Tonight I was watching an Episode of the Munsters where Fred Gwynne played both his normal role of Herman Munster, as well as his more sophisticated and worldly brother Charles.

This got me to thinking of other shows where a regular starring actor/actress developed alter-ego characters. Usually with the more worldly character playing a role that was menacing in some way to the natural order of the program.

Bewitched with Sam/ cousin Serena, I dream of Jeannie with Jeannie and sister Jeannie II,
Gilligans' Island with Jim Baccus as Thurston Howell III and his evil imposter, Bob Denver as Gilligan and his doppelganger Russian Spy, and even Tina Louise with Ginger and a visitor to the island I cannot recall the name of.

In all of those above examples, the regular character is portrayed as an innocent, likable, even somewhat naive character. While their counterparts are portrayed as cunning, worldly, even at times lecherous characters with ambition to exploit the sudden opportunity.

Obviously this demonstrates the range of the particular actor/actress, being able to summons multiple roles within the time frame of the episode's production.

Making me wonder which polar opposite might be closer to the actor/actresses' actual personality vs stage persona?

Hard to imagine "the beautiful people" being in real life as sweet and innocent as their scripted characters often suggest.

Other instances of an actor/ actress doubling in the same episode that also come to mind are William Shatner in that episode of parallel universes of Star Trek, and (albeit lacking the alt/sinister theme) is Morticia Addams/Ophelia Frump in the Addams Family.

What others can you think of?

My memory's fuzzy on a few of these, but these are the ones that instantly came to mind:

Jean Stapleton played a woman named Judith Klammerstadt on an episode of All in the Family.

Amanda Bearse played a gay cousin of Marcy's on Married with Children.

I vaguely recall Jackee Harry playing a cousin from the Dominican Republic or something on 227? I looked it up at the IMDB and I think the episode was called "Double Your Pleasure."

On Small Wonder, Tiffany Brissette played a "normal" kid, who was the opposite of Vicky, a really ill-behaved brat.

And then there were those episodes where the actors on a TV show portrayed their fathers, grandfathers, etc. Like, on The Odd Couple, Tony Randall and Jack Klugman played their fathers from the 1920s.

The most famous example of an actor playing multiple roles was Jaleel White on Family Matters, in a takeoff on The Nutty Professor.

Amanda Bearse played a gay cousin of Marcy's on Married with Children.

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My god, what an excellent example of my suggestion contemplating if the alter-ego might be representative of the actor/actress' true nature. YOU NAILED THAT ONE!!!!

Pat Harrington on One Day At A Time. In one episode he was his usual down to earth Schneider and the more worldly, sophisticated Guido Panzini.

Panzini, by the way, was a character he had previously created
https://thecomicscomic.com/2016/01/11/r-i-p-pat-harrington-jr-1929-2016-aka-schneider-or-guido-panzini/

I guess that Andy Kaufman's Latka Gravas and Vic Ferrari deserve mention here...as well as Jerry VanDyke in one episode of Dick Van Dyke where he had a sleeping disorder that yielded an alter ego in his sleep.

I remember Dana Plato and Conrad Bain playing identical relatives in an episode of Diff'rent Strokes.

Of course there was the Patty Duke Show, with identical cousins Patty and Cathy, Cathy being the sweet one while Patty was more wild.

I remember Stephanie playing twins on Newhart, Jody and Judy, in Michael's terrible sitcom. I think Jody was the bookworm, while Jody was the "handful"?

Sarah Michelle Gellar played twins on Ringer.

I recall Bender had an evil twin on Futurama.

Ross and Russ on Friends; also Phoebe and Ursula, with Ursula being quite mean to Phoebe.

slso on Dick Van Dyke once, Dick also played Robs-I think grandfather?

once on MASH Gary Burghoff also played Radars mother

dont forget steve urkell family matters playing stephan urquelle myrtle urkell and obg urkell n others

jack tripped three's company payed grandma tripper and his brother i forget his name though

Redd foxx played himself and Fred g Sanford on episode of Sanford and Son

Henry winkler played fonzie of course and a uncool version of himself on a dream sequence on happy days

for those who are fans of British TV, the cast of Monty Python's Flying Circus sometimes played multiple characters in the same sketch.

Vicki Lawrence plays Thelma and her "identical cousin" in an episode of Mama's Family.

Fred MacMurray plays Steve and his cousin Fergus, in a 4 part arc to open season 12 of My Three Sons.

Robert Reed and Florence Henderson play their normal Mike and Carol roles, and their grandparents, on a Brady Bunch episode. Chris. Knight also plays a dual role in a later episode, playing Peter and a lookalike friend.

Both Dick York and Dick Sargent play other roles than normal in Bewitched, mostly after being sent into the past.

In Father Knows Best Elinor Donahue plays Betty as normal, and in one episode a lookalike Hollywood star.

Oh, on That Girl Ted Bessell played Don, and on one episode a doctor treating Ann.

I recall Barbara Eden also played Jeannie's Mom in at least one episode. Also, Tony had a double in a least one episode.

Carl Betz played Alex Stone's father in several episodes of Donna Reed.

Didn't Don Adams also play a Kaos double of Maxwell Smart?

Eva Gabor and Eddie Albert both played their own ancestors several times in Green Acres flashbacks.

Bob Cummings as Bob Collins and Grandpa Collins on The Bob Cummings Show/
Love That Bob

Don Grady as Rob Douglas and Douglas Frasier on an episode of My Three Sons

Max Baer as Jethro and Jethrine on The Beverly Hillbillies

Ann B. Davis as Alice and Cousin Emma on The Brady Bunch

Benson Fong as Ray Wong and Grandfather Wong on My Three Sons

jack tripped three's company payed grandma tripper and his brother i forget his name though

Austin from Texas! Jack also impersonated a female (and stole Chrissy's date) on an earlier episode of Three's Company.

Also on The Bob Cummings Show, Nancy Kulp played both Pamela Livingstone and Pamela's grandmother (I believe that's the lineage) on at least a couple of episodes.

On Bonanza, Michael Landon and Dan Blocker played a couple of really bad guys in an episode who looked just like their regular characters, Little Joe and Hoss Cartwright.

On The Lucy Show, in the Robert Goulet episode IIRC Goulet played both himself and a lookalike.

On Adventures of Superman, Jack Larson played a criminal in an episode who is a lookalike to his Jimmy Olsen character.

Sammy Davis Jr. played two roles in an episode at least twice in guest appearances. On I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie created a clone of him when he got booked to perform in two venues at the same time. On Gimme a Break, he played himself and Albert, a car wash employee who Nell was forcing to act as a double when she didn't think she could get Sammy Davis Jr. to perform at her fundraiser.

On The Incredible Hulk, Bill Bixby played David Banner and a mob boss who looked like him. When McGee discovered Banner, he had to pretend he was the mob boss and threaten McGee, so McGee wouldn't think Banner was alive and connect him to the hulk.

Sammy Davis Jr. played two roles in an episode at least twice in guest appearances. On I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie created a clone of him when he got booked to perform in two venues at the same time. On Gimme a Break, he played himself and Albert, a car wash employee who Nell was forcing to act as a double when she didn't think she could get Sammy Davis Jr. to perform at her fundraiser.

Sammy also played both himself and a lookalike on Charlie's Angels (Season 2, 1977).

On Alice, Linda Lavin (Alice) also played Debbie Walden, Vera's landlady.

on a Christmas sketch of the "lost" Honeymooners (I put lost in quotes because they were never lost-Jackie Gleason knew they existed but never told anyone. LOL:lol:) Jackie played-besides Ralph-4 other characters.

Eva Gabor and Eddie Albert both played their own ancestors several times in Green Acres flashbacks.

Also on Green Acres, in addition to his Oliver role, in one episode Eddie Albert played a present-day criminal named Charlie (Season 6).

Looking at Treky photo, I think of Fred and Barney on the Flintstones. Didn't both have their characters have doubles. Yess- Yess- NO- NO robot types