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One of the most obnoxious sitcom tropes is when a show becomes popular enough that celebrities begin appearing on it as themselves. Now, some shows have made it work. Insane guest stars are The Simpsons thing, for example. And Curb Your Enthusiasm is about a guy in show business, so celebrities playing themselves makes total sense. But when a show is about ordinary people yet gigantic household names keep showing up on their doorstep the reality of that world is blown apart.

There have, however, been a handful of times when a celebrity played themselves on a sitcom and actually pulled it off. These are the top five…

5 Marisa Tomei on ‘Seinfeld’

Tomei’s appearance on Seinfeld worked out of sheer absurdity alone. The very idea that the pathetic George Costanza (Jason Alexander) would be exactly her type is funny on its own, but when George and Marisa meet, the comedy is sublime.

It's hard to believe that the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League is all gone. Shirley Mitchell, who played Lucy and Ethel's gossipy friend Marion Strong on I Love Lucy, has died. She was 94 and is believed to be the last surviving adult cast member from the classic 1950s sitcom. (Doris Singleton, who played Carolyn Appleby, just died last year.) The actress' sister-in-law, fellow thesp Nancy Olson, told The Hollywood Reporter that Mitchell died Monday of heart failure at her home in Westwood. Though Mitchell actually only appeared in three episodes of I Love Lucy (replacing the original Marion, Margie Liszt), she truly played a key role even in absentia: During a fight with...

Shirley Mitchell, who played Lucy Ricardo’s friend Marion Strong on the classic CBS sitcom I Love Lucy, died Monday. She was 94. Remembered as Lucy’s friend with the funny laugh, Mitchell appeared in three episodes of I Love Lucy after joining the cast in 1953. She was believed to be the last recurring adult cast member following the deaths of Doris Singleton in 2012 and Peggy Rea in 2011. Mitchell appeared on numerous TV shows in the 1950s and ’60s including Bachelor Father starring John Forsythe, Please Don’t Eat The Daisies as neighbor Marge Thornton, Petticoat Junction and The Beverly Hillbillies. She also appeared as Clara Appleby, the wife of henpecked husband George Appleby (Red Skelton) on The Red Skelton Hour. In 1972, she voiced Laurie Holiday on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Roman Holidays and last year voiced Betty White in Betty White & The Huntsman. On the film side, Mitchell appeared...

While carrying the George Zimmerman murder trial live this afternoon, CNN accidentally broadcast the defendant's full social security number, home address, and phone number on national television. Sanford police detective Doris Singleton was in the midst of testifying about her interview with Zimmerman following his detention when the prosecuting lawyer pulled up a copy of the "narrative report" for the court to view. The court pool feed then showed, in close-up, as the lawyer zoomed in on Zimmerman's personal information.

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By Harvey Chartrand

Mr. Lucky: The Complete Series is now available for the first time ever as a 4-dvd box set from Timeless Media Group… all 34 episodes, with a running time of about 840 minutes. Mr. Lucky– created by writer/director Blake Edwards (Peter Gunn) – ran for only one season (from 1959 to 1960), even though it was a hit with viewers.

This adventure/crime drama is a sort of Peter Gunn Lite, featuring a lush, organ-powered theme song by Henry Mancini (a bonus CD of Mr. Lucky’s soundtrack is included in the set), an assortment of shady characters aboard a floating casino, and competent acting by series regulars John Vivyan (as suave professional gambler Mr. Lucky), Ross Martin (as his sidekick and business partner Andamo), Pippa Scott (as Mr. Lucky’s girlfriend Maggie Shank-Rutherford) and Tom Brown (as Lieutenant Rovacs, Mr. Lucky’s...

I Love Lucy actress Doris Singleton, Lucy Ricardo’s snooty, class-conscious neighbor in the highly popular ’50s sitcom, died Tuesday, June 26. Doris Singleton was 92. Initially, Singleton was a big-band singer and radio actress. In the early ’50s, she started appearing on the new medium of (commercial) television. She is best remembered as I Love Lucy‘s pretty, smartly dressed, meticulously coiffed Carolyn Appleby, always doing her best to appear above her two frumpier, lower middle-class, bourgeois neighbors: Lucille Ball’s aforementioned Lucy Ricardo and Vivian Vance’s Ethel Mertz. Doris Singleton: Busy TV actress In addition to I Love Lucy, Doris Singleton was guested in dozens of [...]...

Los Angeles — Actress Doris Singleton, who played one of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's lesser-known neighbors on "I Love Lucy," has died. She was 92.

Lucie Arnaz, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, confirmed the death in a post on her Facebook page. Singleton died Tuesday, the same day as writer-director Nora Ephron, and Arnaz acknowledged them both in her post, writing, "They were loved and appreciated and will be missed."

Singleton's death also was reported by Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.

Her character, first called Lillian Appleby and then Caroline Appleby, appeared in 10 episodes. She was Lucy's neighbor, the wife of a radio station owner.

"She was sort of Lucy's nemesis" because both had young sons, Singleton said in a 2005 interview for the Archive of American Television of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation. "There was a rivalry there but she had to be nice, Lucy had to be nice to Caroline,...

Actress Doris Singleton, best known for playing Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’s neighbor Carolyn Appleby on the iconic 1950s sitcom "I Love Lucy," has died, reports People magazine. She was 92.

Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, confirmed Singleton's death in a statement on her Facebook page, People says, noting its timing with the death of flimmaker Nora Ephron earlier this week.

Singleton appeared in 10 episodes of the 1951 to 1957 sitcom after meeting the show's star, Lucille Ball, before a performance of "My Favorite Husband," the radio show that preceded "I Love Lucy," The Hollywood Reporter notes. Ball invited Singleton to join the show a few years after they met, casting her as the wife of a radio station owner played by Hy Averback.

Trained as a vocalist and ballet dancer, Brooklyn-born Dorothea Singleton performed with the American Ballet Theater and the Art Jarrett's orchestra in the late 1930s,...

Actress Doris Singleton, best known for playing Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's neighbor Carolyn Appleby on the iconic 1950s sitcom "I Love Lucy," has died, reports People magazine. She was 92.

Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, confirmed Singleton's death in a statement on her Facebook page, People says, noting its timing with the death of flimmaker Nora Ephron earlier this week.

Singleton appeared in 10 episodes of the 1951 to 1957 sitcom after meeting the show's star, Lucille Ball, before a performance of "My Favorite Husband," the radio show that preceded "I Love Lucy," The Hollywood Reporter notes. Ball invited Singleton to join the show a few years after they met, casting her as the wife of a radio station owner played by Hy Averback.

Trained as a vocalist and ballet dancer, Brooklyn-born Dorothea Singleton performed with the American Ballet Theater and the Art Jarrett's orchestra in the late 1930s,...

I Love Lucy star Doris Singleton has died at age 92. The actress passed away on Tuesday (June 26), according to Variety. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's daughter Lucie Arnaz also confirmed Singleton's death while paying tribute to Nora Ephron on her Facebook page. Lucie wrote: "A day of saying hasta luego to two great ladies, Nora Ephron and Doris Singleton. May they both fly swiftly heavenward and enjoy a blissful rest for jobs well done down here. They were loved and appreciated and will be missed." The actress got her start in show business by dancing with the New York City (more)...

Doris Singleton, a character actress and comedian best known as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo’s neighbor - and Lucy's frequent frenemy - Carolyn Appleby on I Love Lucy, has died, Lucie Arnaz, the daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, confirmed. "A day of saying hasta luego to two great ladies, Nora Ephron and Doris Singleton," Arnaz wrote on her Facebook page. "May they both fly swiftly heavenward and enjoy a blissful rest for jobs well done down here. They were loved and appreciated and will be missed." Singleton was 92 and died Tuesday in Los Angeles, reports Variety. Playing the competitive neighbor Appleby,...

Actress Doris Singleton died yesterday at the age of 92. She was best known for her recurring role as Lucy Ricardo's "friend" Carolyn Appleby on I Love Lucy.

After being featured as a teen dancer with the American Ballet Theater, Singleton became a vocalist with Art Jarrett's orchestra in the late 1930s. She had a distinctive voice and that led her to establish a career in radio, working with George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bob Hope, and Jack Benny.

She met Lucille Ball prior to a performance of My Favorite Husband, the radio show that preceded I Love Lucy. Singleton acted in 10 episodes of the classic I Love Lucy sitcom and appeared on Ball's later shows, as well as the 1980 special, Lucy Moves to NBC.

Singleton went on to guest on dozens of other classic TV shows like...