While Garber's TV work has been somewhat limited, he has had some meaty roles. After providing the voice of Christian in an animated version of "Cyrano de Bergerac" (ABC, 1974), the actor played the Marquis de Lafayette in the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" special "Valley Forge" (NBC, 1975). He starred in his own summer series, "I Had Three Wives" (CBS, 1985), as private investigator who is unlucky at relationships. Garber then was cast as Dennis Widmer, Molly's boss and former lover, in the early seasons of "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" (NBC, 1987-88; Lifetime, 1988-89) Certainly one of his best TV roles to-date was that of the pianist in "Liberace: Behind the Music" (CBS, 1988). After a three-season (1991-94) recurring stint on the Canadian series "E.N.G.", the performer was seen in a featured role in the 1993 CBS miniseries "Queen". Garber was off the big screen for nearly two decades, returning in supporting roles like the slick agent taking clients away from Michael J. Fox and Nathan Lane in James "Life With Mikey" (1992), Tom Hanks' friend who is rendered emotional by "The Dirty Dozen" in Nora Ephron's "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993) and Goldie Hawn's ex-husband in "The First Wives Club" (1996). He garnered much praise for his strong performance as the ship's designer Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's blockbuster "Titanic" (1997).

He got to display his vocal abilities in a pair of ABC movie remakes, 1997's "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" (as the King) and 1999's "Annie" (as Daddy Warbucks). The new millennium kicked off in fine gear for Garber. He co-starred in the Canadian mystery series "Criminal Intent" (1999-2000; aired in the USA on Lifetime in 2000-01) and then played another detective, this time tracking a woman who murdered her husband in the based-on-fact movie "Torso: The Evelyn Dick Story" (2001). Also in 2001, Garber earned a pair of Emmy nominations for his guest role as a temporary butler for the Cranes on NBC's "Frasier" and as Sid Luft in the ABC biographical miniseries "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows". He then capped off the year by co-starring as the mysterious father of a young woman (Jennifer Garner) recruited as a spy in the ABC action-drama series "Alias," which proved a surprise hit and a welcome boost for Garber's public profile. He continued to make successful supporting forays back to the big screen as well, with roles in "Legally Blonde"(2001) and "Tuck Everlasting" (2002).