# Actors / comedians who played a worse version of themselves **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [February 18, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737 "2024-02-18T18:22:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/61 "2024-02-19T11:23:59Z")
Chevy Chase was effectively playing Chevy Chase on Community, but I’m not sure which version was worse. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/62 "2024-02-19T12:05:47Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > There was another thread on this a while ago. I can’t remember if I started it or just participated in it. This one? > [@Artists who parodied their own work](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/1): > > I’ll bet most people on the Board won’t recognize Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, which was a made-for-TV cartoon series from 1960. They live in the Cat Cave, travel in the Catmobile and the Catplane, and can be called by the Cat Signal searchlight. Instead of a Utility Belt with lots of gadgets, he has an apparently inexhaustable supply of themed “guns”. It’s very obviously a parody of Batman and Robin. What’s surprising is that it’s by Batman creator Bob Kane (plus Gerald Rappoport) […](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAmmT8Ng0mw) I found it accidentally while looking up James Van Der Beek who played himself (sort of ) in _[Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Trust_the_B----_in_Apartment_23)_. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/63 "2024-02-19T13:14:23Z")
I just remembered an offbeat one-- in the 1987 German film ‘Wings of Desire’ Peter Falk played himself as an actor in Germany filming a movie. But it’s been a long time since I saw the movie, so I didn’t remember details. [The IMDB listing for Wings of Desire](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093191/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) describes the character version of Peter Falk as “sensitive and perceptive”, so rather than playing a worse version of himself, it sounds like he played the best version of himself. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/64 "2024-02-19T14:10:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “Evil Wil Wheaton” was a semi-regular on **The Big Bang Theory.** I’m going to argue against this one. Wil Wheaton didn’t really play “Wil Wheaton” as evil on TBBT. Sheldon was the only one who thought he was evil. OK well, maybe in his first appearance at that card game tournament at Stewart’s comic book store when he lied to Sheldon about his grandma being dead. But generally he was pretty likeable. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/65 "2024-02-19T14:10:52Z")
Likewise, Frankie Boyle is said to be a calm, kindly man outside of his persona. I tend to believe that, because he was much less bitter, angry, and dark during his run on _Taskmaster._ ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/66 "2024-02-19T14:13:15Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I’m going to argue against this one. Wil Wheaton didn’t really play “Wil Wheaton” as evil on TBBT. Sheldon was the only one who thought he was evil. > > OK well, maybe in his first appearance at that card game tournament at Stewart’s comic book store when he lied to Sheldon about his grandma being dead. But generally he was pretty likeable. Eh, I seem to remember that the TBBT version of ‘Wil Wheaton’ was generally kind of a jerky douchebag. In any case, I accept it as a perfectly cromulent example of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/67 "2024-02-19T14:45:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I just remembered an offbeat one-- in the 1987 German film ‘Wings of Desire’ Peter Falk played himself as an actor in Germany filming a movie. The character was a bit more complicated than that. The movie is about an angel who incarnates, and then learns what it is like to be human. Among the people he meets is another former angel, who became human, went to Hollywood, and became the star of _Columbo_. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/68 "2024-02-19T14:57:04Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Among the people he meets is another former angel, who became human, went to Hollywood, and became the star of _Columbo_. Oh, so Peter Falk sort of played himself, but as a fallen angel. I totally forgot that part! Come to think of it, that movie might be worth a rewatch. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/69 "2024-02-19T15:02:16Z")
While you’re at it, watch the sequel, _Far Away, So Close!_ It’s not as “Art-with-a-Capital-A” artistic as the first movie, but it’s more fun. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/70 "2024-02-19T15:47:04Z")
Warwick Davis played a worse version of himself in _Life’s Too Short_ and a better (probably) version of himself in _Billionaire Boy_. And was in _Extras_ as himself as well. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/71 "2024-02-19T16:28:51Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Eh, I seem to remember that the TBBT version of ‘Wil Wheaton’ was generally kind of a jerky douchebag. In any case, I accept it as a perfectly cromulent example of the OP. How jerkish “Wil Wheton” was tended to vary across his appearances. I mean, at one point he deliberately caused Leonard and Penny to break up so that his team could win a bowling match. That’s pretty bad. Later on, he started coming across as more pleasant, treating the gang as his friends and appearing in that cinema classic _Serial Ape-ist 2_ with Penny. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/72 "2024-02-19T16:57:05Z")
There’s also Brent Spiner, who earned his spot on Sheldon’s list when he tore open his collector’s item package of Data and said “Hey, remember when we used to make these guys masturbate?” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/73 "2024-02-19T17:00:45Z")
I remember that. I’m surprised Brent Spiner hasn’t done more comedy-- I remember him being funny in that role, and he was a guest on a podcast I listened to a few years ago, where he was also very funny-- he did a hilarious, spot-on impersonation of Patrick Stewart. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/74 "2024-02-19T18:23:32Z")
He was literally an angel (fallen, but not in a Satanic way) helping another angel. I think that was definitely a better version. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/75 "2024-02-19T21:29:27Z")
Alice Cooper played the murderer on Monk as himself. But, that was basically a figment of Monk’s imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/76 "2024-02-19T21:38:15Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > There was another thread on this a while ago. I can’t remember if I started it or just participated in it. > > This one? > > [Artists who parodied their own work](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-parodied-their-own-work/957323/1) > > I found it accidentally while looking up James Van Der Beek who played himself (sort of ) in _[Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Trust_the_B----_in_Apartment_23)_. I found a couple like it but not exactly what I remembered. My memory might be faulty. This is the oldest one I saw. > [@Celebrities who played a fictionalized version of themselves](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-played-a-fictionalized-version-of-themselves/507911): > > When I first saw the [Celebrities who always appear as a fictional alter-ego](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=512385) thread, my first thought was Jennifer Grey who played a fictionalized version of herself in [It’s Like You Know](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168340/) – a show that I thought was pretty good and didn’t deserve to die. She doesn’t exactly fit that topic though because she doesn’t do that everywhere, just on that show. There are other actors who’ve done the same like Jerry Seinfeld playing himself on his show, Larry David as well. I would even say that just ab… ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/77 "2024-02-19T22:24:53Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’m surprised Brent Spiner hasn’t done more comedy You’re in for a treat, when Spiner returns to the role that made him famous. > **[Night Court to Bring Back Brent Spiner and Annie O’Donnell as the Wheelers,...](https://tvline.com/casting-news/night-court-wheelers-return-season-2-brent-spiner-kate-micucci-1235167906/)** > > Two of Night Court’s most memorable defendants are returning to the courtroom. Brent Spiner and Annie O’Donnell will reprise their roles as hard-luck couple Bob and June Wheeler later t… ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/78 "2024-02-20T14:16:36Z")
I suspect Karl Pilkington was playing up certain aspects of his personality just a wee bit on **The Ricky Gervais Show** and **An Idiot Abroad**. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/79 "2024-02-20T15:01:59Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Then off the top of my head…there’s Neil Patrick Harris in the ‘Harold and Kumar’ movies, James Van Der Beek in the short-lived series ‘The B in Apt. 23’. I was wondering why nobody mentioned Harris, but a search shows you did right off the bat. Not sure if it counts but Chris Elliot played himself on David Letterman and [Get a Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Life_(American_TV_series)). I can’t say if those really were worse versions of him since he plays all parts that way and maybe he’s not acting at all. His father [Bob Elliot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Elliott_(comedian)) may have been doing the same thing on Get a Life when he played Chris’s father. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/80 "2024-02-20T15:04:50Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Matt LeBlanc was good as a “fictional” version of himself in _Episodes_. Astonishingly good at it, IMO. One of the funniest series in recent memory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=5)