Riehle made his TV debut with a bit role in "The Other Side of Hell" (NBC, 1978) and his first regular series role was as Mr. Rooney, the smarmy principal in the short-lived TV version of "Ferris Bueller" (NBC, 1990-91). He was a juror alongside Jasmine Guy in the TV-movie "A Killer Among Us" (NBC, 1990) and has worked steadily in TV longforms since, including "A Stranger in Town" (CBS, 1995), in which he was a sheriff skeptical of Jean Smart's past.