True but how many of those were hits?
I would say that NPH is not the lead character in How I Met Your Mother. I know the show would suck without him but he is a supporting character.
and not forgetting Open All Hours
I counted only stints of 20 or more episodes. Not all of these are leading roles, but anyway…
Mark Harmon
Flamingo Road (37)
St. Elsewhere
Reasonable Doubts
Chicago Hope
Navy NCIS
Robert Stack
Unsolved Mysteries (as himself)
The Untouchables
The Name of the Game
Most Wanted
Strike Force
James Garner:
Eight Simple Rules
The Rockford Files
Nichols
Maverick
Lee Majors:
The Fall Guy
The Big Valley
The Six Million Dollar Man
Owen Marshall
John Forsythe:
The Powers that Be
Dynasty
Charlie’s Angels (voice)
Bachelor Father
Kate Jackson:
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Charlie’s Angels
The Rookies
Dark Shadows
Lorenzo Lamas:
Falcon Crest
Renegade
The Immortal
The Bold and the Beautiful
Burt Reynolds:
Riverboat
Gunsmoke
Out of This World
Evening Shade
John Laroquette
Night Court
The John Laroquette Show
Happy Family
Boston Legal
John Stamos
You Again?
Full House
Jake in Progress
ER
Jason Bateman
Little House on the Prairie
Silver Spoons
Valerie
Arrested Development
Tony Danza
Taxi
Who’s the Boss?
Hudson Street
Family Law
June Lockhart
General Hospital
Lassie
Lost in Space
Petticoat Junction
Technically, didn"t Dick Loudon turn out to be merely a dream that Dr. Hartley was having?
I think you have to define “lead.” If you mean starring role, you would get people like Ted Danson, Bob Newhart, and Lucille Ball.
Second of all you have to define “hit.” To me that would mean a top 10 show for the year. Possibly a top 20 show for the year.
Very few shows qualify for that. That would leave out Bob Newhart as the “Bob Newhart” show was never a top ten show.
In terms of top ten for the year type shows, that probably leaves Lucille Ball. She had “I Love Lucy,” “Here’s Lucy,” and “The Lucy Show.”
“How I Met Your Mother,” highest year end rating is 43. It was number 70 last year. I hardly consider that a “hit” show by any means. It just looks good because there are so few sitcoms left. Doogie Houser’s best year end rating made it 24. That is only a modest success, most of the years it was a lot lower
Other leads mentioned aren’t really leads but main characters and there is a difference.
BTW Bob Newhart had four shows, “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Newhart,” “Bob,” and another brief show from the 60s also called “The Bob Newhart Show.”
I don’t know if “Matlock” was big in the ratings but Andy Griffith seems to qualify for that and “Andy Griffith Show.”
Carroll O’Connor had “All In The Family,” and “In The Heat Of The Night,” but I guess you could argue “Archie Bunker’s Place” was a seperate series.
Also Open All Hours
If we’re including British shows, there’s always the ubiquitous Geoffrey Palmer:
As Time Goes By
The Savages
Executive Stress
The Fairly Secret Army
Butterflies
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Hot Metal
Of course, the definition of “hit” changes dramatically when considering Britcoms, since they tend not to have the longevity of American shows (to their credit, I say.) BTW, that was meant as a compliment.