20 A-list actors who had a second hit TV show

Andy Griffith was a household name throughout the 1960s thanks to his starring appearance in the show that bears his name, The Andy Griffith Show. Folksy and charming, he was the epitome of a small-town dad. In the 1980s and 1990s, he once again became a beloved face on television thanks to a similarly folksy character, this time Ben Matlock, a Southern defense attorney. Griffith was one of those actors who knew how to make the most out of his considerable gifts, so it makes sense that he would be fondly remembered by many.

Allison Janney is one of those actresses who shines in any role in which she appears. Even so, her success on the small screen has been remarkable. There’s no question that her breakthrough came as a result of her role in The West Wing, in which she portrayed C.J. Cregg. However, she would go on to become one of the best things about the series Mom, in which she played the recovering addict Bonnie Plunkett, arguably the most complicated and nuanced character she’s ever portrayed. 

Idris Elba has repeatedly shown that he has what it takes to succeed on both the big and small screens. No one could ever forget, for example, his star-making turn in the series The Wire, widely regarded as one of the best TV shows ever made. Elba has never been one to rest on his laurels, however, and he has gone on to appear in a number of other successful films and TV series, most notably Luther, in which he portrays the title character.

Mary Tyler Moore is one of those actresses who is almost universally beloved. It’s easy to see why this would be the case, since she appeared in two acclaimed sitcoms. In the first, The Dick Van Dyke Show, she played Laura Petrie, and Moore had undeniable chemistry with her co-star. It was really with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, though, that she became a household name, and she came to represent a particular kind of 20th-century woman, one who didn’t need a husband and family but was instead committed to her profession. 

Ron Howard is a true Hollywood legend, having transitioned from a TV star to a noted director. He first rose to fame as a result of his role as Opie in the beloved sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, and then went on to star in another series that became a classic of the genre: Happy Days. Though Howard would ultimately leave the series after the seventh season — it would ultimately run to eleven total — most would agree that its best days were when Howard was a key member of the cast.

Jean Smart is currently one of the most beloved women in television, and much of this popularity can be attributed to her dynamic, electric, and pageant performance as aging comic Deborah Vance in the hit series Hacks. Long before she starred in that show, however, she stole audiences' hearts as the sweet-natured Charlene in Designing Women. These two roles reveal Smart’s remarkable versatility as an actress, and she is capable of drawing tears and laughs aplenty out of her fans, both old and new alike.

Danny DeVito is one of those actors who can seemingly do anything. In addition to acting and directing in films, he’s also appeared in not one but two successful TV series. The first, Taxi, in which he played the abrasive dispatcher, Louie De Palma, ran from the late 1970s into the 1980s. The other, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is still going as of 2025. In It’s Always Sunny, he plays uncouth Frank Reynolds and, ever since he joined the show in its second season, he has been a key part of the ensemble, helping this odd sitcom to become the classic it is today.

Those who grew up in the 1990s fondly remember Christina Applegate’s performance as Kelly Bundy in the raunchy sitcom Married…with Children. Though she remained a consistent presence throughout the subsequent decades, it wasn’t until she started starring in the sitcom Dead to Me that she once again found a role that was worthy of her talents. She would be nominated for several awards for her performance in the latter series, including several Primetime Emmys, and she has subsequently stepped back from most acting projects due to her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.

It’s not every actress who can be a major star in three separate sitcoms, but that’s exactly what Julia Louis-Dreyfus has managed to achieve. After achieving stardom in Seinfeld as Elaine, she would go on to headline The New Adventures of Old Christine, before starring as the ambitious but chronically inept (and unlucky) Selina Meyer in the acidic comedy Veep. The latter catapulted her into the realm of a TV superstar, and she received numerous Emmy nods and wins during her time on the series.

Bryan Cranston is, in many ways, the epitome of a versatile actor. Having achieved fame and popularity by appearing in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, he went on to become even more acclaimed thanks to his depiction of high school teacher turned meth cook and drug lord Walter White in Breaking Bad. It’s not everyone who could thrive in both a sitcom and a gritty drug drama, but Cranston more than delivers, and he followed this up with yet another acclaimed performance in Your Honor. 

It’s not every child actor who can make the transition to adult stardom with grace, but Neil Patrick Harris definitely pulled it off. Starting in the late 1980s, he achieved fame for starring as teenage prodigy Doogie Howser in the series of the same name, after which he appeared in a number of roles. Beginning in the 2000s, however, he would once again achieve sitcom success thanks to his role of lothario Barney Stinson on the long-running sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Michael J. Fox has had a remarkably successful career in Hollywood, having appeared in numerous successful films. However, he’s also been successful on the small screen, and in the 1980s, he became famous for appearing in the sitcom Family Ties (as well as for, of course, Back to the Future). Although he continued to appear in films throughout the 1990s, he would once again achieve significant fame for his role in the series Spin City, although he ultimately departed the show in part due to his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. 

Along with Betty White, Lucille Ball is one of those women who were foundational to the medium of television and the sitcom in particular. Ball is obviously most famous for starring in the foundational sitcom I Love Lucy, but she also appeared in a number of other notable TV series. Of these, the most successful was arguably The Lucy Show, which, for its first three seasons, also starred Vivian Vance, famous for her own appearance as Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy.  

For kids who grew up in the 1990s, Ed O’Neill was most recognizable as Al Bundy on the raunchy sitcom Married…with Children. For those who grew up in the 2000s and 2010s, however, he was most associated with his role of Jay Pritchett in Modern Family. In both cases, he plays a bit of a grump, but such is O’Neill’s charisma that one can’t help but love his characters even if, as in Al’s case, they happen to be jerks. O’Neill knows how to make use of his considerable gifts as a comic actor. 

The late Bob Newhart was a staple of the 1970s and 1980s, thanks to his appearances on two shows that bear his name. In the first, The Bob Newhart Show, he plays psychologist Dr. Robert Hartley, while in the second, Newhart, he plays Dick Loudon, a New Yorker who ends up moving to Vermont to run an inn. Newhart’s rather droll approach to comedy was key to the success of both series, and their longevity (six and eight seasons, respectively), demonstrate his remarkable appeal on the small screen.

Kelsey Grammer’s rise to fame began when he appeared as Frasier Crane on the hit series Cheers. When he went on to star in the series that focused exclusively on this character after he moved back to Seattle, where he reconnects with his father, Marty, and brother, Niles, he became a true household name. Frasier remains a beloved series, so much so that it even landed its revival, which would last for a further two seasons. Frasier certainly remains one of the most beloved sitcom characters. 

If there’s one woman who can be said to be the first lady of TV, it would have to be Betty White. This formidable actress was there from the medium’s beginnings, and she would go on to appear in a number of successful series. She hit her stride when she started starring in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and became even more successful in The Golden Girls, where her take on Rose Nylund made her especially beloved. In the 2010s, however, she would become even more beloved as a result of appearing in the sitcom Hot in Cleveland. Few sitcom actresses have ever achieved her level of success. 

Given just how charming and charismatic Kristen Bell has always been, it’s not surprising to find her racking up quite a few successes on the small screen. In addition to Veronica Mars, she would go on to be one of the central characters in the beloved sitcom The Good Place, in which she plays Eleanor Shellstrop, who believes she’s been sent to the Good Place by accident. Not content with this, she has also gone on to appear in yet another successful series, Nobody Wants This, which became a streaming success on Netflix. 

Ted Danson is truly a maestro when it comes to TV series. This is a man, after all, who not only led Cheers, one of the most successful and beloved sitcoms of the 1980s, but would then go on to appear in a wide variety of shows. Although he appeared in many series during the 1990s and 2000s, it was arguably his role as the demon who makes good, Michael, in the thought-provoking and poignant sitcom The Good Place, that helped solidify his place in the ranks of great sitcom actors.  

Bea Arthur was one of those actresses who could seemingly do it all, having appeared in movies, TV, and on the stage. However, she’s best known for being in two major TV series, Maude and The Golden Girls. Both were truly groundbreaking, demonstrating that women over forty could be main characters and could carry a sitcom on their backs. Both Maude and Dorothy Zbornak are women who aren’t afraid to speak their minds, and Arthur imbued both of them with the same steely grit for which she was known in real life.