Updated October 2, 2023 15.8K votes 3.5K voters 452.6K views
Over 3.5K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of 16 Times Celebrities Played Themselves On TV (And Nailed It)
Voting Rules
Vote up the funniest cameos when a celebrity appeared as themselves.
Celebrity cameos are sometimes the most exciting part of a television series, especially in sitcoms like How I Met Your Mother and The Office, where guest appearances are plentiful and, frankly, expected. But there's a specific joy that comes when the actors aren't even playing a character - they're playing an exaggerated version of themselves. It's not often that you get to see your favorite actor roll up their sleeves and drop the "acting" facade.
It takes a certain level of courage to be yourself, especially when you get paid to be other people for a living. It's often really refreshing to see an actor show off their personality or let loose and make jokes about themselves. We all can appreciate a celebrity who is a great sport when it comes to self-deprecating humor, i.e. Larry David or Ricky Gervais, but some of these celebrities truly go the extra mile, like Carl Weathers making fun of his current acting career or Michael J. Fox having fun with his own serious medical condition. Here are some celebrities who played themselves on TV and nailed it.
Latest additions: Mel Brooks On 'Only Murders in the Building,' Delivering Some Bad News
Leave it to Larry David to have Michael J. Fox on Curb Your Enthusiasm and joke about Parkinson's, but kudos to Fox for being such a great sport about it and revisiting his comedy roots.
The pair ended up being hilarious together, where Fox keeps "accidentally" doing things to annoy Larry and blaming it on his Parkinson's Disease, so Larry can't get mad about it.
Adam Sandler is well aware of the critics' reactions to the types of movies he's been making for Netflix lately, and has no problem making fun of himself about it.
Sandler appeared on Brooklyn Nine-Nine as himself at an antiques auction of all places until Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) recognizes him and instantly blasts him.
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Ralph Macchio And William Zabka On 'How I Met Your Mother,' Reliving Their 'Karate Kid' Feud
There's a hilarious running gag on How I Met Your Mother in which Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) believes that Johnny (William Zabka) is the true underdog hero of The Karate Kid instead of Danny (Ralph Macchio).
This gag pays off when Ralph Macchio shows up to Barney's bachelor party under the pretense that the real Karate Kid would be showing up, disappointing Barney. All of that would lead to the true reveal when his real hero, William Zabka, pops up in that same episode.
Patrick Stewart managed to prove how awesome he is yet again in an episode of Ricky Gervais's short-lived series Extras. In the show, Stewart was obsessed with making his character in a script be able to telepathically remove women's clothing. He's also absolutely baffled when Ricky Gervais' character, a single loser, has never seen an episode of Star Trek.
If you invite Patrick Stewart on your show to do a bit, expect him to play into it to the best of his abilities.
Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) was LeVar Burton's biggest fan, but when Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) tried to make Troy happy by inviting LeVar to come visit, Troy had an adverse reaction, becoming almost catatonic.
LeVar played off the situation really well, even humming the Reading Rainbow theme song to Troy.
It was only a matter of time before Stan Lee appeared on the "nerd" show of the century. In the episode, Sheldon shows up at his house unannounced and invites himself inside, much to Stan's dismay.
There's no doubt that Stan had to deal with quite a few "Sheldons" in his lifetime. RIP.
