Five consecutive decades, that is (50s, 60s, 70s, one reunion movie in 87, four more between 90-93, iirc).
What other shows are close (counting original series run, and reunion movies (TV & big screen)? Must have original characters played by the same actors all the way through. James Arness was in all the “Gunsmoke” incarnations. Amanda Blake and Buck Taylor appeared in the first reunion movie.
Star Trek (60s, films from 79-91) = four consecutive decades.
Did Michael Landon appear in any of those 80s “Bonanza” films? If so that would make four consecutive decades for that show (ran 59-7?).
If you count voiceovers as acting, make Trek 5 decades- Majel Barrett was the computer voice up until the last show this year, apperaring in all the series. (Although not too much in this last one.)
How about daytime soaps? As the World Turns has been running continuously since 1956, and of the original cast, Helen Wagner is still performing in the same role! That’s six decades.
A number of daytime soaps started on radio. I wonder if any of the voice actors from the radio versions played the same role when the series migrated to television?
Perry Mason, if you’re going to count use of the title, ties Gunsmoke
Original series 1957-1966
New Perry Mason 1973-74 (with a different cast playing the same characters)
Perry Mason Returns (1985), a TV-movie, kicked off a series of 10 of them in the late 1980s.
There were 14 additional Perry Mason movies in the 1990s. After Raymond Burr died (his last film was "The Case of the Killer Kiss ") the network tried to hang on to the franchise by making four more movies with other lawyers subbing for Perry, who was “away.” Paul Sorvino, who had left “Law and Order” was in one and Hal Holbrook played lawyer Wild Bill McKenzie for three, which looked like a possible series spinoff setup that never happened. Barbara Hale hung in there though the last one in 1995 as Della Street.
21 years: Ozzie and Harriet Nelson starred in the television series The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (1952-1965) and its sequel Ozzie’s Girls (1973).
21 years: The Brady Bunch franchise has gone from the original series in 1969-1974, to be followed by The Brady Kids (1972), The Brady Bunch Hour (1977), The Brady Brides (1981), The Brady Girls Get Married (1981), A Very Brady Christmas (1988), and The Bradys (1990).
Let me hijack my on thread since the erudite Walloon has arrived. A question, sir. Do you know why Chester’s name was changed from Proudfoot on radio to Goode on TV? Why Doc Adams first name was changed from Charles on radio to Galen on TV?
I don’t know the answer to your question, Sir Rhosis. But my guess is that Doc’s first name and Chester’s last name may have been mentioned only a couple of times on the radio series, and then forgotten. So the writers of the television series gave them new names without knowing they already had them.
I’ve found in general that movie, TV and radio fans often know more trivia about the shows they love than the people who produced, wrote, and acted in them!