Toronto Star's Top 10 TV Guest Shots of All Time - Rob Salem [2008]

Entertainment: TV Critics

* #1. Harpo Marx on I Love Lucy: Arguably the celeb highlight of the series' star-filled L.A. sojourn in 1955. * #2. Richard Nixon on Laugh-In: Whoever talked him into a "Sock it to me!" on the sketch show – the first of three appearances – may well have won him the '68 election. (Sarah Palin got 15 million Amercans and 775,000 Canadians to watch Saturday Night Live last weekend, both of them stunning figures.) * #3. Sammy Davis Jr. on All in the Family: Sammy's personal inspiration to land a big wet kiss on the cheek of an astonished Archie Bunker may have advanced civil rights by several years. * #4. Suzanne Pleshette on Newhart: The brilliant final scene of the final episode of the second Newhart sitcom, bringing back his co-star in the first, the fabulous Pleshette, to insist it was all just a dream. * #5. Barbra Streisand on Saturday Night Live: The show is all about the guests, but the surprise appearance of La Streisand in the middle of a Linda Richman sketch already top-loaded with Rosanne and Madonna had us all choked up. My own SNL musical highlight, George Harrison and Paul Simon's acoustic jam in '76. * #6. Brad Pitt on Friends: Like either one needed the publicity. Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston at the time. She has since taken over the guesting duties, tonight on 30 Rock and last year on pal Courtney Cox's Dirt – yet another same-sex smooch. * #7. Bruce Lee on Batman: Hard to believe, but this was the go-to show for "special guest villains," from Caesar Romero to Otto Preminger to Talullah Bankhead. The two-part Green Hornet crossover had a Robin/Kato throw-down that Robin was supposed to win, but Lee understandably balked and they fought to a draw. * #8. Ann-Margret on The Flintstones: Taped right after her career-making performance in Bye Bye Birdie, and just before Viva Las Vegas, even the two-dimensional "Ann-Margrock" was enough to set pubescent male hearts aflutter. * #9. Bob Saget on Huff: The wholesome Full House dad revealed a depraved and darker side, then did it again on Entourage. * #10. Lauren Bacall on The Sopranos: The only movie diva I can think of who ever agreed to get punched in the face by a gangster. * SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT, ACTOR: Don Rickles, veteran guest of at least 40 shows including three episodes of Get Smart and a pair of Dick Van Dykes. * SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT, SHOW: Will & Grace, for doubling Rickles' count at more than 80 guest appearances, including Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Alec Baldwin, John Cleese, Gene Wilder, Cher, Sharon Stone and Lily Tomlin. -------------- Missing: * Laugh-In (2) * Huff (9) * Homer Simpson (9)

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