‘Parker Lewis Can’t Lose’ Ended 30 Years Ago: Where Are the Stars Now?
A nerd with a problem-solving trench coat, a principal’s assistant with bat-like qualities, a bully with superhuman strength — Parker Lewis Can’t Lose was way weirder than other teen sitcoms.
Premiering on a still-young Fox in 1990, the show starred Corin Nemec as the titular teen, a Teflon-clad troublemaker whose hijinks with pals Mikey and Jerry annoyed the school principal to no end.
“We wanted to make it as original and as much fun as possible so that it represented, it resembled nothing else that was on television,” co-creator Clyde Phillips told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018.
Eventually, however, Fox set its sights on an older audience, and Parker Lewis did lose after three seasons, airing its final episode on June 13, 1993. “It was Fox looking a bit to broaden the audience, get more adult,” co-creator Lon Diamond told THR.
So where’s the cast, three decades later? Scroll down to find out. Jennifer Guthrie (Annie Sloan) and Taj Johnson (Frank Lemmer) have dropped out of the public eye, but getting details on the other eight cast members was, as Parker would say, “not a problem.”
Corin Nemec (Parker Lewis)
After Parker Lewis, Nemec guest-starred on NYPD Blue and Beverly Hills, 90210, played Harold Lauder in the miniseries The Stand, and starred as Jonas Quinn on Stargate SG-1. As of September 2022, he was working on a slate of independent films in the Tampa Bay area.
Billy Jayne (Mikey Randall)
In the 1990s and 2000s, Jayne guest-starred on Walker, Texas Ranger, Charmed, Cold Case, and United States of Tara, among other shows. Since then, he’s been directing music videos. His son Gabriel and ex-wife April recently appeared on the dating show MILF Manor.
Troy Slaten (Jerry Steiner)
Slaten left his acting career in the ‘90s and became a defense attorney. He ran for Superior Court of Los Angeles County in 2020 but got 37 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan primary; he ran again in the same race in 2022 and got 10 percent of the vote.
Abraham Benrubi (Larry Kubiac)
After Parker Lewis, Benrubi recurred as desk clerk Jerry Markovic on ER, appearing in 137 episodes of the hospital drama. More recently, he appeared in the TV shows The Bridge and APB. And as a voice actor, he’s known for his work on Robot Chicken and in the World of Warcraft video games.
Melanie Chartoff (Ms. Musso)
If you don’t recognize Chartoff’s face, you might recognize her voice: She voiced Didi Pickles in Rugrats TV shows, movies, and video games between 1991 and 2008. Her on-screen television projects, meanwhile, include guest-starring parts on Seinfeld, Ally McBeal, and Desperate Housewives.
Maia Brewton (Shelly Lewis)
Her only TV gig after Parker Lewis was a 2015 guest spot on Odd Mom Out, but Brewton — who’s married to Minx co-executive producer Lara Spotts — has been connecting with fans and former costars at convention appearances for Back to the Future and Adventures in Babysitting, as her Instagram shows.
Mary Ellen Trainor (Judy Lewis)
Trainor, who died of pancreatic cancer complications at age 62 in 2015, moved on from Parker Lewis with parts in the TV shows Relativity and Roswell. She also had a role in Forrest Gump, directed by then-husband Robert Zemeckis, and she continued her role as LAPD psychiatrist Dr. Stephanie Woods in the Lethal Weapon film series.
Timothy Stack (Martin Lewis)
After Parker Lewis, Stack co-created and starred in the syndicated talk show satire Night Stand with Dick Dietrick and led the cast of the Baywatch parody series Son of the Beach. He’s still acting these days, with recent guest appearances on the TV shows The Old Man, Sprung, and Ghosts.
