What The Cast Of Yes, Dear Is Doing Today

The CBS sitcom "Yes, Dear," which ran for six seasons from 2000 to 2006, has been regarded as an anomaly by many. Critically loathed during its debut season, the show nonetheless lasted 122 episodes and remained a ratings hit for much of that time (per EW).

The success of "Yes, Dear" isn't exactly a mystery. The premise — which throws a straight-laced couple together with their more rough-hewn in-laws who've moved into their guest house — is a classic war-of-the-classes comedy laden with riffs on sex, marriage, parenthood, and work life. The cast, led by Anthony Clark and Jean Louisa Kelly as the upscale Warners and Mike O'Malley and Liza Snyder as the down-market Hughes, had plenty of chemistry and knew their way around a joke. And the writers weren't afraid to play with the comedy paradigm either, tossing in moments of breaking the fourth wall and recurring montages set to Chicago's "Hard Habit to Break." It may not have been the Harvard Lampoon, but "Yes, Dear" made people laugh. 

For those wondering what became of the show's main cast members and recurring players, here's a spoiler-heavy look at what the cast of "Yes, Dear" is up to today.

Comedian Anthony Clark had already starred in two short-lived series -– "Boston Common" and the "Home Improvement" spin-off "Soul Man" –- before landing the role of tightly wound movie industry executive Greg Warner on "Yes, Dear." He remained with the series for its entire six-year run, which remains his last major screen acting credit of note. Aside from the 2012 indie comedy "My Uncle Rafael" and an IMDb credit for an episode of the German miniseries "West of Liberty," Clark has remained largely off-camera for nearly a decade.

The actor did host the NBC comedy reality series "Last Comic Standing" shortly after "Yes, Dear" was canceled in 2006, but according to a November 2006 interview with The Comic's Comic, he was less than thrilled with the job. A stand-up comedy special, "Ambiguous," aired in 2012, but since then, Clark has maintained a low profile. However, reports from The Los Angeles Times in 2015 seemed to indicate that Clark was flipping houses in the Hollywood Hills.

Cast as the brassy Christine Hughes on "Yes, Dear," actress Liza Snyder handled most of the series' most outrageous bits of humor with her on-screen husband Mike O'Malley. Their characters served as a filter-free counterpoint to their more uptight in-laws, played by Anthony Clark and Jean Louisa Kelly. Snyder and O'Malley also reprised their roles in a Season 3 episode of "Raising Hope," which found the couple the proud new owners of a sex tape made by Garrett Dillahunt and Martha Plimpton's Burt and Virginia Chance. The connection between the two series? Both were created by Greg Garcia.

Snyder's other credits since "Yes, Dear" include a guest role on a Season 8 episode of "House" and the 2007 short "No More Kings: Sweep the Legs," which features several cast members of the "Karate Kid" and "Cobra Kai" franchise. Snyder returned to sitcoms in 2016 when she replaced Jenna Fischer as Matt LeBlanc's wife on "Man with a Plan" (via Deadline). That series ran for four seasons on CBS before its cancelation in 2020.

Like his co-star Anthony Clark, Mike O'Malley was already a TV veteran when he was cast as Jimmy Hughes on "Yes, Dear." O'Malley hosted several game shows on Nickelodeon before starring in a string of short-lived comedy series, including "The Mike O'Malley Show," which aired just two episodes before its cancelation in 1999. After landing "Yes, Dear," O'Malley earned Emmy and Screen Actors Guild nominations for playing Chris Colfer's supportive father on "Glee." He followed that up with stints on high-profile series like "Parenthood," "Justified," "The Good Place," "Snowpiercer," and "Heels," for which he's also served as executive producer.

In addition to his small screen work, O'Malley has appeared since "Yes, Dear" in such films as "Eat Pray Love," "Concussion," and Clint Eastwood's "Sully." An accomplished playwright and screenwriter, O'Malley wrote the 2011 indie drama "Certainty," which was based on his play "Searching for Certainty," and penned scripts for Showtime's "Shameless" and Starz's "Survivor's Remorse" while also serving as a producer for both series. Additionally, he teamed with "Yes, Dear" co-creator Greg Garcia to write the book for "Margaritaville," a Broadway musical featuring the songs of Jimmy Buffett (per TheaterMania).

A film and Broadway performer from a young age, Jean Louisa Kelley appeared in films like "Uncle Buck" and "Mr. Holland's Opus" and series like "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Mad About You" before joining the cast of "Yes, Dear" as Kim Warner. The pair shared a Young Artist Award nomination for Most Popular Mom & Pop in a Television Series in 2004 before the sitcom ran its course in 2006. Kelly quickly segued into steady work as a guest star on shows like  "Grey's Anatomy," "Ghost Whisperer" and "Burn Notice."

Since then, Kelly has continued working on the small screen, landing roles on "CSI: Miami," "Scream Queens" and "The Fosters," among others. An appearance in "Ant-Man" in 2015 also preceded a long run of feature film work, including "The Call of the Wild" with Harrison Ford, "Malignant" (as Annabelle Wallis' mother, Serena), and "Top Gun: Maverick" as the wife of Tom "Iceman" Kazansky. In addition to her acting career, Kelly is also a recording artist with an album of children's music and an LP of standards among her releases.

Before landing his own series with "Mike & Molly" (and more recently, "Bob Hearts Abishola"), Billy Gardell appeared on 26 episodes of "Yes, Dear" as Jimmy's hapless friend Billy Colavita. Gardell parlayed his popularity as a stand-up comic into guest roles on series like "Judging Amy" and "The Practice." His feature film career began in 2002 with the Sylvester Stallone feature "Avenging Angelo" and later included "Bad Santa," "You, Me and Dupree," and "Jersey Boys."

Gardell segued from his recurring work on "Yes, Dear" to being a series regular on the short-lived NBC series "Heist." He then reunited with "Yes, Dear" co-creator Greg Garcia for a recurring role on "My Name is Earl" before co-starring with Melissa McCarthy on "Mike & Molly." The series successfully presented Gardell as a romantic leading man, a role he continued with his second stint as a sitcom lead on "Bob Hearts Abishola." Between these series, Gardell also played Elvis Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, on "Sun Records," and Sheldon Cooper's neighbor Herschel Sparks on "Young Sheldon." He also transitioned into producing, overseeing several comedy specials, the syndicated game show "Monopoly Millionaires' Club" (which he also hosted), and the indie comedy "Dancer and the Dame."

Actor and writer Brian Doyle-Murray managed to squeeze 18 guest appearances as Greg's boss, Mr. Savitsky, on "Yes, Dear" into a dizzyingly busy schedule of TV and film work between 2000 and 2006. Among his credits during this period were voice-acting work on "Family Guy," "Spongebob Squarepants" (as the Flying Dutchman), and "King of the Hill," as well as roles in live-action series like "Lucky" (with Billy Gardell) and "I'm with Her."

Doyle-Murray has maintained a busy schedule of acting roles since the late 1970s. The older brother of actors Bill and Joel Murray, he began his career performing comedy with Second City and later netted three Emmy nominations as a writer on "Saturday Night Live." Steady work on screen ("National Lampoon's Vacation," "Sixteen Candles") and behind the camera (he co-wrote "Caddyshack") made him a familiar face and voice in features and on television throughout the '80s and '90s. He remained very active after his "Yes, Dear" run with recurring roles on "The Middle," "Veep," and "Lodge 49," as well as countless animation projects including "The Goode Family," "Fishhooks," and "My Gym Partner's a Monkey." He's also teamed with his brothers on several documentary projects, including the golf travelogue "The Sweet Spot" and "Extra Innings."

A small cadre of underachievers orbits around Greg and Jimmy throughout "Yes, Dear," including Billy Gardell's Billy, Louis Lombardi's Jack, and Phill Lewis' Roy, who appears in 10 episodes. His contribution to the series was to lend comic support –- something that Lewis had done in films and on television since the early 1980s and continues to do today.

Lewis graduated from teen roles in series like "A Different World" and films like "Heathers" to adult characters in "The Wayans Brothers" and "Yes, Dear." While appearing in the latter series, Lewis was cast as the perpetually annoyed Marion Moseby on "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," and he reprised the role for its spin-off, "The Suite Life on Deck," and numerous other Disney Channel series. Between these assignments, Lewis also contributed supporting roles to films like "Kicking & Screaming" and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2," while also beginning a long and prolific second career as a director for television. 

He began directing in the late 2000s with episodes of "Suite Life" and soon graduated to multiple episodes of "Mike & Molly" (with Billy Gardell), "One Day at a Time," the "iCarly" reboot, and "Call Me Kat." In 2021, Lewis netted a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for an episode of the "Head of the Class" reboot for HBO Max.

The producers of "Yes, Dear" took a page from series like "Mad About You" and called upon TV and film veterans to play various members of the Warner and Hughes family. In Season 2's "Complicated Plot," Emmy winners Vicki Lawrence and Tim Conway turn up as Greg's parents, Tom and Natalie. The pair –- both veterans of "The Carol Burnett Show" as well as their own projects -– reprised the characters in six subsequent episodes.

Lawrence, who joined "The Carol Burnett Show" at the age of 18, earned two Primetime Emmy nominations for her frequently hysterical work on the series and won one in 1976. She netted another Emmy nod as the combative Mama, a character from the show, for the 1982 TV movie "Eunice." Lawrence also earned five Daytime Emmy nominations as the host of "Win, Lose or Draw" and her own talk show "Vicki!" between 1987 and 1992. After her "Yes, Dear" run, Lawrence was a frequent guest on "The Hollywood Squares" and enjoyed recurring roles on "Hanna Montana," the Tina Fey-produced "Great News," and the Fox sitcom "The Cool Kids."

Another TV regular, Jerry Van Dyke, began a run of seven guest appearances on "Yes, Dear" with the Season 2 episode "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner." Van Dyke played Big Jimmy Hughes Sr. — Jimmy's father — and frequently teamed with Beth Grant as Jimmy's mother, Kitty Hughes. The "Yes, Dear" role came nearly a decade after Van Dyke's Emmy-nominated turn as Luther Van Dam on "Coach," which revived a career spent largely in the shadow of his brother, actor Dick Van Dyke.

A former stand-up comedian, Van Dyke weathered numerous failed series, including the notorious 1965-66 comedy "My Mother the Car," before landing a sizable hit with "Coach." The popularity of that series and his performance as the hapless Luther, which netted him four Emmy nominations, led to steady work as a guest star and recurring character on numerous shows. In addition to "Yes, Dear," Van Dyke appeared in several series by co-creator Greg Garcia, including "Raising Hope" and "The Millers." He also enjoyed a recurring role on "The Middle" and appeared in his brother's drama series "Diagnosis: Murder" in 1999. Van Dyke, who was also a spokesperson for Hardee's and Big Lots, died of heart failure at the age of 86 on January 5, 2018 (per The New York Times).

Tim Conway joined fellow "Carol Burnett Show" alum Vicki Lawrence for seven appearances on "Yes, Dear" as Greg's dad, Tom Warner. The guest spots came during a busy time in Conway's career. Between 2001 and 2005, he voiced Barnacle Boy on "SpongeBob SquarePants" and the title character in the "Hermie and Friends" animated video series, in addition to appearing on the improv series "On the Spot." In reality, Conway was always busy during his five decades in show business.

A 12-time Emmy nominee with six wins for both acting and writing, Conway was best known for scene-stealing turns on "The Carol Burnett Show" and "McHale's Navy," as well as for Disney features like "The Apple Dumpling Gang" and his "Dorf" video series. His talent for improv and causing co-stars to break mid-scene into gales of laughter (especially his "Burnett" co-star Harvey Korman) made him a favorite of comics and TV writers alike, who tapped Conway for guest roles on numerous series in the 2000s.

In addition to "Yes, Dear," Conway won an Emmy for a guest appearance on "30 Rock" and turned up on everything from "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" to "Mike & Molly," "Glee" (with Mike O'Malley), and several entries in the "Air Buddies" film series. Conway's final live-action performance was in the 2015 TV movie "Surprised By Love." He died at the age of 85 from normal pressure hydrocephalus, a brain condition, on May 14, 2019 (per The New York Times).

Sisters Kim and Christine also had celebrity guest stars as parents on "Yes, Dear." Appearing as their father, Don Ludke, on six episodes between Seasons 1 and 4 was character actor Dan Hedaya. The Emmy and Screen Actors Guild nominee was well-known to both film and TV audiences for features like "Blood Simple," "Clueless," and "Dick," and for guest roles on "Hill Street Blues," "Cheers" (which briefly led to his own spinoff series, "The Tortellis"), "L.A. Law," and "Homicide: Life on the Street."

Following his "Yes, Dear," run, Hedaya returned to his busy schedule, reprising his role as shady attorney Herb Spivak on "ER" in 2005 and guesting on "Monk," "The Mindy Project," "Gotham," and "Blue Bloods." He also remained active in films, sharing the screen with Al Pacino in "The Humbling," Olivia Wilde in "Black Dog, Red Dog," and Eddie Redmayne in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." These days, he seems equally busy with films like "The God Committee" (with Kelsey Grammer) and his work as a contemporary visual artist.

Joining Dan Hedaya on five episodes of "Yes, Dear," Alley Mills played his wife, Jenny Ludke. Like her screen husband, Mills was a known quantity among small screen audiences, though primarily for her six-season run as Kevin Arnold's mom, Norma, on the original cast of "The Wonder Years." Mills had also been guesting in shows for decades prior to her "Yes, Dear" turn, most notably on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (as star Jane Seymour's sister) and the WB/CW series "Popular."

After wrapping on "Yes, Dear," Mills returned to active TV work, having a two-episode turn as Sabrina's mortal mom, Diane, on "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and a lengthy tenure as both a main cast member and a recurring player on the CBS daytime drama "The Bold and the Beautiful." Mills has also turned up in several indie and straight-to-DVD features, including "A Golden Christmas" and the 2019 film "The Fiddling Horse."

Hardworking character actor Beth Grant teamed up with Jerry Van Dyke for four episodes of "Yes, Dear" as Jimmy's mom Kitty. An award-winning stage performer, Grant's list of screen credits reaches back to the late 1970s and includes four Oscar nominees for Best Picture –- "Rain Man," "Little Miss Sunshine," "No Country for Old Men," and "The Artist" –- as well as films ranging from "Speed" and "Donnie Darko" to David O. Russell's "Amsterdam." Grant has also produced and directed several short films, including the award-winning "The Perfect Fit," which stars her daughter, Mary Chieffo, and husband, Michael Chieffo.

Grant's TV credits are vast and include multiple guest appearances on "Coach" (with Jerry Van Dyke), "The X-Files," "Malcolm in the Middle," "The Office," "Dollface," and "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Though often cast in serious and even antagonistic roles, she generated a great deal of laughs as the sexually forward office receptionist Beverley Janiszewski on "The Mindy Project."