# Entertainers who "got out of their lane" and failed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies, music\ **Created:** [April 10, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621 "2022-04-10T16:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/41 "2022-04-11T02:21:02Z")
How about this? > **[The Wrestling Album](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrestling_Album)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > The Wrestling Album is the debut soundtrack album released by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) on November 9, 1985, at the height of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection era. It featured mostly theme music of wrestlers on the roster at the time. The Wrestling Album peaked at No. 84 on the album sales charts. None of the singles received any heavy radio airplay nor did they crack the Top 100. > Most of the songs were produced by Rick Derri... ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/42 "2022-04-11T02:48:32Z")
I picked up a copy of The Wrestling Album for a friend. I transferred it to CD as I didn’t think he had a record player. Though he was greatful, he already had a copy. Is it art? no. Is it great music? no. Is it fun? yes, it is. Back To The OP I really liked Chevy Chase’s late night show and watched every episode. honest. The title immediately brought to mind Roseanne Barr. The woman who made a career out of being brash and abrasive wanted us to accept her as our tender and comforting friend when she tried her own talk show. A bunch of stations signed contracts to show it. When they saw how awful it was and how abysmal the ratings were, they joined in a pact to NOT show it and were successful in getting the contract cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/43 "2022-04-11T03:52:13Z")
It’s always fascinated me that the other two actresses in the Britney movie went on to have very solid acting careers. Zoe Saldana went on to make _Avatar_ before finding success in the MCU as Gamora in _Guardians of the Galaxy_ and related materials. Taryn Manning was featured in _Hustle & Flow_, then went on to play Pennsatucky in _Orange Is the New Black_. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/44 "2022-04-11T04:32:15Z")
You’d think they would’ve learned from Magic Johnson’s talk show. Anyone remember that one, The Magic Hour? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/45 "2022-04-11T04:55:47Z")
“Stuttering” John Melendez was a call-screener on the Howard Stern show who made it big by doing a series of comedic interviewers with celebrities, the joke being that he was a stuttering dumb guy asking big name celebrities questions purposely designed to get a reaction from them, either through offensiveness or humor at him being dumb himself. It worked, and he was a funny fixture on the show for almost 14 years gaining him a bunch of cameos in comedy movies. But in the biggest case of “One hit wonder who accidentally hit it big so now he has the biggest ego ever” since leaving Howard Stern he thinks he’s some big name comedian and has embarked in so many failed ventures, including [writting, directing and starring in a movie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0882755/reference/) a National Lampoon film so terrible that it’s got a lower IMDB user score than either The Room or Plan 9 from Outer Space, [unsuccessfully sued SiriusXM](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/stuttering-john-howard-stern-show-loses-lawsuit-against-sirius-xm-2021-06-24/) for playing old Howard Stern clips of him claiming he’s owed “royalties” from it, prank called [Donald Trump when he was President](https://youtu.be/3O19cyBh9eA) but then was too afraid to actually make any jokes so he just had a normal boring conversation with him, [has an INCREDIBLY shitty YouTube Political Show stream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmt4LUZAxZo) that gets dozens of viewers, and most of all has multiple times threatened to [break someones legs](https://www.radiogunk.com/forums/threads/stuttering-john-trying-to-scare-me-again-on-his-show-today.49361/) or [kill people on the internet](https://youtu.be/gioxPu-8UcM?t=537) with his “New York mafia connections” which he very clearly lacks if he’s living in an messy apartment in Los Angeles making $100 a day from internet donations. It’s honestly hilarious seeing him think just because he was big in the 90’s on Howard Stern suddenly he’s still a big name comedian who should be headlining sold-out shows with Bill Burr, instead of literally only being able to do a stand-up comedy show co-headling with Ron Jeremy before his arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/46 "2022-04-11T06:36:56Z")
There was an American basketball player that tried to switch to baseball… can’t remember the name, not a sportsball fan at all. But big name. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/47 "2022-04-11T06:47:39Z")
After CM Punk walked out on WWE in 2014, he signed a fairly high-profile UFC contract. After over 18 months training, he made his debut at UFC 203… and tapped out 2 minutes into the first round without landing a single strike or getting any offense in. He had a second fight afterward where he went the distance but still lost on points, and that was the end of his MMA career. He returned to wrestling for AEW last year and seems much happier. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/48 "2022-04-11T07:01:10Z")
Australian Rugby League captain and one of the greatest players of all time, Mal Meninga, decided to enter national politics. Here is his first press interview to officially announce his candidancy. It was also his last. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt–SGmIKIQ&ab\_channel=AdamRBox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt--SGmIKIQ&ab_channel=AdamRBox) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/49 "2022-04-11T07:11:38Z")
Michael Jordan. Though the rumor is that it wasn’t his choice, he left basketball for baseball because his gambling habits were such a problem for NBA officials that they gave him an ultimatum of either doing something else for a year and letting things cool down, or be suspended for a year and causing all sorts of problems for both the league and Jordan himself. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/50 "2022-04-11T07:21:17Z")
Paul McCartney had unquenchable aspirations to be a filmmaker. The results were: _Magical Mystery Tour_ (1967), arguably the Beatles’ most conspicuous creative flop _Give My Regards to Broad Street_ (1984), critically savaged “Rupert and the Frog Song,” a short that was supposed to be a feature-length movie _The Bruce McMouse Show_, involving an animated family of mice living under the stage at a Wings concert (shelved, released decades later, and sank without a trace) The common thread in the failure of these films was a weak or nonexistent plot. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/51 "2022-04-11T07:58:08Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Yeah, Keanu’s great in his lane, and it’s a one-lane street. Outside it he’s objectively terrible. Two-lane - he can do action, and he can do goofy comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/52 "2022-04-11T08:50:03Z")
That’s the one. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/53 "2022-04-11T11:23:03Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > You’d think they would’ve learned from Magic Johnson’s talk show. Anyone remember that one, The Magic Hour? That happened in Japan with a superstar sumo wrestler. When he was being interviewed, it was more interesting than the average wrester (which isn’t saying much) but as the one interviewing people, it was a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/54 "2022-04-11T12:06:48Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > Australian Rugby League captain and one of the greatest players of all time, Mal Meninga, decided to enter national politics. Kanye West didn’t have much success in his run for president of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/55 "2022-04-11T12:16:50Z")
Thanks. I was _this_ close to forgetting he ever existed. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/56 "2022-04-11T13:57:41Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > Australian Rugby League captain and one of the greatest players of all time, Mal Meninga, decided to enter national politics. It’s been said that all political careers end in failure. Then again, most last longer than 28 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/57 "2022-04-11T13:59:40Z")
Madonna? I recall she had a brief movie career in the 80s and maybe early 90s, but it fizzled out. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/58 "2022-04-11T14:08:27Z")
His rap career has some great bits… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BbR68B0extA/hqdefault.jpg "Shatner Raps Julius Caesar") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbR68B0extA) ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/59 "2022-04-11T14:49:43Z")
Game show host Pat Sajak is another celebrity who failed in the talk show genre. His show actually limped along for about a year before CBS pulled the plug and went back to _Colombo_ reruns. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Madonna? I recall she had a brief movie career in the 80s and maybe early 90s, but it fizzled out. Well she did star in _Evita_ in 1996 and got a GG nomination for it, so she went out on a high note, if you’ll pardon the pun. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/60 "2022-04-11T14:55:42Z")
And in _A League of Their Own_, which was well received [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621.md?page=4)