TV Trifecta Game 2008

This is a complete waste of your valuable time. But it's fun.

This is a game revolving around television shows. It's a game we made up one time during a long car drive. It's a game we call

TV ACTOR TRIFECTA!

Background: There are a few actors who can come back after a successful TV show and do a second successful show. TV icons like

• Andy Griffith,
• Raymond Burr,
• Bob Newhart,
• Robert Young,
• Dick Van Dyke,
• and Mary Tyler Moore

The above guys are twofers. They all had two different, successful TV shows. We're not interested in them.

And then there are the rare actors who were regularly featured on 3 TV shows that have run a minimum of 2 seasons apiece. Some are not household names, but most TV watchers know their faces.

So, to be in the TV Trifecta, an actor has to have been a regular on series television on three TV series that lasted a minimum of two seasons apiece. I focused on American prime time live-action TV. Part one (with Shatner, Lucy, and a ten others) is here. This is more of the same, in no particular order:



James Garner

• Maverick 1957-1960
• The Rockford Files 1974-1980
• 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter 2003-2005

Garner is one of those workhorse actor guys who you'd think would be in the 3-TV-Shows club before this century. It wasn't until he came in to help out on 8 Simple Rules that he had 3 TV series.


Katey Segal

• Married with Children 1987-1997
• Futurama 1999-2003
• 8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Teenage Daughter 2002-2005

Segal is a funny comedienne. I always felt she was funnier than her material.

Harry Morgan

• December Bride 1954-1959
• Pete and Gladys 1960-1962
• Dragnet 1967-1970
  
• M*A*S*H 1974-1983

What surprised me is that his stint at Dragnet was not so very long. I thought he was on the show for something like ten years.

And, no, I don't know what Pete & Gladys was! I know it was a spin-off of December Bride. Anyway, I'm curious to see it.



Michael Landon

• Bonanza 1959-1973
• Little House on the Prairie 1974-1983
• Highway to Heaven 1984-1989

I don't know if he has some kind of record, but the guy was on your TV non-stop from 1959 to 1989, and all on NBC TV shows. And he still kept a gorgeous head of hair.

David Hasselhoff

• Knight Rider 1982-1986
• Baywatch 1989-2000
• Baywatch Nights 1995-1997

I've never watched his shows. I remember being in Germany in the late 1980s -- Hasselhoff was HUGE there. Go figure. Ditto hair.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

• The New Adventures of Old Christine 2006-2007
• Saturday Night Live 1982-2006
• Seinfeld 1990-1998

One of the funniest performers. She made zero impression on me when she was on SNL. NOt bad, not good, just nil. I think she just needed the right writers.




Gavin McLeod

• McHale's Navy 1962-1964
• Mary Tyler Moore 1970-1977
• The Love Boat 1977-1987

Gavin McLeod: Maybe the epitome of a regular looking and acting guy, who made his living playing ordinary, nice guys.

Bill Cosby

• I Spy 1965-1968
• The Cosby Show 1984-1992
• Cosby 1996-2000

Even knocking out three TV shows that did not make the minimum 2 year rule (The Bill Cosby Show 1969-1970 (The original one where he played a teacher -- released on DVD last year), Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids 1972 (IMDB lists the show as running for ONE YEAR? That's ALL they produced?), and The Electric Company 1971-1973 (Mr. Cosby did not appear in enough episodes to be a regular for 2 years)), Mr. Cosby still makes it.

Rene Auberjonois

• Benson 1980-1986
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 1993-1999
• Boston Legal 2004-2007

Another one of those guys who you've seen on TV forever!

I would like to apologize to friends who I've asked to contribute. A lot of time was wasted when they could have been actively pursuing a more fruitful and meaningful activity.