# Most prolific actor on tv-regular cast only **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202 "2026-01-30T16:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/1 "2026-01-30T16:43:45Z")
Which actor has been a regular cast member on the highest number of series? No movies, no guest starring, no mini-series. Just listed as a regular cast member. Actor, of course, means any human gender (and I hate that this still as to be said, btw), and tv series is not restricted to the U.S. of course. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/2 "2026-01-30T16:48:45Z")
He likely won’t be the thread winner, but Ted Danson has been a regular (and, in fact, a lead) in 12 different television series: - Cheers - Ink - Becker - Help Me Help You - Damages - Bored to Death - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - CSI: Cyber - Fargo - The Good Place - Mr. Mayor - A Man on the Inside ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/3 "2026-01-30T16:50:49Z")
Ted Danson was my first thought. Probably is the answer to starring roles on TV and Leads role. My guess for supporting actors is Ted McGinley or Betty White. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/4 "2026-01-30T16:51:52Z")
Definitely not limited to leads, of course. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/5 "2026-01-30T16:57:52Z")
Did you mean for this to be only live action? If so I will update the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/6 "2026-01-30T16:59:40Z")
Voice only counts also. This really makes it interesting. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/7 "2026-01-30T17:04:41Z")
Voice actors are going to top the list by far then. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/8 "2026-01-30T17:04:47Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > My guess for supporting actors is Ted McGinley or Betty White. Because I have time on my hands this morning: McGinley: 9 series - Happy Days - Love Boat - Dynasty - Married…With Children - Sports Night - Hope & Faith - Transformers: Robots in Disguise (voice role) - Shrinking - The Baxters White: 14 series (I didn’t include numerous game shows in which she was a regularly-recurring panelist) - Life with Elizabeth - Date with the Angels - The Betty White Show (1958) - The Mary Tyler Moore Show - The Betty White Show (1977) - Just Men! (a game show, but on which she was the host) - The Golden Girls - The Golden Palace - Bob - Maybe This Time - Ladies Man - Hot in Cleveland - Betty White’s Off Their Rockers - Betty White’s Smartest Animals in America ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/9 "2026-01-30T17:06:03Z")
Wow, nice. For some reason I thought Betty also would count as a regular on Mamma’s Family. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/10 "2026-01-30T17:08:48Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > For some reason I thought Betty also would count as a regular on Mamma’s Family. She appeared as a recurring character in 15 episodes, but as she wasn’t apparently a regular cast member (i.e., in most, if not all, episodes, and listed in the main cast), I didn’t include it in her list. (There were several other series like that for her, as well.) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/11 "2026-01-30T17:09:37Z")
15 appearances I think should count as it was playing the same character. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/12 "2026-01-30T17:10:45Z")
But did she appear on the cast list as a regular, or as a guest? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/13 "2026-01-30T17:12:05Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > 15 appearances I think should count as it was playing the same character. 15 appearances (I see 16 on IMDB) out of 130 episodes does not make a series regular. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/14 "2026-01-30T17:13:16Z")
For the US, **[Dee Bradley Baker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee_Bradley_Baker_filmography#Animated_series)** & **[Frank Welker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Welker_filmography#Television)** probably are the answers. Very prolific voice actors with a lot of regular roles on a lot of shows. Frank Welker is best know for Fred Jones in almost every Scooby Doo series but has dozens of other regular roles. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/15 "2026-01-30T17:13:44Z")
Because…? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/16 "2026-01-30T17:15:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But did she appear on the cast list as a regular, or as a guest? Youtube has the intros for [Season 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP3Y96pc3zc) and [Season 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zuT-oFPLU8) (accounting for all but one of her appearances), and no, she’s not listed in the “regular” cast in the intros. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/17 "2026-01-30T17:17:15Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > 15 appearances (I see 16 on IMDB) out of 130 episodes does not make a series regular. Fourteen of those fifteen appearances were in the first two seasons (when it was on NBC; the remaining four seasons were syndicated), but as I noted just now, she’s not named in the main credits. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/18 "2026-01-30T17:21:59Z")
I am glad that, because they are nowhere near the top of the list, I don’t have to make a ruling on Jonathan Harris or Kurt Kasnar. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/19 "2026-01-30T17:23:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Because…? In relation to voice actors? It’s acting, and it’s not excluded in your OP. And, yeah, prolific voice actors probably have a very large number of roles as regulars on animated television series. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202/20 "2026-01-30T17:27:19Z")
I was asking “Because” I was hoping for lists of shows they were regulars in. According to the singular title, “There can be only one!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-prolific-actor-on-tv-regular-cast-only/1027202.md?page=2)