Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsch are two of the most enduring and recognizable stars in TV history. Between them, they’ve had five very successful series (The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, Taxi, Dear John, and Numb3rs).
Back in 1997, Newhart and Hirsch teamed up for a sitcom for CBS called George & Leo. In the TV series, Newhart plays George Stoody, the owner of a small bookstore on Martha’s Vineyard. His son Ted (Jason Bateman) runs a bistro and marries Casey Wagonman (Bess Meyer, then Robyn Lively). Ted invites her estranged father, Leo (Hirsch), to the wedding who turns out to be a conman who won’t leave. (You can see the pilot below.)
The series barely lasted a season but is memorable in that one particular half-hour episode featured cameos by 19 actors from previous Newhart and Hirsch shows. Those participating were Peter Bonerz, Oliver Clark, Bill Daily, John Fiedler, Jack Riley, and Marcia Wallace from The Bob Newhart Show; Billie Bird, Jane Carr, Harry Groener, and Tom Willett from Dear John; Julia Duffy, Tony Papenfuss, Tom Poston, William Sanderson, Peter Scolari, Todd Susman, and John Voldstad from Newhart; and Jeff Conaway and Marilu Henner from Taxi.
The eighth episode of George & Leo, “The Cameo Show,” first aired on November 3, 1997. Unfortunately, there’s no online video of the episode so, here’s a description of what happened…
