Stars who didn't like the roles that had made them famous....

[Mark Giardina]

Speaking of Jason Lee...he's starring in a new TNT series premiering this summer. I don't remember the name of the series, but I saw the promo for it during one of their basketball telecasts last night. He must not be "anti-TV" enough (and I've heard the same story) to take the money to do another TV role. By the way, my son and I seen the new Alvin & The Chipmunk sequel a few months ago, and it was utterly boring (nothing but cliches and catchphrases). However, Lee (in the 90-plus minutes of run time) was maybe on-screen probably twenty minutes total.

It's called Memphis Blues (I think). I remember Lee clean shaven and saying the line "welcome to Memphis." It's part of a promo for current series like The Closer, Hawthorne, and some new program featuring Angie Harmon ( who still looks fantastic by the way )

 

[Mark Giardina]

Here is another example of biting the hand that feeds you.

Before 'Friends' and 'My Name is Earl', nobody ever heard of Kudrow or Lee. Now they put down people (viewers) who made them wealthy along with the TV and motion picture industry.

Maybe so but when it comes to the phrase "biting the hand that feeds you", one really can't top Madonna in that department. Can't swear to it since I wasn't there but I had several friends who caught her concert in Denver last year. From what they told me, some of the things Madonna had talked about on stage, makes me wonder.

Madonna on TV : ".....ALL of television is poison and I wish all of the TV stations, networks and employees would blow the hell up !!"

Madonna on radio: "..hey Mr. DJ..thats right YOU a-hole and to all of the other radio DJs across the country..all of you can kiss my ass.. !!"

Madonna on Dick Clark..the man who gave Madonna her first nationwide TV appearance in 1983: " f***ing a-hole".

Now where would Madonna be at today had it not been for TV, those radio djs and of course Dick Clark? My friends thought she was joking but after reading stuff in the press about Madonna in the past I am not so sure.

Putanna... I mean Madonna will be like the Rolling Stones; in her late 60s strutting around the stage trying to sing. Picture that in your mind and tell me it doesn't either make you laugh, want to puke, or do both. :

 

[mleach]

Putanna... I mean Madonna will be like the Rolling Stones; in her late 60s strutting around the stage trying to sing. Picture that in your mind and tell me it doesn't either make you laugh, want to puke, or do both. :

Well let us hope that Madonna at age 75 doesn't do a "part 2" of her book "Sex". That sight of a naked 75 year old Madonna alone I am sure is more than enough to turn many of straight men gay.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Kate Gosselin sort of reminds me of actress Lisa Kudrow and Jason Lee "My Name is Earl ". Despite making millions from doing NBC's Friends, I can remember a number of yearsago ( around the time she teamed up with Jim Carrey for that Dick & Jane movie ) when the USA Today had reported that Kudrow was very anti-TV, didn't allow her kids to watch and even made fun of the people who week after week tuned in to see her on TV. "..if people want to waste their damn lives watching Friends, just goes to show you just how many people out there have no life..."

A few years ago some of the taboilds such as In Touch and People did story on My Name is Earl only to get the line "TV sucks" from Lee and how he was "bored" with his fans as he would rather be skateboarding. .

Of course both Kudrow & Lee would later on claim that their "feelings" about TV and their fans were taken out of context.

Here is another example of biting the hand that feeds you.

Before 'Friends' and 'My Name is Earl', nobody ever heard of Kudrow or Lee. Now they put down people (viewers) who made them wealthy along with the TV and motion picture industry.

Isn't it ironic that a fly farting makes more noise than both Kudrow and Lee's latest career ventures?

You can also add Jennifer Anniston to the "nobody ever heard of" category before "Friends" (not much other than the 1990 NBC made-for-TV movie "Camp Cucamonga" aka "How I Spent My Summer" and the short-lived 1990 series "Ferris Bueller").

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Although Ron Howard left "Happy Days" in 1980 to pursue his directing career, and I can't recall what his true feelings around that time were toward his earlier roles as Richie Cunningham and Opie Taylor (from Andy Griffith), this thread just reminded me of the infamous "Opie Cunningham" SNL sketch with Eddie Murphy where guest Ron Howard wanted to talk about his directing career while Murphy's character was more interested in talking about "little Opie Cunningham." A transcript of that sketch is linked below (but nothing on YouTube, sadly):

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/82/82cfilm.phtml

 

[The Voice of Reason]

Although Ron Howard left "Happy Days" in 1980 to pursue his directing career, and I can't recall what his true feelings around that time were toward his earlier roles as Richie Cunningham and Opie Taylor (from Andy Griffith), this thread just reminded me of the infamous "Opie Cunningham" SNL sketch with Eddie Murphy where guest Ron Howard wanted to talk about his directing career while Murphy's character was more interested in talking about "little Opie Cunningham." A transcript of that sketch is linked below (but nothing on YouTube, sadly):

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/82/82cfilm.phtml

I've never read where Ron Howard came out and bashed his roles as Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham.

 

[ixnay]

Frances Bavier was actually a native New Yorker who had made some friends from Siler City while taking the rice-diet treatment at Duke University. They persuaded her to move there and, as show writer Everett Greenbaum recalled in "The Box," after about six months the townsfolk wished she'd leave.

Per my 2010 Rand McNally (large print ed. [showing my age]) Siler City is 45 miles from Durham. And you have to go through (or take the bypass of) Chapel Hill along the way.

One other note about "dated" lines; I caught one last night on TVLand; the episode about the kid who's accused of robbing Wally's filling station but actually helps catch the real thieves. Early on, Barney has--incompetently, of course--installed an intercom system that's supposed to allow him and Andy to overhear what the prisoners are saying when they whisper. When Andy turns off the main switch on his way out he says, "This is Mercury Control, over and out." You'd have to have been alive in the early '60s to catch that allusion to the Mercury space program.

Or at least read up on America's (and Russia's) early manned space effort. I was, as my mom likes to say, "thought of" when Gagarin, Titov, Shepard and Grissom made their flights, and in diapers when Glenn made three trips around this terrestrial ball.

ixnay

 

[LKellerIII]

Although Ron Howard left "Happy Days" in 1980 to pursue his directing career, and I can't recall what his true feelings around that time were toward his earlier roles as Richie Cunningham and Opie Taylor (from Andy Griffith), this thread just reminded me of the infamous "Opie Cunningham" SNL sketch with Eddie Murphy where guest Ron Howard wanted to talk about his directing career while Murphy's character was more interested in talking about "little Opie Cunningham." A transcript of that sketch is linked below (but nothing on YouTube, sadly):

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/82/82cfilm.phtml

I've never read where Ron Howard came out and bashed his roles as Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham.

Ron Howard did the Return to Mayberry TV movie with Griffith in 1986. He also did some pro-Obama videos with Griffith in 08. I haven't heard how he feels about Happy Days, but I know he's close to Andy, and to Henry Winkler. I've seen him interviewed, he always seems to be genuinely proud about his acting work as a kid and young adult. Considering he came from a show biz family and probably got a few breaks along the way, he could be one of those that takes it for granted, but I don't think he does.

The 'Opie Cunningham' bit on SNL was hilarious, but he was just having fun.

 

[Tim L]

There is a extended length interview with Ron Howard on "The Archive of American Television" In which he states that once Henry Winkler became hot as "Fonzie", Happy Days Producers wanted to change the name of the series to "Fonzie's Happy Days" and offered Howard a chance to direct episodes..Howard said that while he understood that they wanted to ride "the hot hand" (Fonzie) as it were.."Fonzie's Happy Days" was not the show Howard signed up to do..So the producers decided not to change the name of the show..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mMj6baWv0o&feature=PlayList&p=5163EFCAA27B9CB4&

Howard also talks about his days on "The Smith Family" with Henry Fonda..

 

[The Voice of Reason]

There is a extended length interview with Ron Howard on "The Archive of American Television" In which he states that once Henry Winkler became hot as "Fonzie", Happy Days Producers wanted to change the name of the series to "Fonzie's Happy Days" and offered Howard a chance to direct episodes..Howard said that while he understood that they wanted to ride "the hot hand" (Fonzie) as it were.."Fonzie's Happy Days" was not the show Howard signed up to do..So the producers decided not to change the name of the show..

Isn't one of the reasons that Ron Howard decided to quit "Happy Days" was because Henry Winkler was becoming the main focus of the show?

 

[KeithE4]

Well let us hope that Madonna at age 75 doesn't do a "part 2" of her book "Sex". That sight of a naked 75 year old Madonna alone I am sure is more than enough to turn many of straight men gay.

Mae West starred in Myra Breckenridge when she was 77 and Sextette at 85. I see remakes starring Madonna in about 20 years. ;D

 

[Ultimajock]

You can also add Jennifer Anniston to the "nobody ever heard of" category before "Friends" (not much other than the 1990 NBC made-for-TV movie "Camp Cucamonga" aka "How I Spent My Summer" and the short-lived 1990 series "Ferris Bueller").

...that's a pile of Bravo-Sierra, Tim. I was very familiar with Jen when she was a regular on The Edge in 1992-93...

 

[jwk1979]

Speaking of Jason Lee...he's starring in a new TNT series premiering this summer. I don't remember the name of the series, but I saw the promo for it during one of their basketball telecasts last night. He must not be "anti-TV" enough (and I've heard the same story) to take the money to do another TV role. By the way, my son and I seen the new Alvin & The Chipmunk sequel a few months ago, and it was utterly boring (nothing but cliches and catchphrases). However, Lee (in the 90-plus minutes of run time) was maybe on-screen probably twenty minutes total.

I had the misfortune of seeing that God-Awful movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks:the Squeakal" and I don't think he was on-screen even that long, maybe TEN minutes at that.

 

[Bob1370]

"Isn't one of the reasons that Ron Howard decided to quit "Happy Days" was because Henry Winkler was becoming the main focus of the show?"

Probably not...that was around the time he was starting to work with Roger Corman and learning the director's trade (fulfilling a lifelong ambition). He credits Corman with teaching him a lot of what he knows--those lessons paid off within a few years by getting him the chance to film "Splash."

 

[LKellerIII]

"Isn't one of the reasons that Ron Howard decided to quit "Happy Days" was because Henry Winkler was becoming the main focus of the show?"

Probably not...that was around the time he was starting to work with Roger Corman and learning the director's trade (fulfilling a lifelong ambition). He credits Corman with teaching him a lot of what he knows--those lessons paid off within a few years by getting him the chance to film "Splash."

Fonzie wasn't "becoming" the focus of Happy Days when Howard left. It was clear that Fonzie had been the focus of the show since the end of the first season. Ron Howard didn't phase out until about 6 seasons in. Ron had bigger ambitions than being a sit-com actor, either as a star or a supporting player.

Howard and Winkler remained friends - Henry co-starred in one of the early films Howard directed - 1982's Night Shift, which put Micheal Keaton on the map. It's a funny little film.

Excerpt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQr0AffTpdE



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQr0AffTpdE

 

[Ultimajock]

Isn't one of the reasons that Ron Howard decided to quit "Happy Days" was because Henry Winkler was becoming the main focus of the show?

...absolutely not. But Jimmie Walker's stereotypical portrayal of J.J. on Good Times did lead both John Amos (permanently) and Esther Rolle (for the fifth season only) to quit that show...

 

[Tim L]

"Isn't one of the reasons that Ron Howard decided to quit "Happy Days" was because Henry Winkler was becoming the main focus of the show?"

Probably not...that was around the time he was starting to work with Roger Corman and learning the director's trade (fulfilling a lifelong ambition). He credits Corman with teaching him a lot of what he knows--those lessons paid off within a few years by getting him the chance to film "Splash."

Earlier in the thread, I made reference to a long form interview Ron Howard did in which he said that ABC wanted to name the Show "Fonzie's Happy Days" after the first season..Howard would not have gone along with that, so they let things go.(As far as renaming the show) It was obvious, though that Winkler was becoming the main focus, but Howard also knew that It helped the ratings of the show, so he went along with it..

 

[fortmill]

Frances Bavier spent her last years in Siler City, NC, a town
frequently mentioned on "The Andy Griffith Show." Seems that
while she was in Durham taking the rice-diet treatment at Duke
University Hospital, she met some folks from Siler City who offered
to buy her a house. They did, but Ms. Bavier had little to do with
the townspeople. I've heard that she spent most of her time watching
public television and raising (I believe) 16 cats. Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou)
moved to Mt. Airy last year after her home in California was robbed a
couple of times.

Unfortunately, Ms. Lynn (Thelma Lou) was actually mugged and robbed in Mt. Airy NC a few weeks ago, as she waited outside a Lowes Supermarket for a taxi (True Story). Of course, MT. Airy was never really anything like Mayberry, but things got worse a few years ago when they got their first strip club....