# What's the most surprised you've ever been at a (non SIMPSONS) TV guest star? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2009, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248 "2009-02-17T08:20:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/41 "2009-02-17T22:15:36Z")
Remember how Roseanne use to show outtakes at the end of every show? One scene had her getting into bed with Dan, only instead of Dan, the bed was occupied by John Goodman’s old roommate Bruce Willis. It was a hoot. The whole last season of Roseanne was revealed to be a chapter in the book Roseanne was writing about her family. Frankie Murtz (Malcolm on Malcolm in the middle) did an excellent guest shot on Criminal minds > [@wiki](#): > > In late 2007, he made a significant guest appearance in an episode of the popular and critically acclaimed CBS crime drama, Criminal Minds. The episode, entitled “True Night”, featured Muniz playing a famous comic book writer who becomes a violent serial killer that preys on a group of local gang-bangers after they force him to watch while they rape and murder his pregnant fiancee. As Prentice, one of the Quantico team said “It’s the first case I’ve had where the unsub wasn’t the bad guy.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/42 "2009-02-17T22:18:43Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Most surprised? That has to go to an episode of **Law & Order: Criminal Intent** in which the main guest star was… > > …Stephen Colbert, playing a totally straight dramatic role and doing it well. > > He’d already done **Strangers With Candy** and at the time was currently on **The Daily Show** , so I was pretty well surprised when I saw him turn up on L&O. I’ve heard about this and I’d really like to see it some time. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/43 "2009-02-17T22:43:48Z")
> [@Thalion](#): > > [The finale of _Newhart_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwYw2i2icNg), with Suzanne Pleshette. One of the greatest surprise guest-shots ever. That was fantastic! Another vote for the greatest ever guest star surprise. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/44 "2009-02-17T22:44:04Z")
James Van der Beek was also surprisingly good as a serial killer on “Criminal Minds”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/45 "2009-02-18T00:19:53Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Remember how Roseanne use to show outtakes at the end of every show? One scene had her getting into bed with Dan, only instead of Dan, the bed was occupied by John Goodman’s old roommate Bruce Willis. It was a hoot. Another cool Roseanne cameo was in a Halloween episode. Roseanne and friends went as the castaways from Gilligan’s Island for Halloween (and there was also a dream sequence). At the end the surviving castoways (Bob Denver, Russell Johnson, Dawn Wells, and most surprisingly Tina Louise- who _never_ does Gilligan’s Island functions) appeared as the cast of Roseanne, each playing whichever character had dressed as them (Mary Ann=Darlene, Ginger=Roseanne, Gilligan=Jackie, and Professor=[the stupid son-in-law Glenn Quinn played]). The Stephen Colbert episode of L&O was based on the [Salamander letter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamander_letter) forgery murders in Utah, though the religion was changed from Mormonism to Catholicism and the figure of the forgery from Joseph Smith to a dead NYC priest on the verge of sainthood and with a cultlike following. Colbert was good as the forger/murderer, but the plot was a bit contrived since it was too reminiscent of the actual event (on which of course it was not based in any way). ---
**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:** [February 18, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/46 "2009-02-18T02:34:30Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > No. > > THE greatest surprise guest-shot ever. Yup. Martha Stewart also did a guest shot on _Ellen_. This was at the beginning of the backlash when she was gradually turning from domestic diva to brass-busted business bitch. But she was genuinely relaxed in her cameo, and her final line (asked if she wanted another beer, she said “I’m gooood.”) was delivered with real comic timing. In addition to Carson’s walk-on appearance on Letterman, don’t forget Tom Brokaw’s appearance on the first Late Night on CBS. In the middle of letterman’s monologue, Brokaw walked onstage, grabbed the cue cards, announced “these jokes are the intellectual property of NBC” and walked off. The joke was that NBC had been threatening to sue CBS ever since Letterman jumped networks, claiming that all his classic bits belonged to NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/47 "2009-02-18T04:17:52Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Bob Newhart had two very successful series years apart. In his first series as a psychiatrist in an urban setting his wife was played by Pleshette. > > His second where he played an inn keeper in Vermont with a different actress for a wife lasted a few years and on its final show they ended it with a closing scene of Bob and Pleshette waking up in bed in their urban apartment and Bob telling her that he had the weirdest dream. > > Just about everybody who watched his Inn Keeper show was familiar with his previous series and so the surprise was a very powerful gag. Thank you to all who explained this!!! I knew Newhart had multiple series (I would watch them on Nick at Night…very funny) but I didn’t know the whole story. Learning…its FUNdamental! ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/48 "2009-02-18T04:33:14Z")
> [@evilhomer](#): > > The Candian sitcom **Corner Gas** has had quite a few surprising guest appearances, including: > > Prime Minister Paul Martin > Prime Minister Steven Harper > Former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson > The band The Tragically Hip > Kiefer Sutherland, and his mom Shirley Douglas (in separate episodes). > Duane “Dog” Chapman and his wife > Mike Holmes from Holmes on Homes I don’t know if it’s only in the full version, but Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has a cameo in the Robin Sparkles “Let’s Go To The Mall” video from **How I Met Your Mother** ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/49 "2009-02-18T05:13:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Frankie Murtz (Malcolm on Malcolm in the middle) That’s Muniz, actually. On guest shots on L&O, the most surprising one I can remember is only surprising when watching the series out of order. In an early episode, Jerry Orbach appeared as a slightly scuzzy defence attorney. Then, later, of course, he’s cast in a regular role as Lenny Briscoe. S. Epatha Merickson also appeared as a different character before being cast as Lt. Van Buren, but by the time I caught that episode, I’d become used to actors playing multiple characters on the show. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/50 "2009-02-18T05:48:13Z")
Palin and Cleese on SNL recreating the “Dead Parrot Sketch”. Not only because they guest starred, but because the whole SET guest starred, somehow. I can only imagine the panicked prop guy on SNL rifling through his trunks for a dead parrot et al, with the knowledge that if he can pull this off, John freakin’ Cleese will be on his stage in 20 minutes! I was never a regular SNL watcher; I consider myself terribly lucky to have been at my friend’s house while it was on in the background, and we all just happened to look at the television when the opening shot happened. “Huh,” I said. “That looks like the parrot sketch set…shoot, I hope they’re not going to do that old thing! Blasphemy. Kill it, they will, absolutely murder it…oh my god, is that John CLEESE?” 😃 ---
**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:** [February 18, 2009, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/51 "2009-02-18T06:35:16Z")
MTV’s Jackass. The back of a van opens up and a bunch of guys in gorrilla suits jump out. They run around acting like gorillas terrorizing the pedestrians. At the end they pull off their masks with their names captioned below. Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Brad Pitt. Of course thats a joke, right? Nope. The mask comes off and it is Brad Pitt. Later they show Pitt on line to buy something (I think it was movie tickets). You see the people around him talking to each other as they recognize him. Then a van pulls up and he is kidnapped in front of everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/52 "2009-02-18T14:30:25Z")
James Earl Jones being schooled by Jack McFarland on Will & Grace. It was wrong on so many levels. JEJ turns out to be an even more insecure whiny bitch than Jack. It does make sense in kind of a Raymond Burr way, but it’s still wrong to see the voice of Darth Vader do the flamboyant fairy thing. ---
**Author:** ![Mitijea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mitijea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mitijea)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/53 "2009-02-19T04:09:40Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > That’s Muniz, actually. > > On guest shots on L&O, the most surprising one I can remember is only surprising when watching the series out of order. > > In an early episode, Jerry Orbach appeared as a slightly scuzzy defence attorney. Then, later, of course, he’s cast in a regular role as Lenny Briscoe. S. Epatha Merickson also appeared as a different character before being cast as Lt. Van Buren, but by the time I caught that episode, I’d become used to actors playing multiple characters on the show. I had the same thing happen to me, but it was Vincent D’Onofrio playing some druggie in an early episode of the original series I believe, but I came in in the middle and thought it was his detective character off of Criminal Intent, so when it didn’t work out well, I was a bit confused. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/54 "2009-02-19T05:05:43Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > To flesh that out some more, the second sitcom starring Bob was shown to have been a dream for Bob’s character in his first show. This is shown by his waking up next to his first tv wife, meaning he’s really the character from the first show. Bob Newhart and his staff did a lot of misdirection beforehand, spreading rumors that Dick Loudon was going to die, and that he’d appear in Heaven before God, who’d be played by George Burns. I saw that rumor reprinted in several newspapers before I saw the actual episode. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/55 "2009-02-19T05:30:30Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Remember how Roseanne use to show outtakes at the end of every show? One scene had her getting into bed with Dan, only instead of Dan, the bed was occupied by John Goodman’s old roommate Bruce Willis. It was a hoot. > > The whole last season of Roseanne was revealed to be a chapter in the book Roseanne was writing about her family. Actually, the whole series was a fictionalized version of her characters life from the book. She switched the boyfriends/husbands of her daughters, and those plot lines went way back before that season. Jonathan ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/56 "2009-02-19T05:54:30Z")
_Friends_ had quite a few famous types in guest roles (Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, Ben Stiller, Marlo Thomas, Morgan Fairchild, Kathryn Turner, et al), but one of my favorite true cameo roles was Chrissie Hinds of \*The Pretenders \*being taught “Smelly Cat” by Phoebe. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/57 "2009-02-19T05:57:55Z")
Maybe not the best or best known, but the one I always remember was Mike Dukakis as himself on _St. Elsewhere_. He was governor of MA at the time and known locally as an avid jogger. The episode starts with him limping in wearing his sweats saying he twisted his ankle. When he gives his name, the doctor refuses to believe him and starts treating him like a deranged homeless guy. His scene ends with the doctor dumping him off on a med student with orders to “tape his ankle until his eyes bug out.” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/58 "2009-02-19T06:18:42Z")
> [@Rhubarb](#): > > _Friends_ had quite a few famous types in guest roles (Bruce Willis, Tom Selleck, Ben Stiller, Marlo Thomas, Morgan Fairchild, Kathryn Turner, et al), but one of my favorite true cameo roles was Chrissie Hinds of \*The Pretenders \*being taught “Smelly Cat” by Phoebe. Kath **leen** Turner. Chrissie **Hynde**. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/59 "2009-02-19T06:43:03Z")
I kinda liked Wil Wheaton’s turn as a crazy homeless guy on _CSI_, especially since I didn’t recognize him immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248/60 "2009-02-19T13:31:09Z")
Kathleen Turner as Chandler’s often mentioned cross dressing father. NOBODY else could have brought life to that role so successfully. Amd the dialogue between her and Morgan Fairchild as Chandler’s mother. Kathleen: Don’t you have too many years to be wearing that dress? Morgan: Don’t you have too much of a penis to be wearing that one? Chandler: It’s bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding. Morgan:I saw the groom in my dress. Kathleen: That was after the wedding, so it wasn’t bad luck. Morgan: Well, it wasn’t good luck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-surprised-youve-ever-been-at-a-non-simpsons-tv-guest-star/486248.md?page=4)