# Actors with more than 1 successful sitcom **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143 "2012-03-29T13:00:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/81 "2012-03-29T18:36:43Z")
Teri Hatcher’s years on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES were preceded by years on LOIS & CLARK, which – well, it wasn’t a comedy, exactly, but it’s about as close as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/82 "2012-03-29T18:39:29Z")
> [@lew\_cody](#): > > Going back a ways: > Ann Sothern in “Private Secretary” (1953-57) and “The Ann Sothern Show” (1958-61). And she was the voice of _My Mother, the Car_ ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/83 "2012-03-29T18:48:23Z")
Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria share a unique double as they were both stars on _Herman’s Head_ and are also voices on a mildly successful show called _The Simpsons_. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/84 "2012-03-29T18:50:14Z")
All this talk of 8 Simple Rules and Big bang Theory and nobody has mentioned Kaley Cuoco. David Spade was also in 8 Simple Rules, but not really a main character. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/85 "2012-03-29T19:06:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And she was the voice of _My Mother, the Car_ Mary Tyler Moore was the voice (and more famously, the legs) of the secretary in Richard Diamond, Private Detective. At least at first. There were a lot of male fantasies about those legs. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/86 "2012-03-29T19:06:37Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > John Cleese went from MONTY PYTHON to FAWLTY TOWERS. Both extremely successful, but it’s a bit of a stretch to call Monty Python a sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/87 "2012-03-29T19:07:37Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Some British ones I don’t know whether British sitcoms are really comparable, since they aren’t as “open-ended” as American shows, tending to run for a fixed number of episodes, then giving their creators/stars an opportunity to move on to their next project. So you get things like Ricky Gervais doing “The Office” and moving on to “Extras,” or Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmonson following up “The Young Ones” with “Bottom.” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/88 "2012-03-29T21:37:31Z")
Mayim Balik? First Blossom and now The Big Bang Theory. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/89 "2012-03-29T21:49:54Z")
We’re calling Cougar Town a success now? I enjoy it, but since it got a big delay in coming back for it’s third season and they just added a cute baby to the cast in the middle of the season, I figure it’s on it’s way out. It’s been struggling for years. It’s too bad because it’s finally figured out what kind of show it wants to be. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/90 "2012-03-29T21:50:42Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > For that matter, there’s ole Opie Cunningham himself narrating Arrested Development. “_ **No one was making fun of Andy Griffith.** _ I can’t emphasize that enough.” …and don’t forget that little sitcom in between Andy Griffith & Arrested Development for Ron Howard. “Happy Days.” ETA: Totally missed that little dig with “Opie Cunningham.” Oh, **The Other Waldo Pepper** , you’re so clever! ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/91 "2012-03-29T21:56:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t know whether British sitcoms are really comparable, since they aren’t as “open-ended” as American shows, tending to run for a fixed number of episodes, then giving their creators/stars an opportunity to move on to their next project. So you get things like Ricky Gervais doing “The Office” and moving on to “Extras,” or Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmonson following up “The Young Ones” with “Bottom.” Fair point. The only one out of those that I listed that got run into the ground was _Only Fools and Horses_, and even then that wasn’t because the network demanded yet another 20-odd episodes, they just commissioned various annual specials that were not very good. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/92 "2012-03-29T22:01:10Z")
_Pace_ **Thudlow Boink** another British one: Peter Bowles, who was in _Only When I Laugh, The Irish R.M., Perfect Scoundrels,_ and _To the Manor Born_. I have no idea whether any of these were “run into the ground,” though probably not. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/93 "2012-03-30T00:12:13Z")
Penelope Keith in The Good Life and To the Manor Born. Paul Eddington in The Good Life, Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. Richard Briers in The Good Life and Ever Decreasing Circles. Felicity Kendall (the other star of The Good Life) also had another sitcom, Solo, but it didn’t do very well. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t know whether British sitcoms are really comparable, since they aren’t as “open-ended” as American shows, tending to run for a fixed number of episodes, then giving their creators/stars an opportunity to move on to their next project. So you get things like Ricky Gervais doing “The Office” and moving on to “Extras,” or Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmonson following up “The Young Ones” with “Bottom.” It’s still difficult for a British sitcom to be successful. And Bottom was several years after The Young Ones. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/94 "2012-03-30T00:12:53Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > ETA: Totally missed that little dig with “Opie Cunningham.” Oh, **The Other Waldo Pepper** , you’re so clever! Naw, I just heard it from the man himself, is all. That said, how about Candice Bergen moving from Murphy Brown to Boston Legal? ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/95 "2012-03-30T05:11:56Z")
Meg Griffin was in “That 70’s Show” -Mila Kunis… ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/96 "2012-03-30T06:18:43Z")
Kirstie Alley was in _Cheers_(149 episodes) and _Veronica’s Closet_(65 episodes.) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/97 "2012-03-30T13:30:39Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Might _Futurama_ be considered a sitcom? If so, Katey Sagal was in that. You mean “is” in that. Futurama is still on going. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/98 "2012-03-30T13:53:53Z")
Valerie Bertinelli. One Day at a Time, Hot in Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/99 "2012-03-30T14:23:50Z")
Miranda Cosgrove is in iCarly and used to be on Drake and Josh, though I don’t know how central a character she was on that show. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143/100 "2012-03-30T15:18:56Z")
Courtney Cox - Friends and Cougar Town. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-with-more-than-1-successful-sitcom/617143.md?page=6)