History OneSceneWonder / LiveActionTv

*** Peter Cook as Richard III in the first ever episode of ''{{Blackadder}}''.

* 'Sebastian' on ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]''--only in one episode, arguably the most memorable character in the whole series. Even if he's remembered, not as a hero, not as a messenger, not even as Sebastian... [[spoiler:but only as "[[JackTheRipper Jack]]".]]

** Drug dealer Vulcan Simmons appears in a three-minute scene in episode 3-13 "Knockdown" and isn't even guilty of the crime they believe he committed. He still manages to establish himself as a monster just by talking. [[OneSceneWonder See here]].

* [[TheAce Lord Flashheart]] in ''{{Blackadder}}'', especially in the second series where he appears out of nowhere, goes through his monologue, and disappears again in less than two minutes of screen time, and totally runs away with the episode.[[spoiler:And the girl]]. [[spoiler:"Woof!"]]

* AlysonHannigan as Trina Echolls on ''VeronicaMars'' might qualify. She shows up completely unexpectedly and completely dominates the intro scene with herself, Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring.

* AlysonHannigan again in ''That70sShow'', where she plays a cop [[LoveTriangle for whom Kelso and Fez immediately declare their love.]]
* Both ''{{Friends}}'' and, more recently, ''Series/{{Skins}}'' make a habit of doing this for the main characters' parents. Chandler's dad steals most of his scenes, Joey's mum likewise for her single appearance, and perhaps the most memorable scene that had Creator/HughLaurie lecturing Rachel on the plane to Britain; meanwhile ''Skins'' had cameos from Harry Enfield, Bill Bailey, Peter Capaldi, Arabella Weir, Josie Lawrence...

** To an extent, Bester as well. His first appearance was the standard "corrupt Earth official who comes to make Sinclair's life hell" that typified many Season 1 episode villains but Walter Koenig infused the role with so much fun energy and serious emotion you looked forward to those times he came back to plague the main cast. Notably, he was one of the few series villains who could regularly show up, have a hostile face-to-face dialogue with the protagonists, accomplish his goals and walk away scot-free at the end of the episode.

* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' had the FisherKing, an ageless old king who has waited years for Merlin to arrive and release him from his eternal life. The actor (Donald Sumpter from ''Series/GameOfThrones'') infuses the character with so much gravitas and poignancy that he turns a single scene into a bona-fide tear-jerker. The lighting and music only adds to the epic nature of the scene.

* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' had the FisherKing, an ageless old king who has waited years for Merlin to arrive and release him from his eternal life. The actor (Donald Sumpter from GameOfThrones) infuses the character with so much gravitas and poignancy that he turns a single scene into a bona-fide tear-jerker. The lighting and music only adds to the epic nature of the scene.

* The ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Conversations With Dead People" features a very entertaining WarriorTherapist vampire who died at the very end of the episode. According to the DVDCommentary for the episode, Jonathan M. Woodward's performance as said vampire was such a scene stealer that he subsequently landed larger roles on ''Series/{{Angel}}'' and ''{{Firefly}}''.

* Mr. Flibble from ''Series/RedDwarf''. A ''penguin hand-puppet'', visibly played and voiced by one of the regular cast during the last scenes of a single episode, never to be seen or even mentioned in the show again... but he's one of the most popular supporting characters, almost to the point that you could consider him the show's mascot, and he's got [[http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/features/interviews/mr-flibble/ his own section]] on the show's official website, where he acts as an interview host.

* From ''TheXFiles'', Maggie Scully (Scully's mom) has a surprisingly large fanbase, despite only appearing quite briefly in a handful of episodes. It probably has something to do with the fact that she's such a nice, reasonable, ''normal'' person, especially when you compare her to Mulder's family.
** And of course, she has to [[TheWoobie put up with a lot]] in the show, including her husband [[spoiler:dying of a heart attack]], her daughter [[spoiler:being abducted by aliens and presumed dead]], her ''other'' daughter [[spoiler:being shot dead]], and her son being a total douche.
** Similarly, Cassandra Spencer, played memorably by VeronicaCartwright, is so central to the show's mythos, it's hard to believe she's only in 4 episodes.
** Also, Peter Boyle as the one-off character Clyde Bruckman, in the episode ''Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". One episode. Not an important episode. Not a character important to the myth arc. But he's one of the most memorable characters in the whole show, partly because it was one of the most highly-acclaimed episodes ever, and because...well... it's Peter Boyle.

* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' had the FisherKing, an ageless old king who has waited years for Merlin to arrive and release him from his eternal life. The actor (Donald Sumpter from GameOfThrones) infuses the character with so much gravitas and poignancy that he turns a single scene into a bona-fide TearJerker. The lighting and music only adds to the epic nature of the scene.
* ''RobinOfSherwood'': Every fan talks about John Rhys-Davies' performance as King Richard. He was in exactly one episode: "The King's Fool".
* "Valentine's Day," the second-season episode of The Office, Conan O'Brien appears in the background at Rockefeller Centre, as Michael is wandering around the streets of New York. Even funnier because Michael is watching a tall woman with glasses he thinks is Tina Fey.
* On ''{{Glee}}'', one of the most memorable one-scene wonders is Cameo, an unruly student from a flashback to Holly's past that explained why she became a free spirit.

* ''{{Frasier}}'' had Creator/JohnGlover make a guest appearance as a high-powered executive at the radio station. And [[LargeHam It]]. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Is]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjWipjKclBY Glorious]]. The scene managed to earn Glover an Emmy nomination.
* No one could forget the BlindSeer from ''Series/OnceUponATime'', first appearing as a little girl and then a young woman over the course of a single episode. It's not only her stitched-up eyes or the fact that she has ''eye balls'' on the palms of her hands, but that she tells Rumplestiltskin a SelfFulfillingProphecy that pretty much kick-starts the plot of the ''entire show''.
* In the third-season ''LoisAndClark'' episode "Double Jeopardy", there's a seemingly throwaway scene where Luthor makes a back-alley deal with a rogue government agent. It's amazing.
* Susan's parents in {{Seinfeld}} are far more interesting than they have any right to be. Her father because of his affair with [[GeniusBonus John Cheever]], and his mother because of her [[DeadpanSnarker downbeat caustic attitude]] during her first appearance. ("If I had a nickel for every one (of the books in the library) he's actually read... I'd be broke.")

* Adam Arkin as Theo Tonin, TheDon of the Detroit Mob in {{Series/Justified}}. [[OffscreenVillainy Reputed]] to talk to a severed human ear when he's angry.

** Surprisingly, ParisHilton, who plays a shapeshifting demon that takes on her form. Said demon [[SelfDeprecation doesn't think too highly of her]]

* Cyril Luckham (The White Guardian) of the "Key to Time" storyline in original ''Series/DoctorWho''. He does nothing but sit in a chair and set up the plot for the season in the first five minutes of the first episode, but eerily sticks in your mind.
-->"You mean nothing will happen to me?"
-->"Nothing at all. Ever."
** The episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E13LastOfTheTimeLords Utopia]]" in the new series gets ''three'' of these. First is Creator/DerekJacobi's wonderful performance as Professor Yana, surpassed by Derek Jacobi again in his two-minute-long appearance as the Master, which is surpassed ''again'' by Creator/JohnSimm's even briefer role as the Master (though the last one may not qualify, as Simm spends the subsequent two episodes being a legendary MagnificentBastard).

** The Raston Robot Warrior in "Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors", which makes the most of its screen-time by slaughtering a horde of Cybermen. (It's even better for those who regard the eighties Cybermen as a DorkAge.)
** Peter Capaldi (or more accurately, his [[DeathGlare eyes]]) as the Twelfth Doctor in "Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor".

** The Raston Robot Warrior in "Recap/DoctorWho2othASTheFiveDoctors", which makes the most of its screen-time by slaughtering a horde of Cybermen. (It's even better for those who regard the eighties Cybermen as a DorkAge.)

* ''{{Frasier}}'' had JohnGlover make a guest appearance as a high-powered executive at the radio station. And [[LargeHam It]]. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Is]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjWipjKclBY Glorious]]. The scene managed to earn Glover an Emmy nomination.

* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' had the FisherKing, an ageless old king who has waited years for Merlin to arrive and release him from his eternal life. The actor infuses the character with so much gravitas and poignancy that he turns a single scene into a bona-fide TearJerker. The lighting and music only adds to the epic nature of the scene.

* Susan's parents in {{Seinfeld}} are far more interesting than they have any right to be. Her father because of his affair with John Cheever, and his mother because of her [[DeadpanSnarker downbeat caustic attitude]] during her first appearance. ("If I had a nickel for every one (of the books in the library) he's actually read... I'd be broke.")

* Adam Arkin as Theo Tonin, TheDon of the Detroit Mob in {{Series/Justfied}}. [[OffscreenVillainy Reputed]] to talk to a severed human ear when he's angry.

* Adam Arkin as Theo Tonin, TheDon of the Detroit Mob in {{Series/Justfied}}.

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', there was the Klingon chef who owned a restaurant on DS9, and also played Klingon folks songs to customers on the accordion. (Actually appeared in two episodes, "Melora" and "Playing God"; novels claim his name is Kaga, possibly meant as {{Homage}} to Chairman Kaga from ''Series/IronChef'', which debuted the same month as "Melora".)

*** StephenFry too, in ''Blackadder the Third'' as Wellington, to the point that his mannerisms were carried over to General Melchet's character in ''Blackadder Goes Forth''.

** The episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E13LastOfTheTimeLords Utopia]]" in the new series gets ''three'' of these. First is Creator/DerekJacobi's wonderful performance as Professor Yana, surpassed by Derek Jacobi again in his two-minute-long appearance as the Master, which is surpassed ''again'' by JohnSimm's even briefer role as the Master (though the last one may not qualify, as Simm spends the subsequent two episodes being a legendary MagnificentBastard).

* President Bartlett was originally supposed to be a OneSceneWonder on ''TheWestWing''; the show was meant to focus on the senior staff, with the President appearing maybe once a month or so to emphasize the distance between the man at the top and the people working for him out of the spotlight. But Martin Sheen's performance was made of too much awesome, and on top of this it was decided that it would be silly to have a series set among the senior staff of the White House where the audience never saw the President, and so he got promoted to a member of the main cast.

** PatrickStewart appears for a single scene, in which he explains a screenplay he's writing wherein he plays a [[Film/{{X-Men}} Professor Xavier]]-type character who uses his powers to make women's clothes fall off.

* Both ''{{Friends}}'' and, more recently, ''Series/{{Skins}}'' make a habit of doing this for the main characters' parents. Chandler's dad steals most of his scenes, Joey's mum likewise for her single appearance, and perhaps the most memorable scene that had HughLaurie lecturing Rachel on the plane to Britain; meanwhile ''Skins'' had cameos from Harry Enfield, Bill Bailey, Peter Capaldi, Arabella Weir, Josie Lawrence...

* Pretty much any show where SummerGlau ends up being cast as a bit character ends up with her stealing the spotlight in her scenes. A good example is the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Waiting In The Wings."
** She appears AsHerself on a train in ''TheBigBangTheory'', where the characters come up and try to hit on her one at a time. Her reactions to their awkward advances are hilarious.
** In the ''{{Dollhouse}}'' episode "The Left Hand" (2x06), there is supposedly some ''other'' plot involving Echo and Senator Parrin, but it's hard to pay attention to that when you've got Summer Glau and Fran Kranz on the same screen together.
* Anyone who comes without previous warning in ''SaturdayNightLive''. In an episode hosted by Roseanne Barr, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqPiJ0L7YmY Coffee Talk with Linda Richman]]", there was a sketch which frequently discussed Barbra Streisand, and already had a guest appearance by {{Madonna}}... then Babs herself appeared!

** It is also a virtual certainty that if the show has any recurring feature that pokes fun at a specific actor or political figure the person being mocked will eventually show up in the middle of the feature and completely steal the scene. For example, one open had TinaFey as SarahPalin doing a press conference. In the middle of it, cut to back stage, where Lorne Michaels is talking to the ''real'' Sarah Palin about the skit...and then Alec Baldwin comes up and mistakes Palin for Fey.
*** Prior to Palin's appearance, the most memorable example was probably the time Janet Reno showed up unannounced to take over a "Janet Reno Dance Party" sketch from WillFerrell doing a Reno impersonation.
** Not exactly a one ''scene'' wonder, but ChristopherWalken probably does deserve credit for managing to completely steal the show every time he hosts.

** The ''What Up With That'' faux-talk show/musical variety that Kenan Thompson hosts frequently has two special guests cameos of real celebrities playing themselves as if they were on a normal talk show. Those cameos are played straight and frequently steal the scene (though JasonSudeikis often steals it back). Cameos include AlGore, MikeTyson, MorganFreeman, RobinWilliams, BillOReilly, and SamuelLJackson, who used profanity on the live show.
* A 1994 episode of ''The Late Show With DavidLetterman'' had Dave ask "Johnny Carson" to deliver the Top Ten list. Larry "Bud" Melman delivered it posing as him. Then Dave said there was something wrong and this wasn't the list and called for "Johnny" again...and out steps the ''real'' Johnny Carson, to nearly three minutes of continuous standing ovation. He sat in Dave's chair, and left without saying a word. This turned out to be Johnny's last television appearance.

* In the season one finale of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' the fact that Olivia was in a parallel universe where the Twin Towers are still standing was heavily overshadowed by the fact that she'd just met the mysterious William Bell, played by LeonardNimoy.

* The Robert de Niro episode of ''{{Extras}}'' qualifies as this, since the sheer amazingness of having de Niro as one of the celebrity characters is lampshaded with a lot of gushing about how amazing it is that Andy is going to meet Robert de Niro, and then subverted when he decides not to. In the end he's only in the show for a minute, and spends that minute being inordinately amused by a novelty pornographic pen. Needless to say, it's one of the most memorable guest spots of the series.

* Several examples in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': Lt. Riley, who appeared in only two episodes; [[GrandeDame T'Pau]] and [[ChildhoodMarriagePromise T'Pring]] from "Amok Time"; [[FollowInMyFootsteps Sarek]] and [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents Amanda]] in ''Journey to Babel''; the Romulan Commanders in "[[WorthyOpponent Balance of Terror]]" and "[[HotChickInABadassSuit The Enterprise Incident]]"; Baalok from "The Corbomite Maneuver"; the [[PsychopathicManchild Squire of Gothos]]; the [[SiliconBasedLife Horta]].