Before They Were Stars (2-for-1 Special): David Hyde Pierce & 11-Year Old Joseph Gordon-Levitt on “The Powers That Be”

David Hyde Pierce’s first major TV role came in 1992 when he was cast as a suicidal congressman on The Powers That Be, a sitcom about a dysfunctional political family in Washington D.C.. The series got pretty good reviews, but was cancelled after only one year. The people involved probably wouldn’t complain too much, however, since Pierce rebounded by being cast on Frasier a few months later and the series creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, went on to make Friends the following year. And as hard as it may be to visualize him being David Hyde Pierce’s son, the show also featured 11-year old Joseph Gordon-Levitt in that very role.