TVSquad

When you think of Revenge of the Nerds what comes to mind? Classic 80's movie? Naked sorority sisters? Morality story on how the meek can inherit the earth? Bush (and not the president)?

That's what came to my mind when I recently saw the film. However, something else popped into my brain as well while I was watching the end credits. Not only did a number of Nerds stars go on to other successful movies, but they also went and became fairly big television stars as well. Here are five who went onto small-screen fame.

Anthony Edwards -- Out of all the people on this list, Edwards probably had the greatest success on television. Ten years after his starring role on Nerds (and eight after his high-profile role as Goose on Top Gun) Edwards landed the role of Doctor Mark Greene on NBC's medical drama ER. During his eight seasons on the show Edwards became one of the highest paid actors on television. This was probably titled under 'hazard pay' since Dr. Greene had the worst luck of all of the doctors at County General.

Timothy Busfield -- This is one of two technicalities in this list. Before Nerds, Timothy actually starred on Trapper John, M.D. where he played the physician son of the title character. However, he really didn't become famous until after the movie. It began three years later when he portrayed Elliot Weston on the ABC dramedy thirtysomething, for which he won an Emmy.

Busfield eventually became part of the Aaron Sorkin farm team. He directed a few episodes of Sports Night, then had a recurring role as Danny Concannon on The West Wing. Last season he had a regular role as technical director Cal Shanley on Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. When not in front of the camera Busfield has directed and produced a number of shows, including Las Vegas, Ed, and Without a Trace.

John Goodman -- Yes, that was John Goodman as Coach Harris in Nerds. It's hard to tell because he looked so thin in that movie. Four years really changes a person, doesn't it? By the time he starred in the ABC sitcom Roseanne he had a bit more heft to him. Regardless of that, Goodman remained on the show until the very end (1997).

Since then he has become another one of Aaron Sorkin's 'go to' guys. He had a recurring role on The West Wing and played a very conservative judge on Studio 60 last year, which earned him an Emmy nomination. He has also hosted Saturday Night Live twelve times since he entered the world of television.

Curtis Armstrong -- I guess you could say that Curtis' TV stardom came almost by accident. Armstrong had a recurring role as Herbert Viola on Moonlighting, but it was a fairly minor one. That is, until, Cybil Sheppard's pregnancy and Bruce Willis' attitude got in the way. All of sudden Armstrong was actually the lead in a few episodes. Of course, those are the ones most people don't remember because they wanted to see Maddie and David and not Agnes and Herbert.

Today, Armstrong voices the character of Snot (a homage to his Nerds character Booger) on American Dad! and Mr. Moleguaco on Disney's The Emperor's New School. Last season he had a multi-episode stint on Boston Legal where he played a pretty sleazy doctor.

Ted McGinley -- Technicality number two here. We all know that Ted was a television star before this, having a role on Happy Days as Roger Phillips. However, most of us fans like to forget those last four years ever existed for the show. After Days ended and Nerds came out McGinley joined the cast of The Love Boat for the last two seasons as photographer Ace Evans, then joined the cast of Dynasty for its final year.

Fans really remember McGinley for his portrayal as Jefferson D'Arcy on FOX's Married . . . With Children; a role he had for six seasons. Another member of the 'Aaron Sorkin School of Recurring Roles' Ted had recurring roles in both Sports Night and The West Wing. More recently he had a fairly successful run on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith.

By the way, that's three people on this list who have been part of an Aaron Sorkin production in one way or another. I wonder if he watched Revenge of the Nerds to get some of his casting ideas.