Take 5: There's something about Jerry

For the first time in 45 years, Jerry Lewis will not be hosting the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon on Labor Day. And while we are not of French heritage, we have appreciated Lewis' work over the years, including these five unusual TV guest appearances.

BEN CASEY (1965) -- Lewis guest-starred and directed an episode of the medical drama, playing a fun-loving resident preparing to enter neurosurgery. The very intense Casey (Vince Edwards) wasn't pleased.

FIGHT FOR LIFE (1987) -- In this TV movie, based on a true story, Bernard Abrams (Lewis), an Ohio optometrist, and his wife (Patty Duke) campaigned to get the Food and Drug Administration to approve a drug that would save their 6-year-old daughter, who suffered from a rare form of epilepsy.

WISEGUY (1988) -- Lewis won critical acclaim for a multi-episode arc on this crime drama. He played a garment-center businessman with a tainted past who is being investigated by the Organized Crime Bureau.

MAD ABOUT YOU (1993) -- Lewis played an eccentric billionaire who wanted Paul (Paul Reiser) to make a film about him.

LAW & ORDER: SVU (2006) -- He guest-starred as a mentally ill homeless man who held the key to unraveling a case. The character also happened to be the uncle of the show's Det. John Munch (Richard Belzer).