19 Wild And Random Celeb Guest Stars

Many TV shows have celebrity guest stars, and it can be lots of fun to see one of your fave stars show up on your fave show.

1.

First, we gotta start with the holy grail of bizarre celeb guest stars. It comes during Game of Thrones, a high fantasy series that truly transported you into a magical and brutal time of dragons and ice zombies.

You’re watching the show, totally immersed in the world…and then Ed Sheeran shows up.

Yes, THAT Ed Sheeran. The famous musician. He even sings a song. That’s right, folks — we get an Ed Sheeran song in Game of Thrones. It was so bizarre I don’t think I ever saw Game of Thrones the same way again.

2.

At least Ed was playing a character. I always find it so strange when major celebs guest stars as…themselves. Like on One Tree Hill, which follows two half brothers as they navigate love, high school, sports, and their fraught relationship with their father.

One of the characters ran a club for teenagers, and got some pretty cool bands to show up. We won’t fault them for that, because they’re just there for performances in a context that makes sense.

What we will fault them for is Pete Wentz’s run as a guest star. See, Pete Wentz shows up with Fall Out Boy to perform at TRIC, but then he stays in the show and DATES PEYTON. A 17-YEAR-OLD.

Like this random high school girl is just…dating Pete Wentz. We’re supposed to believe that???

3.

Unlike One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl was NOT known for its musical performances or edgy bands. Instead, it was known for being a glamorous show about privileged teenagers in New York doing scandalous things.

Which was why it was really weird when there was a whole episode centered around putting on a Lady Gaga/Snow White-themed play. Dan wore a fedora and scarf, Hillary Duff was there, and Blair suddenly cared about theater kids thinking she was cool. The whole thing was strange.

At the end, Blair “pulled some strings,” and Lady Gaga HERSELF showed up to perform. Like, a full Grammy Awards-worthy performance, to a few NYU students. It was odd.

4.

Sorry, another GG one — anyone else remember when the MAYOR of NEW YORK (at the time) guest starred? Mike Bloomberg shows up for .2 seconds in the finale to express shock at Dan being Gossip Girl. Like, what???? How does he even know about GG?

5.

Full House was also not known for its musical performances. Which was why it was pretty strange to have an episode focused on the Beach Boys.

Basically, DJ wins tickets to a concert, and everyone fights over who she should take. She decides not to go because of the drama, and the Beach Boys just SHOW UP at their house.

And then they all jam together. Why??? No idea.

6.

Supernatural had a lot of wild guest stars, but there’s one that felt ESPECIALLY out of pocket. Quick recap: the show is about two brothers who fight demons. The celeb guest stars usually play demons.

The weird part? Some of these celebs played themselves…but as demons. Like, Paris Hilton, who was an actual actor at the time and could’ve played a character, just played herself, but she was also a demon.

Although, I do kind of like this example because it gave an opportunity for a funny House of Wax (which starred Hilton and also Jared Padalecki, who played Sam in the show) reference.

7.

The wildest Supernatural guest star to me, though, was Snooki. Yep, Snooki of Jersey Shore fame. Again, playing herself — but she’s possessed by a demon.

8.

Next, I’m going to nominate one I actually like, but was super wild — it comes during Season 3 of New Girl, a show about a zany girl named Jess who moves into an apartment with three guys in LA.

She starts dating one of the guys a few seasons in, and he says “I love you,” except Jess doesn’t say it back. They end up at a party at Prince’s house (??) then PRINCE HIMSELF ACTUALLY SHOWS UP.

He helps Jess and Nick solve their relationship problems. Like fully, he is the reason they end the episode on good terms. SO random but also I kind of love it.

9.

Another New Girl one — Taylor Swift. She shows up at Cece and Shivrang’s ill-fated wedding to declare her love for Shivrang in true “Speak Now” fashion, and while it’s a great bit of casting, it is SO random.

10.

Yet another example of an ultra-famous pop star appearing on a show for no real reason is Britney Spears on Jane the Virgin.

Turns out, Rogelio and Britney have some beef from the past — you know what, as celeb guest star explanations go, this one isn’t terrible. But still — Britney freaking Spears is just casually hanging with Jane for a bunch of the episode!

11.

Disney Channel actually had a few huge guest stars, like Dolly Parton on Hannah Montana — though that kind of made sense, as the main character was a famous singer. One that made a little less sense? Dwayne Johnson on Wizards of Waverly Place.

Basically, he shows up to visit Max, who is pretending he has a fake disease called mono-orangosis. Why specifically The Rock, a massive superstar, over any other actor? No reason.

12.

Another wild Wizards of Waverly Place guest star was Shakira.

She literally just walks into the Russo’s sandwich shop. It does turn out she’s actually Alex’s uncle, but I’m not sure that makes this example any less nonsensical.

13.

Even though Hannah Montana was about a celebrity, I still think it was super strange for Larry David, of all people, to randomly appear. Like, the Venn diagram of fans of Larry David and fans of Hannah Montana is just…two separate circles.

14.

Another super weird Hannah Montana guest star was John Cena, who was really not an actor at the time. He shows up in Jackson’s magazine — then, as a fully formed hallucination who kicks Jackson’s butt — in order to convince Jackson that reading is fun. No, I did not make that sentence up.

15.

Kim Kardashian is probably one of the most famous people in the entire world. So let’s just say I was a bit surprised to see her on 2 Broke Girls, a show about two servers (who later start a cupcake business).

It actually does kind of make sense to see her in the episode, which is centered around KUWTK producers planning to shoot an episode at Max and Caroline’s cupcake window. Kim doesn’t show up until the very end, when she apologizes for it not working out. But still — she’s Kim freaking Kardashian!!! What is she doing on 2 Broke Girls??

16.

Kim and her sister Khloe also quickly appeared on 90210 back when they were a little less famous. In the episode, they played themselves, bringing Naomi some clothes from DASH.

I think the main reason I found this so weird — besides the Kardashian’s mega-fame — was that Naomi openly insults Kim in the scene and perpetuates stereotypes about Kim. Like, why the heck did Kim want to appear??

17.

And finally, our last head-scratcher of a guest star: Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler as Santa on Lizzie McGuire. First of all, Steven Tyler is a major rockstar and it was super random to have him on a kid’s show. Second of all…there is no reference to him being Steven Tyler. He’s dressed as Santa the whole episode, and at the end he sings a song. It is SO RANDOM.