Ashton has also worked steadily on the small screen, playing a state trooper in the TV-movie "This Man Stands Alone" (NBC, 1979), and one of the singer's entourage in "Elvis and the Beauty Queen" (NBC, 1981). He has appeared in several miniseries, most notably as detectives in both "A Death in California" (ABC, 1985) and "The Deliberate Stranger" (NBC, 1986) and the sheriff in "Stephen King's 'The Tommyknockers'" (ABC, 1993). The actor has reprised his film role in the short-lived series "Breaking Away" (ABC, 1980-81) and had a leading role in the NBC police drama "Hardball" (NBC, 1989-90), playing a veteran detective paired with a cocky, inexperienced partner. Other notable roles include the change of pace turns as a worried father of a kidnapped child in "I Know My First Name Is Steven" (NBC, 1989) and as the parent of a gymnast in "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes" (Lifetime, 1997).