History YouLookFamiliar / LiveActionTV

** Before playing different versions of George in ''Blackadder the Third'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', Creator/HughLaurie appeared as two different characters in ''Blackadder II'': Drunken aristocrat Simon Partridge in "Beer" and German spy and MasterOfDisguise, Prince Ludwig the Indestructible in "Chains".

** Kevin Page played Bobchinsky for ''Theatre/TheInspectorGeneral'', the Earl of Westmoreland for ''Theatre/HenryIVPart1'', Erik for ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera, Cardinal Richelieu for ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'', Antonio for ''Theatre/TheTempest'', Magwitch for ''Literature/GreatExpectations'', the titular Miles Standish in ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfMilesStandish'', and more.

** Kevin Page played Bobchinsky for ''Theatre/TheInspectorGeneral'', the Earl of Westmoreland for ''Theatre/HenryIVPartI'', Erik for ''Literature/The PhantomOfTheOpera, Cardinal Richelieu for ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'', Antonio for ''Theatre/TheTempest'', Magwitch for ''Literature/GreatExpectations'', the titular Miles Standish in ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfMilesStandish'', and more.
** Jeanne Simpson played many roles, including UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc in ''Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc'', Maid Marian in ''Myth/RobinHood'', Juliet in ''Theater/RomeoAndJuliet'', and Kalypso in ''Literature/TheOdyssey''.

* In ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Paul Freeman played Indy's EvilCounterpart Rene Belloq, a corrupt French archaeologist. In the prequel series ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'', Paul Freeman has a guest role in "The Phantom Train of Doom" as Captain Frederick Selous, a historical English army officer and [[GreatWhiteHunter big game hunter]] who fought in German East Africa in World War I.

* In ''Series/{{Chucky}}'', {{Creator/Devon Sawa}} plays both Jake's father and uncle. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because they're identical twins. However, he returns next season playing an entirely unrelated character.

* In the ''Literature/{{Winnetou}}'' movie series, the lovely Karin Dorn played the role of Miss Ellen Patterson in the first film of the series, ''Film/TheTreasureOfSilverLake''. In ''Film/LastOfTheRenegades'', she played Winnetou's LoveInterest, TheChiefsDaughter Ribanna.

*** Creator/TimGuinee has played the villain twice on ''Series/{{CSINY}}'', [[spoiler:once in Season 2 and again in Season 8.]]

** Creator/ElisabethHarnois played a VictimOfTheWeek in ''Series/CSIMiami'' in 2006, then dyed her hair blonde and went to [[Series/{{CSI}} Las Vegas]] to become a CSI tech. And she also had roles on ''Series/WithoutATrace'' and ''Series/ColdCase'' as well.

** Another ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' regular, Creator/AnnaBelknap, appeared in a multi-episode story on ''Series/WithoutATrace'' before being cast as Lindsey Monroe.
* Creator/MarkSheppard has appeared on two different episodes of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' as a photographer and a professor, both with ties to the respective victims of the episodes.

** Robert Llewellyn, who plays Kryten, later appeared as robot salesman Jim Reaper. As Kryten is a [[RubberForeheadAlien rubber forehead mechanoid]] with a funny voice, this might not have been so noticeable if he didn't later appear sans mask when Kryten got turned into a human. Later still, he appeared as "the Data Doctor." [[note]]Since the Data Doctor is a [=DivaDroid=] computer program, {{fanon}} has it that it was, like Kryten, modelled on [=DivaDroid=] bio-engineer Jim Warburton.[[/note]]
** Before Robert Llewellyn took the role, David Ross appeared in one episode as Kryten. He later appeared in voice only as Talkie Toaster - again not really noticeable, as he used very different voices for the characters.

** James Beck played a waiter in "Can We Have Our Ball Back?" and Burke in "The Leak".

** Pauline [=McLynn=] played main character Mrs Doyle, and also appeared as a nun in "Flight Into Terror" (because Mrs Doyle only had one scene in that episode).

!! Unsorted
* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'':
** After just a few episodes, guest stars started reappearing very frequently; sometimes with several previous actors showing up in one episode. A prime example would be "They Seek Him Here", which had no fewer than SIX guests that had already been on the show.
** A particularly impressive one is Tom Barnaby's replacement and cousin John Barnaby, whose actor had already appeared as a murder suspect (and general sleazebag who tried to hit on Barnaby's wife).
* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'':
** Character actor Frank Nelson appears in several different roles over the course of the series:
*** He plays a crooked lawyer in "Hospital Follies"
*** He plays Mr. Fischer in "Fischer's Pawnshop"
*** His voice is heard in "Vitamin E-4" as a fraudulent professor
*** On at least one occasion on the radio, "The Tape Recorder," Nelson is the voice of the head of the school board, Mr. Stone.
*** On multiple radio episodes, Nelson provides the voice of Jason Brill, principal of rival Clay City High School.
*** Nelson voices a hairdresser on the radio episode "The Hair-Do"
*** Nelson voices a photographer in the radio episode "Photo Feud."
** Mary Ann Croft voices the reporter in "The Model School Teacher" before taking the role of rival English teacher Daisy Enright on radio and television.
** Joseph Kearns plays a conservative school board official in "Lulu the Pinup Boat" before assuming the role of Mr. Stone in subsequent episodes and the [[TheMovie cinematic]] [[GrandFinale series finale]].
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Dean-Charles Chapman played Martyn Lannister, one of the prisoners murdered by the Karstarks, in Season 3. From Season 4 to 6, he plays King Tommen Baratheon. Since Martyn is Tommen's first cousin once removed, this may be justified as a case of UncannyFamilyResemblance.
** Ian Whyte. He basically play every tall imposing guy there including Gregor Clegane which was forgettable between the other two actors playing him.
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': Chris Beaumont – not a particularly well-known actor but still – played four different teen-agers throughout the series' five-year run, one each season. In 1971's "Our Son, the Man" (framed around freshman Greg trying to fit in at Westdale High School), Chris plays a high school senior Greg tries to emulate. Later that year, as Season 3 dawned, Chris plays Greg's fast-talking friend, Eddie in "The Wheeler Dealer." The end of Season 4 brought "A Room at the Top," where Chris was now "Hank," a college sophomore who tries to talk Greg into moving into his own apartment to get away from his younger brothers. Then in Season 5 came his appearance as Jerry Rogers, the cheating quarterback of rival Clinton High in "Quarterback Sneak"; this role was perhaps his best-received of his four appearances, but certainly his most prominent.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''
** Tyler Johnston appeared as the teenager who Sam and Dean talk to in the Season 1 episode "Bugs" before reappearing in a recurring role as Samandriel in Season 8.
** Ty Olsson appeared in the Season 2 episode "Bloodlust" playing a vampire, Eli, who didn't drink blood from people. He later reappeared in a recurring role in Season 8 onwards as Benny Lafitte, a completely different vampire who also didn't drink blood from people.
** Voice Actor Creator/AndrewFrancis appeared on a couple episodes: the first was in as an actor working on a film where its crew was being murdered by a vengeful spirit, and the second was years later as an unlucky guy who gets targeted by a Japanese spirit.
** In a mid-season 9 episode Britt Irvin plays the angel Muriel. She appeared way back in the first season episode "Hell House" playing a student being questioned by Sam and Dean.
** In one season 7 episode, Laci J. Mailey was Emily, a teenager whom the Alpha Vampire had raised in captivity to ensure a supply of virgin blood. Fast-forward to season 11 and she's Deputy Jenna Nickerson, who innocently adopts an orphaned infant who turns out to be Amara in disguise.
** Creator/EricaCerra first portrayed Robin, a victim of Soulless Sam Winchester, who appeared in the Season 6 episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS06E22TheManWhoKnewTooMuch The Man Who Knew Too Much]]" but later also portrayed the angel Duma in Season 13 and 14.
* ''Series/{{Highlander}}: The Series'' commonly re-used guest actors in different roles. In ''Highlander'' fandom, this was known as the '42 actors in all of Canada' rule for the show's tendency to recycle some actors 3-4 times in different roles on the show.
** Fight choreographer Anthony de Longis played two different villainous roles (in keeping with the series premise, both characters were beheaded by the protagonist).
** Jeremy Brudenell played an insane immortal killed by [=MacLeod=] during the second season... then came back two seasons (and a haircut) later to play one of [=MacLeod=]'s best friends.
* In ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'', Amanda Tepe has played a worker at the Gurt Barn, a museum security guard, a hot dog vendor, and even a worker in the Wizard World.

* Also popular in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', due to the limited number of actors available for shooting Down Under.
** Before her regular role as Gabrielle, Creator/ReneeOConnor appears (not as Gabrielle) in ''Hercules and The Lost Kingdom'', one of the TV movies that started the franchise. This last is particularly amusing as one shot of Renee O'Connor from that movie was used in the intro for ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' (Kevin Sorbo is covering her with his body as they're both being swallowed by a monster, so it's not very noticeable).
** Lucy Lawless also played two parts in ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' before being cast as Xena. Lampshaded in an episode where Hercules and Salmaoneus remarked how much the second character played by Lucy Lawless looked like Xena.
** Marton Csoskas played Borias, Belach (Borias' son), and Khrafstar.
** Iphicles and Ares were both played by Kevin Smith ([[Creator/KevinSmith not that one]]); they're not related to each other but they're ''both'' Hercules's half-brothers! (Iphicles is the son of Alcmene and her husband; Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera.)
** In the ''SpinOff'' ''[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Prequel Prequel]]'' series ''Series/YoungHercules'', Kevin Smith (in addition to Ares) portrays the god Bacchus and a mortal lookalike to Ares named Timor.
** Ted Raimi playing the triplets Joxer, Jett and Jace.
** Creator/KarlUrban was in the episode "Altared States" before being cast in the recurring role of Julius Caesar, another recurring role as Cupid, and another one-off role in the late series episode "Lifeblood", which was a reuse of an unsold Pilot Episode.
** Also in "Lifeblood" were Creator/DanielleCormack, who played Ephiny, & Creator/ClaudiaBlack, who was Cassandra in two Hercules episodes.
** Robert Trebor played the escaped slave Waylon in the second ''Hercules'' MadeForTVMovie, then returned to the series as Salmoneus the anything-for-a-buck salesman who appeared on ''Hercules'' more often than any other recurring character and thrice on ''Xena''.
** Michael Hurst played Hercules' best buddy Iolaus, Charon (under heavy makeup), [[DragQueen Widow Twanky]], and over ten other characters.
** Lisa Chappell played Lydia of Thrace, Dirce, and Melissa. As an inside joke, when Dirce and Melissa met face to face in the episode "Hercules On Trial", Dirce commented that Melissa was "uncommonly beautiful".
* Francesca Buller ([[IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine series lead Ben Browder's wife]]) played a different character in each of the four seasons of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', with her fourth-season role reappearing in the WrapItUp ''The Peacekeeper Wars''. Since all of them involved significant effort from the prosthetics department, this is not readily apparent.

* Creator/TiaCarrere makes two appearances in ''Series/MacGyver1985''. She first appears as a loving big sister to a boy in trouble, then a season later she reappears and assassinates some poor chap. It is only by watching the rest of the episode the viewer can deduce that the two characters are not supposed to be the same.

* ''Series/RobinHood'' was shot in Hungary, making it somewhat difficult to employ English-speaking actors for [[BitCharacter Bit Characters]]. As such, Matt Devere popped up a number of times as a variety of guards, soldiers and merchants, though the fact that most of these roles required a face-concealing helmet mitigated the regularity of his appearances. However, he did play Henry of Lewes, a villainous character, in a Series 2 episode, and later a completely different Locksley villager called Jack in Series 3.
* ''Franchise/StargateVerse'' is a prime example of this trope, thanks to the relatively small Vancouver acting pool.
** Garwin Sanford played Narim, Carter's Tollan love interest, in ''Series/StargateSG1'' before being cast in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' as Dr. Weir's husband Simon.
** Richard de Klerk first showed up in "One False Step" as one of the aliens on PJ2-445. Then, three seasons later, he appears in a much more human guise in "Rite Of Passage", playing Dominic, Cassandra's high-school boyfriend.
** Anne Marie [=DeLuise=] (wife of Peter [=DeLuise=] who directed and cameoed in several episodes, but then SG-1 sometimes resembles the [=DeLuise=] family reunion) as Amy Vandenberg in "Bounty" and Farrell in "The Other Side".
** Tiffany Lyndall-Knight played a princess of a tribal culture in the season 2 episode "Touchstone" and a completely unrelated alien woman in season 7 episode "Revisions".
** Creator/ChristopherHeyerdahl played the Wraith Todd and the leader of the Athosian on ''Atlantis''. On SG-1, he played role as a human on a planet controlled by a computer.
** Courtenay J. Stevens plays Lieutenat Elliot in a couple of ''SG-1'' episodes and Leader of a planet of children in ''Atlantis''.
** James Lafazanos and Andee Frizzell play most of the unmasked wraiths (the males and the queens respectively)
** Robin Mossley played both the alien scientist who created the GroundhogDayLoop in ''Window of Opportunity'' and a medical doctor who works for the SGC in ''Morpheus''.
** The potential awkwardness of Robert Duncan playing Dr. Daniel Jackson's long-dead father Melburn in ''The Gamekeeper'', then returning the following season's ''Seth'' as the host of the eponymous Goa'uld. [[EpilepticTrees Perhaps there is a reason]] that Daniel looks a bit subdued in the latter episode?
** Mike Dopud plays no less than three characters (Russian colonel, alien bounty hunter, runner from the Wraith) in ''SG-1'' and ''Atlantis'' before being cast as a semi-regular (different) character in ''Series/StargateUniverse''. As a matter of fact, two of his characters (Odai Ventrell and Varro) are supposed to work for the same organization, yet no one on the show bothers to point this out.
** David Hewlett almost became this, but ended up averting it at the last minute. When ''Atlantis'' was starting up, Hewlett (who had already played the role of Rodney [=McKay=] in several episodes of ''SG-1'') auditioned for the part of one of the new characters and won the role. Before filming started though, he told the producers "why not just bring Rodney [=McKay=] back? He's already part of the Stargate program". The producers agreed.
** Connor Trinneer played the human-Wraith hybrid Michael in ''Atlantis'' before joining the cast of ''Series/StargateOrigins'' as Professor Paul Langford, Catherine's father, who originally discovered the Stargate.
* In Season 1 Episode 5 of ''Series/LoisAndClark'', a nebbish scientist played by Creator/LeslieJordan who created an invisibility suit was used as a one-shot character. The same actor appeared as Resplendant Man in Season 2 Episode 8, changing absolutely none of his mannerisms.
* ''Series/{{Taggart}}'', not surprisingly for a series that has lasted over 25 years, constantly features this trope. A particular blatant example is Colin [=McCredie=] who played three different characters in three consecutive episodes, the last one being a recurring character.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** In the earlier seasons, Jor-El was played by Creator/TerenceStamp, who had played the villainous General Zod in ''Film/SupermanII'', leading to no end of EpilepticTrees theories by the fans.
** Not a straight example, but Creator/ShawnAshmore, twin brother of Creator/AaronAshmore, who plays Comicbook/JimmyOlsen on later seasons, played a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Meteor-Freak of the week]] in season one, one of the many that were Clark's classmates. Nobody seems to notice the uncanny resemblance.
** Vordigan the Dark Archer from Season 9 was played by Creator/SteveBacic, who previously played the jock-turned-mechanic who was killed by Jeremy in the pilot episode.

* Same goes for the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' franchise. All of them are set in the same reality, still they constantly interchange actors.
** Creator/SeamusDever was a beguiled architect on ''Series/{{CSINY}}'', a rich boy [[spoiler:who threw his drug-dealing brother overboard]] on ''Series/{{CSI Miami}}'' and an airline executive AND a TV producer [[spoiler:who liked having sex with underaged talent-show contestants]] on ''Series/{{CSI}}''. And since ''Series/WithoutATrace'' and ''Series/ColdCase'' are acknowledged to exist in the [[CrossOver same world]], he also was a junkie in New York and respectively a petty thief in the sixties.
** Creator/KimCoates does the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' treble plus bonus ''Series/ColdCase''. He was a former porn star-turned-producer in ''{{Series/CSI}}'', a cop in ''Series/{{CSINY}}'', and the recurring antagonist Ron Saris in ''Series/CSIMiami'', plus a bomb-maker in ''Series/ColdCase''.
** Creator/ElisabethHarnois played a VictimOfTheWeek in ''Series/CSIMiami'' in 2006, then dyed her hair blonde and went to [[Series/{{CSI}} Las Vegas]] to become a CSI tech. And she also had roles on ''Series/WithoutATrace'' and ''Series/ColdCase'' as well.
** Creator/CarmineGiovinazzo, who plays Danny Messer on ''Series/{{CSINY}}'', appeared as a street racer in Season 3 of the original show.
** Another ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' regular, Creator/AnnaBelknap, appeared in a multi-episode story on ''Series/WithoutATrace'' before being cast as Lindsey Monroe.
* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'', owing to its shoestring budget, did this all the time. On any given episode, you could expect the [[MonsterOfTheWeek mob-boss of the week]] to be played by one of about a dozen guys.
* Dennis Franz played Det. Sal Benedetto, a supporting character in a story arc of the third season of ''Series/HillStreetBlues''. He later came back as a series regular, Lt. Buntz. Interestingly, both characters were depicted as easy going and carefree policemen, but the first one was an outright [[DirtyCop corrupt cop]], while the second one was a very competent and effective officer, even if a bit eccentric.
* ''Series/TwentyFour'':
** Tony Todd appeared in season 3 as a detective investigating the death of the millionaire extorting President Palmer then he reappears in season 7 as Sangala president Benjamin Juma [[spoiler:the only person to successfully lead an attack on the White House]].
** Faran Tahir appeared in season 2 as a friendly mosque greeter, and then in season 4 as a fearsome terrorist.
* The same actress that played a patient in an episode of ''Series/PrivatePractice'' went on to play the (Completely unrelated) regular role of April Kepner in ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', the show that spawned the former.
* ''Series/YoungBlades'':
** Phillip Mitchell plays a Cardinal's guard who gets killed before the opening credits of the first episode. He returns five episodes later... as a Cardinal's guard who [[spoiler:gets killed in the series finale by the same person who killed his original character]].
** Andrew [=McIlroy=] played a criminal in the second episode and returned in a recurring minor role as a servant starting in the very next episode.
** Christos Shaw was a guest star in the third episode, then reappeared for a later episode in a different, minor role in a [[DeletedScene cut scene]].
* ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'' did this [[http://starskyhutchfiles.net/compendium/page96/page96.html many times]]. A few notable examples:
** Richard Ward played the original Captain Dobey in the pilot episode, and returned in one of the final episodes as Huggy Bear's mentor.
** Veronica Hamel appeared in a second-season episode as the relative of a victim, and then appeared a season later as Hutch's ex-wife.
** Creator/KristyMcNichol played three separate child characters, and then weirdly ''inverted'' the trope; when one of those characters came back for a second appearance, she was played by a different actress.

* Creator/MarkSheppard has appeared on two different episodes of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' as a photographer and a professor, both with ties to the respective victims of the episodes.
* ''Series/MissionImpossible'':
** The show is [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060009/fullcredits#cast famous for reusing character actors]].
** Larry Linville (later famous as Major Burns on ''Series/{{MASH}}'') guest starred on ''Mission: Impossible'' three separate times, as three different Eastern Bloc official/officers (described as Major Burns without the comedy, though all three were before he was cast as Major Burns).
** Bill Shatner also appeared twice on ''Mission: Impossible'' as different characters.
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'', due to each episode being set in different times and places, occasionally reused actors in different enough costumes. Dan Butler, Willie Garson, Bruce Mcgill and W.K. Stratton each played two roles in different episodes.
* ''Series/TheSaint'':
** Canadian actress Creator/SuzanneLloyd played completely unrelated [[GirlOfTheWeek girls of the week]] in ''six'' different episodes -- three of them in one year. Justine Lord also played six different love interests, but thanks to a two-parter appeared in ''seven'' episodes.
** [[HilariousInHindsight Amusingly enough]], Creator/LoisMaxwell, best known for being the first actress to play Miss Moneypenny in the ''Film/JamesBond'' films, appeared in two different episodes in the 1967 season, years before she and Roger Moore would work together in said film series.
* Very notable in the pilot of ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'', in which one of the rival archers Robin faces in the Sheriff's tournament is played by the same actor as Robin's by-this-point-long-dead father.
* In the ''Literature/{{Winnetou}}'' movie series, the lovely Karin Dorn played the role of Miss Ellen Patterson in the first film of the series, ''Film/TheTreasureOfSilverLake''. In ''Film/LastOfTheRenegades'', she played Winnetou's LoveInterest, TheChiefsDaughter Ribanna.

* This was fairly common in ''Series/{{Columbo}}'':
** Creator/PatrickMcGoohan appeared in four episodes as four different murderers.
** Creator/WilliamShatner appeared in two as the murderer.
** Creator/RobertCulp was the murderer in three episodes, and the murderer's father in a fourth.
** Creator/LeslieNielsen appeared twice, once as a victim and once as the boyfriend of the murderer.
** Creator/RobertVaughn was a victim in one episode and the murderer in another.
** Creator/JackCassidy played the murderer in three different episodes.
** Creator/GeorgeHamilton played the murderer in two episodes.
** Aside from these major characters, a few actors appeared again and again as incidental characters. Vito Scotti, for instance, often appeared as a colorful comic relief character--the hard-selling mortician in "Swan Song"; the obsequious tailor in "Candidate for Crime"; the wino eyewitness in "Negative Reaction"; the glad-handing lobbyist in "Identity Crisis."
** Shera Danese made an appearance in the NBC episode "Murder Under Glass"; she later married Peter Falk and appeared in a handful of ABC episodes.
* In ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Paul Freeman played Indy's EvilCounterpart Rene Belloq, a corrupt French archaeologist. In the prequel series ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'', Paul Freeman has a guest role in "The Phantom Train of Doom" as Captain Frederick Selous, a historical English army officer and [[GreatWhiteHunter big game hunter]] who fought in German East Africa in World War I.
* On ''Series/{{The Odd Couple|1970}}'', Creator/RichardStahl guest starred in nine different episodes over the course of the series and never played the same character twice.

* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'' reused actors all the time. The most frequent was Paul Eddington, who played dozens of different roles over the show's five-year run - and combined this trope with TheOtherDarrin in 1959, when Will Scarlet (hitherto an occasional guest character played by Ron Howard) was promoted to a regular character played by Eddington.

** Terry O'Quinn played Lt. Brian Tillman in the season 2 episode "Aubrey", then Special Agent Darius Michaud in the first X-Files movie, and finally a mysterious contact [[spoiler:and super soldier]] in the final season's "Trust No 1". If [[CrossOver Crossovers]] with other Chris Carter shows are considered, there are another two characters walking around with Terry O'Quinn's face: the cast regular Peter Watts from ''Series/Millennium1996'', and Omar Santiago in ''Series/HarshRealm''.
** Chris Owens plays three different characters on the show: a young Cigarette-Smoking Man, Jeffrey Spender, and the Great Mutato. Justified in that [[spoiler: the Cigarette-Smoking Man is Jeffrey Spender's father]]. Also, the Great Mutato is under so much make-up that you can't really tell who's playing him.
** Creator/NicholasLea appeared as a minor, one-shot character named Michel in the season 1 episode "Gender Bender", before his recurring role as Alex Krycek beginning in season 2.
** Before he played Eddie Van Blundht in "Small Potatoes", Darin Morgan made an unrecognisable appearance as the Flukeman in "The Host".
** "Quagmire" and "War of the Coprophages" both feature a trio of actors playing teenage stoners, though the characters are not the same in both episodes.
** Larry Musser appeared on the show ''four'' times. He was Sheriff John Oakes in "Die Hand die verletzt" (season 2), fans' favourite Detective "bleeping" Manners in "Jose Chung's ''From Outer Space''" (season 3), an ex-marine Denny Markham in "Unrequited" (season 4) and PD Captain Jack Bonsaint in "Chinga" (season 5).
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'':
** Creator/TroianBellisario played the one shot character Erin Terry in ''Series/{{JAG}}'' and later Sarah [=McGee=], playing the sister of her real life step-brother Sean Murray, on its spin-off ''Series/{{NCIS}}''.
** Creator/AliciaCoppola played Lt. Cmdr. Faith Coleman on both ''JAG'' and ''NCIS'', then later guest starred as FBI agent Lisa Rand on ''Series/NCISLosAngeles''.
** Actor John Walcutt once played a defendant Caleb Farmer who was put to death for his crimes, with Mac defending him and Harm prosecuting. Later, he would come back to play Tom Johnson father of the young girl Harm had befriended and seeking to be her legal guardian.
** Scott Grimes played [=DiNozzo's=] old Baltimore P.D. partner (who had been killed) in a 2011 episode of NCIS, only to show up alive as an NCIS agent assigned to a mobile unit in a two-part backdoor pilot in NCIS: Los Angeles
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** Check the Narn and the Drazi whenever one of them gets a speaking part. There's one guy who appears almost EVERY time, best known as Drazi Green, Narn from "Shattered Dreams" who mocks Londo, amongst others. This actor is Kim Strauss.
** 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}}''.
** Wayne Alexander had such a brilliant performance as the inquisitor Sebastian that he returned in several RubberForeheadAlien roles, such as Sheridan's mentor Lorien and the main Drakh Shiv'kala.
** Robin Sachs (best known for playing Ethan on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'') appeared as a Narn, and as at least one - possibly two - Minbari.
** Theordore Bikel played Rabbi Koslov in season one, and returned as the Minbari Lennon in ''In The Beginning''.
** Louis Turenne played recurring character Draal in his first appearance in season 1. Draal was then [[TheOtherDarrin recast]], but Turenne later reappeared in season 3 as a different recurring character, Brother Theo.
* ''Series/{{ER}}'' apparently had a rule that they would never cast the same actor twice, but they still flubbed it quite a few times:
** Shiri Appleby played a patient in the {{Pilot}} and then Dr. Daria Wade in the final season.
** Ken Lerner played two different patients--a salesman in Season 1 and then a prostate cancer patient in Season 8.
** Vondie Curtis-Hall played Carter's suicidal transgender patient in Season 1 and then Roger [=McGrath=] in Season 8.
** J.P. Manoux played a mime in Season 2 and then Dr. Dustin Crenshaw in the last three seasons.
** Creator/DianeDelano played an abused girlfriend in Season 3 and then a hypochondriac patient in Season 9.
** Jesse Borrego played an HIV positive patient in the Season 4 premiere and then desk clerk Javier in Season 14.
** Justina Machado played a patient's sister in the Season 4 premiere and then police detective Claudia Diaz in the final season.
** Jenette Goldstein played a patient's mother in Season 5 and then a helicopter medic in Season 7.
** George Cheung played a cancer patient's son in Season 5 and then Jing-Mei's father in Season 10.
** Keiko Agena played a hearing-impaired patient's mother in Season 5 and then a patient's wife in the final season.
** Steven Culp played Dr. Charles Cameron in the Season 6 premiere and then a teacher in Season 10. Coincidentally, both characters were temporary love interests for Elizabeth.
** Steven Christopher Parker played a patient in Season 11 and then Dr. Harold Zalinsky in Season 14.
** Julia Ling played a patient in Season 12 and then medical student Mae Lee Park in Season 13.
* In ''Series/Batman1966'':
** James Brolin appeared three times as three different characters.
** Anne Baxter appeared as two different villians.
* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' and ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' have been established by crossovers as existing in the same universe, and ''Warehouse 13'' is also connected to ''Series/{{Alphas}}'' by a shared character.
** The actors who play main characters Jo and Zane in ''Eureka'' play one-off characters in the first season of ''Warehouse 13'' and are a couple in both. Henry also turns up in a later episode. However, their appearances on ''Warehouse 13'' happened long before the first {{Crossover}} episode.
** Brent Spiner has appeared as Brother Adrian repeatedly on ''Warehouse 13'' and Dr. Kern on ''Alphas''.
** Alex Paxton-Beesley has appeared twice as Rebecca St. Claire on ''Warehouse 13'' and twice as Megan Bates on ''Alphas''.
** Evan Sabba appeared as a Colorado Bartender on ''Warehouse 13'' a year before being Isaac Hale on two episodes of ''Alphas''.
** Rebecca Mader appeared on ''Alphas'' as Griffin, and on ''Warehouse 13'' as Lisa da Vinci three years later.
** Both Erin Way (Kat on ''Alphas'') and Ryan Cartwright (Gary Bell on ''Alphas'') appeared in the same episode of ''Warehouse 13'' as new characters.
** Saul Rubinek was Dr. Carl Carlson on the ''Eureka'' episode "Invincible" as well as playing Artie Nielsen for the run of ''Warehouse 13''.
* ''Series/AirCrashInvestigation'': The same actor who plays the captain of JAL Flight 123 plays the captain of Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509.
* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'': Michael Bailey Smith plays at least two different characters: Belthazor/Demon Cole, and Shax, the demon who killed Prue. He was in heavy makeup for both, though.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' certainly had its favorite actors (with Creator/BurgessMeredith and Jack Klugman each having a prominent role in four different episodes); although being an anthology series it got away with it.
* ''Series/ThreesCompany'' had many, many instances of this, though the most notable was Jeffrey Tambor, who appeared three times as different characters. Syndication makes it four different characters, as two episodes of spinoff ''Series/TheRopers'' (on which Tambor was a regular) have been added to the ''Three's Company'' rotation.
* ''Series/ILoveLucy'' reused almost all of its character actors throughout its run -- some were reused dozens of times.
* All of the supporting cast on ''Series/GoodEats'' play multiple characters. As this is essentially a CookingShow crossed with low-budget SketchComedy, that is not surprising.
* Martin Trenaman appears as three different characters in as many episodes of Britcom '15 Storeys High'.
* Although many of the cast members of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' played different versions of the same characters over the course of the show, some of them played completely unrelated characters.
** Tim [=McInnerny=] played versions of Percy in ''The Black Adder'' and ''Blackadder II'', before playing Le Comte de Frou Frou in an episode of ''Blackadder the Third'', and returning to a regular role as Captain Kevin Darling in the final series, ''Blackadder Goes Forth''.
** Miranda Richardson, who played Queenie in ''Blackadder II'', makes guest appearances as Miss Hardwood in an episode of ''Blackadder the Third'' and as Nurse Mary in ''Blackadder Goes Forth''.
** Before playing different versions of George in ''Blackadder the Third'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', Creator/HughLaurie appeared as two different characters in ''Blackadder II'': Drunken aristocrat Simon Partridge in "Beer" and German spy and MasterOfDisguise, Prince Ludwig the Indestructible in "Chains".
* ''Series/FatherTed'':
** Irish comedian Jon Kenny played a cinema owner in "The Passion of St Tibulus" and a Eurosong MC in "Song for Europe" (in the latter role, he was filling in for Steve Coogan who pulled out at the last minute).
** Pauline [=McLynn=] played main character Mrs Doyle, and also appeared as a nun in "Flight Into Terror" (because Mrs Doyle only had one scene in that episode).
** The fortune teller from the first episode ("Just give me a pound!") is one of the old ladies who go to see The Passion of St. Tibulus ("He got his lad out and everything!").
* Tahj Mowry played three different characters on his sisters' show, ''Series/SisterSister'', including a character from his ''own'' show, ''Series/SmartGuy'' (making this a YLF, [[IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine Old Friend]], and CrossOver all in one.)
* Thanks to ExecutiveMeddling, Creator/TinaFey couldn't get her friend Rachel Dratch a major role on her show ''Series/ThirtyRock''. She retaliated by casting Dratch in all kinds of minor roles, with zero effort made to hide that it's her. Dratch was dropped from the show entirely after the first season, though.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': %% Adam Goldberg and Jennifer Coolidge are examples of RecastAsARegular, please don't add them here.
** CelebrityParadox: Brent Spiner appeared as one of Rachel's bosses in one episode. He turned up later in an episode of ''Series/{{Joey}}'', playing himself.
** Doug Looperr played a fireman in 3.23 and a paramedic in 5.08.
** Lisa Kudrow had played Ursula the waitress on ''Series/MadAboutYou'' prior to joining ''Friends''; this was subsequently played with by making Ursula Phoebe's EvilTwin and having Kudrow play both characters in episodes of the latter show.
** In-universe example was when Phoebe became an extra on ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'' and noticed some of the extras would play more than one role, and that Joey slept with most of them.
* ''Series/TheMonkees'':
** Monte Landis showed up in seven episodes playing seven different characters. They were all major roles, too: in six of the seven shows in which he appeared, he played the episode's villain.
** Rose Marie also guest starred twice as different characters.
* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' / ''Series/{{Wings}}'' / ''Series/{{Frasier}}'':
** John Mahoney appeared as hack songwriter Sy Flemback in ''Cheers'' before his regular role as Martin in ''Frasier''.
** Peri Gilpin appeared in ''Cheers'' as a reporter and in ''Wings'' as a blind date before her regular role as Roz in ''Frasier''.
** A number of one-shot guest stars from ''Cheers'', ''Wings'', and ''The Tortellis'' (the other ''Cheers'' spinoff) showed up on ''Frasier'' as well.
** ''Wings'' regulars Creator/TonyShalhoub and Rebecca Schull show up as unrelated one-shot characters in ''Frasier'' episodes "The Focus Group" and "RDWRER", respectively.
** Creator/JenniferTilly appeared as a sweet, bouncy nympho with a heart of gold in ''Cheers'', then appeared as a sweet, bouncy nympho with a heart of gold in ''Frasier''.
* Creator/BethBroderick, who played Dee Dee Starr in the first season of ''Series/HeartsAfire'', appeared as Dee Dee's twin sister Lee Ann in two episodes of the second season. It's stated that Lee Ann grew up there in the Midwest, but it had previously been said that Dee Dee grew up in Texas. The explanation never made sense and they shouldn't have even bothered to attempt to HandWave the stunning resemblance away.
* ''Series/HogansHeroes'' did this quite a bit. Noam Pitlik played ''seven'' one-shot characters over the course of the show, including a German spy in the first episode of the series. Many of them were German officers with similar personalities, which could get a bit confusing.
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'' 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 ''M*A*S*H'' episodes between 1974 and 1982, and in two episodes of the series ''Series/TrapperJohnMD'' 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 ''Series/{{Mash}}'' episodes between 1975 and 1982, each time playing a different person. 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.
** Mako appears in four episodes between 1974 and 1980, each time playing a different person. (His birth name is Mako Iwamatsu.) In the season 3 episode "Rainbow Bridge", he is Dr. Lin Tam, a Chinese military doctor. In the season 5 episode "Hawkeye Get Your Gun", he is Major Choi, in charge of a South Korean aid station. In the season 8 episode "Guerrilla of My Dreams" he is Lt. Hung Lee Park, a South Korean officer. In the season 9 episode "The Best of Enemies", he is Li Han, a Chinese soldier who captures Hawkeye.
** Eldon Quick appeared as Captain Sloan in season 2's "The Incubator" and season 3's "Payday", then as Captain Pratt in season 4's "The Late Captain Pierce". The two captains, despite having different surnames and branches (Quartermaster and Finance), are written and portrayed essentially identically as the epitome of exaggerated bureaucrats.
** John Orchard was a semi-regular in season 1 as anesthesiologist Ugly John, a holdover from the novel and feature film who was subsequently DemotedToExtra and then written out of the show entirely. Years later in the season 8 episode "Captains Outrageous", Orchard returned for a guest appearance as a visiting Australian MP.
** Each of the two men who voiced the camp's P.A. announcer appeared as a different character in one episode apiece. (Admittedly, this may not quite count as "You LOOK Familiar", since said P.A. Announcer was [[TheVoice never shown onscreen]]).
** Sab Shimono has appeared at least twice in the series, each as a different character. Once as Winchester's house boy [[spoiler: that was really a spy]], and another time as one of three Korean doctors that shadowed the very same Winchester.
** Harry Morgan appeared in the season 3 premiere as a visiting major general who's apparently completely loony, only to become a main character, Col. Sherman Potter, at the beginning of Season 4.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'':
** Suzanne Snyder appeared as two completely different one-shot characters: First, as a Neo-Nazi in "The Limo", and later as Jerry's latest girlfriend in "The Pie".
** Creator/ChristaMiller appeared as two different characters: First as a boss in a Bra company in "The Sniffing Accountant" and later as a love interest to George in "The Doodle". In both cases the plot thread implicated George Costanza.
* In the first two seasons of ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' Kevin James played Ray's friend [[TheDanza Kevin]]. In the third season, after Kevin was PutOnABus, he played [[Series/TheKingOfQueens Doug Heffernan]] in a few crossover episodes.
* John Amos played James Evans Sr. for three seasons in ''Series/GoodTimes'', a spinoff of ''Series/AllInTheFamily''. Twenty years later he played Ernie Cumberbatch in ''704 Hauser'', a series about the Bunkers' house now being occupied by a black family.
* For that matter, in ''Series/AllInTheFamily'', before joining the regular cast as Frank Lorenzo, Vincent Gardenia appeared in two previous episodes as apparently different characters: once as a swinger, once as the neighbor who sells his house to the Jeffersons.
* ''Series/NightCourt'':
** Jack Riley appeared on seven episodes playing five different characters.
** Before appearing as [[BumblingSidekick Phil]] & [[CloudCuckoolander Buddy]], Will Utay & John Astin each played a different character in episodes of season 2 (although Astin's character, named Kenny, was quite similar to Buddy).
* ''Series/AccordingToJim'' used the same guest actor to play Jim's son in {{Imagine Spot}}s of the future and for various other random roles throughout the series, including a waiter and a lonely guy at the bar.
* In ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Hilary Duff plays one of Carmen's friends and later on, Angie's mentor when she starts selling La Marie cosmetics. Lampshaded when Max says, "You look like one of Carmen's friends."
** Actually, the one where Hilary Duff plays the mentor came out two years before the one where she plays Carmen's friend, so it's more ''HilariousInHindsight''.
* On ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'', Charles Lane was Mr. Hotchkiss, Mr. Mortimer, Mr. Shotwell, Mr. Meikeljohn, Mr. Harmon, Mr. Jameson, and finally Tabitha's Principal, Mr. Roland.
** Creator/PaulLynde appears as a driving instructor in an early episode, then has a recurring role as Samantha's uncle Arthur.
* ''Series/MadeInCanada'':
** Peter Blais appears as a Film/Theater professor in the Series 1 episode "The Mill Show", and later has a recurring role as Geoff, the gay actor who plays Parson Hubbard on ''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.
* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' had many cases of this, some more noticeable than others. For example, the actor who played Angela's dad in season 7 also played a college professor in one episode of season 5.
* [[Music/{{Eagles}} Joe Walsh]] appears AsHimself in ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' episode "Drewstock" where he's one of the thousands of guests at Drew's house party. The next year he appeared in six episodes as Ed, a [[DreadfulMusician not very talented guitarist]] Drew hires to be in his band.
* Israeli sitcom ''Series/HaPijamot'', which is noted for having NoFourthWall, uses this thoroughly and lampshades this with one extra. When Yamit mocks extras and insults the one other patron in the Hamburgary at that point, Gary tells her that he was the one extra they keep using over and over, followed by a flashback showing him in the various roles they cast him as over the years. Later on, when Kobi, Ilan, and ‘Oded tell her they want to try finding a job as extras, Yamit makes sure no extras are around, and then says, ‘Extras? That’s the peak of your aspirations?’
** That Extra happens to be one of the Executive Producers of the show and co-wrote about HALF of the show's songs (his name is Eli Der'e). He's also been with Tedi Hafakot since at least the production of Shemmesh (he was the Boom-man)
* ''Series/TheCosbyShow'': In the early seasons, there was an episode where Clair and Cliff had Sondra fly in a young man from Oberlin college in order to woo her away from Elvin. Much later in the show, this same man played Denise's husband from the Navy.
* Since it's been established via Ted Buckland that ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' and ''Series/CougarTown'' exist in the same universe, the fact Jules (Courtney Cox) and Ellie (Christa Miller) look exactly like Dr Maddox and Jordan qualifies. Many other ''Scrubs'' actors have cameoed in ''Cougar Town'' as unrelated characters.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'' has had a few, even ignoring the multiple episodes in which the regulars played alternate versions of their regular characters.
** Robert Llewellyn, who plays Kryten, later appeared as robot salesman Jim Reaper. As Kryten is a [[RubberForeheadAlien rubber forehead mechanoid]] with a funny voice, this might not have been so noticeable if he didn't later appear sans mask when Kryten got turned into a human. Later still, he appeared as "the Data Doctor." [[note]]Since the Data Doctor is a [=DivaDroid=] computer program, {{fanon}} has it that it was, like Kryten, modelled on [=DivaDroid=] bio-engineer Jim Warburton.[[/note]]
** Before Robert Llewellyn took the role, David Ross appeared in one episode as Kryten. He later appeared in voice only as Talkie Toaster - again not really noticeable, as he used very different voices for the characters.
** Tony Hawks appeared so often that he was known as "the fifth Dwarfer" on set in the early years. He played Caligula, a compere in a pub, a virtual tour guide, two dispensing machines and a suitcase. He also did his stand-up comedy act as a warm-up for the audience before filming.
* Main cast members of ''Series/{{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.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' TV movies, Alberto Malich, the greatest wizard in Discworld history, bears a striking resemblance to Rincewind, the ''worst'' wizard in Discworld history.
* {{Sketch Show}}s in which most of the comedy characters are played by the same small group of actors live off this trope. ''Series/LittleBritain'' and ''Series/TheCatherineTateShow'' require the viewer to believe that there are people all over Britain that look just like Matt Lucas, David Walliams and Catherine Tate.
** Played with in a ''Catherine Tate Show'' sketch in which Creator/DavidTennant guest stars as Lauren Cooper's teacher. She asks "Are you [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor?]]"
** ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' stretches it further: almost everyone in a ''single town'' looks like Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton or Reece Shearsmith.
** The Swedish comedy series ''Hipp Hipp'' has the show's creators, Anders Jansson and Johan Wester, play most of the major roles. They even made fun of this during a live show (released on home entertainment) where characters have dialogues with other characters ''played by the same actor'' through timed responses to pre-recorded videos played on a big screen above the stage. One of the characters, Sunken, points this out during one of those conversations when Kajan, who is played by the same actor, asks him to join him on stage:
-->'''Sunken''': "For purely theater-technical reasons, I can't be on the stage at the same time as you."
* Music/JesseMcCartney played J.R. Chandler on ''Series/AllMyChildren'' from 1998 to 2001. Eventually his character was SORAS'ed as [=McCartney=] went on to a career as a pop singer. In 2006 [=McCartney=] [[CelebrityParadox appeared on the show as himself]], singing at a party. (When he was introduced to his prior character's father and his own SORAS'ed character, now played by Jacob Young, all commented that each other seemed very familiar and speculated they'd met in a past life. See ActorAllusion.)
* Sarah Brown originated the character of Carly in ''Series/GeneralHospital''. Since she left, the character has been [[TheOtherDarrin played by three other actresses]], and was still on the show when Sarah Brown re-entered GH as Claudia in early 2008.
** Similarly, the fact that Natalia Livingston's new character Rebecca looks just like Natalia Livingston's old character Emily (deceased) is Rebecca's debut plot point.
* The ''Chillerama'' segment "The Diary of Anne Frankenstein" did this intentionally: after Meshugannah kills Rupert (Florian Klein) and Franz (Matthew Temple), a panicky Hitler yells for "More Nazis!" Enter Florian Klein and Matthew Temple as two entirely different Nazis, complete with obviously fake mustaches to "change" their appearance.
* In the episode of ''The Danny Thomas Show'' that served as a PoorlyDisguisedPilot for ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'', Frances Bavier, who played Andy's Aunt Bea in the actual series, instead played a citizen of Mayberry named Henrietta Perkins.
* The producers of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' worked very hard to avert this, knowing that it would fertilize hordes of EpilepticTrees. But due to the limited pool of local actors in Hawaii who could play bit roles for them, they finally decided to cast the same actress, Mary Ann Taheny, to play two very minor roles in episodes that aired more than three years apart. To their apparent exasperation, they had to publicly announce that the two characters were not the same person.
* ''Series/JamAndJerusalem'': It's unclear whether Patricia Potter's character in one episode of the third series (a pregnant woman called Tish) is the same as her character in one episode of the first series (a wedding dress sales worker called Amy). The characters are very similar, and both are friends of Tash.
* ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' has Creator/TinaFey in the first season as a terrible lawyer, and a drunk Uber customer in the second season.
* When ''Series/ICarly'' had a crossover with fellow {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} series ''Series/{{Victorious}}'', it's [[ActorAllusion remarked upon]] how much Tori Vega looks like Shelby Marx (both are played by Music/VictoriaJustice).
** Another example in ''iCarly'' is the actor Kevin Symons, who first played in the episode, ''"iPromoteTechFoots"'' as the head CEO and President of the [[BrandX Daka, Inc.]] shoe company, and he also returned in a few other episodes as a lawyer, a building superintendent, and as an investigator for the "National Communications Commission."
* In the Mexican anthology drama series ''La Rosa De Guadalupe'', Karol Sevilla played as many as 6 different roles in 6 different episodes. It is, however, justified by the fact that each episode introduces a separate story with new characters with no connection between episodes except for the Saint of Guadalupe.
* On ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'', George Buza appeared as Mike's "guardian angel" in the Season 9 episode "Angel" before taking on the role of Dwight Cardiff. He also played a motel manager in TheMovie.
* In ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'', Nick Stringer played a naive Australian who buys a faulty Ford Cortina off Del Boy in the Series 1 episode "Go West Young Man". Five years later, Stringer also played Del's old schoolmate and former business partner Jumbo Mills in the Series 5 finale "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?".
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'':
** Since this is an anthology series with a recurring cast, but with all seasons taking place in the same continuity, some actors have [[ActingForTwo multiple roles]] over the course of the series.
** Creator/FinnWittrock plays two characters in one season in ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryHotel'', but this is a case of an in-universe Main/{{Doppelganger}}.
** This trope is {{exaggerated|trope}} by Creator/EvanPeters in ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCult'', where he plays a whopping seven characters. His main character is BigBad Kai Anderson, the others are Creator/AndyWarhol, Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, UsefulNotes/JimJones, [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]] and UsefulNotes/CharlesManson who appear in Kai's flashbacks.
* ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'', the most blatant example is Jason Leland Adams, who played the occasionally-appearing General George Armstrong Custer in season 2 and 3 before taking on the more permanent role of the banker Preston A. Lodge III starting season 4. Also, Larry Sellers plays a one-off Native American named Black Hawk in the pilot, before taking on the permanent role of Cloud Dancing.
* In ''{{Series/Deadwood}}'', Garrett Dillahunt first portrays Wild Bill Hickok's assassin, Jack [=McCall=]. He would later return as the psychotic Francis Wolcott.
* ''Series/{{Decoy}}'': The only recurring character is Casey Jones, but Frank Campanella guest stars as three different lieutenants in "The Phoner," "My Brother's Killer," and "Blind Date."
* ''Series/TheOrville'' brought back Michaela [=McManus=], who played an alien under heavy makeup in season 1, to play a human crew member in season 2. [[spoiler: Subversion: that crew member was actually that same alien, altered to look human and sent on an undercover mission.]]

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Angel Rosa, an NYPD cop and part-time actor, appears in season 1 as a corrupt cop on Wilson Fisk's payroll. His character, Officer Corbin, is arrested in the season 1 finale. In season 3, Rosa appears again, playing a different named police officer who responds to Matt and Nadeem's break-in at Dex's apartment.
* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'', had several guests that were in multiple episodes, with a few of them playing a different character only a few episodes after their initial appearance.
* ''Series/TheMagicians'': Not counting AlternateUniverse counterparts, at least two actors play multiple unrelated roles: Olivia Dudley plays both Alice and the mythical Cassandra (though their resemblance is noted in-universe), and Creator/SeanMaguire plays both the Dark King and the pig man Lord Effingham (under heavy makeup and an exaggerated accent).
* Creator/BrynnThayer on ''Series/{{Matlock}}'': She first appeared as Matlock's client in one episode, who happened to be innocent of the murder on which she was being tried, but guilty of the murder that another of Matlock's clients was being tried for. A few episodes later, she was back, in the regular role of Leanne [=McIntyre=], Matlock's daughter and new law partner.
* Creator/DanielRoebuck on ''Series/{{Matlock}}'': He appeared three times as different lawyers, two defense attorneys that needed Matlock's assistance and one prosecutor who went up against Matlock, before becoming a regular as Matlock's assistant Cliff Lewis.
* Creator/PhilHartman guest starred in two different episodes of ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' as two different characters. He showed up in the first season as a camp beautician worker at a parlor the aliens go to, and in the third season finale as the jealous ex-boyfriend of Harry's girlfriend Vicki.
* ''Series/ThePractice'' and its spinoff had actors playing multiple roles both within one show and from one show to the other. Examples include Paul Dooley, who played Judge Swackheim in the former and Judge Donahue in the latter, and Creator/JohnLarroquette, who played serial killer Joey Heric and Crane, Poole & Schmdit senior partner Carl Sack. Creator/AnthonyHeald played LA judge Harvey Cooper and his ''Series/BostonPublic'' character Scott Guber in ''Series/ThePractice'' and then reprised his role as Cooper in ''Series/BostonLegal''.
* ''Series/BarneyMiller'' had a standing roster of guest actors to play squadroom visitors--whether they were witnesses, crime victims, suspects, or other cops. Steve Landesberg and Ron Carey appeared as criminals in early seasons before their PromotionToOpeningTitles as Detective Dietrich and Officer Levitt, respectively. Kenneth Tigar was also notable for ''frequently'' playing characters who were, [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane possibly]], afflicted by something supernatural.
* On ''Series/TheLWord'', boxer Lucia Rijker appeared for one episode as Dana's trainer. She came back a few years later as Helena's cellmate and eventual lover.
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' had Creator/ShermanHemsley as Judge Carl Robertson in five episodes, with Hemsley also showing up as his character George from ''Series/TheJeffersons'' (with George's wife Louise) in a later crossover episode. Will doesn't even bring up the resemblance to the man who [[spoiler: died right in front of him.]]
** The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air also used Music/QueenLatifah in two episodes as one of Will's love interests, and as one of Hilary's bosses; Creator/NiaLong who played as a minor one-time character in one of the earlier seasons, and then returned as a main character, playing Will's girlfriend and fiancée in Seasons 4-5; Creator/RichardRoundtree who played as a father of one of Will's love interests in the first season, and then returned later on as the pastor of their family's church who has a small crush on Vivian; and Creator/MicholeBrianaWhite who played as one of Will's love interests in Season 3, and also as a community service assistant for Hilary in Season 2 as well.
* On ''Series/ScenesDeMenages'', Claire Chust appeared as Philippe's dad's sugar baby, before being cast in a lead role as Leslie the following season.
* Creator/QuinnMartin series ''loved'' this trope, as demonstrated by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRrXqHN_uPw this compilation]] of intros from ''Series/{{Cannon}}''.
* In ''Series/JeevesAndWooster'', Francesca Folan originally played Madeline Bassett, before [[TheOtherDarrin being replaced in the role for Season 2]]. Folan then returned in Season 4 to play a different character, Florence Craye, which became bizarre when she shared scenes with a different actress playing Madeline.
* Happens in the Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}, especially across different shows. Made even more prevalent in the ''Series/{{Crisis on Infinite Earths|2019}}'' crossover that included cameos from other comic book movies and shows. For example, after being recast, Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'s mother is played by Creator/EricaDurance. In the ''Crisis'', we also see ''Series/{{Smallville}}''[='s=] Lois Lane, also played by Durance. Likewise, there's a cameo by Series/{{Lucifer}} from the eponymous show, and a character in season 3 of ''Lucifer'' is played by Creator/TomWelling, who also plays Clark Kent on ''Smallville'' (and makes a cameo in ''Crisis''). Creator/JonathanCake plays UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}} in two ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' episodes and later plays the recurrent role of ComicBook/{{The Shade|DCComics}} on ''Series/{{Stargirl|2020}}''. Only once is this acknowledged, when [[ComicBook/TheAtom Ray Palmer]] (played by Creator/BrandonRouth) encounters the Superman from ''Film/SupermanReturns'' (also played by Routh). Ray spends a few minutes gushing over their outward similarity.
** Maisie Richardson-Sellers plays two characters in Legends of Tomorrow, Amaya Jiwe, the World War II era’s Vixen, a member of the Justice Society of America and the grandmother to the present day Vixen who joins the Legends in Seasons 2 and 3. She left the team at the end of Season 3 for plot-related reasons and Sellers was recast as [[spoiler: Clotho/Charlie]], a shapeshifter and magical fugitive so she can stay on the show for Seasons 4 and 5. Sellers left the show at the end of Season 5.
** Done differently with Courtney Ford’s characters. She is introduced in Season 3 as Nora Darhk, a witch and the daughter of Damien Darhk, a character who previously appeared as a child in Arrow. She joins the main cast in Season 4 after recurring in Season 3 before leaving the main cast mid-way through Season 5. During Season 5, she also guest stars as Marie Atoinette, an Encore and recurring villain who appears during her time as the main cast before guest starring in the season finale.
** Matt Ryan returned as John Constantine from his cancelled solo series as the main cast from Seasons 4 to 6 after recurring in Season 3. His character was written out after Season 6 for plot-related reasons and Ryan returned as Gwyn Davies, the founder of time travel and a World War One veteran in Season 7 who helped them get home.
** Done differently with Tala Ashe’s roles. She joined the show in Season 3 as Zari Tomaz, a fugitive wielding her dead brother’s Wind Totem from a bad, totalitarian future where ARGUS has become fascist. She travels with the Legends in Seasons 3 and 4 before the bad future where she came from is erased, changing the timeline where her brother joined the Legends instead of her. Season 5 introduced a different version of Zari called Zari Tarazi, a socialite and social-media influencer who joined the Legends and became the main Zari from Seasons 5 to 7. It turned out that Zari Tomaz existed within the Air Totem after being erased, allowing her to rejoin the Legends on a part time basis by swapping places with her counterpart. She became a recurring character from Seasons 5 to 7 before she was written out of the series at the end of Season 7 for plot-related reasons.
* ''Series/LALaw'' did this a few times, with day-players that would show up in an earlier season as one character and then again in a later season as a different one (such as Thomas Ryan, who had a fair-sized recurring role in Season 1 as Sid Hershberg, a depressed and suicidal colleague of Michael Kuzak's, and then showed up again in Season 8 as the stressed-out father of an incorrigible teenager). But three of those day players -- Conchata Ferrell, Alan Rosenberg and A Martinez -- [[RecastAsARegular came back in later seasons for roles as series regulars]].
* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Creator/DreaDeMatteo and Joseph Gannascoli both appeared in roles as one-shot characters before they were cast in recurring roles as Adriana La Cerva and Vito Spatafore, respectively.
* ''Series/ForeignAffairs1966'':
** James Beck played a waiter in "Can We Have Our Ball Back?" and Burke in "The Leak".
** Jennie Linden played Vanessa in "Learning to Compromise" and Sonia in "The Exterminator".
* In ''Series/OnTheHouse'', Liz Goulding played a young woman in "Thank You Fred Spooner and Goodbye" and Bertha in "The Wettest Day of the Year".

* Israeli sitcom ''Series/HaPijamot'', which is noted for having NoFourthWall, uses this thoroughly and lampshades this with one extra. When Yamit mocks extras and insults the one other patron in the Hamburgary at that point, Gary tells her that he was the one extra they keep using over and over, followed by a flashback showing him in the various roles they cast him as over the years. Later on, when Kobi, Ilan, and ‘Oded tell her they want to try finding a job as extras, Yamit makes sure no extras are around, and then says, ‘Extras? That’s the peak of your aspirations?’

** Kristy [=McNichol=] played three separate child characters, and then weirdly ''inverted'' the trope; when one of those characters came back for a second appearance, she was played by a different actress.

** Creator/TonyShalhoub's real-life wife Creator/BrookeAdams appeared in several episodes. For example in season 1 she played an airline stewardess who is driven crazy by Monk's actions and later made a brief cameo in the 100th episode, while in season 5 she played a local sheriff in "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm", which leads to an interesting moment where she and Monk are dancing at the monthly square dance. She was also a kidnapped violinist's mother in "Mr. Monk and the Kid" and a CrazyCatLady in "Mr. Monk and the Badge".

* ''Franchise/KamenRider'':
** Creator/NaoNagasawa appeared in ''Series/KamenRiderW'' as a magician named Lily, in ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' as the gang's new homeroom teacher Ms. Utsugi, and in ''Film/KamenRider1'' as Igura/Eagla, one of the villains.
** Yukari Taki played a troubled pickpocket in one of the ''Series/KamenRiderW'' movies and a one-episode reporter-turned-thief in ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'', before playing recurring IntrepidReporter Sawa Takigawa in ''Series/KamenRiderBuild''.

* ''Series/LALaw'' did this a few times, with day-players that would show up in an earlier season as one character and then again in a later season as a different one (such as Thomas Ryan, who had a fair-sized recurring role in Season 1 as Sid Hershberg, a depressed and suicidal colleague of Michael Kuzak's, and then showed up again in Season 8 as the stressed-out father of an incorrigible teenager). But three of those day players -- Conchata Ferrell, Alan Rosenberg and A Martinez -- [[RecastAsARegular came back in later seasons for roles as series regulars]].

** Since this is an anthology series with a recurring cast, but with all seasons taking place in the same continuity, some actors have LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles over the course of the series.

** This trope is {{exaggerated|trope}} by Creator/EvanPeters in ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCult'', where he plays a whopping seven characters. His main character is BigBad Kai Anderson, the others are Creator/AndyWarhol, Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, [[UsefulNotes/JimJones Jim Jones]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]] and [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson Charles Manson]] who appear in Kai's flashbacks.