# Primetime American Television Superstars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725 "2023-04-15T21:04:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/81 "2023-04-25T21:11:45Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > James Garner? Maverick and Rockford and I don’t know what else. Nichols, but only one season. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/82 "2023-04-25T21:16:53Z")
If it weren’t for the ‘primetime’ disclaimer, Eric Braedon would be right up there. He has played ‘Victor’ on the Young and the Restless for over 4,000 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/83 "2023-04-25T21:53:44Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > He’s been very lucky. Most people don’t get as many shows as him and almost everything he has done has run 5+ seasons. One thing that sets Boreanaz apart is how steadily he’s worked. He went right from _Buffy_ (3 years) to _Angel_ (5 years) to _Bones_ (12 years) to _SEAL Team,_ (6 years and counting) with virtually no downtime between them. There hasn’t a single year since 1997 - over a quarter of a century - in which David Boreanaz hasn’t starred in a long-running prime-time series. Can any other actor boast that kind of run? ---
**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:** [April 25, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/84 "2023-04-25T21:59:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Can any other actor boast that kind of run? I had thought of Lucille Ball, but it looks like there was a two-year gap between the conclusion of _The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour_ (the series of specials that was an irregularly-scheduled continuation of _I Love Lucy_) in 1960, and the beginning of _The Lucy Show_ in 1962. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/85 "2023-04-25T23:03:28Z")
Michael Landon went from 1959 to 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/86 "2023-04-26T00:04:21Z")
You are quite correct, very impressive. Is David Boreanaza about to break this record? He’s about 3 years away, though he wasn’t exactly the lead of Buffy. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/87 "2023-04-26T00:12:42Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@Alessan](#): > > > > Can any other actor boast that kind of run? > > I had thought of Lucille Ball, but it looks like there was a two-year gap between the conclusion of _The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour_ (the series of specials that was an irregularly-scheduled continuation of _I Love Lucy_) in 1960, and the beginning of _The Lucy Show_ in 1962. Which was immediately followed by _ **Here’s Lucy** _, which ran from September 1968 to March 1974. ---
**Author:** ![DoubleG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@DoubleG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoubleG)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/88 "2023-04-26T01:21:20Z")
Ed O’Neill 260 episodes of Married With Children 250 episodes of Modern 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:** [April 26, 2023, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/89 "2023-04-26T05:04:44Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Which was immediately followed by _ **Here’s Lucy** _, which ran from September 1968 to March 1974. Yup; except for that two-year gap, she was the star of a major TV comedy series from 1951 until 1974. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/90 "2023-04-27T01:52:12Z")
Here’s one no one would have thought of: Sharon Gless 71 episodes of Switch The final season of House Calls, replacing Lynne Redgrave Cagney and Lacey Not to mention long-running roles on USA’s Burn Notice and Showtime’s Queer as Folk. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/91 "2023-11-26T13:58:38Z")
Bea Arthur Maude (All In the Family spin off, wasn’t it?) Golden Girls ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/92 "2023-11-26T17:14:53Z")
Under the name of Hans Gudegast, he also made something of a career playing Nazis and other such nasty types in _ **Combat!** _, _ **The Rat Patrol** _, _ **Mission: Impossible** _, and Lord knows what else. Central Casting must have loved him! ---
**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:** [November 26, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/93 "2023-11-26T22:58:16Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > You are quite correct, very impressive. Is David Boreanaza about to break this record? He’s about 3 years away, though he wasn’t exactly the lead of Buffy. His current show is ending with this next season. I’m not sure how many episodes. The previous season only had 10 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/94 "2023-11-26T23:06:18Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > His current show is ending with this next season. I’m not sure how many episodes. The previous season only had 10 episodes He has really had stunning success on television. Not unmatched, but even if you exclude Buffy, he was on Angel for 5 seasons, Bones for 12 seasons, and Seal Team for 7 seasons. That is 22 straight seasons of being a lead, though I am allowing for a gap in there if there was a year or two where he wasn’t in a show. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725/95 "2023-11-27T03:52:48Z")
Anyone mention Carroll O’Connor? (if so, I missed it) 206 - **All in the Family** 97 - **Archie Bunker’s Place** 146 - **In the Heat of the Night** Doesn’t meet OP’s requirements of Live Action or Comedy but Ed Sullivan hosted 1048 episodes of **The Ed Sullivan Show** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primetime-american-television-superstars/982725.md?page=4)