When they would use the same actors and actresses for minor roles. They used Jeffrey Tambor for both the uptight neighbor on "The Ropers," and as Terri's Dentist/boyfriend on "Three's Company." Also that woman who was the fitness instructor that Jack like later on became a jewel theif. And the strangest one of all, the woman who played both Roper's niece and Jack's boss'daughter. There are others but these are the ones that stick out the most for me. That must've thrown off alot of loyal fans of the show.

See, that's the thing about reruns. You wouldn't have noticed that 20 years ago, because the Ropers aired in 1979-980, and many people didn't catch a single episode. Then Jeffery Tambor appears on Three's Company in 1982. I would never remember Jeffery playing his role on The Ropers, when he played Terri's dentist friend.

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Andrew Carden

I'm trying to remember all the times Jeffrey Tambor appeared. He played: the Ropers' new next door neighbor in Cheviot Hills; a millionaire pursuing Cindy; a colleague of Terri's whom Janet and Jack thought was a mental patient; and Terri's dentist boyfriend.

Anne Schedeen, the mother on "ALF" appeared quite a few times, too, mostly as Jack's sometimes-girlfriend Linda in the early days, but in different roles later on.

If you read the book "Come and Knock on Our Door", you'll see that Jeffrey Tambor was a major favorite of both cast and crew, which was probably why he was asked back so often. This doesn't happen as much any more, but sitcoms from the 50s and 60s used the same actors in different roles all the time (see any of the "Lucy" shows for examples).

I just thought of another one: Jack's boss at the restaurant,Mr. Angelino, was in an earlier episode as Larry's boss whose wife was after Jack. Its kinda hard to recognize him because he's a little younger and has no facial hair. And I think they also showed an episode with Janet's father, played by the same man who was after Chrissy at her job. That one was really weird....and disturbing.

How about the actress who played the Ropers' niece in an early episode? Stanley was happy to have Jack take her out, because he didn't think Jack would put the moves on her. But she wound up putting the moves on Jack. The same actress returned a few years later as Angelino's daughter, with the same basic plot!