If an actor or actress guest stars on a show, has a guest appearance, or has a cameo on a show, are they doing the same thing in each case? Or are these terms not quite that synonymous, and there are differences? People seem to mean the same thing no matter which term they pick, so I’m curious if they actually mean the same thing as well.
A cameo is usually an un-credited appearance, I believe. As for guest stars v. guest appearance, I think the name says it all. A guest star is usually a focal point of the story for that episode (like when Q visited the Enterprise). A guest appearance is more like Charelton Heston (sp?) in the new Planet of the Apes. Around for a scene or two, but not critical to the entire show.
More importantly, these things can be contractual. You know, “Sure I’ll appear on your annoying little sitcom as long as I can be billed as the ‘guest star’.” (Could someone please call the punctuation mark police for me? Those quotation marks don’t look right.)
Heather Locklear was billed as a “Special Guest Star” on Melrose Place even after she became a regular on the show, because Aaron Spelling thought it would draw more attention to her character.
Billing usually reflects the size of the star, rather than the size of the role, although the opposite can be true if the star is just doing the part for the money and doesn’t want to make a big deal of it.
There are also other contractual regulations. Martin Landau was a “guest star” on the first season of Mission Impossible (the only season worth watching, BTW), even though he was in nearly every episode. Ultimately, it’s what the star’s agent can negotiate.
A cameo, though, is a short, usually uncredited, appearance.