33 Random TV Tidbits From Sitcoms Centered Around Stand-Up Comedians

Could their act translate well to the small screen? Tune in to find out!
33 Random TV Tidbits From Sitcoms Centered Around Stand-Up Comedians

Weve always found it a little odd that great stand-ups are asked to star in their own sitcoms. Not because we feel like they dont deserve it, but because the crafts of stand-up comedy and sitcom acting seem like two totally different things. 

Yes, we know they can be funny — especially since the material comes from tried-and-true stand-up — but can they pull off those highly emotional family moments that aim to add sad tears to the laughing tears? Sometimes. 

Here are a solid chunk of behind-the-scenes facts about sitcoms that could make us laugh and cry — or roll our eyes with some brutal off-the-markness…

Tim Allen

HOME IMPROVEMENT CRACKED.COM After 8 seasons, we got to see Wilson's full face. The ratings had slipped dramatically in the last few seasons, losing nearly 60% of its audience. On average, 15 million viewers were tuning in, but the series finale on May 25, 1999 brought in 35.5 million viewers.

Whoopi Goldberg

WHOOPI called it quits BAGDAD CAFE CRACKED.COM Goldberg dumped her own sitcom after just nine episodes of Season 2, citing a dispute with producers. Months earlier, the show canned its Season 1 producers when Whoopi couldn't get along with them either. Low ratings had doomed the show either way.

Don Rickles

DON RICKLES wants you to drop and give him 20 СРО SHARKEY GRACKED.COM Rickles failed several times as a sitcom star, claiming that scripted comedy was a bad fit for his ad lib style. Sharkey was the closest thing to a hit, lasting two seasons. Its most famous episode features Sharkey going to a punk rock club to take in a set by the Dickies. Wait, what?

Jim Gaffigan

JIM GAFFIGAN wanted to spend time with the kids JIM GAFFIGAN SHOW GRAGKED.COM That's the reason TV Land gives for not extending Gaffigan's show beyond two short seasons. The show is based on the Gaffigans' real life experience raising five kids in a two-bedroom New York apartment. Sounds more like a horror movie.

Louie C.K.

LOUIS С.К. was unlucky with his first sitcom LUCKY LOUIE CRACKED.COM Lucky Louie was filmed like a traditional sitcom on a one-set stage with live laughs. But the HBO show tackled subjects not seen in conventional TV comedy: orgasms, interacial friendships, misplaced profanity. TV or real life, cringe has always been Louis C.K.'s speciality.

George Carlin

GEORGE CARLIN was a taxi driver who liked to drink GEORGE CARLIN SHOW CRACKED.COM An opinionated smart-ass who sat at a bar and bitched between shifts, Carlin's nihilistic character was fresh for 1994. But the show never caught on and Carlin wanted more creative control. When Fox canceled it, he wrote on his website, Couldn't wait to get the f*ck out of there.

Richard Karn

ICRACKEDCOMI Richard Karn's Al Borland in Home Improvement was a temporary replacement for a character named Glen, as the actor wasn't available to sh

Rodney Dangerfield

A 14-year-old could teleport RODNEY DANGERFIELD WHERE'S RODNEY? CRACKED.COM That's the bonkers premise of Where's Rodney?: The kid could zap up Rodney when he needed advice about bullies or girls. The weird sci-fi set-up had one big problem - most of the show featured the sad-sack kid, not the disrespected funnyman we tuned into see.

Patton Oswalt

PATTON OSWALT tried to get his geek on SUPER NERDS CRACKED.COM Imagine Big Bang Theory with characters who actually read comic books. Sounds good on paper, especially with Brian Posehn and Sarah Silverman as fellow nerds, but Comedy Central passed on the clunky pilot. (If you're curious, you can find it on YouTube.)

Stevie Wonder

COMEDY NERD Stevie Wonder once showed up as a guest star on The Cosby Show. The story is that Theo and Denise have a car accident involving Stevie Wonder, and he gives them a chance to visit his studio (yeah, it's kinda contrived, but it's a sitcom -that's how they work). CRACKED.COM

Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler was a high school student in The Cosby Show. Sandler played a boy named Smitty in four episodes of the show's fourth season. CRACKED.COM

Bill Cosby

The Cosby Show is hard to watch. 1880 The allegations against Cosby make all the heartfelt fathering feel insincere and sometimes disturbing, Eden Lil

Larry David (Him Again)

Seinfeld George Costanza is Larry David. Jason Alexander based his performance on Woody Allen, until he realized George was a self-insert for the show's co-creator. When Alexander questioned a scene, David retorted: This happened to me, this is exactly what I did. CRACKED.COM

Ray Romano and Kevin James

33 Random TV Tidbits From Sitcoms Centered Around Stand-Up Comedians
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