12 Sitcom Stars Who Failed To Shine On The Silver Screen
![12 Sitcom Stars Who Failed To Shine On The Silver Screen](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/5/794035_320x180.jpg)
Failure, we all hate it, except that band named “Failure.” Come to think of it, they're probably lukewarm on it, too. But it's part of life, said everyone you ever met. It's not easy to take and leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The kind usually reserved for beets, which are a failed vegetable.
In Hollywood, you get failure news fast. Actors who work for years as sorta middling failures chasing the success they crave can suddenly get the right break and role and all of a sudden - failure over! On the same scene, actors who have been successful for years on end can see that streak snap - and possibly to never return.
So at the end of the day, being on a hit TV show is not a guarantee that you'll make it on the Big Screen, but it's worth a shot if you're a Friends cast member: they have about a 1 in 3 success rate. Read on below:
![Amanda Bynes THE RISE: She became a notably young addition to the already youthful cast of Nickelodeon's All That at age 10, which propelled her to star in her own hit series, The Amanda Show. Sky was the limit for the actress, being compared to a young Lucille Ball, and she broke into Hollywood with movies like Big Fat Liar. THE FALL: The 2006 film She's The Man, which had Bynes playing a girl trying to pass as her brother at his boarding school, led to a six month depression over her appearance. In 2010, after her role in Easy](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/8/794048.jpg)
Source: Insider
![Elizabeth Berkley THE RISE: Berkley shined on Saved By The Bell as Jessie Spano from 1989-1993, as well as the two Saved By The Bell movies. THE FALL: In order to shed her family friendly image, Berkley accepted a role in 1995's Showgirls. She did not WOW critics with her performance, and the movie bombed SO hard she was dropped by her agent. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/7/794047.jpg)
Source: People
![Louis C.K. THE RISE: After a short run in 2006 with Lucky Louie on HBO, Louis C.K. traded the canned-laughter filled sitcom format for a surprisingly thoughtful deconstruction in Louie. With an acclaimed series, and stand up specials that continued to overperform, there seemed to be no stopping him. THE FALL: In the midst of the Me Too movement, allegations about C.K.'s bizarre, sexual misconduct behind closed doors came out, and he went silent for nearly a year. When he returned with a new special, most people were too afraid to laugh. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/6/794046.jpg)
Source: Rolling Stone
![Michael Richards THE RISE: As a genius in physical comedy, Richards quickly became a household name with his character Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld. During the run of the show, he played small roles in movies like Problem Child, Airheads, and UHF. THE FALL: Richards tired to ride his success as Kramer into his own series, The Michael Richards Show, following the end of Seinfeld, but no one wanted to see a new character that didn't burst into his neighbors apartment. His racially charged outburst at a stand up set in 2006 was just the final nail in the comically oversized](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/3/794043.jpg)
Source: AV Club
![Alfonso Ribeiro THE RISE: On The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Ribeiro personified the dorky and perpetual punching bag Carlton to a T. His signature dance, the unhip but energetic swaying to It's Not Unusual by Tom Jones, still remains a cultural touchstone. THE FALL: Unfortunately Ribeiro was so good as Carlton that no one could see him as anything else. Immediately following The Fresh Prince, he provided voice acting to Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and Extreme Ghostbusters, and then tired to find his next big role in a line of shows that never took off. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/5/794045.jpg)
Source: NPR
![Matt LeBlanc THE RISE: After a few appearances in music videos in the late 80's and early 90's, LeBlanc got his big break as the dimwitted himbo, Joey, on Friends. During the run of the show, he starred in movies like Ed, Lost In Space, and showed up in both Charlie's Angels films. CCUUCH THE FALL: None of LeBlanc's big screen appearances launched him to the next level. He went back to his iconic Friends character in the series Joey in 2004, with the titular character ironically moving to LA to pursue his acting career. The show was canceled after](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/8/794038.jpg)
Source: Biography
![Kirk Cameron THE RISE: Cameron starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Growing Pains from 1985-1992. For those formative years on the show, Cameron became a teen heartthrob, his image adorning girls' lockers for years. THE FALL: At the height of his career on the show, he became a born-again Christian and distanced himself from the rest of the cast. At 20, he started the religious organization Way Of The Master with evangelist Ray Comfort, and later produced several Christian films to further enlighten his audience. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/2/794042.jpg)
Source: Hollywood Reporter
![Kirstie Alley THE RISE: After a small part in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, Alley got her break in Cheers as Rebecca Howe. During the run of the show, she starred in Look Who's Talking and it's sequel, and she seemed destined to be a Hollywood mainstay during the 90's. THE FALL: She's got a few short-lived TV series under her belt, but after Cheers, audiences just didn't connect with her characters. This wasn't helped by her offscreen actions, like her Scientology background and criticism of the Me Too movement. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/1/794041.jpg)
Source: Biography
![Jason Alexander THE RISE: After a few appearances on E/R (no, not that ER), Alexander's big role came to him in 1989 with a pilot called The Seinfeld Chronicles. Over the next decade on Seinfeld, he became one of the biggest names in comedy. During the 90's, he had small, character driven roles in movies like Coneheads and Blankman. THE FALL: In another case of an actor being too good in ONE role, Alexander couldn't escape the George character. After Seinfeld, he tried to get back on TV with 2001's Bob Patterson, and then with Listen Up! in 2004. He](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/9/794039.jpg)
Source: Looper
![David Schwimmer THE RISE: After a few roles on shows like Blossom and NYPD Blue, Schwimmer found huge success as the heart of Friends in 1994. In the early 2000's, he had substantial roles in commercial hits like Band of Brothers and as the voice of Melman the giraffe in Madagascar. THE FALL: After he was locked in to a three picture deal with Miramax in 1996, he had to decline an offer to star in Men in Black due to scheduling conflicts. The movie he starred in with Miramax, The Pallbearer, did not perform well, and those three pictures](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/4/794044.jpg)
Source: Hollywood Reporter
![Topher Grace THE RISE: That 70's Show debuted in 1998 and quickly became one of the most popular shows on TV. As the lead character, Eric Forman, Topher Grace was catapulted to stardom and began to make appearances in movies like Traffic and Mona Lisa Smile. THE FALL: After playing Eddie Brock/Venom in Spider-Man 3 to mixed reviews, the shine on Grace's star was tarnished. He tried to break out again in 2010's Predators, but was met with much the same. After some smaller parts in movies like Interstellar, he's more or less been relegated to bit parts in larger](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/4/0/794040.jpg)
Source: The Things
![Zach Braff THE RISE: As the main star, and narrator, in Scrubs, Braff solidified himself as a performer that could balance wit, vulnerability, and slapstick with ease. In the middle of the series, he broke out on the big screen with Garden State, which he wrote, directed, and starred in. THE FALL: Braff's next cinematic venture, the Kickstarter backed Wish I Was Here, wasn't a commercial or critical hit like Garden State. He went back to his TV roots with the 2018 series Alex, Inc., based off the popular podcast StartUp, but it was met with abysmal reviews. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/0/3/7/794037.jpg)
Source: Looper