emma Thompson the actress, closeted lesbian and lush who it turned out had one other thing to "come out" about. She's not English, but from Dayton, OH and has been faking an English accent for her entire career.
Through Ellen's encouragement Thompson decides to come out publicly at an awards banquet. Unfortunately Sean Penn (as Sean Penn) accepts an award via video at the same banquet, and beats her to the punch by coming out, and since he's the bigger star it steals her thunder. Hilarious cameo that I'd forgotten til I saw his name in here.

Sampiro

02-17-2009, 12:33 PM

Sammy Davis Jr. on All In The Family gets an honourable mention.

I didn't know until recently that Davis made a return visit on Archie Bunker's Place. The entire episode is on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoPZo1qatr4) and is mostly missable, but the last minute is good and showed how much Archie had grown as a person.

Sir T-Cups

02-17-2009, 12:43 PM

The finale of Newhart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYw2i2icNg), with Suzanne Pleshette. One of the greatest surprise guest-shots ever.

I'm gonna show my youth here...

Why was this so surprising?

kaylasdad99

02-17-2009, 12:57 PM

Maybe the fact that it had been twelve years since anyone had seen the Hartleys, and as far as current watchers were concerned, this was Dick Louden waking up, not Dr. Bob Hartley.

Cardinal

02-17-2009, 01:02 PM

BrotherCadfael

02-17-2009, 01:10 PM

The finale of Newhart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYw2i2icNg), with Suzanne Pleshette. One of the greatest surprise guest-shots ever.No.

THE greatest surprise guest-shot ever.

wring

02-17-2009, 01:28 PM

To flesh that out some more, the second sitcom starring Bob was shown to have been a dream for Bob's character in his first show. This is shown by his waking up next to his first tv wife, meaning he's really the character from the first show.

Which itself was a take off on the shower scene from Dallas (ie the entire second Newhart show was all a dream)

What Exit?

02-17-2009, 01:48 PM

Which itself was a take off on the shower scene from Dallas (ie the entire second Newhart show was all a dream)

I don't think that is true unless you heard someone from the show verify it. The "It was all just a dream (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllJustADream)" bit is much older than Dallas.

Morbo

02-17-2009, 01:54 PM

Most surprised? That has to go to an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in which the main guest star was...

...Stephen Colbert, playing a totally straight dramatic role and doing it well.

He'd already done Strangers With Candy and at the time was currently on The Daily Show, so I was pretty well surprised when I saw him turn up on L&O.

Typo Negative

02-17-2009, 02:55 PM

For me, it was Brad Pitt on Friends, tackling the role of a nerdy, unlikeable character.

Yeah, he was married to Jennifer (why, oh why would he leave that beautiful woman for that Jolie person??), but still..

Annie-Xmas

02-17-2009, 03:02 PM

Keith Carradine on Criminal Minds, playing a sociopathic serial killer who did really weird things with his victims bodies. He played it just absolutely right.

BubbaDog

02-17-2009, 03:27 PM

I'm gonna show my youth here...

Why was this so surprising?

Bob Newhart had two very successful series years apart. In his first series as a psychiatrist in an urban setting his wife was played by Pleshette.

His second where he played an inn keeper in Vermont with a different actress for a wife lasted a few years and on its final show they ended it with a closing scene of Bob and Pleshette waking up in bed in their urban apartment and Bob telling her that he had the weirdest dream.

Just about everybody who watched his Inn Keeper show was familiar with his previous series and so the surprise was a very powerful gag.

Fenris

02-17-2009, 03:35 PM

No.

THE greatest surprise guest-shot ever.

Moved and seconded.

Quercus

02-17-2009, 03:52 PM

Wait, was this inspired by Hodgman on BSG?

(Although that was not so much 'surprising' as 'unfortunately takes you out of the moment')

Mrs. Cake

02-17-2009, 03:57 PM

Not the greatest, as that's already been mentioned, but I loved Sean Bean's cameo on The Vicar of Dibley in Dawn French's dream sequence.

TWDuke

02-17-2009, 04:01 PM

I don't think that is true unless you heard someone from the show verify it. The "It was all just a dream (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllJustADream)" bit is much older than Dallas.It has a long and disreputable history in literature and has been used as a "reset" at the end of single episodes, but I'm pretty sure that Dallas was the first TV series to wish an entire season into the cornfield like that. It caused quite a stir at the time and has often been the subject of parody.

wring

02-17-2009, 04:10 PM

I don't think that is true unless you heard someone from the show verify it. The "It was all just a dream (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllJustADream)" bit is much older than Dallas.

Don't think I was claiming that Dallas was the original concept, just that it was a tip of the hat as it were. As your cite notes, it's a standard ploy, but the Dallas rendition was seen as a particularly egregious example of it.

wring

02-17-2009, 04:13 PM

Keith Carradine on Criminal Minds, playing a sociopathic serial killer who did really weird things with his victims bodies. He played it just absolutely right.
Well if you want to get into the creepy guest shots:

on L & O SVU we had Martin Short playing a very creepy sexual predatory killer of virgins, Fred Savage doing a marvelous job as a rapist who seemed like 'just a great guy'

What Exit?

02-17-2009, 04:13 PM

Don't think I was claiming that Dallas was the original concept, just that it was a tip of the hat as it were. As your cite notes, it's a standard ploy, but the Dallas rendition was seen as a particularly egregious example of it.

I associate it most with the Wizard of Oz (The 1939 classic movie) but to each there own.

Annie-Xmas

02-17-2009, 04:15 PM

Remember how Roseanne use to show outtakes at the end of every show? One scene had her getting into bed with Dan, only instead of Dan, the bed was occupied by John Goodman's old roommate Bruce Willis. It was a hoot.

The whole last season of Roseanne was revealed to be a chapter in the book Roseanne was writing about her family.

Frankie Murtz (Malcolm on Malcolm in the middle) did an excellent guest shot on Criminal minds

In late 2007, he made a significant guest appearance in an episode of the popular and critically acclaimed CBS crime drama, Criminal Minds. The episode, entitled "True Night", featured Muniz playing a famous comic book writer who becomes a violent serial killer that preys on a group of local gang-bangers after they force him to watch while they rape and murder his pregnant fiancee.

As Prentice, one of the Quantico team said "It's the first case I've had where the unsub wasn't the bad guy."

Marley23

02-17-2009, 04:18 PM

vison

02-17-2009, 04:43 PM

The finale of Newhart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYw2i2icNg), with Suzanne Pleshette. One of the greatest surprise guest-shots ever.

That was fantastic! Another vote for the greatest ever guest star surprise.

well he's back

02-17-2009, 04:44 PM

James Van der Beek was also surprisingly good as a serial killer on "Criminal Minds".

Sampiro

02-17-2009, 06:19 PM

Remember how Roseanne use to show outtakes at the end of every show? One scene had her getting into bed with Dan, only instead of Dan, the bed was occupied by John Goodman's old roommate Bruce Willis. It was a hoot.

Another cool Roseanne cameo was in a Halloween episode. Roseanne and friends went as the castaways from Gilligan's Island for Halloween (and there was also a dream sequence). At the end the surviving castoways (Bob Denver, Russell Johnson, Dawn Wells, and most surprisingly Tina Louise- who never does Gilligan's Island functions) appeared as the cast of Roseanne, each playing whichever character had dressed as them (Mary Ann=Darlene, Ginger=Roseanne, Gilligan=Jackie, and Professor=[the stupid son-in-law Glenn Quinn played]).

The Stephen Colbert episode of L&O was based on the Salamander letter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamander_letter) forgery murders in Utah, though the religion was changed from Mormonism to Catholicism and the figure of the forgery from Joseph Smith to a dead NYC priest on the verge of sainthood and with a cultlike following. Colbert was good as the forger/murderer, but the plot was a bit contrived since it was too reminiscent of the actual event (on which of course it was not based in any way).

kunilou

02-17-2009, 08:34 PM

No.

THE greatest surprise guest-shot ever.

Yup.

Martha Stewart also did a guest shot on Ellen. This was at the beginning of the backlash when she was gradually turning from domestic diva to brass-busted business bitch. But she was genuinely relaxed in her cameo, and her final line (asked if she wanted another beer, she said "I'm gooood.") was delivered with real comic timing.

In addition to Carson's walk-on appearance on Letterman, don't forget Tom Brokaw's appearance on the first Late Night on CBS. In the middle of letterman's monologue, Brokaw walked onstage, grabbed the cue cards, announced "these jokes are the intellectual property of NBC" and walked off. The joke was that NBC had been threatening to sue CBS ever since Letterman jumped networks, claiming that all his classic bits belonged to NBC.

Sir T-Cups

02-17-2009, 10:17 PM

Bob Newhart had two very successful series years apart. In his first series as a psychiatrist in an urban setting his wife was played by Pleshette.

His second where he played an inn keeper in Vermont with a different actress for a wife lasted a few years and on its final show they ended it with a closing scene of Bob and Pleshette waking up in bed in their urban apartment and Bob telling her that he had the weirdest dream.

Just about everybody who watched his Inn Keeper show was familiar with his previous series and so the surprise was a very powerful gag.

Thank you to all who explained this!!!

I knew Newhart had multiple series (I would watch them on Nick at Night....very funny) but I didn't know the whole story.

Learning....its FUNdamental!

sciurophobic

02-17-2009, 10:33 PM

The Candian sitcom Corner Gas has had quite a few surprising guest appearances, including:

Prime Minister Paul Martin
Prime Minister Steven Harper
Former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson
The band The Tragically Hip
Kiefer Sutherland, and his mom Shirley Douglas (in separate episodes).
Duane "Dog" Chapman and his wife
Mike Holmes from Holmes on Homes

I don't know if it's only in the full version, but Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has a cameo in the Robin Sparkles "Let's Go To The Mall" video from How I Met Your Mother

Kamino Neko

02-17-2009, 11:13 PM

Frankie Murtz (Malcolm on Malcolm in the middle)

That's Muniz, actually.

On guest shots on L&O, the most surprising one I can remember is only surprising when watching the series out of order.

In an early episode, Jerry Orbach appeared as a slightly scuzzy defence attorney. Then, later, of course, he's cast in a regular role as Lenny Briscoe. S. Epatha Merickson also appeared as a different character before being cast as Lt. Van Buren, but by the time I caught that episode, I'd become used to actors playing multiple characters on the show.

WhyNot

02-17-2009, 11:48 PM

Palin and Cleese on SNL recreating the "Dead Parrot Sketch". Not only because they guest starred, but because the whole SET guest starred, somehow. I can only imagine the panicked prop guy on SNL rifling through his trunks for a dead parrot et al, with the knowledge that if he can pull this off, John freakin' Cleese will be on his stage in 20 minutes!

I was never a regular SNL watcher; I consider myself terribly lucky to have been at my friend's house while it was on in the background, and we all just happened to look at the television when the opening shot happened. "Huh," I said. "That looks like the parrot sketch set...shoot, I hope they're not going to do that old thing! Blasphemy. Kill it, they will, absolutely murder it.....oh my god, is that John CLEESE?" :D

Loach

02-18-2009, 12:35 AM

MTV's Jackass. The back of a van opens up and a bunch of guys in gorrilla suits jump out. They run around acting like gorillas terrorizing the pedestrians. At the end they pull off their masks with their names captioned below. Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Brad Pitt. Of course thats a joke, right? Nope. The mask comes off and it is Brad Pitt. Later they show Pitt on line to buy something (I think it was movie tickets). You see the people around him talking to each other as they recognize him. Then a van pulls up and he is kidnapped in front of everyone.

Knowed Out

02-18-2009, 08:30 AM

James Earl Jones being schooled by Jack McFarland on Will & Grace. It was wrong on so many levels. JEJ turns out to be an even more insecure whiny bitch than Jack. It does make sense in kind of a Raymond Burr way, but it's still wrong to see the voice of Darth Vader do the flamboyant fairy thing.

Mitijea

02-18-2009, 10:09 PM

That's Muniz, actually.

On guest shots on L&O, the most surprising one I can remember is only surprising when watching the series out of order.

In an early episode, Jerry Orbach appeared as a slightly scuzzy defence attorney. Then, later, of course, he's cast in a regular role as Lenny Briscoe. S. Epatha Merickson also appeared as a different character before being cast as Lt. Van Buren, but by the time I caught that episode, I'd become used to actors playing multiple characters on the show.

I had the same thing happen to me, but it was Vincent D'Onofrio playing some druggie in an early episode of the original series I believe, but I came in in the middle and thought it was his detective character off of Criminal Intent, so when it didn't work out well, I was a bit confused.

astorian

02-18-2009, 11:05 PM

To flesh that out some more, the second sitcom starring Bob was shown to have been a dream for Bob's character in his first show. This is shown by his waking up next to his first tv wife, meaning he's really the character from the first show.

Bob Newhart and his staff did a lot of misdirection beforehand, spreading rumors that Dick Loudon was going to die, and that he'd appear in Heaven before God, who'd be played by George Burns.

I saw that rumor reprinted in several newspapers before I saw the actual episode.

Strassia

02-18-2009, 11:30 PM

Remember how Roseanne use to show outtakes at the end of every show? One scene had her getting into bed with Dan, only instead of Dan, the bed was occupied by John Goodman's old roommate Bruce Willis. It was a hoot.

The whole last season of Roseanne was revealed to be a chapter in the book Roseanne was writing about her family.

Actually, the whole series was a fictionalized version of her characters life from the book. She switched the boyfriends/husbands of her daughters, and those plot lines went way back before that season.

Jonathan

Rhubarb

02-18-2009, 11:54 PM

Friends had quite a few famous types in guest roles (Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, Ben Stiller, Marlo Thomas, Morgan Fairchild, Kathryn Turner, et al), but one of my favorite true cameo roles was Chrissie Hinds of The Pretenders being taught "Smelly Cat" by Phoebe.

Sublight

02-18-2009, 11:57 PM

Maybe not the best or best known, but the one I always remember was Mike Dukakis as himself on St. Elsewhere. He was governor of MA at the time and known locally as an avid jogger.

The episode starts with him limping in wearing his sweats saying he twisted his ankle. When he gives his name, the doctor refuses to believe him and starts treating him like a deranged homeless guy. His scene ends with the doctor dumping him off on a med student with orders to "tape his ankle until his eyes bug out."

GuanoLad

02-19-2009, 12:18 AM

Bryan Ekers

02-19-2009, 12:43 AM

I kinda liked Wil Wheaton's turn as a crazy homeless guy on CSI, especially since I didn't recognize him immediately.

Annie-Xmas

02-19-2009, 07:31 AM

Kathleen Turner as Chandler's often mentioned cross dressing father. NOBODY else could have brought life to that role so successfully. Amd the dialogue between her and Morgan Fairchild as Chandler's mother.

Kathleen: Don't you have too many years to be wearing that dress?
Morgan: Don't you have too much of a penis to be wearing that one?

Chandler: It's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding.
Morgan:I saw the groom in my dress.
Kathleen: That was after the wedding, so it wasn't bad luck.
Morgan: Well, it wasn't good luck.

Bryan Ekers

02-19-2009, 02:23 PM

Of course, that just led me to wonder why with such parents, Chandler looks like such a goof. With that genetic advantage, you'd think he'd be gorgeous.

BrotherCadfael

02-22-2009, 08:37 AM

Of course, that just led me to wonder why with such parents, Chandler looks like such a goof. With that genetic advantage, you'd think he'd be gorgeous.Puts me in mind of a bit from Rosanne, talking about their bisexual friend, played by Sandra Bernhard: "Why is it that, when you date girls, they look like her [Morgan Fairchild], and when you date guys, the look like Arnie [Tom Arnold]?"

Scarlett67

02-22-2009, 09:27 AM

Agreed on Suzanne Pleshette on Newhart.

How about Barbra Streisand showing up during "Coffee Talk" on SNL?

The Shroud

02-22-2009, 09:42 AM

Most surprised? That has to go to an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in which the main guest star was...

...Stephen Colbert, playing a totally straight dramatic role and doing it well.This reminded me of seeing Will Arnett on a L&O: SVU rerun, playing a pedophile. By the time I saw it, he was firmly established in my mind as Gob Bluth. I think he's one of those actors, like Leslie Nielsen, who won't ever be able to go back to straight drama.

Sir T-Cups

02-22-2009, 01:04 PM

Maybe it wasn't surprising....but Kevin Bacon on Will and Grace was good.....

KB: Val Kilmer says that when you lose your stalkers, you career is over

Gay guy who isn't Will: You were in a movie with Val Kilmer?

KB: No, but I was in 'A Few Good Men' with Tom Cruise who was in 'Top Gun' with Val....hmm...that was a short one

I personally hate Will and Grace with a passion, but I heard that joke and actually laughed.

Sampiro

02-23-2009, 01:53 AM

How about Barbra Streisand showing up during "Coffee Talk" on SNL?

My understanding is that Mike Myers, Roseanne Barr, and Madonna (the three ladies gabbing on Coffee Talk) were as surprised as the audience.

Annie-Xmas

02-23-2009, 07:18 AM

Right. Producer Loren Michaels didn't tell anyone she was going to be there. Everyone backstage was also totally surprised when she came out of his office and started walking towards the stage.

ETA: Last night I saw a Law & Order: SVU rerun where the rapist/murderer was played by Kal Pann (now Dr. Kutner on House). He was working as a janitor for his father the doctor.Talk about having your jaw just drop.