5 Funny Pairs Who Made Multiple Sitcoms Together
Plenty of comedy stars have popped in for a cameo when their old sitcom costars get a new gig — think Cheers’ Ted Danson visiting the original Frasier or most of the Community cast (minus Chevy Chase, of course) stopping by Ken Jeong’s Dr. Ken. But some sitcom stars have such amazing chemistry that they need to keep a good thing going.
Here are five pairs of funny people who costarred together in multiple sitcoms…
Danny McBride and Walton Goggins
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McBride and Goggins headlined Vice Principals as competing a-holes vying to rule the school via promotion to the top job. When McBride went on to create The Righteous Gemstones for HBO, he again enlisted Goggins as a failed child star who once headlined a gospel song-and-dance team. Goggins told Conan O’Brien that McBride “is the funniest person I have ever met in my life.” The two even teamed to desecrate the reputations of Ronald McDonald and the Hamburglar.
Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan
Arthur and McClanahan were next-door neighbors on Maude, the sitcom that launched uncompromisin', enterprisin', anything but tranquilizin' Arthur into sitcom superstardom.
The two reunited on Golden Girls. Arthur’s characters had much in common — both were caustic, politically aware and no-nonsense. McClanahan mixed it up, going from the scatterbrained friend to a man-hungry Southern belle. While Arthur always played tough, McClanahan remembered her as more vulnerable off-camera. “Her emotions were just under the skin,” McClanahan told The Today Show. “You could look at her cross-eyed and she’d burst into tears.”
Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance
This one’s just called “getting the band back together again.” Ball and Vance were comedy royalty, thanks to iconic scenes like the chocolate factory assembly line on I Love Lucy.
After Lucy and Desi Arnaz divorced, their production company Desilu struggled without the I Love Lucy tentpole. Ball didn’t want to do another sitcom but financial realities dictated another comedy might be the only thing to save their company. The Lucy Show reunited Ball and Vance, this time without husbands ,but otherwise, it was like Lucy and Ethel picked up right where they left off. The series also temporarily broke up their friendship, with Vance leaving after three seasons over a desire for more creative control.
Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith
Azaria and Smith have earned generational wealth thanks to their voice work on The Simpsons. But prior to that 35-year working relationship, the two starred together on the early Fox sitcom Herman’s Head. Azaria played Herman’s best pal Jay, a smooth-talking ladies’ man — okay, sure, why not?
Smith played the insecure Louise, a secretary at the magazine publisher where Herman and Jay work. Moe and Lisa — er, Jay and Louise eventually began dating. Is it weird hearing Lisa Simpson’s voice coming out of a grown woman? Yes. Yes, it is.
Kevin James and Leah Remini
The creepiest sitcom reunion happened on Kevin Can Wait, James’ follow-up to the long-running hit King of Queens. When the new show didn’t quite connect with audiences, James and the producers decided to kill off his character’s wife, Donna Gable, and replace her with a new love interest played by his previous sitcom wife, Remini.
The switch wasn’t exactly handled gracefully — the only mention of her death came via a joke in a piece of mail and the cause of Donna’s demise was never revealed. The casual disregard for James’ sitcom wife was partially the impetus for the show, Kevin Can F*** Himself.