A Tribute to the Fired and Recast Actors of Pilot Season
Ryan Devlin
In the hot CBS pilot Sh*t My Dad Says, everything hinges on the chemistry between irascible dad William Shatner and his son, played in the pilot by Ryan Devlin. CBS loved the show but is already on the hunt for a bigger name to replace Devlin.
Bob Odenkirk
Bob Odenkirk may be a comedy idol to many after Mr. Show, and his wife Naomi reps some of the biggest comedians in town, but that still couldn't secure his place as the adversary to Rob Riggle's high school basketball coach in the CBS pilot Team Spitz. Instead, he was replaced by Kurtwood Smith (That 70's Show).
Kristin Kreuk
Josh Schwartz tapped the Smallville actress and Chuck guest star to topline his half-hour comedy Hitched, but after filming, she was replaced by relative unknown Sara Fletcher. Also in the cast? The double-booked Kurtwood Smith.
Olesya Rulin
Rulin (best known for High School Musical) had one of the more typical pilot season recastings: after taping Fox's Raising Hope, the network just decided to go a different way, hiring Shann
on Woodward to replace her. As for her costar, Kate Micucci...
Kate Micucci
...that's a whole other story, as Micucci was reading for a slacker brother role that was supposed to be male anyway. Still, she nabbed the part, the script was rewritten to make the role female, she shot the pilot, and then...producers decided to switch it back. Even after committing to a sex change, Hollywood can have second thoughts.
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Comments
Wow, what a miserable way to try to make a living!
That's the picture business, son
None of these pilots sound original anyway. It's either twenty-somethings (read: WHITE twenty-somethings) living in oversized apartments in NYC battling work and love or mediocre family (read: white family) drama/sitcoms. If you want to watch TV, save Modern Family and three other shows, cable is where it's at.
Is this a white thing?
Fran Kranz is a show killer - don't see his appeal.
Going back in time:
Dame Diana Rigg was second choice to play Mrs Peel on "The Avengers" - shooting had already begun with another actress when they decided to bring Ms Rigg in for what is arguable her breakthrough role.
Majel Barrett was originally cast as the First Officer of the "Enterprise", and Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike, but the network didn't like the casting, so the show was completely recast (with the exception of Leonard Nimoy) for a second pilot. Barrett, of course, went on to play Nurse Chapel, the voice of the computer in every version of "Star Trek" to date, and Mrs Gene Roddenberry.
The funny thing is that I was planning to watch "Sh*t My Dad Says" just for Ryan Devlin. Go figure. I know he's not a big name, but he's a great actor. It's a shame that I won't be watching now. (Frankly, though, I can't imagine the show being that great, anyway, so I hope he finds something else.)
I would have watched Harry's Law for Ben Chaplin who I saw on Broadway. He's another not a big name but I & many others love him. It's a shame that I've no interest in watching Harry's Law now. I usually love David E Kelley's stuff but lately the shows are all stuck on lawyers. Maybe Chaplin's now been freed up to do something really exciting, like more Broadway theater.
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