4 Comedy Stars With Multiple Sitcom Flops to Their Name
Television history is littered with failed sitcoms headlined by comedians that audiences seem to love — in the right show. Turn up in a stinker, however, and the shows are gone in a blink. Matthew Perry was great in Friends, but no one wanted Mr. Sunshine. Audiences adored McLean Stevenson in M*A*S*H but said goodbye to Hello Larry. Jon Cryer scored with Two and Half Men but was booted from his Extended Family this year.
Here are four more comedy stars who flopped multiple times while trying to get sitcoms off the ground…
Jason Bateman
Bateman received two well-deserved Emmy nominations for his performance as Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, recognition that came decades after his breakthrough as a Tiger Beat cover boy in Silver Spoons and The Hogan Family. In between, however, he starred in several sitcom flops that lasted a year or less, including It’s Your Move (as an annoying teenage scam artist intent on destroying his mom’s love life); Simon (a Wall Street stockbroker moves in with his “simple” brother, Simon, played by Harlan Williams); Chicago Sons (three brothers live by Wrigley Field! Seriously, that’s the premise); and Some of My Best Friends (an Odd Couple twist with Bateman’s quirk being his homosexuality.)
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The producers of Arrested Development had to have wondered if they were hiring a jinx.
Kelsey Grammer
Grammer won Emmys for playing Frasier Crane on three different shows — Cheers, Frasier and as a guest star on Wings. Why does he keep coming back to the neurotic psychiatrist? Likely because audiences kick him in the pants when he plays anyone else.
Grammer’s failed sitcoms include Back to You (he played a news anchor who squabbled with Everybody Loves Raymond’s Patricia Heaton), Hank (a Wall Street CEO loses his job, lasting a less-than-hilarious five episodes) and Partners (a lawyer buddy comedy with Martin Lawrence). Some guys are just doomed to a lifetime of tossed salad and scrambled eggs.
Jenna Elfman
Audiences seemed charmed by Elfman in Dharma & Greg, but that appeal didn’t translate to any of her other sitcom attempts. Does anyone remember Courting Alex (get this — a big-city gal struggles with dating), Accidentally on Purpose (a big-city gal struggles with dating and gets pregnant after a one-night stand), 1600 Penn (a big-city gal marries the president) or Growing Up Fisher (a big-city gal divorces J.K. Simmons)?
This cringe promo for Courting Alex probably didn’t have anything to do with all the flops — but it couldn’t have helped either.
Jason Alexander
Like Grammer, Alexander may be the victim of sitcom superstardom. How can anyone watch Alexander in anything without thinking George Costanza? Bob Patterson, his first post-Seinfeld attempt at headlining his own comedy, lasted only five episodes.
Listen Up, in which Alexander plays sportswriter Tony Kornheiser, had fewer episodes than a month’s worth of Pardon the Interruption. At least he got to play a proxy for Larry David — hey, why not make a career of it? — in David’s Broadway play, Fish in the Dark. It’s tempting to blame Alexander’s sitcom failures on Seinfeld except Julia Louis-Dreyfus semed to figure it out — multiple times.
