Five Forgotten Early Sitcom Roles of Eventual Sitcom Stars
Remember That ‘80s Show? Of course not. No one does. And even if it sounds vaguely familiar, all you recall is that it was an ill-fated spin-off of That ‘70s Show.
Beyond that, the most notable thing about the FOX series was that it starred Glenn Howerton, who, after just 13 episodes of That ‘80s Show, would go on to play Dennis in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Fortunately, the stench of an earlier, entirely forgotten sitcom role didn’t follow him and he went on to star in one of the longest-running live-action sitcoms ever made.
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It’s a career trajectory that’s relatively common among sitcom stars, as many of them strike out during their first time at-bat. Here are five other sitcom stars whose earlier sitcom work has all but disappeared from our collective consciousness…
Kaitlin Olson on ‘The Drew Carey Show’
For the first two-thirds of its nine-season run, The Drew Carey Show was a funny, well-liked show that did respectably in the ratings, but took a turn for the worse after the departure of one of its core cast members, Christa Miller, who played Kate. After she left, she was replaced by a cadre of female characters who just never filled the void. Among them was Olson, who was a snarky, mean-spirited coworker of Drew’s and his rival-turned-friend Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney). Even though she lasted two entire seasons, the character of “Traylor” — through no fault of Olsen’s — failed to buoy a ship that had long been taking on water.
Jerry Seinfeld on ‘Benson’
While you can’t blame Olsen for her forgettability in The Drew Carey Show, it’s safe to throw some shade at Seinfeld in Benson. For three episodes in 1980, he played Frankie, the mail carrier for the Governor’s mansion, where the show was set (Benson, played by Robert Guillaume, was the governor’s head butler). In his capacity as Frankie, Seinfeld unconvincingly smirked through much of the role — just as he would during the earlier seasons of Seinfeld — until he was fired.
Julie Kavner on ‘Rhoda’
Before she became the voice of Marge Simpson, Kavner did a bunch of work in live action, including as a core cast member on Rhoda, which ran for five seasons in the mid-1970s. A spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda was about a young Jewish woman living in New York City, first as a newlywed and then, later in a push to revive ratings, as a divorcée. Throughout the show’s run, Rhoda’s sister Brenda was played by Kavner. In this case, Kavner’s work is forgotten mostly because Rhoda is largely forgotten.
Rhea Perlman on ‘Taxi’
Perlman was so perfect as the tough, snarky, wise-cracking waitress Carla Tortelli on Cheers that it’s tough to imagine her as anything else. Even much of her post-Cheers work — like the horrible mom in Matilda — has echoes of Carla’s lovable obnoxiousness. However, before she ever set foot in that Boston bar she was the sweet, even meek girlfriend of Danny DeVito’s Louie De Palma on Taxi (DeVito and Perlman were dating at the time; they’d marry in 1982). While Perlman appeared in seven episodes of a show that’s pretty well remembered, Zena is forgotten simply because Perlman’s four-time Emmy-winning performance as Carla completely outshines her earlier work.
Steve Carell on ‘Watching Ellie’
Thanks to a memorable stint as a Daily Show correspondent, it’s not as though Carell was an unknown before The Office and The 40-Year-Old Virgin both made him a genuine comedy star in 2005. However, he did have a now-entirely-forgotten part in Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ now-entirely-forgotten follow-up to Seinfeld. Before Veep became a hit and even before she had moderate success with a five-season run of The New Adventures of Old Christine, Louis-Dreyfus’ starred in Watching Ellie. The gimmick-y sitcom played out in real-time for its first season — it even had a countdown clock. Louis-Dreyfus played a singer in L.A.’s music scene, and Carell played Edgar, Ellie’s arrogant ex who was still friends with her.
In this case, Edgar is forgotten because literally everything about Watching Ellie is forgotten, which is most likely for the best.