Leonard Nimoy, surfing.

RE: Murder She Wrote. I had the same experience with the Magnum P.I., Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, Simon & Simon and A-Team box sets. It’s amazing how many actors pop up in them that were either huge stars before the 80s in movies or people who became hugely famous afterwards.

The absolute king of the surprising guest star series would have to be Gunsmoke, a Western that was only recently overtaken as the longest-running drama series on television.

You turn it on, and you might see…hey, Leonard Nimoy as an Indian:

And…whoa, is that a young Harrison Ford?

And…Gary Busey?

Richard Dryfuss?

The late, lamented Adam West:

Deforest Kelley, with an Abe Lincoln beard:

Ricardo Montalban:

Charles Bronson:

Burt Reynolds:

Jon Voight:

Jodie Foster:

And Kurt Russell:

And many more.

oldschoolsciencefiction:

“This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. The producer’s purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily the only ones, to the mysteries we will examine.“

So went the disclaimer before Leonard Nimoy went "In Search Of…” Amelia Earhart or Bigfoot or The Loch Ness Monster back in 1977-82.