‘Saturday Night Live,’ ‘The Simpsons,’ more TV shows featuring Albert Brooks

“Genius,” the National Geographic Channel’s first scripted series (premiering April 25) is about Albert Einstein, the eminent theoretical physicist. But here we’re talking about the other Albert Einstein — the one who’s more comfortable in the world of show business. You probably know this Albert Einstein better by his stage name: Albert Brooks. And while his career has focused mostly on movies (“Broadcast News” to “Finding Nemo”) Brooks/Einstein has also appeared on TV. Here are five:

• The Odd Couple (1970) — In the sitcom’s first season, Brooks appeared twice as Rudy, a pretentious photographer friend of Felix (Tony Randall).
• Saturday Night Live (1975) — Brooks directed six short films for the first season of the NBC sketch show, including the very first one on Oct. 11.
• The Simpsons (1993-2015) — Brooks has been a guest voice seven times on the long-running animated series, most notably as evil genius Hank Scorpio. He is always credited as “A. Brooks.”
• Weeds (2008) — In the Showtime series, he played Lenny Botwin, the estranged, irresponsible father-in-law of central character Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker), the pot-dealing suburban mom.
• The Cops (2018) Brooks and Louis C.K. star in and co-created this series that will debut next year on TBS. They play two incompetent LAPD patrol officers.

By Andy Edelstein

andy.edelstein@newsday.com

Andy Edelstein, Newsday's entertainment editor, supervises coverage of TV, celebrities, movies and pop music. He has written three books on popular culture, including "The Brady Bunch Book."