Furthermore, in 1985, 1986 and 1992, he appeared on three episodes of Cheers as Walt Twitchell, a mailman who got into minor altercations with Cliff Clavin. Birk reprised the role of Twitchell in a 2002 episode of the Cheers spinoff series, Frasier, in which the title character (played by Kelsey Grammer) returned to Boston and re-acquainted himself with old friends from the bar. He played a recurring role on Coach as Riley Pringle from 1989 to 1993. He also appeared in an episode of Mr. Belvedere as an accordion player.
In addition to these roles, he had a frequently occurring role as the headmaster on The Wonder Years; starting with the pilot episode, when he had a conference with Kevin Arnold's parents for throwing food in the cafeteria. While generally antagonist, a more sympathetic role on the show was seen in the award winning episode "Goodbye" where he confides in Kevin that he is Kevin's new math Teacher as Kevin's hardnosed algebra Teacher has just died. He was also on a pair of Home Improvement episodes as one of Tim's poker buddies. In 1991, Raye appeared on the TV series Night Court as Frank Pepitone. He has appeared twice on The Golden Girls, both times playing a wedding caterer.
In 2004–2008, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
