Some actors are labelled SHOWKILLERS, maybe it's deserve maybe it isn't. Who do you think is a showkiller or is unjustly labelled and why? Let's have a lively discussion.

Right now Rena Sofer has that label, some wise ass posted "No show for her to kill this fall" or something like that on her IMdb page. I say she's not a showkiller. She's a good actress and is never overbearing (plus she's hot) just a victim of bad situations.

• Melrose Palce started going down hill after Kimberly blew up the complex in '95 and then the great exodus of '97 before Rena joined.
• "Just Shoot Me" Started going bad before she joined and moving the show to different timeslots every month didn't help the ratings
• "Coupling" was a bad idea, the British version wasn't that great to begin with and the US version was just so badly executed
• "Blind Justice", I don't know, I couldn't get past the BLIND GUY with a badge and a GUN

On the other hand Jason Alexander has "Seinfeld" but his last two shows flopped, one more and even the memory of Seinfeld can't help him escape that label. He's a show killer simply because he's an actor that is best appreciated in small doses. He can be loud and obnoxious, he's the least likable of the Seinfeld gang. Maybe subtlety could help him.

Jason Alexander was pretty funny as Duckman. But that was animated, so maybe it doesn't count.

Norm McDonald has killed his fair share of crappy shows.

Isn't this covered by the JTS thread?

Paula Marshall has more cancelled shows under her belt than nearly anyone else. She has a new show out in fall, whose cancellation should bring her up to Jason Gedrick's record of seven failed shows.

Lauren Graham and George Clooney used to be show killers. (Well, Clooney was a pilot killer - his pilots were so bad that they were never picked up.)

A.J. Langer also is slowly amassing a rep as a show killer. "Eyes" is, I think, the fifth show she was on that got cancelled.

Speaking of Eyes, how many shows has Tim Daly killed...Eyes, The Fugitive remake. I know there's way more than this, but its early in the morning.

Alison La Placa can certainly hold this title from the late 80s - early 90s. And we can't forget the patron saint of JTS Ted McGinley. (Happy Days, Love Boat, Dynasty, Married With Children), although Hope and Faith still seems to be on my TV.

In Ted McGinley's defense (I never thought I'd be typing those words), as far as Married With Children goes, the show still ran for another eight or so years after he joined the cast. So while, yeah, it ended while he was on it, I don't know if he necessarily killed it.

I'll show myself out.

Well this character from TV is a movie killer (I know it really doesn't count but...) Katie Holmes. Stinks up the movies she's in, as a leading lady (other movies of hers were she has been a supporting character have been successful, i.e. Wonder Boys, Batman Begins) but she cannot carry a movie. They tried to make her an "it" girl and it didn't work. Which makes me more convinced that TomKat is a publicity stunt, otherwise this chick would fade into obscurity only to turn up on "Where Are They Now?" specials or some kind of Dawson's Creek reunion.

This is a wonderful chance to defend an actor I love against persistent charges that he's a 'showkiller' - Jason Gedrick, who had prominent roles in such series as "Class of 96", "Sweet Justice", "Murder One," "EZ Streets", "Falcone", "The Beast" and "Boomtown".

None of these shows lasted more than two seasons and some didn't finish out one full season order. They were not all of the first quality - though many were - but all had features of interest. In some cases he played a lead, in others he had a supporting or recurring role. IMHO he was good in all of them. Looking at his credits, I think he, in fact, shows an inclination towards material that is well-crafted or has unique features, and shows that are developed by creators with strong points of view and distinctive techniques. Not a bad criteria, IMO. All he needs is one show to take off and click with the public and he's no longer a showkiller, a la Lauren Graham, who got the 'SK' label just before "Gilmore Girls".

I think the truth is that his presence didn't kill those shows - at worst, you might say he didn't have enough of a following to save them. They didn't connect with a mass audience, and God knows the lists are filled with shows that 'were too good for TV' or came along at the wrong time, or suffered from frequent shuffling or network meddling...

Come to think of it, you could say that in defense of most 'showkillers'.

TudorQueen, I agree. I think SK is an unfair label unless it can be established that the show was going well but as soon so-and-so joined the show it was cancelled. And there were no other factors contributing to the cancellation of the show.

Jill Farren Phelps may not be an actor but she certainly is a showkiller. She's a soap EP and she's managed to destroy one soap, Another World and nearly dessimate two others, One Life To Live and General Hospital. Her list of crimes are far too lenghty to list.

Okay, here's one, she had a long time heroine brutally murdered on screen. Said heroine cried and begged for her life and said she had a child as the killer strangled her to death. JFP literally drove off thousands of viewers with that one episode.

Meh. I don't really hold all that much against JFP since her time at Guiding Light was one of the show's best eras.

But everything she's done since then has pretty much sucked.

You could rename this thread the Robert Urich Memorial Thread something like 13 different shows, and only three of them made it to a second season.

Now, I'm embarrased to admit I know this: five of the shows he was on made it to a 2nd season - SWAT, Soap, Vegas, Spenser for Hire, and Love Boat: The Next Wave.

As for the cancellations? SWAT was axed in its second season because the network deemed it too violent, The Lazarus Man was shut down by Castle Rock producers when he informed them of his cancer diagnosis (and he sued the pants of them), making a sitcom about Emeril was a terrible idea when he was already overexposed on the Food Network, etc. It's similar to Gedrick, or any other "killer" - I'm not saying the other shows weren't total flops, but it's not like killed everything he was on.

I'm only too happy to throw a few showkiller votes to Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, it seems like she's right behind Rena Sofer!

selkie writes:


One aspect of this phenomenon I always like to point out is that even to have a status as a "showkiller" requires a combination of luck, popularity, and perceived likability that is cosmically absurd.

Given that a high percentage of the active SAG membership is unemployed at any given time, the late Mr. Urich spent over eighteen seasons on our television screens over a span of nearly thirty years, which puts him up there with James Garner, Kelsey Grammer, Mary Tyler Moore, or any number of other household gods. You've got to be a very fortunate working actor to be given the chance to "kill" a show every couple of years.

What about tag-team showkillers? Chyler Leigh and Eddie Shin joined forces on That '80s Show, which died a fairly quick death. Not long afterwards, they continued their swath of destruction by joining the cast of girls club, which died even quicker, lasting all of two episodes.

I think "That 80's Show" was just a bad idea. What were they going to do, cover every decade? It's like that episode of the Simpsons when the family was watching "That '30's Show."

I find it hard to list anybody in this thread who has actually starred in even one hit show. Robert Urich has two (Vega$, Spencer for Hire) that were popular for multiple seasons, so he's ahead of the game -- most actors don't do even that well, and he's off the hook no matter how many other failures he had.

Likewise Jason Alexander: he has had some recent flops, but after you've been one of the four stars of Seinfeld for all those seasons, there's no way you're a showkiller, no matter what happens to you afterward.

Not that there aren't some names who do come to mind for this category. Lauren Graham was one for some time (partly because the networks were just so determined to cast her in everything), but she's found a home on GG now, so that joke won't work any more. Mark Feuerstein also got promoted incessantly for one flop after another, but he seems to have a continuing West Wing role without killing it, so I don't know if he has lost his status.

Hmmm... what about Breckin Meyer? Starting with The Jackie Thomas Show (also starring Alison LaPlaca and Tom Arnold, who killed two shows together!) to the more recent Inside Schwartz and Married to the Kellys, he seems to have a pretty bad streak going.

Waves to Rinaldo - 'cause he's "the man!"

Mark Feuerstein's back on West Wing now? Why the fuck didn't somebody tell me? I might have to start watching again, that man is HOT.

Eric Balfour has a string of flops to his name. Last season's Hawaii was the most recent, and his new pilot for this season, Sex, Lies, and Something They Keep Changing It, looks TERRIBLE. Some of his shows survive, but only if they kill off his character quickly (Buffy, Six Feet Under).

Margaret Colin, show killer, kiss of death:

Foley Square, Leg Work, Sibs, The Wright Verdicts, Now and Again, and Madigan Men.

It's probably too early to say, but I think Shemar Moore of "The Young and the Restless" is a shaping up to be a primetime showkiller. True, he's only had one stinker, "Birds of Prey", to his name. But he's already lined up another potential one for this fall. No doubt he returns to soaps, then when he gets bored again, he goes off to kill another show. Personally, if I were an actor, I'd start circulating my resume the minute I heard he was signed on board to my show.

Eric Close was a showkiller until "Without a Trace" hit it big: "McKenna", "Sisters", "Dark Skies", "Magnificent Seven", "Now and Again". He didn't last longer than a year with any of these series.

Christopher Gorham, anyone? Neither Popular nor Jake 2.0 lasted very long. And he appeared in Felicity near its cancellation too (although his role wasn't that meaningful).

So what's the ruling? Showkiller or not showkiller?

If it makes any difference in the ruling, Christopher Gorham was also in last season's Medical Investigations: Crap on a Stick.

Christopher Gorham has another series this fall. Don't blink

It's unfair to call some of these people "show killers", but they seem to get constantly cast in shows that don't get very far:

• Jon Cryer was able to succeed with "Two and a Half Men", but his prior efforts (Teddy Z, Partners, Getting Personal, Trouble with Normal) all died a quick death.
• Adam Goldberg also seems to be found on multiple shows (Double Rush, The Street I think) that don't succeed. I like this guy a lot, so I have hopes for his new show this season.
• I didn't see mention of Paula Marshall / Carla Gugino (who I swear are the same person). I think one of them has a show coming out this Fall, but couldn't tell which one. I do like them, so it's unfortunate that they can't get a successful show.
• Bumper Robinson (Different World, Living Single, Amen, some UPN show I can't remember) has been doing sitcoms forever, and still (on last look) looks about 17. This guy cannot catch a break.
• Holly Robinson (Peete) shouldn't count, because she was successful with "21 Jump Street" and "Hanging with Mr. Cooper", but she has had a number of sitcom attempts since (For Your Love, Like Family) and now has a show this Fall on UPN. Good luck, Holly.
• Who is the girl from "Growing Pains" - not Tracey Gold, but the add-a-kid who was put in all sorts of shows for a while? I guess she finally gave it up, because I don't see her on TV much anymore.

Ashley Johnson. She was in five shows after Growing Pains and all died early on. She also has a habit of guest starring on shows like Roswell and Ally McBeal just before they die. She's a voice actress now and not doing too badly, she's the voice of Gretchen from Recess and Terra from Teen Titans).

Both of them has a new show this fall. Paula Marshal will be in the CBS sitcom Out of Practice co-starring Stockard Channing,Christopher Gorham and Henry Winkler. Carla Gugino is the lead actress in the sci-fi drama Threshold.
The buzz is not good on Marshall's show and Threshold will air on friday; I wish them luck.

Snerk. See, I could totally get behind a show that took place in the '30s. 'S far 's I know, we haven't had a mainstream, network show take place THAT long ago yet (have we? Correct me if I'm wrong, Snarkers). An American series focusing on the Depression, the rise of the Axis powers in Europe, FDR and the mafia would ROCK. I think.

Topic?

I think Marshall's presence on this show means it is DOOMED. Just doomed. Not a doubt in my mind.

There was the Waltons. That's the only one I can think of. WWII had already started on Homefront.

Back when they were appearing in "Hidden Hills", during the network Press party, Dondre T. Whitfield teased Paula Marshall about being labelled a show killer. As it turned out Mr. Whitfield has been in such gems as "The Crew", "Between Brothers", "Living in Captivity", "Secret Agent Man", and the fondly remembered "Inside Schwartz". Isn't it ironic that a then five time killer make fun of another five time killer? Add one more to each by the way, "Hidden Hills" didn't make it either.

Well, Paula Marshall had/has a higher profile than Dondre because most of her flops were heavily hyped (Snoops anyone?).

I don't think it's unfair to call people show killer so long as it's done with the understanding that these people's presence on a show that failed is probably unrelated to its success or failure, and that it's probably just a coincidence.

Also, when you think about it, perhaps they're not show-killers, but rather saviors of sorts. Perhaps if not for Paula Marshall or Jason Gedrick's presence in a pilot, it wouldn't even get picked up.

Another point: if you want to work in TV, but you're not currently on a hit show, you're going to appear in a lot of pilots and shows that fail. Imagine if The West Wing had failed. Alison Janney would have gone back to work, and her next show probably wouldn't have been succeeded either, so right there, she has two failed shows on her resume. A showkiller is basically someone that hasn't been on a hit show yet.

After The Dick Van Dyke Show and her own 1970s sitcom, Mary Tyler Moore has been a TV failure. The first flop was the variety show Mary (with David Letterman and Michael Keaton in the cast), which lasted about six episodes. Later that season was The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, a show about a variety show. In 1985, another Mary show took place at a newspaper, but the characters were too reminiscent of The MTM Show's boss, amiable doofus, and trusted co-worker/friend (although the latter was a woman this time around).

Her Annie McGuire, one of the wave of “dramedies,” was underrated. Her last TV attempt was as a newspaper boss in New York News.

And, of course, if Paula Marshall and Carla Gugino were ever on the same show at the same time, it would open up a wormhole in the time-space continuum. Doc Brown warned us of this.

It's a shame, because they are so fun to look at, though.

Ted McGinley will be on the next Dancing With The Stars. Pity, I liked that show.

Showkiller extraordinaire Paula Marshall is in the new Jay Mohr show - I think it's called Gary Unmarried. Anyway, it will probably tank, like all her other shows

You could put Mohr in the showkiller category too. Has anything which he was the principal talent in, lasted more than a year?

Nancy Travis could be added to the category also.

Can't think of anything and frankly I wish Hollywood would figure out that we sort of don't like him. Doesn't matter what concept you dream up, he's still Jay Mohr. (Or is it just me?)

Wasn't Travis in Becker, which would bely being a showkiller? The show lasted seven years and she was on for the last three.

Becker lasted seven years??!?

McGinley on DWTS is a sign of using the showkiller power for good instead of evil. But it's only a start. Which showkiller can we get cast as a regular on According to Jim?

All of them?

I don't think According To Jim can be killed. I mean it's survived Jim Belushi as its lead for what seems to be decades.

What about Nathan Fillion? So far he has killed of two shows which he was the lead of (being Firefly and Drive).

In this case, he's arguably not the showkiller. The network is usually the one blamed.

Now, if his new show dies prematurely, then there's a really good case that he is a showkiller.

Someone upthread mentioned that hottie, Mark Feurerstein. Looks like he'll have another chance to kill or not to kill with a USA sitcom called Royal Pains.

Not to sound like I am defending the loathesome JFP, who deserves every bad thing ever said about her, but Susan Lee of NBC Daytime television has to be the biggest daytime showkiller of all time. During her tenure a half dozen soaps went down under her wildly swinging axe. By the time she left, there were exactly two soaps left on NBC's schedule - DAYS OF OUR LIVES and PASSIONS, the show that ANOTHER WORLD was killed to make way for. (Ironically, PASSIONS staggered on at the bottom of the ratings heap for a few more years, only to be cancelled in it's turn. But Ms. Lee was gone by then).