# Shows where “everyone” eventually had a part **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [October 1, 2023, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-eventually-had-a-part/990951 "2023-10-01T10:03:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [October 4, 2023, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-eventually-had-a-part/990951/41 "2023-10-04T13:57:01Z")
The Star Trek franchise is probably the master of this. They had guest spots weekly and a lot of self-contained stories, so much that actor portrayed multiple characters over the years. X-files had a ton of people, too. Giovanni Ribisi, Jack Black, Ryan Reynolds, Burt Reynolds, and a lot of others all appeared on X-files at some point. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-eventually-had-a-part/990951/42 "2023-10-04T14:01:22Z")
In its peak, Laugh-In was a must-do cameo for celebs. Even Dick Nixon did a one liner: “Sock it to _me_?” ---
**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:** [October 4, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-eventually-had-a-part/990951/43 "2023-10-04T14:12:16Z")
More X-files: More X-files: Bryan Cranston, Tony Shaloub, Jane Lynch, Luke Wilson, Felicity Huffman, Peter Boyle, Charles Nelson Riley, Brad Dourif, Donal Logue, Dean Norris, Mark Sheppherd, Cary Elwes, Ed Asner, Adam Baldwin… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-eventually-had-a-part/990951/44 "2023-10-04T14:35:42Z")
Not a TV show, but I’m amazed how many now-familiar faces showed up in Abbott and Costello movies Ella Fitzgerald (In _Ride 'em Cowboy_ (1942), her first screen appearance. And she sings, too) Richard Carlson (In 1941’s _Hold that Ghost_, over a decade before he was big in SF films) Bob Cummings and William Frawley in _One Night in the Tropics_ (1940) Shemp Howard (in _Buck Privates_ and _In the Navy_ and _Hold that Ghost_ and _It ain’t Hay_) Martha Raye in _Keep them Flying_ Sheldon Leonard in _Hit the Ice_ Arthur Treacher in _In Society_ Lock Martin (“Gort” in Day the Earth Stood Still; Martian in Invaders from Mars) in _Lost in a Harem_ Richard Deacon and Michael Ansara in _Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy_ and lots of others – mostly because they were already famous – Margaret Hamilton, Boris Karloff (twice), Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr, Charles Laughton. And, of course, the Andrews Sisters and other musical acts. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-eventually-had-a-part/990951/45 "2023-10-04T14:40:17Z")
Just about every celebrity has guest-starred on _The Simpsons_. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-eventually-had-a-part/990951/46 "2023-10-04T14:42:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Outer Limits** , too > > Robert Culp (3 times!) One of which was the classic _Demon With a Glass Hand_, and also starred Arlene Martel. Not a household name, but she had guest roles on every show back in the '60s and '70s. Probably best remembered as Spock’s wife, T’Pring, on _Star Trek_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-eventually-had-a-part/990951.md?page=2)