Any TV Shows That Feature Fictionalized Versions Of Living Persons?

The Goldbergs is one of only two TV shows that I can think of that features fictionalized versions of real, living people. Adam F. Goldberg, the narrator and star of the show, is still alive, as are his brother Barry and mother Bev. He also has a living older brother, Eric, who isn’t portrayed on the show; TV Adam has a fictionalized sister (Erica) instead.

The other one is The Kids Are Alright, which is basically The Goldbergs but Catholic instead of Jewish, SoCal instead of Philly, 70’s instead of 80’s. The main character/narrator is obviously still alive, since he’s in an office in L.A. somewhere writing new episodes of the show even as these words are being typed. I’m sure at least some of his brothers, possibly even his parents, are still alive as well.

Are there any others?

Does George Steinbrenner on ***Seinfeld ***count?

The show Dave’s World was about Dave Barry:

Don’t trust the B in apartment 23 had James Van Der Veek playing a fictionalized version of himself.

Isn’t that likewise the point of Fresh Off The Boat showcasing Eddie Huang?

OMG, I can’t believe I missed that! Another ABC Family Comedy© loosely based* on real people.

*To hear Eddie Huang tell it, not real at all. Doesn’t stop him from cashing those checks, though.

Picket Fences once had blowhard defense lawyer Douglas Wambaugh argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The actors who played the justices in the oral-argument scene were pretty close to the real thing - including a meticulous, tiny little RBG.

In the same genre as the two in the OP, and Waldo Pepper’s suggestion of Fresh Off the Boat - fictionalizing the creator’s childhood - is Everybody Loves Chris, where Chris Rock does it. (Which predated all of the above.)

If we don’t require more than one character have a close real-life counterpart (ie: sharing the name, personality, and significant biographical aspects), Jerry Seinfeld did it in Seinfeld, and his co-creator Larry David does it on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

They did it on a few episodes of Friends – of the top of my head, Isabella Rossellini and Jean-Claude Van Damme both played fictionalized versions of themselves. However, I’m not sure if it meets the OP’s requirements if the actual person is playing themselves. :smiley:

Baa Baa Black Sheep — aka Black Sheep Squadron — featured Robert Conrad starring as Greg Boyington while the real Medal of Honor winner was still alive.

Episodes stars Matt LeBlanc playing a fictionalized version of Matt LeBlanc.

Taking the OP means alive when the show aired, it was pretty common in the 1950s and 1960’s.

The most well known is *I Love Lucy * (1951-1957) starred Desi Arnez and Lucille Ball as the Ricky and Lucy Ricardo. Desi was a big band leader on the show and in real life. And when Lucy was pregnant with their second child, Desi Jr., she was also pregnant on the show and the original episode was aired the same day she gave birth to him (via C-section).

There was also:

The Jack Benny Show
The Danny Thomas Show / Make Room For Daddy
The Joey Bishop Show
The Burns and Allen Show

They all played fictionalized versions of their real selves, sometimes with the same or similar professions.

The Andy Griffith Show was based on Andy Giffith’s comedy act.

Then there was It’s Garry Shandling’s Show (1986-1990) where make-believe and reality was heavily blurred.

"The 30-minute series stars Garry Shandling as, more or less, himself: A neurotic, somewhat self-obsessed stand-up comedian who just happens to be aware he is a television sitcom character. Garry spends just as much time interacting with the studio audience as he does the regular cast members, offering up opening monologues and show-closing summations of the episode’s events (much like George Burns on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show). However, on Garry’s show, all the supporting characters know they are on a TV show, not just Garry; and the studio audience is often in the storyline.

At the time of the series’ production, Shandling actually lived in Sherman Oaks, California, just like the character on the series. His condominium on the series was styled to be just like his real-life condo, down to the room layout and the furnishings."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Garry_Shandling%27s_Show

Ohh…and of course Mister Rogers Neighborhood where Fred Rogers was just being himself on a TV set. As I think about it, it was brilliant of him to create the “Neighborhood of Make-Believe” in which he voices many of the characters himself. A real person, playing himself on a a TV set, creating an imaginary Kingdom where he voiced most of the puppet characters himself. Mind-blowing! :eek:

I would mention the political skits on SNL except I’ve decided those are documentaries.

I know there’s at least one thread on famous people playing a fictionalized version of themselves.

Cosmo Kramer and The Soup Nazi were based on real people.

I take the OP as reading that the person is played by someone other than the real, living person that is portrayed.

Care to clarify, homie?
mmm

The Untouchables centered around Elliot Ness (who passed before the original novel was published) and his men going after real life 1930’s gangsters, some who were still alive at the time of the filming.

The various Law and Order series often take real life news and creates stories around them. I generally like the various series, but I can’t bear to watch the one obviously based on Anna Nichole Smith and her son.

In a roundabout way, the characters of MAS*H and many other wartime series are based on real people and their experiences, sometimes having multiple people portrayed by a single character.

The Crown has quite a few examples.

Another one I didn’t think of! :smack:

If you ask Allison DuBois, she’ll tell you that she’s a medium who’s used her special powers to help the authorities solve crimes in Arizona, where she was employed by the district attorney’s office. And it’s true that the character of Allison DuBois on Medium would, in fact, also say that.