Before They Found The Role Everyone Remembers

Even very famous actors have a few credits that seem to have vanished into television history. Sometimes a future Oscar winner appeared in a series nobody watched, while other times an established star received an expensive new vehicle that quickly ran out of gas. These forgotten shows prove that even Hollywood’s biggest names occasionally needed audiences to collectively move on.

Rob Bogaerts for Anefo, Wikimedia Commons

Sandra Bullock Was The New Working Girl

Four years before Speed transformed Sandra Bullock into a movie star, she played Tess McGill in NBC’s television adaptation of Working Girl. The 1990 sitcom attempted to continue the story of the ambitious secretary played by Melanie Griffith in the movie. NBC aired only eight of the 12 produced episodes.

Screenshot from Working Girl, Twentieth Century(1988)

Halle Berry Became A Living Doll

Halle Berry’s first credited acting role was hardly an Oscar preview. She played model Emily Franklin on Living Dolls, a 1989 Who’s the Boss? spin-off centered on a Manhattan modeling agency. ABC aired the sitcom for only one season, but Berry clearly did not need it to stick around.

Screenshot from Living Dolls, ABC (1989)

Anne Hathaway Had To Get Real

Before The Princess Diaries, Anne Hathaway played teenager Meghan Green on Fox’s Get Real. The family dramedy also featured another future movie star, Jesse Eisenberg, as Meghan’s younger brother Kenny. The show debuted in September 1999, lasted a single season and gave both future stars an unusually obscure beginning.

Screenshot from Get Real, Fox (1999 - 2000), Modified

Bradley Cooper Entered The Kitchen

Bradley Cooper actually landed a leading television role years before The Hangover. In Fox’s Kitchen Confidential, he played Jack Bourdain, a chef inspired by Anthony Bourdain. Thirteen episodes were produced, but Fox aired only a handful during the original run before pulling the plug in December 2005.

Screenshot from Kitchen Confidential, Fox (2005)

Alicia Silverstone Met Her Miss Match

After Clueless, Alicia Silverstone returned to television as matrimonial attorney Kate Fox in NBC’s Miss Match. Kate spent her professional life handling divorces while moonlighting as a gifted matchmaker, despite having romantic problems of her own. The 2003 series lasted only one season, although Silverstone received a Golden Globe nomination.

Screenshot from Clueless, Paramount (1995)

Katherine Heigl Had A State Of Affairs

Katherine Heigl’s big network return after Grey’s Anatomy arrived with NBC’s State of Affairs in 2014. She starred as Charleston Tucker, a CIA analyst responsible for briefing the president on national security threats. Despite the prominent role and Alfre Woodard playing the president, NBC ended the drama after one season.

Sreenshot from State of Affairs, NBC (2014-2015)

Christian Slater Met His Own Worst Enemy

NBC gave Christian Slater two roles for the price of one in 2008. My Own Worst Enemy cast him as both ordinary family man Henry Spivey and secret agent Edward Albright, personalities sharing the same body. The elaborate spy drama lasted only nine episodes and concluded without resolving its major storylines.

Screenshot from My Own Worst Enemy, NBC (2008)

Michael Richards Couldn't Escape Kramer

Two years after Seinfeld ended, NBC built The Michael Richards Show around its former Kramer. Richards played Vic Nardozza, an unconventional private investigator whose cases inevitably became chaotic. The sitcom premiered in October 2000 and disappeared in December after eight regular episodes, making the title considerably more memorable than the program itself.

Screenshot from The Michael Richards Show, NBC (2000)

Geena Davis Got Her Own Sitcom

ABC went all-in on The Geena Davis Show in 2000, casting the Oscar winner as Manhattan professional Teddie Cochran, who suddenly faced suburban family life after falling for a father of two. The sitcom received plenty of advance attention but survived for only one season. Davis soon returned to other projects.

Screenshot from The Geena Davis Show, ABC (2000-2001)

Bette Midler Played Bette

Bette Midler’s 2000 CBS sitcom made remembering its star exceptionally easy: it was called Bette, and Midler played a fictionalized celebrity named Bette. The premiere attracted nearly 16 million viewers, but that promising beginning did not produce longevity. CBS ultimately aired 16 episodes before the star vehicle ended in 2001.

Rob Bogaerts for Anefo, Wikimedia Commons

Whoopi Goldberg Checked Into A Sitcom

In 2003, Whoopi Goldberg headlined NBC’s Whoopi as Mavis Rae, a former singer running a small New York hotel. The series gave Goldberg a traditional sitcom showcase alongside Wren T. Brown, Elizabeth Regen and Omid Djalili. NBC aired 22 episodes before the hotel permanently closed after one season.

Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images

Paul Reiser Barely Got Started

The Paul Reiser Show arrived on NBC in April 2011 with Reiser playing a fictional version of himself searching for his next career move. Viewers apparently did not share his curiosity. NBC pulled the comedy after just two televised episodes, making it one of the shortest-lived star comebacks on this list.

s_bukley, Adobe Stock

Kelsey Grammer Couldn't Save Hank

After playing Frasier Crane for two decades across Cheers and Frasier, Kelsey Grammer returned to network comedy with ABC’s Hank. He played a wealthy executive forced to rebuild his life after losing his job. ABC canceled it after five aired episodes, and Grammer later acknowledged that the show simply was not very funny.

Screenshot from Frasier, NBC (1993-2004)

John Stamos Made Little Progress

A decade after Full House, John Stamos tried leading another ABC comedy with Jake in Progress. He played Jake Phillips, a New York celebrity publicist attempting to abandon his womanizing lifestyle and find a lasting relationship. ABC even brought the show back for a second season, but that comeback lasted only briefly.

Stephen Shugerman, Getty Images

Ted Danson Put It In Ink

Ted Danson followed Cheers with several television projects, including the easily forgotten 1996 CBS sitcom Ink. He and real-life wife Mary Steenburgen played divorced newspaper journalists forced to work together. CBS famously scrapped already-produced episodes and reworked the show before its premiere, yet Ink still lasted only one season.

Screenshot from Ink, CBS (1996-1997)

Henry Winkler Tried Monty

Henry Winkler took a sharp turn from the Fonz with Fox’s Monty in 1994. He played Monty Richardson, an abrasive conservative television commentator whose opinions clashed with his more liberal family. Fox aired only six episodes before dropping the sitcom, although 13 had been produced. David Schwimmer played Monty’s son.

Ron Galella, Getty Images

Tom Selleck Became The Closer

Years before another series claimed the same title, Tom Selleck starred in CBS’s 1998 sitcom The Closer. He played Jack McLaren, a successful advertising executive launching his own agency after building a reputation for landing deals. Selleck’s return to series television lasted just ten episodes before CBS moved on.

Screenshot from The Closer, TNT (2005-2012)

Rob Lowe Entered The Lyon's Den

After leaving The West Wing, Rob Lowe quickly resurfaced as the star and executive producer of NBC’s The Lyon’s Den. Lowe played Washington lawyer Jack Turner, who discovered troubling secrets inside his new firm. NBC aired only six of the 13 produced episodes in 2003, leaving much of the story unseen by American viewers.

Screenshot from The Lyon's Den, NBC (2003)

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