Can You Identify These TV Shows Named For The Main Character?

Mitchel Musso who plays Oliver, the best friend to both Miley and Lilly, had pierced ears. It is said that is why he wore his hair at shoulder length – Disney wanted to hide his ears!

The "Ugly Betty" series is based on the Colombian telenovela, "Yo soy Betty, la fea." A literal translation of the name almost caused the English version to be called "Betty the Ugly" before this was changed to "Ugly Betty."

Several well-known actresses were considered for the title role of Lizzie McGuire. They included Hallee Hirsh, Lindsay Lohan and Sara Paxton. The role, of course, finally went to Hilary Duff, who during the show’s run did all her own stunts.

The "Roseanne" TV series is often credit with leading off a new wave of stand-up comedians being given their own shows. Other examples include "Seinfeld" with Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano’s "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Home Improvement" starring Tim Allen.

After nine seasons and 173 episodes, "Seinfeld" has become known as one of the best and most influential TV shows of all time. That’s despite the fact that quite often the show was described as being about absolutely nothing!

Mr. Bean's car, which is featured in many of the series’ jokes, was initially an orange 1969 BMC Mini Mark 2. It was later replaced by an Austin Citron Green 1976 British Leyland Mark 3 Mini 1000 with a matte black bonnet.

After ten seasons of the TV series "Friends," Matt LeBlanc immediately followed up with two seasons as "Friends" character Joey in his own eponymous show. After "Joey," LeBlanc took a break from movies and television.

Linwood Boomer, the creator of "Malcolm in the Middle," was very much like the show’s title character. He had two older brothers and one younger, and he was extremely smart. Just like Malcolm, Linwood also saw Mom shave Dad’s body hair at the dining table.

During the first two seasons of the show, Julie Newmar portrayed Catwoman. In the third and final season, it was Eartha Kitt who “purred” her way through the role. The Batman movie (1966) had Lee Meriwether play the seductress, Catwoman.

The lowest ratings for "Felicity" came during the second of four seasons. Many have blamed this on the fact that lead actress Keri Russell cut her hair at the beginning of that season

The series featured four characters named Maverick – three brothers and a cousin. They were portrayed by James Garner, Jack Kelly, Robert Colbert and Roger Moore. There were never more than two Mavericks in any one episode and many episodes featured just one.

The final episode of season 4 of "The Andy Griffith Show" was actually the pilot for "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." Jim Nabors, who played Pyle, was a notable gospel singer.

Some of the most colorful characters on the "Martin" TV series were played by Martin Lawrence. There were ten in all: Bob from Marketing, Dragonfly Jones, Elroy Preston, Jerome, King Beef, Mama Payne, Otis, Roscoe, Sheneneh, and of course, himself.

In the series Emily Deschanel portrays Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Ph.D. Bones’ list of credentials is quite impressive, as she is said to be an anthropologist, forensic anthropologist and kinesiologist.

CBS executives had intended for the Murphy Brown character to be younger. Their first choice was Heather Locklear who is younger than Candice Bergen by more than a decade. Bergen eventually got the part and led the show through ten successful seasons.

The original Dr. Kildare character was created in the 1930s and had been featured in several theatrical films and a radio series. For the 1960s TV series the role was played by Richard Chamberlain.

Pernell Roberts plays the title character in "Trapper John, M.D." TV show, which is a spinoff of the hugely popular series "M*A*S*H." Wayne Rogers played the character on "M*A*S*H."

Anthony Shalhoub, who portrays detective Adrian Monk in the TV series, has been nominated for numerous industry awards for his efforts. Among his many wins are one Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild and three Emmy Awards.

Although "Frasier" is a spin-off of the popular series "Cheers," its producers did not want it to feature too many cross-overs with that show. Hence, they used Seattle as the setting for "Frasier" – on the other side of the U.S. from Boston, where "Cheers" was set.

In 2010, Michael C. Hall won both the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his starring role in "Dexter." He wore a knitted cap while accepted both awards to over his bald head, since chemotherapy for cancer caused him to lose his hair.

There were two puppets used on the set during the filming of the series. One puppet was for shots showing ALF from the belly up and the other was used for shots where ALF is seen head-to-toe.

Ted Danson, who plays the title character in this show, had portrayed bartender and owner Sam Malone in the long-running hit comedy "Cheers." To play the part of Becker, he dyed his hair brown (to match Malone’s) as it had all gone white.

Peter Falk was already an accomplished actor before he took on the role of Columbo in 1968. The character was famous for his rumpled raincoat.

"Moesha" was one of the biggest hits for UPN, in part due to the themes it explored. These included race, drugs and infidelity. The show also had some very well-known guest stars, including athletes such as Bo Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter.

"Xena: Warrior Princess" premiered in 1995 as a spinoff of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," which had its own premiere earlier that year. The character appeared in three Hercules episodes and was so well-liked that she was given her own series.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" enjoyed seven successful seasons as a TV series. When the show ended, its creator Joss Whedon and publishers Dark Horse Comics teamed up to continue the storyline in a series of comic books.

Vince Edwards, the actor who portrays Dr. Ben Casey, was an avid swimmer. While a student at University of Hawaii, he trained with hopes of going to the Olympics.

At the beginning of the series, Benson (played by Robert Guillaume) is head of household affairs in the governor’s mansion. He later becomes state budget director and then lieutenant governor. He went on to run for governor but the results were never shown.

"Magnum P.I." was still a fairly new show when Tom Selleck was approached as first choice to star as Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." He had to decline the offer, however, as his work schedule with the TV series was simply too hectic.

Dana Elcar stars as Pete Thornton alongside Richard Dean Anderson’s MacGyver. In the show’s 6th season, Thornton develops glaucoma and begins to go blind. This mirrored Elcar developing the condition in real life.

The character Lynn Aloysius Belvedere was created by Gwen Davenport in a 1947 novel titled “Belvedere.” Before the successful 1985 to 1990 TV series, the Belvedere character appeared in three successful feature films: "Sitting Pretty" (1948), "Mr. Belvedere Goes to College" (1949) and "Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell" (1951).

During its eight seasons, "House" (as it was later known) had quite a few familiar faces in the guest star role. These included Carmen Electra, Jeremy Renner, Michael B. Jordan and LL Cool J.

Cybill Shepherd starred in this series as Cybill Sheridan, an actress well past her prime. The show received a total of 12 Emmy Awards throughout its entire run, with Christine Baranski who played Cybill’s best friend, Maryann Thorpe, winning one. For her part, Shepherd won a Best Actress Golden Globe Award.

Telly Savalas played the role of bald-headed Kojak for five seasons, from 1973 to 1978. His signature style was actually adopted after shaving his head to play the role of Pontius Pilate in the epic film "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965).

Dennis the Menace was created by Hank Ketcham in 1951. Ketcham drew the "Dennis the Menace" comic strip from then until his retirement in 1994.

During the show’s five seasons, Ellen DeGeneres was nominated for many industry awards for acting. She has gone on to have a successful talk show.

The "Angel" TV series was a spinoff of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." It began two years after "Buffy" and ended a year after the "Buffy" series did. This meant the two shows ran concurrently for nearly four years.

"Perry Mason" ran for nine seasons and 271 episodes, of which all but one was shot in black and white. Episode 21 of season 9, "The Case of the Twice Told Twist,” was shot in color – as a test run for the upcoming, but never materialized tenth season.

Actress Bridget Fonda was offered the title role but refused because she did not wish to appear in TV shows. Lara Flynn Boyle was one of the actress who auditioned and was turned down. The role finally went to Calista Flockhart.

Although known professionally as Maggie Q, the real name of the actress who portrays Nikita is Margaret Denise Quigley. She is a model as well as an actress and has starred in both "Mission: Impossible III" (2006) and "Live Free or Die Hard" (2007).

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin appeared as himself in an episode of "Punky Brewster." It was shortly after the space shuttle Challenger disaster which killed all seven crew members on board. The episode was meant to help viewers, especially children, deal with the tragedy.

The actors and actresses in teen TV series are often older than the characters they portray. This was true for Meredith Monroe, who was 29 at the time she was playing 16-year-old Andie on "Dawson’s Creek."

William Conrad was noticeably overweight – a factor in why he was bypassed to play Marshal Matt Dillon in the "Gunsmoke" TV series even though he had portrayed him in the radio version. As Cannon, Conrad would sometimes use his large belly to knock over bad guys.

In the series, actor Michael Hurst portrays Hercules’ best friend and companion, Iolaus. Prior to this, he was already an accomplished Shakespearean actor and director in New Zealand.

The "Reba" TV series enjoyed successful runs in various countries, including the Czech Republic, where it was titled "The Diary of a Seasoned Mother." It was also popular in Mexico, Croatia and the Caribbean.

The first dog to play the role of Lassie was a Rough Collie named Pal. He is seen in the show’s two pilot episodes but the dog that took on the character for the next five years was his son, Lassie Junior. All dogs who have portrayed Lassie since then are descendants of Pal.

Andy Griffith became popular for his portrayal of Mayberry Sheriff Andy Taylor in eight seasons of "The Andy Griffith Show." Almost twenty years later he again surged in popularity by becoming Ben Matlock, Atlanta attorney, for nine seasons.

Before appearing in "Quincy, M.E.," Jack Klugman was in another acclaimed TV series – "The Odd Couple." While Klugman was nominated four times for an Emmy for his work on "Quincy, M.E.," he actually won two Emmys and a Golden Globe for "The Odd Couple."

During the show’s three seasons, five different dolphins were used as Flipper. Of these, the two most frequently seen were named "Kathy" and "Susie.”

The Gidget character was created in 1957 and appeared in a series of novels. This was followed by several movies, a couple of TV series and even stage productions based on the character. There have been at least eight actresses (including Sally Field) who have portrayed Gidget.