Where are they now?

I was watching an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air the other day, and there was a scene with both Queen Latifiah and Will Smith. Now, the show aired in the early 90s, before both of them became huge stars, so to look back at it now, you have to wonder if they knew they'd be as big as they are now? During the course of the show's run, I know Tyra Banks became a regular, Don Cheadle, Vanessa Williams, and I'm sure a few others. This got me to thinking what other shows have had celebs guest star before they became big stars?

Well, not long after that question popped n my head than I watched an episode of Quantum Leap that guest starred Jennifer Aniston.

The Cosby Show had a nice long string of guest stars, some that were already established, and others that made it big after their appearance, such as Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Christopher Plummer, Sinbad, Dizzy Gillespie, Roscoe Lee Brown, Naomi Campbell, Bill Bradley, Wallace Shawn, Nancy Wilson, The Muppets, Max Roach, Adam Sandler, etc. Yes, Adam Sandler was on there. As a matter of fact, he was on of Theo's friends for like 3 or 4 episodes. As far as Alicia Keys, well she had a memorable role as the little girl at Rudy birthday party that Cliff bounces on his knee. (A little bit of Cosby trivia for you)

This week, I've been catching up on my I Dream of Jeannie reruns. Now, I haven't seen enough episodes to spout off a list of guest stars, but n episodes that I can recall there was Paul Lynde,Sammy Davis, Jr., Farrah Fawcett, Don Rickles, and Phil Spector. Spector's episode was actually on Thursday...ironically the day before he was sentenced to prison.

I'm going to finish this little guest star query and trivia post by tying I Dream of Jeannie to I Love Lucy. how? Well, Hayden Rourke, who played Dr. Bellows on Jeannie, guest starred in an episode of Lucy. I watched it the other day and had to double check my eyes (and the credits), and sure enough ti was him. On top of Rourke, Lucy had a slew of guest stars that came through, especially in the Hollywood episodes (of course). Names like Bob Hope, Tennessee Ernie Ford, George Reeves, John Wayne, Orson Wells, Verna Felton, Madge Blake, Harpo Marx, Janet Waldo (voice of Judy Jetson...for those who have no idea who she is), Frank Nelson (you'd know his voice, trust me), and Van Johnson, amongst others.

What's the point of all this? Well, none really, I just found it quite fascinating how you can come across a small role one day and a few years later that same person will be a huge star as well as seeing who has made guest appearances on other shows. Are there any you can think of?