I was watching CSI the other night. One of the guest stars looked familiar; I thought to myself — hey, that looks like that woman who appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although she looked a lot older, of course. And it was her — Rosalind Chao, who appeared on 8 episodes of TNG and 19 episodes of Deep Space Nine. So then I was looking at the list of TV shows she’s appeared in on IMDB and it was quite long, including a lot of shows I’d watched and had no idea she’d appeared in (and others I haven’t watched but have heard of). The Incredible Hulk? She was in there, playing a receptionist. Diff’rent Strokes? Yes, she was in there (I had no idea). Heck, she even appeared in “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island”, which I remember watching way back when it appeared in 1981. In all, IMDB lists 77 shows she appeared in.
So, I got to thinking…which actor has appeared in the most TV shows? For the purposes of this question, appearing in multiple episodes of the same TV show counts as 1. So, if you’re George Eads, those 219 episodes on CSI count as 1.
So, while I’m sure someone at IMDB can figure this out immediately, it would be more fun to try to guess what the answer is. Anyone have any idea?
p.s. Bonus question: without looking at IMDB, which CSI actor or actress has appeared on one of the Star Trek TV series?
Ok, I found someone in more series than Rosalind Chao, at least. Martin Sheen, according to IMDB, has appeared in 123 TV series, starting with 1 episode of “Route 66″ in 1961 and most recently in 1 episode of “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” in 2007. Can anyone do better than 123? Honorable mention: Dean Stockwell has appeared in 101 series.