JUST A FEW OF JOHN'S MANY NOTABLE GUEST-STARRING APPEARANCES!
If you count "The Dating Game" in this category, John's first guest-starring appearance came in 1967 as a "contestant"! During the ensuing 32 years, however, he has guest-starred (now invariably receiving the more prestigious - and richly deserved - credit of "Special Guest Star" or "Special Appearance By") in numerous popular TV shows; these are just a few examples.
It happens
sometimes, doesn't it? Life imitating art? When John Ritter and
Amy Yasbeck guest-starred in a 1992 episode of "The Cosby
Show" as a married couple and soon-to-be parents, who knew
that just a few years later that's exactly what they would be.
Hope the real-life event wasn't as stressful for them as it was
in the show; stressful but hilarious!
In the 2nd
season of the hugely popular cult series "Buffy The Vampire
Slayer", John played Ted,
a spooky suitor for the attentions of the heroine's mother. He
wheedled his way into Buffy's
friends' good books by baking tasty treats for them, but Buffy
wasn't buying his amiable act. She had seen a darker side to Ted.
In fact he turned out not to be human at all, but an android!
Needless to say he ultimately met his match in the vampire
slayer, but not before he had delivered a somewhat severe
punishment to her when she was rude to him. Note: This episode
attracted the biggest American viewing audience for the show up
to that point. In fact, when describing every 2nd season episode,
the reviewer for the British sci-fi magazine,
"Dreamwatch" decreed John's performance: "one of
the great performances in the series..."
I doubt the same could be
said of "Scrubs". In 2002 John took a guest role which
mystified me a little. Zach's
father wasn't an appealing character; in fact he was quite gross
and didn't get as much screen time as I would have expected,
given John's rollercoaster career in this new millenium. I can
only guess that if the series is very popular in the US, then
John decided it was worth being seen in it. While I have the
greatest respect for John and his tremendous talent, this role
was beneath him in my humble opinion.
In May 1999
John had, for the second time, a major role in a very special
episode of "Touched By An Angel" which this time
focused on racism. As the town Sheriff he found himself forced,
by local politicians, into a course of action he knew to be
wrong. The story was a powerful one, with several characters
learning more about themselves than they really wanted to admit.
Another excellent and senstive portayal by John, and one that
will undoubtedly stand out in the series.
The first
time John appeared in "Touched By An Angel" was in
1996. The episode was called 'Random Acts' and it dealt with the
disillusionment of a schoolteacher who felt he was having no
effect on the students he taught. He was a sincere, compassionate
man who had been pushed to his limit by the young people, but
when he was caught up in a mindless act of violence and almost
died as a result, he was astonished and touched to find out how
much he really meant to the students after all.
In the
1994 episode of "The Larry Sanders" spoof talk show,
John was criticised by the late Gene Siskel in an uncomfortably
'real' conversation about the movie "Skin Deep"
(although he didn't give John this bloody nose!). I believe this
particular appearance clearly demonstrates John's wonderful good
humour and his ability to send himself up.
In February
1999 John appeared in "Veronica's Closet" with series
star, Kirstie Alley. He played an ex-lover who still holds a
special place in her heart. Once a highly respected fashion
photographer, his career is on a downward spiral because of his
drinking problem. 'Ronnie' tries to help by booking him for a
special photo shoot, but 'Tim' lets her down. He has to be drunk
in order to work, and then he's no good anyway. He's unperturbed
by all this, and manages to stay sober long enough to make
'Ronnie's' partner question his own feelings for her.
In his 1999
Emmy Award nominated performance, John played 'George Madison' in
a two part 2nd season guest appearance in 'Ally McBeal'. A fickle
young lady with impossibly high expectations most of the time,
there was an immediate attraction between 'Ally' and 'George',
and the moment she saw him she promptly launched into one of her
fantasies about him (this one was particularly memorable!). Their
love was not to be, however, because 'George' was already dating
the show's resident bimbo/busybody, 'Elaine', and after the
latter pleaded with her not to steal her man (did Dolly Parton
have a hand in this script?!), 'Ally' rather uncharacteristically
denies herself the pleasure of 'George's' love in deference to
her colleague. The truly magical part of this whole story was
'George's' Wiggle Walk (above)...a movement he'd devised to help
his recurring back problem, and it was priceless! John was
adorable doing this rather strange little walk/dance in a crowded
Boston street, and viewers were treated to a brief glimpse of his
physical comedy, not seen for a while.
The
short-lived kids TV drama series Tucker
consisted of only 13 episodes, and for some reason it was not
just cancelled, but actually taken off the air before John's
guest-starring appearance in "Homewrecker For The
Holidays" was even shown! Fortunately it was shown at a
later date and thankfully, in the UK, when the series showed for
the first time in the summer of 2001, ALL episodes were shown.
John played Tucker's
'love-rat' father, Marty,
a man who, presumably reluctant to admit the onset of middle-age,
abandoned his beautiful wife along with his son and all other
responsibilities, for a young real estate agent half his age. Tucker
tried to get his parents back together in this episode, but
eventually saw the futility of his plan and realised his mother
was better off on her own than living with a charismatic, but
hopelessly irresponsible 'Peter Pan'. John was great; his
performance was funny and cute, and he looked terrific -
handsome, fit and trimmer than we've seen him in several years.
Early roles included a shell-shocked soldier in "M.A.S.H." in 1973, an armoured car driver in "Starsky & Hutch", "The Streets of San Francisco" in 1975 and two episodes of "Hawaii Five-O" in 1971.
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| Mash 1973 | Mash 1973 | Streets of S/Francisco | Hawaii Five 0 | The Loveboat | Starsky & Hutch | Donny/Marie 99 |
In 1977 John did episodes of "The Love Boat". The photo above (5th from right) is from one (segment title "Ooooh Dale!") which had John pursuing a girlfriend on the cruise ship only to discover she was dumping him in favour of a guy with a more expensive car. Problem is, the only way John's character, "Dale" can get aboard is by posing as a woman to fill the only free place on the ship ...sharing with a jilted bride! As much as I personally dislike seeing men dressed as women - especially my favourite actors - John is very funny and, need I add...very cute (that's in the British sense of course, not the American!) The last photo in the table is from "Donny & Marie" in 1999 when John was surprised by the arrival of his favourite baseball player. It was great to see John as a 'fan' too! He was so thrilled - maybe that's why he was so nice to fans himself; he understood how it feels to meet someone you've admired for a long time.
Go to "Hearts Afire" TV Series 1992-5
Three's Company" Photo Gallery