Some Faces of the Hardworking 1980s

Another aspect of Family Ties that fascinates me is how some actors have repeat appearances as different characters. This phenomenon is not unusual or new, of course, but it does seem to have had its heyday: in all the cases described in this 2013 Mental Floss article about the practice, for example, none occur after 2005. And the sheer number of actors reappearing on Family Ties at times threatens to turn the casting choices into part of the story - not quite eight actors playing all the parts in Angels in America, but distracting nonetheless. 

I already wrote about Earl Boen's appearances. I haven't finished the series yet, but other notable repeaters include Belita Moreno (a member of Elyse's anti-rezoning group in season one; Jennifer's history teacher in season four), John Petlock (a reverend, Elyse's boss at the architectural firm, a bank manager, AND, in the pilot episode, a member of a restricted country club), and Alan Blumenfeld, pictured above (a night club owner, a shoe store owner, and an interior designer, among other roles). But my favorite is probably Robert Costanzo.

He interviews for the nanny/housekeeper job:

Sorry, but you're no match for Geena Davis.

He delivers room service at a hotel in D.C. when Steven is on a business trip and serves as a waiter at the family's favorite local restaurant:

He's also the auto mechanics teacher in the season four episode where Elyse and Alex learn car repair:

There are only four episodes that separate that D.C. hotel worker and the mechanics teacher, by the way, which takes a viewer past "I've seen you before" to "Hello, again!"

I wonder why this practice ended (or at least is far less common)? Is it because viewers increasingly demand an internal logic to a show's universe, and most universes wouldn't have a hotel worker in D.C. show up a short while later as your teacher in Columbus? Or did forces such as the increasing popularity of reality TV contribute to a TV landscape where small parts were fewer and competition for them greater? I imagine that a show like Law & Order, famous for all the parts it provided for struggling actors, offered as many recurring-yet-different opportunities as these older shows did, but do any of you know if that's actually the case?

Also, on a different note, according to imdb.com, Elsa Raven only has one appearance on Family Ties, but I was so happy to see her that I'm going to share that happiness with you. (She plays the chairwoman of the Leland University Political Science Dept. - Alex's school - and officiator at a U.S.-Soviet Union chess match, at which Alex is - improbably - the U.S. player):

Can she save U.S.-Soviet relations the way she helped save the clock tower?