The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 4 letter word DEPUTY DAWG
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
D
E
P
U
T
Y
D
A
W
G
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Sheriff once on telly" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case sheriff once on telly = deputy dawg.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.