in terms of longevity on TV in major roles (regular cast members).
I was thinking about this while watching Bones on Netflix.
David Boreanaz has had a major role in a TV series pretty much continually since 1997 till 2016
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Angel 5 seasons
Bones 11 seasons
Walton Coggins had 7 seasons on The Sheild and 6 seasons on Justifed
Julianna Margulies has 7 seasons on The Good Wife and another 6 or 7 on E.R.
Carroll O’ Connor’s got to be in the mix:
All In The Family, nine seasons;
Archie Bunker’s Place, four seasons;
In The Heat Of The Night, seven seasons.
Kelsey Grammar. Same character, but he played it forever.
Michael Landon. Bonanza – 13 years, Little House on the Prairie – 11 years, Highway to Heaven – five years.
If you count daytime TV, there’s Don Hastings, who started out in Captain Video in 1948 and continued to perform in soap operas until 2010, with 50 years on As the World Turns.
Harry Morgan spent four years on December Bride, two years on its spinoff Pete and Gladys, three years on Dragnet, and eight years on MASH, not to mention short lived series like Hec Ramsay, the D.A. and, Black’s Magic.
Bea Benederet had eight years on Burns and Allen, four years as voice actress in The Flintstones, and six years on Petticoat Junction.
Robert Urich
Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice
S.W.A.T
Soap
Tabitha
The Lazarus Man
Spenser For Hire
Vega$
And many other short-lived TV series that I don’t feel like looking up and typing out.
Bill Bixby.
My Favorite Martian - 1963-66.
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father - 1969-72
The Magician - 1973-74
The Incredible Hulk - 1977-82
Goodnight, Beantown - 1983-84
Not to leave out more than 50 other appearances in TV episodes and made-for-TV movies from 1961 to 1993, including three Incredible Hulk movies.
Robert Young, two major TV series.
Father Knows Best - 1954-60, 203 episodes.
Marcus Welby, M.D. - 1969-76, 170 episodes.
James Arness - Gunsmoke 635 episodes
Ed O’Neill - [ul]
[li]*Married With Children *262 episodes[/li][li] Modern Family - 166 episodes and counting[/li][/ul]
Chris Noth[ul]
[li]Law & Order - 111 Episodes (+36 for L&O CI)[/li][li]Sex & The City - 41 episodes[/li][li]The Good Wife - 101 episodes[/li][/ul]
Also, Larry Hagman & Patrick Duffy (Dallas, et.al.)
Lest we forget, Betty White
Andy Griffith
The Andy Griffith Show - 249 episodes
Matlock - 181 episodes
Ron Howard
The Andy Griffith Show - 216 episodes
The Smith Family (?) - 39 episodes
Happy Days - 170 episodes + 24 episode cartoon
Arrested Development - 67 episodes
**Scott Baio **
Happy Days - 137 episodes
Joanie Loves Chachi - 17 episodes
Charles in Charge - 126 episodes
Diagnosis Murder - 41 episodes
Arrested Development - 5 episodes
See Dad Run - 55 episodes
The main cast of The Simpsons
Ted Danson doesn’t seem to have struggled to find regular series work since the early 80’s.
Daytime TV is going to be hard to beat. The only soap opera actor I could think of off hand was Susan Lucci, who, according to IMDB, played the same character for 959 episodes from1970 to 2011.
Game show hosts would also be in the running. Bob Barker hosted game shows from 1956 to 2007.
Some TV journalists might be up there. Morley Safer was on “60 Minutes” as a correspondent from 1968 to 1970 and a host from 1970 until his death this year.
William Shatner did 101 episodes of Boston Legal, 90 of T.J. Hooker, 79 of Star Trek (plus 22 playing the same character on Star Trek: The Animated Series).
Lee Majors did 112 episodes of The Fall Guy, 99 of The Six Million Dollar Man (plus a few playing the same character on The Bionic Woman), 53 of Owen Marshall, and 112 of The Big Valley
Ted Danson (mentioned above) did 84 episodes of CSI (plus 18 of CSI: Cyber as the same character), 129 of Becker, 279 of Cheers
Judd Hirsch did 114 of Taxi, 114 of Numb3rs, and 90 of Dear John
Honorable mention to Michael Dorn who played Worf on 175 episodes of ST:TNG and 102 episodes of ST: DS9.
You can’t have a list without Lucille Ball, who was on TV pretty much continuously from 1951 to 1986.
Raymond Burr had nine years as Perry Mason, eight years as Ironside, another year as the lead in Kingston Confidential and then more than two dozen Perry Mason TV movies over eight years.
Dennis Weaver was a sidekick on Gunsmoke for nine years, then had lead roles in at least six series.
Mark Harmon did 305 episodes of NCIS (plus several more episodes on related shows playing the same character), 95 on Chicago Hope, and 63 on St. Elsewhere.
William Daniels did 137 of St. Elsewhere, 158 of Boy Meets World, and 85 of Knight Rider (as the voice of K.I.T.T.)
Rene Auberjonois did 173 episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space 9, 135 of Benson, and 71 of Boston Legal.
Julie Bowen has done 166 of Modern Family and counting, 52 of Boston Legal, and 83 of Ed.
Kayey Sagal did 76 episodes of 8 Simple Rules, 260 of Married With Children, 92 of Sons of Anarchy, and 124 of Futurama (voice)
Markie Post did 64 episodes of The Fall Guy, 54 of Hearts Afire, and 159 of Night Court
Jane Curtain did 104 of SNL, 139 of Third Rock, and 122 of Kate and Allie
Gerald McRaney did 68 of Promised Land, 96 of Major Dad, and 156 of Simon and Simon
Kate Jackson did 89 of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, 69 of Charlie’s Angels, and 92 of The Rookies.
I think Dick Van Dyke should be nominated for his huge body of work, but most notably:
The Dick Van Dyke Show - 1961-66, 158 episodes.
The New Dick Van Dyke Show - 1971-74, 72 episodes.
Diagnosis: Murder - 1993-2001, 178 episodes + 5 TV movies + a back door pilot on Jake and the Fatman.
William Roache has played the same character in Coronation Street since the opening episode in 1960. To date he has clocked up 1818 episodes.
The first British actor I thought of was David Jason.
Starring roles include:
2013-2016 Still Open All Hours
2011-2012 The Royal Bodyguard
1992-2010 *A Touch of Frost *
1981-2003 Only Fools and Horses
2001-2002 *Micawber *
1991-1993 The Darling Buds of May
1988-1993 *Count Duckula *
1991-1992 *Victor & Hugo: Bunglers in Crime *
1981-1992 Danger Mouse
1989 A Bit of a Do
1984-1988 *The Wind in the Willows *
1987 *Porterhouse Blue *
1976-1985 Open All Hours
1977-1981 *A Sharp Intake of Breath *
1975-1976 Lucky Feller
1974 *The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs *
1971 *Six Dates with Barker *
1967-1969 *Do Not Adjust Your Set *
He had starring roles in a few mini series and more voice work but it’s a good mix of comedy, animation and drama for nearly 50 years. I think the only one I have ever seen was Open All Hours.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Seinfeld: 172 episodes 1990-1998
New Adventures of Old Christine: 88 episodes 2006-2010
Veep: 49 episodes so far 2012-
Betty White has done many things since 1949 on TV (and since 1945 in movies and before then if you count radio and even on TV since 1939 if you count experimental broadcasts):
I was just thinking recently how impressive Peter Krause’s career has been for someone you wouldn’t normally think of as a tv superstar:
1998-2000 Sports Night
2001-2005 Six Feet Under
2007-2009 Dirty Sexy Money
2010-2015 Parenthood
2016-??? The Catch
He has second billing in Sports Night, and then top billing for everything after that. No idea if The Catch will stick around, but even without that it’s a pretty impressive run. (It’s only around 250 episodes, but still spans almost 20 years.)