Lena Olin, ALIAS.
Steve Rhoades, after David Garrison quit as a regular, MARRED WITH CHILDREN.
I think all of my votes go to West Wing guests. Loved Emily Procter, Marlee Matlin and Robin Reese.
Loved one of her first exchanges with Lionel Tribbey, played by the excellent John Laroquette.
A: Mr. Tribbey? I’d like to do well on this, my first assignment. Any advice you could give me that might point me the way of success would be, by me, appreciated.
L: Well, not speaking in iambic pentameter might be a step in the right direction.
Sir Arnold in Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
Estelle Parson as Beverly Harris in Roseanne. She is a great actress, but that was the woman you loved to hate.
And let’s not forget Inspector Lugar on Barney Miller as played by the wonderful James Gregory
John Larroquette was also great on West Wing as the head of the White House Counsel’s office. Wish they would have had his character’s name as Dan Fielding.
Charmed always has really hot bad guys. Obed Fehr was the big bad guy last season. Lemme tell ya, you can just never have too much sinistery snarly Obed Fehr.
Gosh, if I’d known Oded was on Charmed, I might have had to watch.
That man is spectacularly attractive.
Did anybody else see Brett Butler as the gambling addicted ex-mother-in-law on My Name Is Earl a couple of weeks ago? She was good- perfect timing, the “don’t-chu-judge-me!” thing having great quotability. She totally imploded as a star but maybe she’ll make a comeback as a character actress.
Oded! Not Obed! :smack: I used to have a friend named Obed, and I keep screwing it up.
How 'bout the Cheers one’s with Andy Andy. The guy Sam roped into a date with Diane and later did the scene from the play with Diane.
And another for Buddy on Night Court:
“…but I’m feeling much better now.”
Andy’s blind date episode had one of my favorite lines. I can’t remember it verbatim, but when they’re suggesting places to eat he asks that they not go to one particular restaurant because “I killed a waitress there and it has bad memories”.
Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Let me give a shout out to Stuart Margolin as Angel Martin on The Rockford Files.
paraphrasing:
Angel to Rockford, as the bad guys approach: “Don’t worry, I’ll stonewall 'em, Jimmy!”
One of the bad guys, a short time later:“I’ve never seen anyone spill his guts so much!”
Another one from Night Court : “Dirk”, the shlemiel bailiff.
Only “Mr. Carlin” mentioned from Bob Newhart ? How about “Mr Peterson” (the late John Fiedler) and “Mad Dog Hurd” (Oliver Clark)?
NYPD Blue : “Steve Richards”; “Vinnie Greco” (Joe Pantoliano); “Henry” , the mope super from Bobby’s building (Sex and the City 's Willie Garson).
The guy Belker was always busting on Hill Street Blues : “Name?” “Curtis” “Last name?” “Interruptus!” “GRRRR!”
“Stuart Best”, Wallace Shawn’s right-wing character from Murphy Brown : “That’s alls I know!”
I know one-shots aren’t in keeping with the OP, but I have to mention “Vincent”, the security guard/amateur bomb expert from the “Mad Bomber” episode of CSI: . I really wish they hadn’t killed him off; he would have been a great recurring character.
“Lt. Barclay (aka Broccoli)” (Dwight Schultz) from ST:TNG
Every single time Phil Hartman did a voice on the Simpsons, whether it was Troy McClure or Lionel Hutz or other, was gold.
He was on one of the funniest episodes of TV ever- the press conference when his character was elected thanks to contributions from a neo-Nazi group (“Are they part of the Aryan Nations, Stuart?” “No! They’re a militant offshoot of that!”). Just some fantastic lines from the conference from “Yesssss I’ve been drinking!” to “Slavery is an ugly word, but so is welfare.” During the interview he has to advocate slavery, polygamy, reinterrment of the Japanese and end everything with “unless they are less than 7/8 white whereupon they will be returned to the country of their ancestors…” or his campaign backers will kill him.
Funnier that it sounds. Later his character became a tobacco lobbyist, or as he called it “I"m a pimp for the industry of death!”
Paul Reubens on Murphy Brown as the flakey nephew of the network president. The only times I ever laughed at this show was when he was on it.
Okay, I’m dating myself big time, but Lindsey Wagner as Jamie Sommers on the Six Million Dollar Man. I liked her so much that I was rooting for her to come back as a regular character, and then when she got her own show I was nearly ecstatic.
Even older than that: “Professor Pepperwinkle” (Winnie-the-Pooh himself, Sterling Holloway) on The Adventures of Superman !
Still more that I think were great on The Andy Griffith Show:
Mayor Stoner
Floyd the Barber, and my hero,
Otis the Drunk.
Don’t know if there are any Timmy Turner fans here, but I love when Jay Leno plays the superhero The Crimson Chin on Fairly Odd Parents.