# One actor, one role, many series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462 "2004-01-14T22:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462/21 "2004-01-17T03:21:51Z")
Here’s a very comprehensive list of crossovers between TV shows: [http://www.poobala.com/crossoverlist.html](http://www.poobala.com/crossoverlist.html) ---
**Author:** ![punkkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@punkkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punkkid)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462/22 "2004-01-17T03:55:01Z")
Steve Coogan played Alan Partridge in “The Day Today,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” and “I’m Alan Partidge.” I’m pretty sure he was somewhere else too- maybe another Chris Morris show… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462/23 "2004-01-17T05:54:45Z")
I think Henry (Harry) Morgan deserves some sort of honorable mention for playing in (one of?) the largest number of _different_ crossovers. Early 1950s, neighbor Pete Porter in _December Bride_ from which he was spun into his own series in the early 1960s, _Pete and Gladys_. The mid/late 1960s second incarnation of _Dragnet_ gave us Officer Gannon, who reappeared in the Dan Aykroyd pastiche of _Dragnet_ in the late 1980s as (now) Captain Gannon. The 1970s _M_A_S_H\* provided Col. Sherman Potter, who reappeared in the spinoff, _After MASH_. He also appeared as Judge Bell opposite Walter Matthau’s Harmon Cobb in the TV movie, _The Incident_, then reappeared opposite Matthau in _Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore_ and, again in _Incident in a Small Town_. The two later movies are odd: the second has the same characters appearing in the same time setting in a completely different city and state and the last one appears to have been a remake of the first, even though they were only four years apart. ::: shrug ::: ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462/24 "2004-01-17T07:43:36Z")
Don Novello has trotted out [Father Guido Sarducci](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0637038/) so many times that I’d risk carpal tunnel syndome if I tried to type them all in a single post. But here’s a list of ten shows he’s played that character on: 1. Tales of the City 2. La Pastorela 3. Saturday Night Live 4. Making Tutti 5. Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abramowitz 6. Gilda Live 7. Sin City Spectacular 8. Married . . . With Children 9. Blossom 10. It’s Garry Shandling’s Show Note: All of the above were produced for television; there are no theatrical-release movies to flesh out the list. Another note: Not all of the shows on my list are, strictly speaking, series; some appear to be comedy/variety specials. Still, anybody want to try to top him? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462/25 "2004-01-17T14:23:02Z")
I happened to catch Diagnosis Murder last night and Mike Connors appeared as Joe Mannix. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462/26 "2004-01-17T14:30:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Bob Newhart has played the character Bob Hartley on at least three series: _The Bob Newhart Show_, _Newhart_ (final episode) and _Murphy Brown_ (cameo with Marcia Wallace). He also sorta played the same character on a 1990s episode of _Saturday Night Live_, complete with a cameo by Suzanne Pleshette in the last scene. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462/27 "2004-01-18T02:47:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Odd crossovers: several of the doctors from > > _St. Elsewhere_ once had a drink at _Cheers_ (this was on an episode of Cheers!, not of St. Elsewhere), Kramer once got a walk-on role on _Murphy Brown_ and Sherry Stringfield’s character Dr. Susan Lewis once used the services of _Third Watch_ . CBS got into habit of crossover episodes for a while. Jessica Fletcher even joined forces with Thomas Magnum once. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462/28 "2004-01-18T05:33:22Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > While watching a rerun of _Law and Order: SVU_, it occured to me that Richard Belzer has played John Munch on four series: as a series regular on _Homicide: Life on the Street_ and _SVU_ and as a guest on _Law and Order_ and _The X Files_ (although The X Files isn’t on his IMDB listing, I don’t think I hallucinated it). > > Does anybody know of any actors who have played the same role in more than four series? Um…The X-files is in his IMDB listings. #18 under “notable TV appearances.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-actor-one-role-many-series/224462.md?page=1)