Thinking about shows that were already past their prime and dying, where they bring in a "name," either as a recurring character or guest star, in a desperate attempt to boost ratings.....
One bad example for a recurring character is Jonathan Winters on Mork and Mindy. Now, the first season of that series was as good as any sitcom gets. In fact, it was one of the rare shows that had everything "click" right at the start. (IMHO, many shows, even classics, take at least several episodes, maybe even the better part of the first season, before the characterizations and such really begin to "gel.") But right from the start of the 2nd season, beginning with the bizarre season-opener (the one-camera show where Mork gets shrunk down and encounters "Jerry Looney" (Lewis), "Bob Faith" (Hope), and "Danny St. Thomas" -- I recall watching that and verbally going "uh oh..."), followed by numerous cast changes and lame new characters over the next few years (although Exidor was pretty cool), everything started to go to pot. They had a good thing going, and thought they could improve on it. They were wrong.
So, the ultimate in "stunt casting" -- bring in Winters as Mork's "reverse-aging" offspring, Mearth. Now, I am one of the few who "get" Winters' surreal style of humor, but this was too much. I know he did it as a personal favor to his friend (and disciple) Robin Williams, but even as the offbeat nature of the role may have appealed to Winters, you know there had to be times when he was sitting around between takes and thinking, "Criminy, my Hefty Bag commercials are Shakespeare compared to this dreck...."
As for guest stars, one of the most egregious examples was bringing back Sammy Davis, Jr. in the waning years of Archie Bunker's Place. Now, his appearance on the original All in the Family was inspired and classic. It was also unusual in that Norman Lear had a policy at the time of not wanting to bring in big-name guest stars. But Davis was a fan of the show, and I guess they thought, "Why the hell not -- it's too funny and irresistible of an idea." But having him return to AITF's "little brother" ABP was pointless -- obviously a case of hoping nostalgia and memories of his original appearance would tip the ratings CBS' way for at least one week. (Never mind that the whole notion of Davis returning to visit Archie was absurd -- in real life, after meeting Bunker, he probably would have never set foot in Queens again if his life depended on it!)
So, what are some other good examples of this sad phenomenon?
One bad example for a recurring character is Jonathan Winters on Mork and Mindy. Now, the first season of that series was as good as any sitcom gets. In fact, it was one of the rare shows that had everything "click" right at the start. (IMHO, many shows, even classics, take at least several episodes, maybe even the better part of the first season, before the characterizations and such really begin to "gel.") But right from the start of the 2nd season, beginning with the bizarre season-opener (the one-camera show where Mork gets shrunk down and encounters "Jerry Looney" (Lewis), "Bob Faith" (Hope), and "Danny St. Thomas" -- I recall watching that and verbally going "uh oh..."), followed by numerous cast changes and lame new characters over the next few years (although Exidor was pretty cool), everything started to go to pot. They had a good thing going, and thought they could improve on it. They were wrong.
So, the ultimate in "stunt casting" -- bring in Winters as Mork's "reverse-aging" offspring, Mearth. Now, I am one of the few who "get" Winters' surreal style of humor, but this was too much. I know he did it as a personal favor to his friend (and disciple) Robin Williams, but even as the offbeat nature of the role may have appealed to Winters, you know there had to be times when he was sitting around between takes and thinking, "Criminy, my Hefty Bag commercials are Shakespeare compared to this dreck...."
As for guest stars, one of the most egregious examples was bringing back Sammy Davis, Jr. in the waning years of Archie Bunker's Place. Now, his appearance on the original All in the Family was inspired and classic. It was also unusual in that Norman Lear had a policy at the time of not wanting to bring in big-name guest stars. But Davis was a fan of the show, and I guess they thought, "Why the hell not -- it's too funny and irresistible of an idea." But having him return to AITF's "little brother" ABP was pointless -- obviously a case of hoping nostalgia and memories of his original appearance would tip the ratings CBS' way for at least one week. (Never mind that the whole notion of Davis returning to visit Archie was absurd -- in real life, after meeting Bunker, he probably would have never set foot in Queens again if his life depended on it!)
So, what are some other good examples of this sad phenomenon?
