Comments on: 11 Famous Actors and the Big TV Roles They Turned Down

By: Tamar

Tamar — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:50:42 +0000

Michael Richards would have played Monk very differently, but ABC would have really killed it. One of the reasons that show worked was that it wasn’t mainstream.
Sex and the City was very badly miscast, one way or another, it had writers and wardrobe, and that’s what kept it afloat.
Paul Giamatti would have played the role as originally intended, a not too bright jerk, the show could have worked, but would have had a different audience.

By: Brian Phillips

Brian Phillips — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:23:18 +0000

Well, here is the answer to my Sid Caesar question:

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2010/12/was-sid-caesar-supposed-to-play-coach.html

By: Brian Phillips

Brian Phillips — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:06:16 +0000

In Sid Caesar’s autobiography, “Where Have I Been?”, he discusses his long career and he mentions working on “Pink Lady and Jeff”, a show that was doomed to failure because two of the leads didn’t speak English, and he also states getting a call from some producers about a show revolving around a bar, which he thought would be too limiting.

Did Sid Caesar turn down “Cheers”?

By: ceallaig

ceallaig — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 02:48:59 +0000

You left out one very good one — John Wayne as Marshal Matt Dillon. He was offered the lead role in Gunsmoke, but didn’t want the grind of weekly TV. However, he knew someone who might like the job — a very tall actor who was having trouble getting work, his biggest role being the oversized carrot-looking alien in The Thing. The Duke put in a good word for James Arness, and an actor and a role came together for a perfect fit.

By: Brit

Brit — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:59:54 +0000

My boyfriend would be thrilled if I made more money than him.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:54:31 +0000

Interestingly, I believe Tony Shalhoub was considered to play Kramer.

By: MetFanMac

MetFanMac — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:59:27 +0000

“Amanda Blake went on to play Miss Kitty for an amazing 20 seasons, and Polly and Tommy Bond remained happily wedded for an amazing 54 years.” Sounds like an OK tradeoff to me!

By: MrsPurrbottom

MrsPurrbottom — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:15:10 +0000

I don’t think Michael Richards will ever be able to NOT be Kramer. Nobody else can play Kramer and he can’t play anybody else. Period. And that’s a happy period, of course.

By: Harold Dickinson

Harold Dickinson — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:30:09 +0000

Two comments:
Michael Richards DID play a bumbling detective in the short-lived “The Michael Richards Show” in 2000. There were only 9 episodes and his character was named Vic Nardozza.

Stephen Tobolowski is a very interesting character. If you doubt this, watch “Stephen Tobolowski’s Birthday Party”. It’s available on NetFlix.

By: Hyacinth

Hyacinth — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:37:55 +0000

I can totally picture Richards as Monk. I think it would have been a little more slapstick, though, and may not (or may have) enjoyed the success it had. Hard to tell.

Helen Hunt over Bonnie Hunt any day!

Dana Delaney is not vapid enough to be on Sex and the City.

Jayne Mansfield on Gilligan probably would have caused a lot more censorship!