21 actors who succeeded on hit TV shows multiple decades apart

In many ways, Ed O'Neill was the complete opposite of every TV dad that came about in the late ‘80s when he debuted on one of Fox Network’s flagship shows, Married… with Children in 1987. For a decade, fans were enamored with his gruff exterior, his lackluster job as a shoe salesman, and his disinterest in all things family. People thought that was it for O’Neill until he appeared as the patriarch of Modern Family in 2009, where he played Jay Pritchett for 11 seasons. While Married... with Children was his first, and he did receive one Golden Globe nomination for the role of Al Bundy, it wasn’t until Modern Family that the veteran actor received numerous awards for his mantel.

The world knew Kim Fields as Tootie thanks to her time on The Facts of Life, but in 1994, she was reintroduced as Regine on Living Single. It was the first hit series of the ‘90s about a group of friends living in New York City, and Fields’ Regine was the fashionista of the crew. After Living Single wrapped in 1998, Fields went on to appear in several shows, including The Drew Carey Show, Kenan & Kel, and even as herself on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. However, it wasn’t until 2021 that she stepped back into the sitcom realm on the popular Netflix show, The Upshaws, opposite Mike Epps and Wanda Sykes.

Some actors just know what their wheelhouse is, and for Noah Wyle, that is medical dramas. He was the young gun in ER when it ended in 2009. By 2025, he’d become one of the internet’s biggest obsessions as the head doctor on The Pitt. For those who don’t love math, that’s 16 years between stepping in and out of scrubs for the small screen.

Women in the workforce were a huge aspect of ‘80s TV. Shows like Family Ties and The Cosby Show highlighted professionals in journalism and medicine, while others, such as Cagney & Lacey, were putting females in the police force in the spotlight. One of the titular roles, Cagney, was played by Sharon Gless. She took over the role in the second season and played the detective until 1988. It would be a long time, and a whole new century, before Gless was back on TV in a major way. In 2000, she played the proudest mother in PFLAG on Showtime’s Queer as Folk.

The late, great John Ritter was a master of physical comedy when he starred as Jack Tripper in Three’s Company. The risque-for-its-time show came to an end in 1984 with Ritter continuing his character’s journey in the spin-off, Three’s a Crowd, for one season. Even with the continuation, Ritter wouldn’t get another hit series for 17 years when he went from swinging bachelor to all-American dad in 8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter.

Blossom is forever one of the most quintessential ‘90s shows. The funky dance intro, the “very special episodes,” and the star power of a then 16-year-old Mayim Bialik. She famously left acting for a minute to focus on her education. After graduating from UCLA and accomplishing things in the real world, she decided to step back into the limelight in the biggest way possible. In 2010, she popped up on The Big Bang Theory at the end of season three and continued to star in the CBS juggernaut for the remainder of its 12-season run in 2019.

One of the greatest to ever be, the world lost Andre Braugher in 2023, but before that, he was a true gem of the silver screen. He played Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Street for six seasons and even won an Emmy for the role. After leaving that show in 1998, he garnered even more critical acclaim on Men of a Certain Age. However, that show only lasted a couple of seasons. Then, in 2013, Braugher helped Brooklyn Nine-Nine become one of the most beloved comedies of the 21st century.

Some know Valerie Bertinelli only as a former host on Food Network, but before that, she was a child star in the ‘80s on the original One Day at a Time. That ended in 1984, and Bertinelli wouldn’t have another sitcom hit until she struck gold in 2010 with a few other TV icons on Hot in Cleveland.

John Goodman was Dan Conner for 10 seasons of Roseanne’s original run, which ended in 1997. In 2019, Goodman became the head of a new family that was very much the opposite of the Conners on The Righteous Gemstones.

The X-Files took sci-fi to new levels in the ‘90s, but when it ended in 2002, the world said goodbye not only to the show but also to seeing Gillian Anderson weekly as everyone’s favorite skeptic, Dana Scully. She would go on to appear on Hannibal and The Fall, but in 2019, she became everyone’s favorite sex therapist on Netflix’s Sex Education.

For a minute, it seemed like Neil Patrick Harris was going to be one of those former child stars who remained employed but never really got another huge hit after Doogie Howser, M.D. ended in 1993. However, Harris got that second wind in 2005 as Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother. Now that was legend — wait for it — dry.

Queen Latifah is a Jill of all trades with her career spanning music, acting, and hosting. When it comes to acting, she led the pack on Living Single until 1998 and then went on to deliver on the big screen in movies like Chicago, The Perfect Holiday, and Girls Trip. So it wasn’t like the world wasn’t seeing her around, but she landed back on TV in 2021 as the star of The Equalizer, which ran for five seasons.

Ask a millennial about The O.C. and Adam Brody’s impact and expect an hour-long explanation. The Fox series came to an end in 2007, but that generation held onto hope that one day Adam Brody would return, and in 2024, he did in Netflix’s Nobody Wants This. Turns out, everybody wanted it, as it was one of the most talked-about new series that year.

Suzanne Somers left Three’s Company before the show officially wrapped to focus her efforts elsewhere in 1981. She worked here and there, but it wasn’t until a decade later that she got her next big hit with Step by Step, a show that was crucial to the TGIF lineup on ABC.

William Shatner has been acting since the 1950s, but it wasn’t until 1966 that he got his first iconic role on Star Trek as James T. Kirk. That series only lasted until 1969, but Shatner would continue as Captain Kirk for decades. Shatner would also go on to do countless other things, including starring in not one, but two hit series decades apart T.J. Hooker in 1982, and Boston Public in 2004.

Jessica Biel famously made headlines when she opted to leave the wholesome TV series 7th Heaven after six seasons. She’d head back to her TV family a few times more, but her time as a series regular was over in 2003. After years of being in movies and marrying a Tiger Beat heartthrob, she earned praise and a Golden Globe nomination for her role in The Sinner, an anthology series that premiered in 2017.

Home Improvement was a hit for a number of reasons. For one, it had Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the crush of almost every girl in the early ‘90s. It also introduced the world to Tim Allen, a standup comedian turned TV dad who was always one second away from the emergency room. During Home Improvement’s eight-season run, Allen found himself to be a movie star as well, so when the show ended in 1999, he wasn’t hurting for work. The Santa Clause movies and Toy Story sequels kept him busy. He did, however, find his way back to TV in a role similar to Home Improvement in 2011 on Last Man Standing, which went on for nine seasons.

Betty White, a true American treasure, was one of the delightful divas who made up The Golden Girls. Really, Rose Nylund was all White could have ever done, and the world would’ve been satisfied. However, the beloved actress did so much more before and after the show ended in 1992, including a very short-lived continuation, The Golden Palace. Of course, she was already a household name and had solidified herself in Hollywood, but it didn’t hurt that she got one more huge hit under her belt in 2010 with Hot in Cleveland.

The ‘90s were very much about letting young actors lead shows that just weren’t destined for the Disney Channel. The WB was especially good at marketing to the teen and tween market with shows like Popular, Dawson’s Creek, and Smart Guy starring Tahj Mowry. Mowry played the titular brainiac for three seasons until the show wrapped in 1999. It would take a second, but Mowry was back on TV in a big way with Freeform’s Baby Daddy in 2012, which ran for six seasons.

There are two particular sets of Kate Mulgrew fans. There are those who know her as Star Trek: Voyager’s Kathryn Janeway, which she played for several seasons, and those who know her as Red, the mama bear of the series that really put binge-watching and Netflix on the map for many, Orange is the New Black, which premiered in 2013.

It doesn’t feel like there has ever been a time in modern history when Danny DeVito wasn’t around in some capacity. He was part of one of the best ensembles on Taxi, which ended in 1983. He then did a ton of movies, including Matilda, Twins, Get Shorty, and so many more. He’d long since solidified himself in entertainment, but not ready to hang it up quite yet, he joined the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in 2006 as the show entered its second season, and he’s been there ever since.