Original Desmond

Who would you say ?

Has to be a starring or co-starring role, not just appearances.

And only scripted tv shows

Heather Locklear always seems to land on her feet

TJ Hooker
Dynasty
Spin city
Melrose place
LAX

rfduncan

Lucille Ball?

I Love Lucy
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
The Lucy Show
Here's Lucy
Life with Lucy

Palaver

Best I can come up with is Gerald McRaney:

Simon and Simon
Major Dad
Promised Land
Deadwood (does this count as primetime?)
Jericho

He was in six episodes of Touched by an Angel, but I never watched that show and don't know if that would count.

Barings

Isn't Robert Urich the king of this category? I think he was the star of several primetime shows which were cancelled after a single season or short runs.

rw2516

James Garner

Maverick
Nichols
Rockford Files
Bret Maverick
First Monday
God, The Devil and Bob
8 Simple Rules...For Dating My Teenage Daughter

MrE

(This one's too obvious to even name)

Star Trek
Barbary Coast
TJ Hooker
TekWar
The Practice
Boston Legal
... and several more

Shannon Nutt

Are we talking total number of episodes appeared in, or number of different shows?

I'm saying that, of course, because Kelsey Grammer spent 9 years on Cheers (although not the primary star) then another 11 on Frasier - so that's a lot of TV Episodes. Same deal with James Arness, who was on Gunsmoke for 20 seasons (and the lead star).

Groucho

I'm sure its somebody in the UK since their shows often have very short runs (6-13 episodes).

Double_Oh_7

I know Ted McGinley KILLED the most primetime shows...

Shannon Nutt

Yeah, I was going to post that he probably starred in the most failed pilots (many of which never aired).

riley_dude

Nathan Fillion???

Nick Danger

That was my thought. According to Wikipedia, he was in 19 shows as the star, supporting role, or host of a nature program.

Brian Shannon

If we are talking about the number of episodes over the years I would say someone from the original Law & Order, now in its 19th season.

S. Epatha Merkerson as Lt. Anita Van Buren (1993-present), Sam Waterston as A.D.A./D.A. Jack McCoy (1994-present)

At between 22-24 episodes a season, that is alot of shows.

Nick Danger

I just discovered that Don Francisco has been the host of Sábado Gigante every week since 1962. That's a hell of a lot of episodes.

SteveA

I think it would be more interesting to know about the number of different series, as opposed to total number of episodes. Dick Clark did American Bandstand for a lot of years too. But most everyone knows that.

Jobronie

I'm thinking you have to put in a minimum number of AIRED episodes for any given show to count, say 13.

Networks used to burn off unaired pilots as one-off summer fillers. If a single aired episode counts, we probably have winner in there somewhere......

Superman07

Are you talking big shows and big name people? I could assume that from "Starred" in your title, but not sure.

I imagine some character actors/guest stars could easily win in numbers over somebody who headlined a show (e.g. William Shatner).

Count Dooku

Why is that when someone starts a thread with a fairly straightforward premise so many people feel the need to post comments that are so obviously off the point?

READ THE FIRST POST

Obviously this is not about who has been in the most episodes.

Obviously this is not about guest appearances.

Obviously "starred in" means being one of the regular cast members who get their names shown during the opening credits.

And the OP even put it in the thread title --PRIMETIME SCRIPTED.

Geez Louise!

Sean O'Hara

This would be a lot more challenging if we restricted it to actors who were listed in the main titles for more than one season -- you eliminate a lot of short lived shows, and actors who only popped in for one season.

Travis McClain

Out of curiosity, are we including voice-over work in animation? 'Cause if so, then I'm placing my bet on somebody like Mel Blanc.

rfduncan

I concur! These threads are like a game of telephone where the passed message gets more and more screwy the longer it gets passed! The original thread QUITE PLAINLY states what they're looking for!

llandros

Betty White

Boston Legal
Ladies Man
The Golden Palace
The Golden Girls
Mama's Family
The Betty White Show
Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Pet Set
Date With The Angels
Life With Elizabeth

and so many cameos/guest star roles in addition to these.

Adboy151

This was the one that leapt to mind.