Generally
speaking, people who work on a sitcom are happy to do so. Oh sure you
have those bad days when tempers flare and arguments occur, but that
happens in life. However, sometimes a star will be on a show and despite
how popular the show, or they themselves, are they still resent the
experience. Some leave as soon as they can, others suck it up and get
through it. But either way, sometimes a show and an actor can mix badly.
Here are five examples:
Chevy Chase on Community
While most of the people here you can easily say “Ok I understand why he took the role”, this is the one exception. Chase has complained about the series, fought with the cast, and called his involvement a huge mistake. So, he took the role because?? By Season 4 everyone had enough and Chase finally left the show.
Andy Kaufman on Taxi
It turns out the jury is out on this one. According to a source, and the movie “Man on the Moon”, Kaufman hated the show. He only did did it because his manager convinced him it would be a good way to get his name out there. But another source came out and said Kaufman was always professional on set. I tend to think both of these are true, at least a little, since I can imagine an improv artist like Kaufman would feel VERY inhibited by the format of a sitcom.
Marcia Strassman on Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter did not have the best history behind the scenes. Ever wonder why Gabe Kaplan disappeared after a few seasons? By the way the show sucked when he did. So according to reports Strassman and Kaplan did not get along at all. The arguing divided the cast, and according to Strassman Gabe could be mean one day and your friend the next. It got so bad that Kaplan finally left. I can’t find out how true this is but apparently Strassman said working on the series made her miserable in an interview. Though the two did mend fences afterward. By the way, she was AWESOME in “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”.
Max Wright (and the whole cast) of Alf
RIP Max Wright, who appeared in a tom of shows including Benson, Friends, Murphy Brown…and many others. Of course Wright will be best known for his role as Willie Tanner on Alf. However as fun a show as that was, turns out it wasn’t the easiest to film. To accommodate the puppet the set was raised, so the actors were close to the lights. The special process of filming also dragged the process out, which meant some long, hot days on set. All that plus the fact that a puppet is the lead, can lead to tension. And apparently Wright was miserable the whole run and very glad when it finally ended.
Robert Reed on The Brady Bunch
Yeah you knew this one was going to be on here. You know, it’s kinda hard not to be hard on Reed and the way he acted on The Brady Bunch. I understand being annoyed he got roped into he role (short version, he was under contract). If you’re going to look down on sitcoms, Brady is about as plain as you can get. But from what I’ve heard and he read he comes off as a real ego maniac. Arguing with the producer, complaining on set, and even writing letters to the network complaining about “silly” scripts. Not to say anything about the fit he threw about the final episode, which caused him to be written out that episode. He was Shakespearean trained and apparently thought doing a sitcom was beneath him. And spent five years bitching about the lame scripts. I hope that after the series ended he realized the show had some benefit, it sure got his name out there which opened the door to things (this is what Leonard Nimoy finally realized about being Spock). The only reason people give Reed any respect is because while he hated the show, he really truly loved and cared for the cast. He treated the six kids as if they were his own, on and off set. And there’s also the matter of his sexuality that he had to keep hidden, I get how that could wear on him. On screen, he always be be one of my favorite TV dad’s.
Somehow this blog became a tribute to actors who passed away too soon (except Chase). If there’s an actor or actress that hated their show who should be mentioned comment and let me know. Plenty I didn’t mention including tension on the sets of Fresh Prince, Webster, Two and a Half Men and I Dream of Jeannie.
Chevy Chase on Community
While most of the people here you can easily say “Ok I understand why he took the role”, this is the one exception. Chase has complained about the series, fought with the cast, and called his involvement a huge mistake. So, he took the role because?? By Season 4 everyone had enough and Chase finally left the show.
Andy Kaufman on Taxi
It turns out the jury is out on this one. According to a source, and the movie “Man on the Moon”, Kaufman hated the show. He only did did it because his manager convinced him it would be a good way to get his name out there. But another source came out and said Kaufman was always professional on set. I tend to think both of these are true, at least a little, since I can imagine an improv artist like Kaufman would feel VERY inhibited by the format of a sitcom.
Marcia Strassman on Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter did not have the best history behind the scenes. Ever wonder why Gabe Kaplan disappeared after a few seasons? By the way the show sucked when he did. So according to reports Strassman and Kaplan did not get along at all. The arguing divided the cast, and according to Strassman Gabe could be mean one day and your friend the next. It got so bad that Kaplan finally left. I can’t find out how true this is but apparently Strassman said working on the series made her miserable in an interview. Though the two did mend fences afterward. By the way, she was AWESOME in “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”.
Max Wright (and the whole cast) of Alf
RIP Max Wright, who appeared in a tom of shows including Benson, Friends, Murphy Brown…and many others. Of course Wright will be best known for his role as Willie Tanner on Alf. However as fun a show as that was, turns out it wasn’t the easiest to film. To accommodate the puppet the set was raised, so the actors were close to the lights. The special process of filming also dragged the process out, which meant some long, hot days on set. All that plus the fact that a puppet is the lead, can lead to tension. And apparently Wright was miserable the whole run and very glad when it finally ended.
Robert Reed on The Brady Bunch
Yeah you knew this one was going to be on here. You know, it’s kinda hard not to be hard on Reed and the way he acted on The Brady Bunch. I understand being annoyed he got roped into he role (short version, he was under contract). If you’re going to look down on sitcoms, Brady is about as plain as you can get. But from what I’ve heard and he read he comes off as a real ego maniac. Arguing with the producer, complaining on set, and even writing letters to the network complaining about “silly” scripts. Not to say anything about the fit he threw about the final episode, which caused him to be written out that episode. He was Shakespearean trained and apparently thought doing a sitcom was beneath him. And spent five years bitching about the lame scripts. I hope that after the series ended he realized the show had some benefit, it sure got his name out there which opened the door to things (this is what Leonard Nimoy finally realized about being Spock). The only reason people give Reed any respect is because while he hated the show, he really truly loved and cared for the cast. He treated the six kids as if they were his own, on and off set. And there’s also the matter of his sexuality that he had to keep hidden, I get how that could wear on him. On screen, he always be be one of my favorite TV dad’s.
Somehow this blog became a tribute to actors who passed away too soon (except Chase). If there’s an actor or actress that hated their show who should be mentioned comment and let me know. Plenty I didn’t mention including tension on the sets of Fresh Prince, Webster, Two and a Half Men and I Dream of Jeannie.
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