Over the years there have been some amazing television shows and, in them, some incredibly memorable characters. Some of these are played by big names brought in to help garner an audience. Every once in a while though, a relatively unknown actor will simply steal the show.
While many of these actors use their newfound stardom to transition into the world of movies, others stick around with dreams of finding another big television role to make their own. Not many are able to recapture their past successes, but there are a select few who have managed to land multiple iconic roles throughout their career.
10 Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser & Barney Stinson)
Neil Patrick Harris got his first big break in 1989 when he was given the role of the titular character in Doogie Howser, M.D. The show ran for four seasons, with NPH appearing in 97 episodes while also featuring as a guest character in several other sitcoms. He went on to act in plenty of other shows and movies, but his next big role didn’t arrive until 2005.
Harris was cast as Barney Stinson in the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Barney quickly became a firm fan-favorite — thanks in large to his many catchphrases and often ridiculous schemes and flim-flams. He appeared in 208 episodes of the show over the course of its nine season run and won several People’s Choice Awards along the way.
9 Nathan Fillion (Malcolm Reynolds & Richard Castle)
Although Firefly struggled to find its audience during its sole season on the air, it later garnered something of a cult following. Nathan Fillion played Captain Mal Reynolds in all fourteen episodes and later reprised the role for the 2005 movie Serenity which continued the show’s story. Despite demand though, a second season never came.
One of the main reasons for this prolonged dormancy was that many of the show’s cast and crew had moved on to other projects. Fillion himself had landed the lead role in Castle, which ran for eight years between 2009 and 2016. He appeared in 173 episodes during that time and picked up four People’s Choice Awards in the process.
8 Michael C. Hall (David Fisher & Dexter Morgan)
Michael C. Hall’s first big television role came in the HBO drama Six Feet Under. In it, he played David Fisher, a funeral director who worked at his family’s funeral home. Throughout the show’s five seasons, David was able to finally come to terms with his repressed sexuality as well as the death of his father — the latter of which served as the catalyst for many of the show’s events.
Hall’s next big television role also centered around death. This time, however, he was inflicting it rather than simply living with it. Dexter ran for eight seasons, with Hall appearing in all 96 episodes. Despite the series’ disappointing finale, he will be reprising the role in a 10-episode limited series that’s set to broadcast at some point in 2021.
7 Danny DeVito (Louie De Palma & Frank Reynolds)
Danny Devito has had some huge roles throughout his career, but one of his first big ones came in the 1978 series Taxi. DeVito played Louie De Palma, a cab dispatcher who served as the show’s main antagonist. It’s a role that he held onto for all five seasons of the show’s run, appearing in all 114 episodes along the way.
DeVito’s career really took off after Taxi, with big roles in Batman Returns, Junior, and Get Shorty all following. His next major role in Television didn’t arrive until 2006 when he appeared as Frank Reynolds in the FX comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He’s featured in 146 episodes of the show to date and is set to return for the show’s fifteenth and perhaps final season in 2021.
6 Tony Danza (Tony Banta & Tony Micelli)
Tony Danza actually started his career as a fairly successful boxer, with seven first-round knockouts in his 12 professional bouts. It was actually in a boxing gym where a television producer discovered him and subsequently offered him a role alongside DeVito in Taxi. He played Tony Banta, a part-time boxer who also worked as a cab driver and, like DeVito, appeared in each of the show’s 114 episodes.
Shortly after the series wrapped, Danza landed his next big role on Who’s the Boss?. He again played a character called Tony and once more featured in every episode of the show. It ran for eight seasons in total, with a total of 196 episodes produced during that time.
5 Edie Falco (Carmela Soprano & Jackie Peyton)
While the world of organized crime is generally dominated by male portrayals, Edie Falco carved out a place within it through her brilliant portrayal of Carmela Soprano. Her character survived through all eight seasons of the show and appeared in all but one of its 86 episodes. During that time, Falco won three Primetime Emmys and two Golden Globes for her work.
Falco’s next big television role came just two years later when she was cast as the lead in the Showtime comedy drama Nurse Jackie. Although not quite as impactful as The Sopranos, the show ran for almost as long. There were 80 episodes produced during a seven season run and Falco appeared in every one of them.
4 Idris Elba (Stringer Bell & John Luther)
It might not fall under the definition of “organized crime,” but Stringer Bell was certainly meticulous when it came to his criminal activities. During The Wire‘s first season, Idris Elba’s character was seen only as a lieutenant. As time passed, however, it soon became clear that Stringer was the brains behind the entire Barksdale operation. Despite only appearing in 37 of its 60 episodes, he was one of the show’s standout characters
The Wire served as a great launchpad for Elba’s acting career, leading to his appearance in a number of MCU movies, amongst other things. There was even a point when many were tipping him to be the next James Bond. His success on the big screen hasn’t stopped him from appearing on television though; his biggest role since The Wire coming in the BBC drama Luther, in which Elba played the titular character.
3 Michael K. Williams (Omar Little & Chalky White)
The Wire featured some incredibly memorable characters, but perhaps none more so than Omar Little. Played by Michael K. Williams, Omar served as a modern-day Robin Hood bringing chaos and destruction wherever he went. He was a hardened criminal, but even McNulty and Greggs found it difficult not to like him. Like Elba, Williams only appeared in about half of the show’s 60 episodes.
Williams’ next big television role came just two years later and was once again in an HBO crime drama. He played bootlegger Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire and was one of Nucky’s closest and most loyal allies. Chalky appeared regularly throughout the series’ five seasons although he was sadly killed off in the show’s antepenultimate episode.
2 Teri Hatcher (Lois Lane & Susan Mayer)
Teri Hatcher was already a well-established actress when she landed the role of Lois Lane in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, but it’s perhaps the role that she is best remembered for. She appeared in all but one of the show’s 88 episodes over the course of its four season run and later returned to the Superman universe for an episode of Smallville, this time portraying Lois’ mother Ella.
Hatcher was later cast as Paris Carver in the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies, although this is a role that she has since expressed regret at having taken. Her next big role was Susan Mayer in 2004’s Desperate Housewives. Hatcher appears in all 180 episodes and also won a Golden Globe award for her performances.
1 Bryan Cranston (Hal & Walter White)
Malcolm in the Middle is one of the most underrated television shows of all time, as well as the one in which Bryan Cranston really began to make a name for himself. He played Hal, a loveable klutz and father to the show’s titular character. Hal appeared in each of the show’s 151 episodes and is considered by many to be one of television’s best dads.
There were certainly shades of the Hal character present during some of the earlier episodes of Breaking Bad, although by the end of the show’s run, Cranston’s character was a hardened criminal. He won countless awards for his portrayal of Walter White and has gone on to appear in some big movies since the end of the show’s five season run. He also played Hammond Druthers in a handful of episodes of How I Met Your Mother, although never appeared on screen with Neil Patrick Harris while doing so.
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