# Best and worst shout out cameos **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364 "2005-10-09T02:10:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/21 "2005-10-10T01:39:42Z")
“Get your hands off me, you damn dirty human” ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/22 "2006-01-17T22:35:59Z")
Though it was a featured appearance, it was only one issue of the comic book, and he was not (AFAICRemember) explicitly named: G.I. Joe (the Character) in an issue of G.I. Joe (the comic book, in which “G.I. Joe” referred to the name of the team, not any particular character) was very cleverly done. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/23 "2006-01-17T23:07:51Z")
For me, the worst has to be Starsky and Hutch showing up in…Starsky and Hutch. It made no sense, and its obvious that they were just oared in for sentimental reasons. The score even does a poignant little “da-da-daah-duh” when they show. I’m sure they could have had better roles in the movie, if they HAD to be in it at all. And Owen Wilson showing up at the end of Meet The Fockers. Wow, what a “surprise”. Like we werent waiting on him the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/24 "2006-01-17T23:48:50Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > 1. has to be in a remake; > 2. has to involve someone who was in the original; and > 3. has to include an explanation as to why you think it’s either the best or worst such cameo. James Garner in Maverick (the movie). Was a remake of the tv series. He was in the original. And in the end, it turns out he’s actually reprising his part in the original. We just didn’t know it. Not necessarily the best, but a rather good payoff. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/25 "2006-01-17T23:58:21Z")
> [@bubastis](#): > > For me, the worst has to be Starsky and Hutch showing up in…Starsky and Hutch. > It made no sense, and its obvious that they were just oared in for sentimental reasons. The score even does a poignant little “da-da-daah-duh” when they show. I’m sure they could have had better roles in the movie, if they HAD to be in it at all. > > And Owen Wilson showing up at the end of Meet The Fockers. Wow, what a “surprise”. Like we werent waiting on him the whole time. My poor 10 yr old neice was completely lost as to why these two guys suddenly showed up for no reason. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/26 "2006-01-18T00:14:59Z")
I thought that Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Martin Balsam were pretty much ciphers in the remake of _Cape Fear_ (though if they were tossing crumbs to old stars, why not let Polly Bergen wet her beak? C’est la vie.) I thought Harry Morgan’s cameo as Joe Gannon was one of the best aspects of the very hit/miss _Dragnet_ remake. In a very recent post I mentioned how irked I was by Gene Barry and Ann Robinson’s literally silent-walkon cameos at the end of _War of the Worlds_. I’ve no idea about Robinson but I’m positive Barry doesn’t need the money, so I’m surprised he did it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/27 "2006-01-18T00:19:57Z")
And while it’s not exactly a remake, it’s so close I’m gonna count it: I liked the cameos of Ed Wood fixtures Paul Marco (as a really ugly transvestite) and Conrad Brooks (as the bartender when Ed meets Orson) in _Ed Wood_. (I’m counting it as a remake because certain scenes from the movies were remade.) ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/28 "2006-01-18T00:25:46Z")
The one that sprang to mind for me is Robert Mitchum playing a cop in the 1991 **Cape Fear** after playing Max Cady in the original. Also featured in the remake were Gregory Peck and Martin Balsam from the original cast. I can’t defended as the best execution but it was the first instance of this that I knew about. Okay, I just previewed, and Sampiro scooped me on this one, but while I’m here I’d have to say that the goat dancing in Gannon’s office makes up for any and all of the Dragnet remake’s shortcomings. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/29 "2006-01-18T00:37:40Z")
Victor Mature came out of retirement to play Samson’s father in a particularly cheesy 1984 TV remake of [Samson & Delilah](http://imdb.com/title/tt0088036/). I still remember an interview he gave at the time when he asked why he took the role: “They gave me $40,000 for a week’s work. For $50,000 I’d have played Samson’s mother.” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/30 "2006-01-18T00:42:18Z")
BTW, if TV series remakes count, John Astin played Gomez on the original _Addams Family_ (and several cartoon versions) and played Gomez’s grandfather in a recurring role in the live action [New Addams Family](http://imdb.com/title/tt0172031/). The show had a very low production budget and certainly wasn’t the original, but from the few episodes I saw it wasn’t nearly as bad as _Munsters Today_ (considered by some TV critics to be, all things considered, the worst TV show ever made). ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/31 "2006-01-18T00:42:20Z")
Charlton Heston in a chimp suit muttering “Damn them all to hell!” in the remake of **Planet of the Apes** is a low point. ---
**Author:** ![MackoUr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MackoUr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MackoUr)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364/32 "2006-01-18T07:07:03Z")
Patrick Macnee’s non-appearance as “Invisible Jones” in the _Avengers_ movie. This was one of the rare flashes of wit in a horrible film. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-shout-out-cameos/325364.md?page=1)