# Entertainers who "got out of their lane" and failed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, tv-shows-scripted, 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:** 7
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/121 "2022-04-24T03:45:00Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Steve Martin’s _Pennies from Heaven_ is probably a closer fit, since I don’t believe Martin ever attempted another musical after that. What about when he was younger, just a bad little kid? His mama noticed funny things he did Like shooting puppies with a B.B. gun He’d poison guppies and when he was done He’d find a pussycat and bash in its head That’s when his mama said She said, “My boy, I think someday You’ll find a way to make your natural tendencies pay” Something something…Dentist ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/122 "2022-04-24T08:03:24Z")
Reeves was good in My Own Private Idaho, A Walk In The Clouds, Parenthood, other non-action non-surfer-dude-comedy stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/123 "2022-04-24T10:28:52Z")
In _Parenthood_ he’s not that far from a surfer dude (a race car dude as I recall) ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/124 "2022-04-24T10:34:48Z")
But _Parenthood_ overall is not the same style of comedy as _Bill&Ted_, nor is his role all “Woah!” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/125 "2022-04-24T11:49:03Z")
True. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/126 "2022-04-24T14:59:33Z")
Michael Richards got out of his lane when he tried stand-up comedy. He nearly destroyed his career when he went on a racist rant against a heckler. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/127 "2022-04-24T15:08:08Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Michael Richards got out of his lane when he tried stand-up comedy. To be entirely fair, it looks like he had been doing stand-up in the '70s and '80s (as well as acting), prior to _Seinfeld_, then went back to it after that show ended. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/128 "2022-04-24T15:14:10Z")
It was leaving stand-up to be a sitcom actor that did him in. After his single acting success on Seinfeld he couldn’t get any more acting gigs due to the lack of middle-aged hipster doofus roles being written. I think he was angry about having to return to stand-up to get an audience, and the indignity of being heckled pushed him over the edge. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/129 "2022-04-24T15:15:32Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Michael Richards got out of his lane when he tried stand-up comedy. He nearly destroyed his career when he went on a racist rant against a heckler. Nearly? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/130 "2022-04-24T15:21:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > After his single acting success on Seinfeld he couldn’t get any more acting gigs due to the lack of middle-aged hipster doofus roles being written. Very true; I think that he was typecast by playing Kramer. I also have no idea how much of it was that he was a good actor, and wasn’t given other sorts of roles due to the typecasting, or if Kramer just happened to be the one sort of character he was really good at portraying. ---
**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 24, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/131 "2022-04-24T15:58:37Z")
He _did_ play an early version of Kramer known as Stanley Spudowski in the pre-_Seinfeld_ movie _UHF_. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/132 "2022-04-24T18:03:16Z")
He got a second chance of sorts when he appeared as himself on _Curb Your Enthusiasm_: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ktZde2tEK1Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Curb Your Enthusiasm - If only there were a horrible name") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktZde2tEK1Y) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/133 "2022-04-24T18:28:00Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > After his single acting success on Seinfeld he couldn’t get any more acting gigs due to the lack of middle-aged hipster doofus roles being written. Wiki says he turned down MONK, which I simultaneously can and can’t see. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2022, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/134 "2022-04-25T10:08:50Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > He _did_ play an early version of Kramer known as Stanley Spudowski in the pre- _Seinfeld_ movie _UHF_ . He was quite good in the _[Whoops Apocalypse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoops_Apocalypse_(film))_ film too. And _Young Doctors in Love_ before that, in a more basic slapstick role. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/135 "2022-04-25T10:37:14Z")
Let’s not forget his role in _Airheads_. That movie was a guilty pleasure for a little while, but I haven’t seen it in years now. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/136 "2022-04-25T12:32:38Z")
I love that film, my college roommate and I would quote it everyday. But I’d say he played ‘Kramer’ in it as well. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/137 "2022-04-25T12:39:01Z")
Michael Richards also did a sitcom after Seinfeld called _The Michael Richards Show_, playing a character pretty similar to Cosmo Kramer. I remember watching a few episodes and it was pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/138 "2022-04-25T14:12:18Z")
Richards was Andy Kaufman’s accomplice on that infamous _Fridays_ sketch. He really got burned on that one so he found a character and kind of stuck with it. When forced to go back to throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks post-Kramer, he just didn’t have the thick skin or confidence necessary for that approach. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/139 "2022-04-29T17:53:53Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Michael Richards also did a sitcom after Seinfeld called _The Michael Richards Show_ , playing a character pretty similar to Cosmo Kramer. I remember watching a few episodes and it was pretty bad. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > …he just didn’t have the thick skin or confidence necessary for that approach. Was it lack of confidence, or just plain lack of talent? I remember The Michael Richards Show, at least one episode (probably the pilot) where the gag was he worked out in a gym too hard for the first time, and his muscles were sore. So he became a human pratfall machine, sliding off chairs and tumbling over things, and that was his entire shtick. It was painful to watch. I think of Richards as another McLean Stevenson-- a marginally talented performer who lucked out, found a niche, and became a one-hit wonder on a hit show. Speaking of McLean Stevenson, did anybody mention him in this thread yet? I think I remember hearing somewhere while he was on MASH he had sycophants and handlers telling him he was too big for MASH, he needed his own show to showcase his huge talent! Unfortunately for McLean, he listened to them. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Richards was Andy Kaufman’s accomplice on that infamous _Fridays_ sketch. I wasn’t familiar with the sketch so I looked it up online. Oof. I do have to hand it to Richards, when Kaufman went off the rails and he went off camera, grabbed the cue cards and slapped them on the table in front of Kaufman, that was actually pretty funny improvising (unless it was planned to go off the rails- with Kaufman involved it was always hard to tell). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bN5vhvIAqY8/hqdefault.jpg ""Fridays TV Show" (1981) [Show L-08] "Andy Kaufman, the Fight Incident" [09 of 12]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN5vhvIAqY8) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621/140 "2022-04-29T18:01:12Z")
In a sense, David Caruso. Became a TV star with _NYPD Blue_, and quit to become a movie star. Failed in the movies and eventually returned to TV, where he became a star again. TV stardom and movie stardom are two different skills. Jimmy Stewart, for instance, couldn’t translate to TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertainers-who-got-out-of-their-lane-and-failed/962621.md?page=8)