History Main / YouLookFamiliar

** Kelson Henderson was a guest star record producer as well as the bumbling sidekick on a children's television show during ''Dino Thunder'' , and then followed that with regular roles (two ally, two enemy, all bumbling) in the next four seasons: Boom in ''[[Series/PowerRangersSPD S.P.D.]]'', Phineas in ''[[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Mystic Force]]'', Norg in ''[[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Operation Overdrive]]'', and Flit in ''[[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Jungle Fury]]''. Justified as both Phineas and Norg involved heavy makeup, and Flit was just a voice role (except for the finale, but even then his face was hidden by sunglasses and a hat).

** Kelson Henderson was a guest star record producer in ''Dino Thunder'', and then followed that with regular roles (two ally, two enemy, all bumbling) in the next four seasons: Boom in ''[[Series/PowerRangersSPD S.P.D.]]'', Phineas in ''[[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Mystic Force]]'', Norg in ''[[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Operation Overdrive]]'', and Flit in ''[[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Jungle Fury]]''. Justified as both Phineas and Norg involved heavy makeup, and Flit was just a voice role (except for the finale, but even then his face was hidden by sunglasses and a hat).

* Jonathan Winters played Mindy's aunt on ''MorkAndMindy'' a couple of years before joining the cast as Mearth
* MadeInCanada
** A Film/Theater professor in an earlier episode later is seen as reoccurring character as the gay actor who plays the parson from Beaver Creek.
** Gordon Pinsent appears as Walter Franklin, the lead actor of Beaver Creek who dies in season 1, and [[spoiler:the business owner who buys and shuts down Pyramid]] in the very last episode.

* Don't forget ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' again, where Harry Morgan so impressed the producers as loony General Steele that they asked him back to be the new CO of the 4077th, Colonel Sherman T. Potter!

* ''[[{{MASH}} M* A* S* H]]'' did this repeatedly, especially with Korean or Chinese characters, and also with nurses, especially in the early seasons where the nurses were referred to randomly as "Nurse Able" or "Nurse Baker".
** Richard Lee-Sung appears in ten ''[[{{MASH}} M* A* S* H]]'' episodes between 1974 and 1982, and in two episodes of the spinoff series ''Trapper John MD'' in 1979 and 1982. In most of the episodes his name appears in the credits as "Second Korean", "Farmer", or "Korean Man" - a local who enters the 4077th base for trading. In the season 4 episode "Dear Mildred" he is Cho, in the season 5 episode "Bug Out" he is "Cho Man Chin". But in the season 6 episode "The Smell of Music" he is Sang Nu and in the season 8 episode "A Night at Rosie's" he is Ham Kim.
** Soon-Tek Oh appears in five ''[[{{MASH}} M* A* S* H]]'' episodes between 1975 and 1982, each time playing a different person. (His name is variously spelled Soon-Teck Oh and Soon-Taik Oh in credits: this editor has preferred the spelling that appears on IMDB.) In the season 3 episode "Love and Marriage" he is Mr Kwang, an O.R. orderly. In the season 4 episode "The Bus" he reappears as a North Korean soldier. By the season 5 episode "The Korean Surgeon" he is Dr. Syn Paik, a wounded North Korean prisoner of war. In the season 8 episode "The Yalu Brick Road" he recapitulates his role in s4 as a North Korean soldier anxious to be captured by Hawkeye and BJ. In the season 11 episode "Foreign Affairs", he is Joon-Sung, a South Korean interpreter working for the Americans.

** James Cromwell appeared as a heavily makeupped alien stationed on Terok Nor in "Birthright, Part 1" (his face was covered up, but his distinctive voice was very recognizable) three years before he was cast as the central character Dr. Zephram Cochrane in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact''.

* Tahj Mowry played three different characters on his sisters' show, ''SisterSister'', including a character from his ''own'' show, ''SmartGuy'' (making this a YLF, [[IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine Old Friend]], and CrossOver all in one.)

* MichaelDorn was already a regular as Worf for two seasons on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' when he made a minor appearance in ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', where he played a Klingon defense attorney who makes a futile attempt to argue on Captain Kirk's behalf during his mock trial in Klingon captivity.

!!Examples:

'''Occasionally a guest actor will return as a different regular character. Examples include:'''

[[folder:Live Action Drama]]

[[folder:Live Action Comedy]]

'''Meta Examples:'''

[[/folder]]

* Main cast members of ''{{Reno 911}}!'' frequently play one or more supporting roles in the same episode in which their main character also appears. This is accomplished by having the actor appear as a suspect with his or her face blurred out.

** Annabella Sciorra played a defense lawyer in ''Series/LawAndOrderTrialByJury'' before being cast as Carolyn Barek on ''LawAndOrderCriminalIntent''.
** BebeNeuwirth appeared as a one-shot character in ''LawAndOrderSVU''. Six years later she was cast as [=EADA=] Tracey Kibre, the lead character on ''Series/LawAndOrderTrialByJury''.
** And in ''LawAndOrderSVU'', Casey Novak's actress, Diane Neal, was previously a scary high-powered murderer/rapist. If you join the show late and watch the reruns after getting used to Novak, it's very difficult to resist yelling, "But she's Casey Novak! You all love her!" at the televison when Benson and [[FanNickname UnStabler]] are ripping her to shreds. On the upside, we do get to see Alex prosecuting her replacement, which is amusing.

*** Also John Vickery as Neroon the Minbari warrior in several episodes, and as a completely human Mr. Welles in one - with his role as Welles falling in the middle of his appearances as Neroon. Welles later reappeared in an episode of ''Series/{{Crusade}}''.

* Rebecca Breeds plays Cassie Cometti in season 3 of ''BlueWaterHigh'', but she made her first appearance in season 2, episode 3 as Tina.

** The king of returning guest spots on ''Series/DoctorWho'' is MichaelSheard, the page image. Sheard appeared in six different stories over the course of more than twenty years, playing a different character each time. If you include the [[BigFinishDoctorWho audio drama]] he did, the number goes up to seven.

** As does BruceCampbell.

* With the aid of makeup, JeffreyCombs had recurring roles as Weyoun and Brunt on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' (once playing both in the same episode although unfortunately the characters didn't share any scenes), Shran on ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'', and several characters in single episodes of various ''Star Trek''s. Total count (including a cameo in the ''Deep Space Nine'' finale): eight -- one Andorian, one Vorta, two Ferengi, two humans, and two characters of (different) unnamed species.

* A notable Series/{{CSI}} variation was Carmine Giovinazzo, who appeared on the original CSI in the season 3 episode "Revenge is Best Served Cold" about two years before being cast as Danny Messer on the spin-off {{CSI NY}}.

** FreemaAgyeman played Adeola Oshodi, a Torchwood member under Cyberman control in "Army of Ghosts", and later returned as the Doctor's companion Martha Jones in series three, starting with "Smith and Jones". In that episode, Martha refers to Adeola as [[UncannyFamilyResemblance her cousin]].