# Long running shows with no Law & Order guest spots by cast members? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 28, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656 "2010-12-28T22:58:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/1 "2010-12-28T22:58:29Z")
The thread about actors playing characters with the same profession on multiple shows is fun, so let’s see what we can do with this topic too. Ground rules: - show in question must have been on the same time as Law and Order series (1990-2010+) - long-running = five seasons, minimum, during the years 1990-2010 (seasons before 1990 okay as long as 5 or more were post-1989\_ - no one in the cast appeared in an episode of a Law & Order franchise series. - cast is defined as all regular characters and _frequently_ reoccurring characters. For the latter, our benchmarks will be set at Newman on Seinfeld and Rose on Two and a Half Men who appeared in many episodes in different seasons, \*\*not \*\*at Wil Wheaton on Big Bang Theory level. \* all versions of Law and Order count Law & Order was on the air for twenty years and spawned several spin-off series (L&W: Special Victims Unit; L&W: Criminal Intent; L&W: Trial by Jury; L&W: UK, L&W: LA) most of which are still on the air, and over the years it seems like almost _everyone_ who is on TV has appeared in an episode. But surely there must be a few TV shows whose entire casts failed to ever land a guest spot on an Law & Order franchise episode, right? My first guess was **The X-Files** , and I’m wrong. Mitch Pileggi was in a couple of SVU episodes. My second was **Buffy The Vampire Slayer** , but I’m wrong there too: Michelle Trachtenberg was in an episode as a tiny kid. So, my third and final guess was **Angel** … and Amy Acker was on an episode of Criminal Intent. ☹ So, can you do better? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/2 "2010-12-28T23:06:52Z")
Off top of my head, I ELIMINATED a half dozen! (“Wonder Years”, “Boy Meets World”, “Three’s Company”, “8 Simple Rules…”, “Perfect Strangers” (BOTH leads did L&O:CI), “What I Like About You”, “Head of the Class”) ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/3 "2010-12-28T23:08:50Z")
Judith Light (“Who’s the Boss”) was a recurring character on SVU. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/4 "2010-12-28T23:15:50Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Judith Light (“Who’s the Boss”) was a recurring character on SVU. Okay, being a regular on a Law & Order wouldn’t count either. I suppose I ought to have stated that, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/5 "2010-12-29T03:00:57Z")
I thought I was going to win with _Everybody Loves Raymond_ but Doris Roberts did a guest shot on SVU two years after\* ELR \*ended. Out of the entire cast of _Friends_ you have to get to Elliott Gould (appeared in 20 out of 238 episodes) before someone has an L&O credit. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/6 "2010-12-29T03:48:36Z")
Did anyone from Seinfeld ever appear? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/7 "2010-12-29T03:55:48Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Did anyone from Seinfeld ever appear? That was my first thought. Jerry Stiller was in a couple episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/8 "2010-12-29T04:02:45Z")
I didn’t see any L&O credits among the cast of _The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air_ (1990-1996). James Avery was in both CSI and LA Law though. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/9 "2010-12-29T04:47:36Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I didn’t see any L&O credits among the cast of _The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air_ (1990-1996). > > James Avery was in both CSI and LA Law though. Jophiel, the OP limits it to the “L&O” franchise. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/10 "2010-12-29T05:09:15Z")
I know. I was just noting that I dodged a bullet in him appearing on other legal type shows. Off hand remark. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/11 "2010-12-29T05:39:25Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Out of the entire cast of _Friends_ you have to get to Elliott Gould (appeared in 20 out of 238 episodes) before someone has an L&O credit. eddie cahill, who played rachel’s assistant turned boyfriend tag jones, was in an episode of svu, but he only appeared in 7 episodes of friends so not sure if that counts ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/12 "2010-12-29T15:06:09Z")
It’s really funny - my guesses to try first were _The X-Files_ and _Buffy_ - both knocked out in the OP. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/13 "2010-12-29T15:10:49Z")
Did anyone on 3rd Rock from the Sun ever appear in L&O? ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/14 "2010-12-29T15:33:40Z")
Stargate. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/15 "2010-12-29T15:51:10Z")
I was gonna say Full House. And I woulda gotten away with it too if it hadn’t been for meddling Bob Saget and his single episode of SVU. However, I do have one. Blossom! Nary a single person associated with the Law & Order franchise. Ironically, however, David Lascher who played Blossom’s boyfriend in the later seasons was in a TV series called A Family for Joe and that had an episode titled Law and Order. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/16 "2010-12-29T17:41:34Z")
I thought I had a winner with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and had cleared several of the cast members when I came to Colm Meaney who appeared in a single episode of Criminal Intent. Curses! ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/17 "2010-12-29T17:57:10Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Did anyone on 3rd Rock from the Sun ever appear in L&O? Not in the main cast but it gets down to Ileen Getz, who appeared as Dr. Judith Draper in 32 episodes spread out over every season of the shows run. So I think that is disqualified by the OPs rules. She appeared in 1 episode of SVU. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/18 "2010-12-29T18:15:55Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > I was gonna say Full House. And I woulda gotten away with it too if it hadn’t been for meddling Bob Saget and his single episode of SVU. > > However, I do have one. Blossom! Nary a single person associated with the Law & Order franchise. Ironically, however, David Lascher who played Blossom’s boyfriend in the later seasons was in a TV series called A Family for Joe and that had an episode titled Law and Order. I was about to say Blossom wasn’t a long running show, but holy crap, it ran for five seasons. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/19 "2010-12-29T18:29:48Z")
Has anyone from The Simpsons been on Law and Order? I’m thinking if it is, it’s one of the “regular” guest stars like Kelsy Grammer or something. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656/20 "2010-12-29T18:40:22Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Has anyone from The Simpsons been on Law and Order? Hot dog, we have a weiner. None of the main cast has ever appeared on any Law & Order show, and neither have some of the most regular guests - including Kelsey Grammer. I’m really surprised. Some of them don’t do a lot of non-Simpsons work, but Hank Azaria does, for example. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-running-shows-with-no-law-order-guest-spots-by-cast-members/565656.md?page=2)