I've been watching reruns of Cheers lately, and I've been repeatedly surprised and delighted by the guest stars and character actors; some are early appearances by actors who have a few years to go before their big break, others are Broadway actors making occasional TV appearances.
There's an episode in season 8 where Woody is in a production of Our Town; his co-star, Emily, looked and sounded an awful lot like Lisa Kudrow, and sure enough, there she was in the closing credits. She was wonderful in this early role, sweetly funny and earnest - an excellent partner for Woody Harrelson's Woody.
Also in season 8, "Sammy and the Professor" had two terrific appearances by Alexis Smith and Diedrich Bader. I wasn't sure where I'd seen Alexis Smith, but Wikipedia told me she was in Follies - and I may have also been remembering her from The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, which made a big impression on me when I watched it as a kid.
And then Anne De Salvo popped up as Carla's husband's other wife - just a few weeks after I'd seen her in a rewatch of My Favorite Year - one of my favorite movies.
It's such a delight to see these faces in a new context, and then to get to learn all about their varied lives and careers through the wonder of Wikipedia. They've all done such interesting things, and I feel lucky to have gotten to see them creating these characters and making me laugh.
Photo by Tembela Bohle. Thanks, Tembela!