Even though Barton had no formal acting training, in 1979 he starred as Bill Miller in the short-lived NBC TV series "Shirley", starring Shirley Jones, Rosanna Arquette, and Tracey Gold. The show ran for 13 episodes. NBC still had him under contract at the end of 1980, and it connected him with prominent acting coach Vincent Chase, and when the series ended, he was cast as the lead in another NBC series, "The Powers of Matthew Star". He won the role over many actors, among them Tom Cruise.