# TV characters who later appeared on a different show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062 "2018-10-16T22:11:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/1 "2018-10-16T22:11:41Z")
What TV characters can you think of that have been resurrected on another show, after their original series had gone off the air? (But not spun off onto their own show) Crossover appearances don’t count if the character’s main show was still running, such as Andy Griffith’s Sheriff Taylor appearing on _Gomer Pyle, USMC_. Spinoffs _do_ count, as long as the character in question is not the focus of the spinoff. For instance, I believe Sam, Norm, Cliff, and Lilith from _Cheers_ have all appeared on _Frasier_, but I’m not counting Frasier himself. So, whattaya got? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/2 "2018-10-16T22:19:03Z")
John Constantine seems to be showing up on _Legends of Tomorrow_. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/3 "2018-10-16T22:23:19Z")
Richard Belzer played John Munch on Homicide and then Law and Order SVU . First show was set in Baltimore and SVU was in NYC ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/4 "2018-10-16T22:31:57Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Richard Belzer played John Munch on Homicide and then Law and Order SVU . First show was set in Baltimore and SVU was in NYC John Munch also made an appearance in an episode of _The Wire_. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/5 "2018-10-16T22:33:07Z")
Ursula Buffay, the airheaded waitress on _Mad About You_, appeared on _Friends_ on several occasions. Of course, the entire reason for that was that one of the main characters on Friends was Ursula’s identical (and equally spacy, but far less evil) twin, Phoebe. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/6 "2018-10-16T22:33:16Z")
Arthur Fonzarelli appeared on the pilot to _Mork and Mindy_ (1978) one year after he jumped the shark (1977), so that kind of counts… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/7 "2018-10-16T22:35:32Z")
How about Suzanne Pleshette on _Newhart_? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/8 "2018-10-16T22:45:16Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > John Munch also made an appearance in an episode of _The Wire_. I’m pretty sure that Munch is responsible for the majority of the Tommy Westphall universe. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/9 "2018-10-16T22:54:45Z")
McCoy, Scotty and Spock all appeared on episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Technically, all of TOS crew appeared on an episode of DS:9, when Cisco et al. went back in time to The Trouble With Tribbles, but I don’t think that should count. Technically, they appeared on the other guy’s show. I hate temporal mechanics… ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/10 "2018-10-16T22:55:35Z")
Bones, Spock and Scotty all appeared in one-shot episodes of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ a good 2 decades after the original series left the air. Worf became a regular cast member on _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_ after\* Next Generation\* ended. O’Brian moved when DS9 and Next Generation were running concurrently, so I’m not sure he counts. Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex, who were originated on _Star Wars: The Clone Wars_, later became major characters in the second season of _Star Wars: Rebel_s. [ETA: Ninja’d - or maybe not - maybe I was first but a temporal anomaly makes it seem like I was ninja’d] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/11 "2018-10-16T23:07:17Z")
McCoy, Spock, and Scotty have all appeared on _Star Trek: The Next Generation_. The cast of _Next Generation_ showed up at the start of _Deep Space 9_, and the cast of _DS9_ showed up in the first episode of _Voyager_. In both of those cases, the shows overlapped, so they wouldn’t fit your criteria… but Chief O’Brien would have then been in the first episode of _Voyager_ after having been on _TNG_, and those shows didn’t overlap. Q also (I’m pretty sure) showed up in all three of those _Star Trek_s. If you count a ship as a character, then Firefly had a cameo in _Battlestar Galactica_. And Stephen Hawking has appeared on _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ and _The Big Bang Theory_. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/12 "2018-10-16T23:29:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > How about Suzanne Pleshette on _Newhart_? unless of course Newhart was just Bob’s dream on The Bob Newhart Show ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/13 "2018-10-16T23:32:49Z")
Norm, Cliff, Lilith and Frasier all appeared on _Wings_. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/14 "2018-10-16T23:50:16Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Norm, Cliff, Lilith and Frasier all appeared on _Wings_. I recall that, but if I’m not mistaken, it happened during _Cheers’_ run, which doesn’t fit my parameters. What I’m looking for - don’t ask me why; I have no real reason for this thread other than I find it interesting - is when an actor puts away a character at the end of a series, only to briefly bring it back out elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/15 "2018-10-17T00:04:26Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > John Munch also made an appearance in an episode of _The Wire_. He was also mentioned on Luther. ---
**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 17, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/16 "2018-10-17T00:16:42Z")
> [@Wolf333](#): > > He was also mentioned on Luther. He was even in an X-files episode in 1997. He exists in the X-files universe. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/17 "2018-10-17T00:17:54Z")
The Seinfeld characters on Curb Your Enthusiasm. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/18 "2018-10-17T00:22:42Z")
Carl Reiner as Alan Brady showed up on an episode of [Mad about You](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638936/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_44). That was 30 years after the _Dick Van Dyke Show_ went off the air. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/19 "2018-10-17T00:40:54Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > John Constantine seems to be showing up on _Legends of Tomorrow_. John Constantine, of the short-lived series _Constantine_, made a couple of guest appearances on _Arrow_, then became a recurring character on _Legends of Tomorrow_, and as of Season 4, is now a series regular. He even jumped networks to do it. Spike from _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ was literally resurrected as a series regular in the final season of _Angel_. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062/20 "2018-10-17T00:45:21Z")
Requires a hefty dose of fanwank speculation, but Adam Baldwin played NSA agent Col. John Casey on _Chuck_, then played a _very_ similar character on an episode of _Leverage_, NSA agent Col. Michael Vance (since we know that “John Casey” was just a code name, he could have been the same character under a new code name…) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-who-later-appeared-on-a-different-show/823062.md?page=2)