Who Has Starred in Prime-Time TV Shows in Three Different Decades?

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If success in television was measured by longevity, then perhaps relative new comers like John Krasinski of “The Office” and Adrian Grenier of “Entourage” would do well to study up on the careers of Bill Cosby, Michael Landon and Lee Majors.

Each of these three achieved the near impossible: They starred in not one, not two, but three hit prime-time TV series, in three separate decades.

Landon was the first to reach stardom. In the classic western “Bonanza,” he played Little Joe Cartwright. “Bonanza” was the most popular TV series of the 1960s, and ran for 14 seasons, from 1959 to 1973.

One year after “Bonanza” was cancelled, Landon created one of the most popular family shows of the 1970s, “Little House on the Prairie,” which ran from 1974 to 1983. He then moved on to “Highway to Heaven,” which ran for five seasons from 1984 to 1989. All together, Landon spent 30 family-friendly years on television.

Bill Cosby broke the race barrier in 1965 when he became the first black actor to co-star in a TV drama. The hit “I Spy” ran for three seasons, and Cosby won three Emmy Awards for his work.

Then, after several failed series, Cosby found his greatest success in 1984 with “The Cosby Show.” One of only two sitcoms to top television’s Nielsen ratings five years in a row, “The Cosby Show” is credited with saving the sitcom as a viable format. Cosby scored another, albeit more modest, sitcom hit with “Cosby,” which debuted in 1996 and aired for four seasons.

[If you count the 1970s animated Saturday morning kids show, “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” then Cosby actually managed to score TV hits in four separate decades. He was the voice of several of the show’s characters.]

The final member of this exclusive club, Lee Majors, broke through playing Heath Barkley in the western “The Big Valley,” which ran from 1965-1969. Then, in 1974, Majors scored his most memorable role as Col. Steve Austin in the science-fiction action hit “The Six Million Dollar Man.” The show, which lasted five seasons, made Majors an icon, complete with action figure and lunchbox.

Majors overcame the stigma of being the Bionic Man by poking fun at his action hero image. He played a stuntman/bounty hunter in his next hit series, “The Fall Guy,” which aired through the mid-1980s. The role of Colt Seavers allowed Majors to show off his comedic side, as well as sing the show’s memorable theme song.

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