# Best Cameo in a Television Series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874 "2009-11-17T03:08:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/21 "2009-11-17T06:37:18Z")
I’m not a huge Streisand fan but she was great when she popped in on _Coffee Talk_ on SNL. I’m a bit of a 70s sitcom geek, but my favorite cameo was probably Frank “Yeassssssss?!?!?!?!” Nelson’s cameo on an episode during the Murphy/Piscopo years. And Andy Griffith’s cameo in the “Opie’s Back” sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Kylede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kylede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kylede)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/22 "2009-11-17T07:00:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I liked William Shatner in [Police Squad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBEO64uxQ2Q) (about 34 seconds in). The opening credits of "Police Squad"always had the “special guest star” for that episode die in soome horrible fashion. Someone also mention Ethel Kennedy on _Cheers_. The early seasons of it did all osrt of stunts like this…Tip O’neil was my favorite (he was the Speaker of the House at the time) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/23 "2009-11-17T08:37:19Z")
Jack stalking Kevin Bacon in _Will & Grace_ Isabella Rosellini _not_ being on Ross´s list in Friends. ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/24 "2009-11-17T12:10:51Z")
I nominate Shatner’s appearance on 3rd Rock from the Sun. Just brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/25 "2009-11-17T12:18:24Z")
First off, for those of us too young to have any idea who Suzanne Pleschette is could someone explain it? > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another vote for Suzanne Pleshette. > > One that might have topped it would have been if _The X-Files_ could have convinced Johnny Cash to play the “man in black” in the episode _Jose Chung’s Men in Black_. Well, getting Alex Trebek and Jesse Ventura to play the MiBs was certainly one of the all time classic cameos. My vote would be for Keith Hernandez on Seinfeld, though it treads closely to the full episode restriction. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/26 "2009-11-17T12:22:02Z")
I have no idea who the actors were, but the Dick Van Dyke Show had an episode where Rob was convinced that his baby was switched at the hospital with another couple’s baby. He makes some calls and finally gets another couple to bring their baby over for comparison. The doorbell rings, and they’re black. The audience didn’t know it was coming and roared for quite some time. Kind of bold for the era. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/27 "2009-11-17T12:52:10Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …Richard Nixon on _Laugh In_ (I don’t remember it but I’ve seen it many times) > > Ethel Kennedy on _Cheers_ Richard Nixon on **Laugh In** was my first thought (I am old enough to remember it), but Speaker of the House Tip O’Neal on **Cheers** was a big one too. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/28 "2009-11-17T12:54:34Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > First off, for those of us too young to have any idea who Suzanne Pleschette is could someone explain it? Bob Newhart starred in a show with Suzanne Pleschette as his wife. [The Bob Newhart Show](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068049/) from 1972 - 78 Years later Bob Newhart starred in an entirely different show, with Mary Frann as his wife. [Newhart](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083455/)from 1982-1990. The later series finished with Newhart as his character from the earlier series waking up in bed with Suzanne Pleschette, and realizing that the entire later series was all a dream. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/29 "2009-11-17T13:03:23Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Bob Newhart starred in a show with Suzanne Pleschette as his wife. > [The Bob Newhart Show](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068049/) from 1972 - 78 > > Years later Bob Newhart starred in an entirely different show, with Mary Frann as his wife. > [Newhart](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083455/)from 1982-1990. > > The later series finished with Newhart as his character from the earlier series waking up in bed with Suzanne Pleschette, and realizing that the entire later series was all a dream. Having heard about the finale before I sorta guessed that this was the case. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/30 "2009-11-17T13:38:29Z")
Keeping up with the Bob Newhart theme, I’ll say the episode of \*Murphy Brown \*where she finally gets a competent secretary, played by Carol Wallace, who used to play a secretary on Newhart’s original show. At the end, Newhart himself shows up, as Bob Hartley, and begs her to come back and work for him. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/31 "2009-11-17T13:43:57Z")
Larry, Darrell, and Darrell on the **Bob Newhart Show** reunion special, which left off the day after the Newhart finale, with Bob going into his office complaining that he had the weirdest dream the night before about owning an inn. Daniel J. Travanti – then a success in **Hill Street Blues** – did a cameo in **Newhart** , where the entire episode was about Travanti staying at the inn. But the plot was that he was delayed; he only showed up in the last minute of the show, when everyone had gotten tired of waiting for him. Alan Moore on **the Simpsons**. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/32 "2009-11-17T13:51:15Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I have no idea who the actors were, but the Dick Van Dyke Show had an episode where Rob was convinced that his baby was switched at the hospital with another couple’s baby. He makes some calls and finally gets another couple to bring their baby over for comparison. The doorbell rings, and they’re black. The audience didn’t know it was coming and roared for quite some time. Kind of bold for the era. It was Greg Morris, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/33 "2009-11-17T14:12:43Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > It was Greg Morris, wasn’t it? Yes, it was. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/34 "2009-11-17T14:17:05Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > It was Greg Morris, wasn’t it? Dick had only talked to the other father on the phone. Dick: Why didn’t you tell me? Greg: And miss seeing the expression on your face? Sammy Davis Jr. on All in the Family. Brad Pitt on Friends. ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/35 "2009-11-17T14:48:22Z")
Mel Torme, _Night Court_. > [@Sampiro](#): > > (Emma Thompson was brilliant as well but too big to be a cameo.) Along the same lines, my absolute favorite episode of _Cheers_ is the one in which Emma Thompson guest-stars as a kids’ singer and former girlfriend of Frasier, but again, too much to qualify as a cameo. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/36 "2009-11-17T14:49:28Z")
Laurie Metcalf, both on _3rd Rock from the Sun_, and _Fraiser_. ---
**Author:** ![Keweenaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Keweenaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keweenaw)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/37 "2009-11-17T14:52:46Z")
Harrison Ford in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/38 "2009-11-17T14:58:02Z")
There was an episode of Coach where Luther (Jerry Van Dyke) goes to a family reunion and makes some comment like “I don’t know anyone here.” At which point, Dick Van Dyke, who was sitting with his back to the camera, gets up and walks wordlessly off the set. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/39 "2009-11-17T15:04:50Z")
> [@ColonelDax](#): > > **Mel Torme, _Night Court_.** > > Along the same lines, my absolute favorite episode of _Cheers_ is the one in which Emma Thompson guest-stars as a kids’ singer and former girlfriend of Frasier, but again, too much to qualify as a cameo. He appeared in eight or nine episodes, would that still be a cameo? Plus he was central to the plot in most of those not just a surprise appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874/40 "2009-11-17T15:04:59Z")
In “Get Smart” ep [Die, Spy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0587508/), Smart is teamed with Stu Gilliam. Robert Culp (“I Spy”) appears uncredited as a waiter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-cameo-in-a-television-series/517874.md?page=3)