Great Movie Star TV Appearances

Cafe Society
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Every once in awhile, as a favor to a producer or a treat for their kids or maybe just a quick paycheck, a Big Movie Star will do a one-shot guest appearance on a TV show. More than just a cameo, the BMS actually does a full-fledged part as a Special Guest Villain (Batman), Special Guest Voice (The Simpsons) or whatever.

What are some of your favorite BMS appearances?

Two of mine, Cheers episodes with John Cleese as Simon Finch-Royce and Emma Thompson as Nanny G (later played on Frasier by Laurie Metcalf.) Both of them were hilarious and pulled the rest of the cast up to their A games.

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I don’t know if this counts, but Michael J. Fox’s two-episode stint on Scrubs was the work of legends.

3

Robin Williams recent appearance on Law & Order: SVU.

4

I came in here to say exactly this. The two episodes he did were just on back-to-back on Comedy Central the other day. His OCD was hilarious.

“Kevin Casey. Kevin Casey. Kevin…Casey.”

5

Emma Thompson also made a guest appearance on Ellen playing herself, but as an American who pretended to be British to get acting roles. She was also drunk alot. Very funny.

6

Most of my choices in this category come from Will & Grace.

Matt Damon pretending to be gay to get into the Gay Men’s Choir.

Michael Douglas as a gay cop trying to score with Will by taking him on a “stakeout”.

Madonna playing Karen’s roommate from Hell (well she’s not a movie star, but she’s a big celeb).

Mira Sorvino as Leo’s ex who also happens to be the only girl Will had sex with has dinner with the gang.

Kevin Bacon as himself while Jack stalks him.

I could go on and on. I’ve often wished they would put out a collection of just the episodes with celebrity guest stars.

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Oops

8

Bruce Willis was a regular on Friends for a while.

Many people, including the Oscar-winning Charlize Theron, were on Arrested Development.

9

Kathleen Turner as Chandler Bing’s father on “Friends.” After years of hearing Chandler describe his transvestite father, it was just incredible to see her actually portray the unbelievable character so convincingly.

10

Groucho Marx on the Bill Cosby Show – not the Dr. Huxtable one, but his short-lived variety show. It was the first (and last) time I saw Groucho on TV on a show that hadn’t been recorded decades before (I missed his turn in The Mikado).

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Okay, now I kinda regret that I gave up on that show.

12

John Wayne showed up on an episode of I Love Lucy.

13

Monica convinced him to go to Vegas and invite his father to their wedding. Turner comes out on stage.

Chandler: And there’s Daddy.
Monica, jaw dropped: That cannot be your father.
Chandler: Believe me, I’ve been saying that for years.

And a mention to Morgan Fairchild for playing Chandler’s mother:

Turner: Don’t you have too many years on you to be wearing a dress like that?
Fairchild: Don’t you have too much of a penis to be wearing a dress like that?

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Chandler and Dad reunion - the recording is awful…they must have recorded by camcorder right off the tv.

15

Back in the 80’s I recall Elizabeth Taylor doing a stint on All My Children…or was it General Hospital!!! Grr, now I have to look it up…

…

Yep, it was GH!!

16

Cher as herself was really good. Even better was Cher as God.

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Shelly Winters as “Nana Mary,” Roseanne’s maternal grandmother. She fit perfectly into the Harris family dynamics.

18

Every time William Shatner appeared on 3rd Rock From The Sun was comedy gold.

19

On an episode of Frasier, Patrick Stewart played a gay opera director who mistakenly thought Frasier was gay and ended up dating him for a while. He wasn’t the first person to make that assumption, but this time Frasier went along with it (up to a point).

On another episode, Derek Jacobi played a washed-up actor that the Crane boys had admired when they were kids. They tried to help him out by producing his one-man Shakespeare show in Seattle, only to find out that he was really a terrible actor and a complete ham. In the same episode, Patrick MacNee played Jacobi’s father.