# Let's talk about great one-off characters on fictional TV series with continuing casts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599 "2010-08-08T14:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [August 10, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/121 "2010-08-10T17:46:56Z")
Wayne Brady as James Stinson, Barney’s younger, gay, married, Afrixan American brother. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/122 "2010-08-10T18:14:03Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Wayne Brady as James Stinson, Barney’s younger, gay, married, Afrixan American brother. …whose marriage Barney opposed, not because he had a problem with gays, but because he had a problem with _marriage_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/123 "2010-08-10T18:15:42Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@Raguleader](#): > > > > Ah, I remember him. I remember when I saw the episode as a kid, I thought he was a jerk, and watching the show years later… he’s still kind of a jerk, but at least you understand that he’s not acting that way just to be mean.😃 > > I don’t think he was jerkish at all. All the jerkishness was on Riker’s side, and I always suspected Riker was motivated (perhaps subconsciously), by pique at not being chosen captain after Picard left. I can definitely see that. I can’t recall, was that episode before or after it was revealed that Riker had turned down three offers for his own command? ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/124 "2010-08-10T19:04:09Z")
**The Young Ones** had four in one episode: Lord Monty - Hugh Laurie, Lord Snot - Stephen Fry, Kendal Mintcake - Ben Elton, & Miss Money-Sterling - Emma Thompson ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/125 "2010-08-10T19:16:49Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > I don’t think he was jerkish at all. All the jerkishness was on Riker’s side, and I always suspected Riker was motivated (perhaps subconsciously), by pique at not being chosen captain after Picard left. > > I can definitely see that. I can’t recall, was that episode before or after it was revealed that Riker had turned down three offers for his own command? After. He turned down a captaincy before the series began; he turned down a second during the second season, and implicitly turned down a third during the Borg War. (Admittedly, if he’d accepted that one he’d have been space dust.) And then was shocked–SHOCKED!–that both Janeway & Sisko, technically junior to him, made captain before he did. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/126 "2010-08-10T19:40:13Z")
re: Gandolph Fitch If you guys who don’t know who he is care to learn, (and you should!) then watch The Rockford Files episodes [The Hammer of C Block](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0688071/) and [Just Another Police Wedding](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0688016/) (which also starred Louis Gossett Jr.). ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/127 "2010-08-10T19:47:25Z")
Brad Pitt and Sean Penn on “Friends.” Madonna on “Will and Grace.” Oh! Also, Chrissy Hynde on “Friends!” ---
**Author:** ![slitterst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@slitterst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slitterst)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/128 "2010-08-10T19:47:45Z")
[The Shoe Fairy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDaszN9ByxM) from Sesame Street. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/129 "2010-08-10T20:15:34Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > WKRP had a bunch of these, aside from the aforementioned Scum of the Earth. Little Ed the Preacher, Hoyt Axton, Jennifer’s perfect boyfriend “Steele,” Bobby Boogie, Del from Del’s Stereo and Sound, etc. Also Bucky Dornster setting up the remote in Del’s Stereo and Sound but probably doesn’t count because he returned for the softball game. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/130 "2010-08-11T01:32:33Z")
Vito Scotti as Vito Giotto, the wacky housepainter in an episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show. “Give me your walls!” Brilliant. Too bad Ernest T. Bass doesn’t fit the OP’s criteria. He’d win the thread hands down. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/131 "2010-08-11T02:01:22Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > However, she was, as far as I know, the first truly command-level female officer seen in the series. What about Christopher Pike’s first officer? Pike gets kidnapped by the Talosians, and naturally it’s his second-in-command who starts making the decisions and giving the orders. (Heck, even when Pike is back side-by-side with her, _ **she** _ keeps calling the shots upon deciding he’s doing a crap job of negotiating with the aliens.) ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/132 "2010-08-11T03:13:34Z")
Harry Morgan as crazy General Steele (“three e’s, not in row”) on MASH. ---
**Author:** ![easyt72000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@easyt72000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easyt72000)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/133 "2010-08-17T12:37:00Z")
He showed up at least twice on the show-“Andy Andy.” Jerry Van Dyke on “The Andy Griffith Show.” General Steele (as previously mentioned) “A radish will not stand in the way of victory.” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/134 "2010-08-17T13:44:51Z")
I came into the thread to nominate Frank Grimes on “the Simpsons” so I’ll just second it. Robert Culps’ “Demon With A Glass Hand” on “The Outer Limits” does not qualify as the series did not have recurring characters, but DAMN was he ever memorable! I do have one not yet mentioned: Lara Phillips as the foul-mouthed Gossamer Fairy on “Special Unit 2” was a riot. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/135 "2010-08-17T13:47:30Z")
Greg Morris on the Dick Van Dyke Show. Best five minute appearance ever. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/136 "2010-08-17T16:51:58Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > > > However, she was, as far as I know, the first truly command-level female officer seen in the series. > > What about Christopher Pike’s first officer? Pike gets kidnapped by the Talosians, and naturally it’s his second-in-command who starts making the decisions and giving the orders. (Heck, even when Pike is back side-by-side with her, _ **she** _ keeps calling the shots upon deciding he’s doing a crap job of negotiating with the aliens.) See post #16 in this thread ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/137 "2010-08-17T17:46:25Z")
Christopher Meloni as the puppet-loving pediatrician on Scrubs. I wish they’d given him a spinoff – L&O: SVU doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/138 "2010-08-17T18:23:10Z")
Chuck “The Cutman” Kimmell from SportsNight. Roseanne had a bunch of these: [ul] [li]There was an old traveling salesman who Roseanne let in the house for a drink of water – he was memorable mostly for being dead for most of the episode. The cop in that episode wasn’t bad either.[/li][li]Kevin Dunn played a needy architect named Burt Drucker in an episode.[/li][li]When Roseanne got a job at a fast food restaurant, she had an overbearing teenage boss who also needed help with his homework, named Brian.[/li][li]Mitzi McCall played an over-the-top superstitious bingo player in an episode.[/li][li]Vicki Lawrence did a turn as an old high school flame of Dan’s named Phyllis Zimmer.[/li][li]Jean Speegle Howard and Jack Murdoch played some elderly nudist neighbors.[/li][/ul] I’m sure there are more, and there are a number of great characters who appeared in two or three episodes as well (and not even necessarily in arcs, just when the writers needed them) – Joseph Gordon Levitt and Danny Masterson, notably. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/139 "2010-08-18T13:14:09Z")
You forgot Joan Collins as Roseanne’s cousin Ronnie. Trivia: Shelly Winters won an Oscar for her portral of Rose-Ann D’Arcey in _A Patch of Blue_. Decades later, she would play Nana Mary on _Roseanne._ ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599/140 "2010-08-18T13:42:50Z")
It might have been mentioned (I don’t think it was…) but the Interrogator from the season 4 episode “Intersections in Real Time” from Babylon 5. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-great-one-off-characters-on-fictional-tv-series-with-continuing-casts/549599.md?page=8)