Pretty much all the best sitcoms in TV history have featured guest stars at the top of their game. In some cases, these guest stars have only made things noticeably awkward for the ensemble cast, maybe by overacting or trying to showcase their star power to the rest of the cast. It happens more often than people like to admit, which is why it’s so satisfying when the guest stars click instantly with the sitcom cast.
These five guest stars showed up, and viewers instantly felt like they’d always been part of the cast. Whether it was a one-episode cameo or a surprise return years later, every one of them had the same things in common. The jokes landed better, and the chemistry was undeniable. Here’s who pulled it off better and how.
1. Brad Pitt on ‘Friends’
By 2001, Brad Pitt was so famous he could have shown up for his Friends’ cameo, delivered his lines with minimal fuss, and cashed his check. Instead, he brought his A game as Will Colbert, Ross’ (David Schwimmer) old high school buddy who co-founded the “I Hate Rachel Green” club with Ross. And knowing Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), that club probably had a secret waiting list. The whole episode at Monica’s Thanksgiving dinner and Pitt fit in like he’d been coming over for years. He’s cracking jokes with Joey, trading insults with Rachel, and generally just being at home.
Part of the reason why Pitt felt so at home was that he and Aniston were married at the time. So it basically felt like he was having dinner with close friends and family. And there’s really no elaborate acting required for those kinds of dinners. It all worked out apparently, because Pitt landed an Emmy nomination for that role, which is not bad for a guy whose main role was holding a grudge over a high school rumor.
2. Sterling K. Brown on ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
Sterling K. Brown’s 2018 episode (“The Box“) on Brooklyn Nine-Nine wasn’t even a normal episode. It’s what Hollywood refers to as a “bottle episode.” Which means they stuck the actors in a locked room and told them to act their hearts out. No distractions, no interruptions. And that’s exactly what Brown, Andy Samberg, and Andre Braugher did for that episode’s entire 22 minutes in the interrogation room. Brown plays Philip Davidson, a dentist who may or may not have murdered somebody, and he goes toe to toe with two actors who’d already spent five seasons building a rhythm. And he does it so well that no one would have guessed that he’d never worked with either of them before.
What sweetens the pot is the backstory behind that role. A year earlier, Brown had won an Emmy for his role in This Is Us, and during his speech, he gave a shout-out to Braugher, who had won the same award back in 1998 for his role on Homicide: Life on the Street. Brown made no secret of wanting to share a scene with Braugher, and a year later, Brooklyn Nine-Nine gave him the perfect platform to do just that. Both stars didn’t disappoint with their performance, and Brown even walked away with yet another Emmy nomination for that role.
3. Nathan Fillion on ‘Modern Family’
Like most guest stars, the first two on this list strut their stuff in one single but memorable episode. Nathan Fillion belongs to the rare group who show up on a sitcom and make themselves at home across multiple episodes. When this happens, it’s usually because the writers fall in love with their performance. And needless to say, the big wigs at Modern Family loved Fillion. He was already famous for his portrayal of Richard Castle in Castle, but he joined Modern Family in season 8 as Rainer Shine, a weatherman with perfect hair and an ego to match.
He becomes Phil Dunphy’s (Ty Burrell) BFF, and their bromance was one of the best things about that season. Because this show loves chaos, he also starts dating Phil’s daughter Hayley. Fillion could have played Rainer as this insufferable, one-track egomaniac, but he chose the path of portraying Rainer as a charming and sometimes ridiculous character. He was so good that what was supposed to be a one-episode cameo turned into six episodes across season 8, running from October 2016 to March 2017. The writers even liked him so much they brought him back for a surprise cameo two years later, in the show’s final season.
4. Bryan Cranston on ‘How I Met Your Mother’
Unlike most guest stars who are already heavy hitters before they appear on sitcoms, Bryan Cranston appeared on How I Met Your Mother in 2006. That’s several years before Breaking Bad turned him into a global star. He plays Hammond Druthers, the boss everyone at Ted’s architectural firm loves to hate. Cranston only filmed two episodes in that original run, but he leaves his mark. By 2013, with Breaking Bad wrapping up and Cranston at the absolute peak of his acting career, he returns for one last episode on HIMYM. That’s not something that happens all the time, and it says a lot about how much fun he had playing Druthers all those years ago.
5. Betty White on ‘Community’
The late Betty White was already a national treasure by the time she popped up on Community. And honestly? To say she stole the show in the two episodes she featured in would be understating facts. She first appeared in the season 2 premiere as Professor June Bauer, an anthropology professor who looks like a sweet grandma at first, until she shows her rather crazy side.
The writers literally had her in mind when they penned the role, and it worked so well that they brought her back for a second episode a few weeks later. Community star Joel McHale said no other guest star ever made an impression on the cast as White did. Not even close. People were queuing up for photos with her like she was the pope, and mind you, she was in her eighties at the time, and out-acting actors half her age.
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