The 20 greatest TV shows that featured athletes as cast members

During the 1946-47 and '47-'48 NBA seasons, Chuck Connors played 53 games and averaged 4.5 points for the Boston Celtics. Then, in 1949, Connors tried his hand at Major League Baseball, where he played one game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, two years later, he posted two homers and 18 RBIs in 66 games with the Chicago Cubs. Yet, Connors greatest achievement came as a Hollywood star for portraying Lucas McCain on the ABC favorite The Rifleman. A Civil War veteran, McCain was a rancher and single father during the 1880s, who could be overly protective and bossy, but someone you want on your side in any type of skirmish.

Still going strong, General Hospital is one of the few soap operas remaining on daytime television. Among the countless actors who have graced the legendary soap was John Beradino, who found acting as a second career. And, after he played 12 seasons in the majors (1939-'42, 1946-'52), mainly with the St. Louis and Cleveland. With the later, Beradino, a dependable middle infielder, was part of the club's 1948 World Series championship club. However, to millions of television fans, he's known as GH's stoic and dependable Dr. Steve Hardy, a character he played for 33 years (1963-'96). Beradino has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

Merlin Olsen was a 14-time Pro Bowler and winner of college football's Outland Trophy while at Utah State. Following his stellar football career, Olsen also enjoyed success as a color commentator for the NFL on NBC and was quite successful as an actor. Olsen's first prominent television role was as the hardworking family man Jonathan Garvey on the iconic Little House on the Prairie, where he appeared in over 50 episodes. 

A former Mr. America winner and two-time Mr. Universe champion during the 1970s, Lou Ferrigno, who has dealt with hearing loss and a speech impediment for nearly his entire life, followed his professional bodybuilding glory with a successful acting career. Most notable for playing the green-colored, monster-like alter ego of David Banner (Bill Bixby) in the television version of the Hulk on the popular CBS primetime drama series. 

For three years (1976-'79), Tony Danza more than dabbled as a pro boxer. However, he never earned any notoriety in the ring while reportedly winning eight professional fights. However, Danza found his niche in acting. Not straying too far from his real life, Danza earned acclaim on this classic ABC comedy as Tony Banta (quite the stretch on the name), a cabbie and budding pro boxer. That role, however, earned Danza a Golden Globe Award nomination and opened the door for even greater Hollywood success.

In 1981, the aforementioned Merlin Olsen left Little House on the Prairie to star in his own series. This NBC prairie/frontier drama about a man who sheltered orphans lasted just two seasons, but showcased some serviceable acting talent, including a Hall-of-Fame defensive lineman. Olsen's Little House co-star Michael Landon created and served as executive producer of Father Murphy. In 1988, Olsen starred in the short-lived NBC family drama Aaron's Way.

This iconic, multi-Emmy Award-winning serial police drama featured not one, but two, former athletes on its regular cast. Michael Warren, an All-American who won two national championships with those mighty UCLA Bruins men's basketball teams in 1967 and '68, played the suave but intense Officer Bobby Hill. Meanwhile, Ed Marinaro, who became the first college football player to rush for 4,000 career yards while at Cornell and won the Maxwell Award in 1971 before spending six seasons in the NFL, portrayed Officer Joe Coffey. A character that was initially slated to die in the show's first season, but lasted six of the seven.

The son of Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon, Mark Harmon spent two seasons as the starting quarterback at UCLA in 1972 and '73. While the Bruins achieved some modest success with the younger Harmon at the helm his true success has come as an actor. While Harmon's first extensive role came in the primetime NBC soap Opera Flamingo Road, it was as St. Elsewhere's Dr. Robert Caldwell, who drew attention for contracting HIV through unprotected sex. One of the first incidences of HIV/AIDS being featured in such a role on network TV.

A Hall-of-Fame offensive lineman with the Detroit Lions, Alex Karras made a relatively easy transition from gridiron star to Hollywood standout. He made a name for himself as an actor with co-starring roles in comedy classics such as Blazing Saddles and Porky's. Then in 1983, Karras co-starred alongside his real-life wife, Susan Clark, and budding child star Emmanuel Lewis in the popular ABC sitcom Webster. About a young boy who is adopted by his former NFL star godfather and wife following the death of his parents, Webster proved Karras had staying power as an actor.

Fred Dryer played 13 NFL seasons (1969-'81), mostly with the Los Angeles Rams. Then, shortly after the Pro Bowler, who recorded more than 100 sacks, retired from pro football, he was starring in his own crime drama on NBC. With partner Det. Dee Dee McCall (Stephanie Kramer), Dryer's Det. Rick Hunter was a much tamer version of Clint Eastwood's "Dirty" Harry Callahan. But he was entertaining enough to last seven seasons in primetime. 

Building off his success on Taxi, the aforementioned Tony Danza became a bona fide television star via this beloved ABC sitcom, as Tony Micelli, the ex-baseball player, who, in order to give his daughter a better upbringing, moved to a tony Connecticut suburb, where he served as a live-in housekeeper for advertising executive and single mom Angel Bower (Judith Light). Of course, hilarity consistently ensued and Danza was nominated for multiple Golden Globe Awards, thus etching his legacy as a sitcom superstar.

Bob Uecker is one of the great characters in the history of Major League Baseball. And that translated into an even more successful career as a broadcaster and actor. Among the many stars in those classic Miller Lite commercials, Uecker starred in this popular ABC sitcom about an American family of five with a proper English butler/housekeeper, Mr. Lynn Belvedere (Christopher Hewett). Uecker played dad George Owens, a sportswriter-turned-broadcaster, who often tried to match wits with the highly intelligent and efficient Belvedere, as well as the rest of his family.

Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus is one of the greatest players in both college and pro football history. He also enjoyed a highly serviceable acting career once his playing days ended. Among the many projects Butkus participated in was this NBC comedy about two friends, Michael (Paul Reiser) and Joey (Greg Evigan), who share custody of pre-teen Nicole (Staci Keanan), after each had a relationship with the girl's since deceased mother, and either could be her biological father. Butkus played Ed Klawicki, the likable owner of a popular diner frequented by the family during the first two seasons.

Bob Golic was one of the great defensive players in the history of college and pro football. At Notre Dame, he earned All-American honors as a member of the Irish's national championship team from 1977, and in ’78 (first team). His 479 tackles rank second in school history. In the NFL, Golic was a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection. However, to those of a certain age, Golic might be best known for his role as Mike Rogers, the resident advisor from Saved by the Bell: The College Years. The show lasted just one season in NBC primetime, and audiences never really warmed to Golic's role as the adult voice of reason.

This popular NBC Saturday morning teen sitcom about the Deering Tornados boys'  basketball team, with a female student as one of their best players, actually featured two former pro athletes. Two-time NBA All-Star Reggie Theus played Bill Fuller, coach of the squad for the show's first three seasons and had his moments of comedy success. Following Theus' departure, the aforementioned Dick Butkus played Mike Katowinski, the team's head coach. Which always seemed an odd choice, considering Butkus was a football player and didn't have a basketball frame.

Following a stint as a cast member on the failed ABC medical drama Trauma Center (1983), the aforementioned Lou Ferrigno found a recurring home on The King of Queens , the long-running CBS sitcom starring Kevin James and Leah Remini. Ferrigno played himself, along with his then-wife Carla, as next-door neighbors to the main couple. Ferrigno often found himself as the butt of jokes for his career, while also catching Doug (James) and Carrie (Remini) in embarrassing situations.

Back to Mark Harmon. As his film and television success continued after St. Elsewhere, Harmon was a regular on the medical drama Chicago Hope (1996-2000), then became a television icon, of sorts, as the firm, but relatively fair, Leroy Jethro Gibbs to kick off the mega-popular NCIS franchise. Gibbs, a former Marine sniper, runs point for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service team. The character, whom Harmon played for 19 seasons, earned Harmon a People's Choice Award.

Terry Crews saw action as a linebacker in 32 NFL games -- with the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers and Washington -- from 1991-'95. However, Crews has enjoyed far greater success as an actor. Notably, as the loving, nose-to-the-grindstone father Julius Rock on this popular sitcom is loosely based on comedian Chris Rock's life.

However, it can indeed be argued that the aforementioned Terry Crews was funnier as the perhaps even more high-strung Det. Terry Jeffords on this Golden Globe Award-winning sitcom starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher. Crew's performance on the long-running series often seemed unheralded and overshadowed by his more celebrated co-stars.

Gina Carano had her share of success as an MMA competitor, but has also earned success on both the big and small screens. She starred in the action flick  Haywire (2011), and was also part of the cast of Fast & Furious 6 (2013) and Deadpool (2016). However, Carano drew raves as special forces warrior and mercenary Cara Dune during the first two seasons of Disney+'s The Mandalorian. However, Carano was fired from the show in 2021 after making some controversial political and COVID-19-related posts on social media.