Rob Reiner’s 5 Best TV Performances, Ranked

Hollywood is reeling from the horrific news that Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer were killed in their L.A. home on Sunday night. The outpouring of tributes from showbiz’s biggest names speaks to how far-ranging Reiner’s influence was in the industry, from acting to directing to producing.

TV fans, though, were introduced to Reiner a half-century ago as the raging liberal Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the classic sitcom “All in the Family,” and Reiner continued appearing in TV roles up until this past year, giving us a wealth of memorable performances to look back on. Reiner was more than willing to spoof himself in a self-deprecating cameo, but he took on challenging roles on Emmy-winning series as well, even into his 70s.

To help celebrate Reiner’s legacy, we’re looking back on the five very best TV performances of his career. Read on to see the roles we’ll remember most when we think about Reiner’s time on the small screen.

Larry David’s HBO comedy was a haven for celebrity cameos, with plenty of big names stopping by to poke fun at themselves — or to stare daggers at Larry when he did something unforgivable. (Which he pretty much did on a weekly basis.)

Reiner pops up as himself in the Season 2 episode “The Thong,” where we learn that he and Larry share the same therapist. Reiner corners Larry in the waiting room and talks him into participating in his charity fundraiser for something called “Groat’s syndrome.” Larry agrees to have lunch with someone who donated, and of course, it goes badly — Larry starts eating before the other guy’s food arrives — leading to Reiner angrily taking Larry to task for his horrible behavior. (“Where are your manners?”)

It’s a fun jab at Hollywood’s self-promoting brand of charity, and Reiner gets to flex his old sitcom muscles once again as he berates Larry (“It’s about being Groat’s-active!”), proving he could slide right in as a series regular if he wanted.

Reiner once again plays himself in a guest spot on Tina Fey’s NBC sitcom, but there’s a twist: In the Season 5 episode “Let’s Stay Together,” Reiner is actually a member of Congress who sits on a House subcommittee that is questioning Jack on the upcoming NBC/Kabletown merger. “Before I became a Congressman, I dabbled in television,” Reiner admits.

At first, Reiner is on Jack’s side, but then Queen Latifah’s Regina Bookman steps in to chastise NBC for “looking about as diverse as a Wilco concert.” Her fiery accusations of racial discrimination get the whole room buzzing with chatter… to which Reiner hilariously adds, “Rhubarb. Rhubarb. Peas and carrots,” aka the nonsense words actors say to look like they’re talking in the background. (Once an actor, always an actor.) Reiner gets bonus points, too, for voicing Stanley the talking dog in the hastily assembled sitcom NBC puts on the air to appeal to Black audiences.

Six decades after he made his TV debut, Reiner joined the cast of Hulu’s Emmy-winning kitchen dramedy earlier this year, making his debut as Albert in Season 4. Albert seems like he might be a scammer at first, offering to teach line cook Ebraheim the secrets of business success. But he actually takes the guy under his wing, kindly offering him advice and support as Ebraheim presents his vision for the future of The Bear’s sandwich business.

Now Reiner didn’t need to take this role, but it says so much about his love of art and filmmaking that he would step into an unannounced role and immediately match the warm authenticity we’ve come to expect from “The Bear.” We even get to see Albert establish a quick rapport with the restaurant’s resident number cruncher The Computer. One particularly sad aspect of Reiner’s tragic death is that we’ll never see how Albert’s story might have played out.

Post-“All in the Family,” Reiner’s most prominent TV role had to be on Zooey Deschanel’s Fox sitcom, where he played Jess’ father Bob Day. “New Girl” welcomed a number of memorable celebrity guest stars over the years — Prince, anyone? — but Reiner was more of a full-fledged cast member, appearing in nearly a dozen episodes across the series’ run.

Bob and Jess’ mom Joan (Jamie Lee Curtis) are divorced, and Jess tries her best to get them back together, but Bob shocks her in Season 4 by bringing around his much younger new girlfriend Ashley Berkman (played by “It’s Always Sunny” vet Kaitlin Olson), who happens to be a former classmate of Jess’… and a drug and sex addict to boot. Reiner fits in seamlessly with the “New Girl” cast — we’ll never hear Tal Bachman’s “She’s So High” the same way again — and shows that he’s sitcom royalty for a reason.

Oh, you thought we’d put another role at the top of this list? To quote Archie Bunker, you must be a dingbat.

Reiner first rose to stardom on this legendary Norman Lear sitcom, which debuted on CBS in 1971 and starred Carroll O’Connor as stubbornly old-fashioned grump Archie Bunker. Reiner played Archie’s son-in-law Mike “Meathead” Stivic, a progressive liberal who constantly butted heads with Archie about politics, cultural norms… even how to put on your socks and shoes. Yes, Archie was an unrepentant bigot, but Meathead could be just as pig-headed in his own way, and the genius of Lear’s show was showing how these two people with violently opposing worldviews could still learn to live under the same roof.

Reiner won two Emmys for playing Meathead, with three other nominations, and “All in the Family” remains one of the very best TV comedies ever produced to this day. Reiner went on to have an illustrious career as a film director, helming everything from “This Is Spinal Tap” to “When Harry Met Sally…,” but even if he quit showbiz forever after “All in the Family,” he’d still be a Hollywood legend.