Name shows where castmembers leave a show but come back for the series finale.

Don Knotts - The Andy Griffith Show

Valerie Harper - The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Cloris Leachman - The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Shelley Long - Cheers

Ron Howard - Happy Days

Donny Most - Happy Days

Lynda Goodfriend - Happy Days

Steve came back about once every season on Married with Children after he left the show - they didn't have a final episode, but I would bet that he would've come back for it if they had

saturday night live is famous for having cast members leave and then return as hosts or even for random sketches .also jeff conaway left taxi and then returned as a guest star in one ep

sorry i didnt see the whole therad but topher grace and ashton kutcher returned for the final ep of that 70s show

sorry i didnt see the whole therad but topher grace and ashton kutcher returned for the final ep of that 70s show

I may be mistaken, but I think Topher Grace was missing from the finale, which is why I wish this show didn't continue after he left. Ashton was still in the final season for a number of episodes, including the finale, but it was anti-climatic without Topher's return!:(

I may be mistaken, but I think Topher Grace was missing from the finale, which is why I wish this show didn't continue after he left. Ashton was still in the final season for a number of episodes, including the finale, but it was anti-climatic without Topher's return!:(topher was in the last 5 minutes of the finale but his part was preshot not only that but laura prepon had to talk him into doing it

topher was in the last 5 minutes of the finale but his part was preshot not only that but laura prepon had to talk him into doing it

I stand corrected, I didn't realize that.

Name shows where castmembers leave a show but come back for the series finale.

Don Knotts - The Andy Griffith Show

Valerie Harper - The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Cloris Leachman - The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Shelley Long - Cheers

Ron Howard - Happy Days

Donny Most - Happy Days

Lynda Goodfriend - Happy Days

Don Knotts did not appear in the series finale of The Andy Griffith Show, which served as the pilot for Mayberry RFD, but he did appear in a final season episode, "Barney Hosts a Summit Meeting", which according to TV Land was the highest-rated episode of the series ever.

Also Donny Most appeared in a two-part episode in the final season, along with Ron Howard, but it was not the finale. Also Anson Williams did not appear in the final produced show where Joanie & Chachi married. From what I read from tv.com, he left the show halfway through the final season's production, but he appeared in what was the final episode originally aired, out of order, of the series on Sept. 24, 1984. A clip from this episode, where Chachi & Roger threw pies at each other instead of at Fonzie, appeared in the final season's opening credits, so it was filmed more than a year before its original airing.

After leaving "Beverly Hills, 90210" at the end of the fourth or fifth season Gabrielle Cateries returned as Andrea not once but TWICE. Once for the characters high school reunion episode and again for the series final episode which featured Donna and David's wedding.

Christine Elise who played Emily Valentine in the shows second season returned too the show twice as well, once when Brandon spots Emily in San Fransisco and once when Emily visits Brandon while Kelly is being trapped in a fire.

Tiffani Thissen as Valerie Malone also re-appeared in the series finale episode as did Denise Dowse as Mrs. Teasley.

Carol Potter left the series after the high school years and made a brief guest apperance during a Christmas Episode at one point.

[QUOTE=jehobden]Don Knotts did not appear in the series finale of The Andy Griffith Show, which served as the pilot for Mayberry RFD, but he did appear in a final season episode, "Barney Hosts a Summit Meeting", which according to TV Land was the highest-rated episode of the series ever.

I had to look this up. The reason I thought Don Knotts was in the final episode of TAGS was because I thought Andy and Helen's wedding was the final episode. Actually it was the first episode of Mayberry RFD. But just as the last episode of The Andy Griffith Show served as the pilot for Mayberry R.F.D., Mayberry R.F.D.'s first episode kind of served as the finale forTAGS since it was the last for Opie, Helen, and Barney! It seems to me they had these episodes backwards:lol:

Anyway this is where Don Knotts returned as Barney!

Abe Vigoda was appearing as Fish on both Barney Miller and Fish, so I'm not sure if that counts as 'returning' or not.

David Duchovny returned to the X-Files for the series finale after being absent for a full season.

Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers returned, twice, I believe, to AITF after leaving the show in 1978.

Jeff Conaway returned to Taxi after leaving.

John Amos returned as Gordie the weatherman in "Hail the Conquering Gordie" on the MTM show.

Gareth Thomas returned twice to Blakes7, once as a holographic simulation of Blake and once as the real deal (then died, maybe) in the series finale.

Tom Wopat and John Schneider both returned to Dukes of Hazzard after leaving for a year.

John Travolta came back for six episodes in the fourth year of Welcome Back Kotter.

Farrah Fawcett Majors returned for six episodes of Charlies Angels.

Jennifer Lien (Kes) returned to Star Trek:DS9 for one episode in, I believe, the final year of the show.

Andre Braugher, Reed Diamond, Melissa Leo, Ned Beatty, Daniel Baldwin, and John Polito all returned for the series finale (and feature movie) of Homicide: Life on the Street, all after leaving at various times on the show.

-Moira Kelly, Craig Sheffer and Barry Corbin have made appearance on One Tree Hill after leaving the show.
-Various cast members on ER made appearances after leaving the show.
-Telma Hopkins made a couple of appearances on Family Matters after she left.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Angel paid Sunnydale a visit on Buffy's last show.

Angel - Connor (a regular in season 4) returned in the finale to help Angel battle evil.

Alan Alda returned to "MASH" for the finale.

Esther Rolle returned for Good Times sixth and final season.

On Petticoat Junction, former cast member Rufe Davis ("Floyd Smoot") made a very brief and unexpected return in his old role, but it wasn't for the series finale. (IIRC, Byron Foulger who was playing "Wendell Gibbs" became ill at the time).

So many times these series ended without warning, so there was no way for the writers to do anything special for a final episode.

Peter DeLuise, he along with Dustin Nguyen and Johnny Depp left 21 Jump Street after S4. However, Peter DeLuise did make appearances for that show's 5th and final season with his brother Michael DeLuise.

Kristy McNichol appeared on the series finale of Empty Nest in 1995.

Abe Vigoda made a return to Barney Miller even after Fish ended.

Barbara Stock returned to Spenser: For Hire in S3 after being away from the show for all of S2.

Patricia McPherson returned to Knight Rider after being away from this show during S2.

Howard Rollins made appearances on In the Heat of the Night in S7, though he would later be barred permanently from the show.

Danica McKellar returned for the final season of The Wonder Years after being absent for like 3/4 of the season prior.

When did Alan Alda Leave M*A*S*H