Way Back When: George Clooney

In today's Way Back When we take a trip down memory lane to check out some of George Clooney's earlier roles. Here's what we've discovered: the man is immortal and only his hair ages. Oh, and we also found some great clips of his obscure past.

'Street  Hawk'

'Street Hawk' sounds like the coolest TV show ever: a cop who spends all his time working behind a desk is secretly fighting street crime as a test pilot for a combat motorcycle. In the 1985 episode "Second Self," George Clooney plays a slacker type who just wants to have fun, and his fun entails a montage filled with air hockey, arm wrestling, carnival games, and bumper cars. That's some fun we can get into.

'E/R'

Before he became a household name with 'ER,' Clooney starred on a similarly named sitcom from 1984 t0 1985, in which he played EMT Mark "Ace" Kolmar. You know he's a cool dude because he wears his sunglasses inside and doesn't conform to proper usage of medical terms. Check out a clip of some of Ace's one-liners from the short-lived series below:

'Combat High'

Also known as 'Combat Academy,' this 1986 TV movie was directed by Neal Israel, the guy behind 'Bachelor Party' and 'Surf Ninjas.' A couple of pranksters are punished and sent to military school, where they turn Combat High into a playground for their shenanigans. Clooney co-stars as Major Biff Woods (amazing name), and you can check him out in this trailer, where he appears around the 1:29 mark.

'Return to Horror High'

Back before 'Scream' was meta, there was 'Return to Horror High.' A serial killer went on a spree at this high school but was never caught, and now a movie crew has come in to make a film about the events at the high school where the murders took place... and it looks like that serial killer is still hanging around. Clooney plays Oliver, an actor, and in this scene he comes face to face with the killer. He dies, obviously. If you're curious to see more, 'Return to Horror High' is available on Netflix Instant.

'The Facts of Life'

Clooney had a recurring role on this 80s sitcom as George Burnett. He's introduced for the first time in the clip below as a contractor the women hire to help them renovate Edna's Edibles into their new trendy gift and clothing boutique called Over Our Heads. Burnett became a popular character and stuck around for a while until the horror episode "Seven Little Indians," in which he was murdered while wearing a big yellow raincoat, which we think is a metaphor for something.

'Return of the Killer Tomatoes'

In order to save the movie-within-a-movie in 'Return of the Killer Tomatoes,' our noble actor gentleman George Clooney suggests to the director that they use a little something called "product placement." This 1988 sequel to 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes' is more ridiculous than its predecessor, and we still have no idea how these films also spawned an animated television show for kids. The power of Clooney works in mysterious ways.

'Roseanne'

Clooney held the recurring role of Booker Brooks on 'Roseanne' in a story arc that had Roseanne, her sister Jackie, and their mom working in a plastic factory. Clooney played their boss, a good-looking man who has all the ladies in the factory swooning every time they get a glimpse of his butt. In this clip, watch Clooney bend over to pick up a pencil: