# Has Mandy Patinkin ever completed a TV show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131 "2009-09-15T02:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/1 "2009-09-15T02:34:47Z")
I love him, and it bugs the shit outta me that he bails on everything he does! Chicago Hope, Dead Like Me, Criminal Minds…it’s getting strange. Gr. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/2 "2009-09-15T02:43:31Z")
Maybe he’s got Sarah Palin disease? I didn’t really like him on Criminal Minds. Seemed too… intense. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/3 "2009-09-15T02:48:18Z")
I only saw some of Criminal Minds and it looked like he bailed just as the show started to turn stupid. I haven’t seen the others, but if that’s been his criteria for those as well, I can’t say that I’d blame him for any ill doing. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/4 "2009-09-15T02:52:53Z")
He didn’t bail out of “Dead Like Me.” The show had already been canceled when they decided to make the movie. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/5 "2009-09-15T02:55:37Z")
Doesn’t he do a lot of theatre work as well? Perhaps he does TV work to pay the bills until the next interesting/compelling part comes along on the stage. Idle speculation, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/6 "2009-09-15T03:08:48Z")
Dude hates boredom and is paid well enough while he does work that he still has money after he bugs out. Well, that work and what he makes in a limited engagement onstage. Producers seem to know that by now and, since he’s no star critical to the success of a show, he’s likely to have many opportunities to pursue his stage career because he’s TV poison. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/7 "2009-09-15T03:09:05Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > He didn’t bail out of “Dead Like Me.” The show had already been canceled when they decided to make the movie. And it was a shitty, pointless movie, so kind of a good move on his part. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/8 "2009-09-15T03:46:41Z")
People have their reasons, there are two sides to every story, yadda yadda, but if [this](http://www.tvguide.com/news/Exclusive-Mandy-Patinkin-8324.aspx) is a fair portrayal of the way he left **Criminal Minds** (and dude has had plenty of time to set the record straight), he should never work in television again. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/9 "2009-09-15T04:01:47Z")
I don’t miss Mandy Patinkin on _Criminal Minds_. They replaced him with Joe Mantegna, which is awesome. It’s like the BAU is being run by Fat Tony! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/10 "2009-09-15T04:23:40Z")
Shooting a television show is pretty rough, physically and mentally, so his [health problems](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandy_Patinkin) may play into his career choices. He had two corneal transplants in the mid-'90s, after he left _Chicago Hope_, and was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in 2004, around the same time _Criminal Minds_ started shooting. Doesn’t mean he’s not a jerk, but it’s something to consider. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/11 "2009-09-15T04:43:49Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I don’t miss Mandy Patinkin on _Criminal Minds_. They replaced him with Joe Mantegna, which is awesome. It’s like the BAU is being run by Fat Tony! I’ve talked to the wrong sort of people, and I enjoy Joe because of how he plays someone who Mom would direct as Not a Mate. IRL, she knew my tastes, so I’d be looking for Joe Montegna’s sister, but she still held hope for the second Italian girl next door. In the end I have looked at her older sister since 1960. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/12 "2009-09-15T12:48:20Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I don’t miss Mandy Patinkin on _Criminal Minds_. They replaced him with Joe Mantegna, which is awesome. It’s like the BAU is being run by Fat Tony! Totally with you on that one. But geez… he’s got bigger commitment issues than most men I’ve dated. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/13 "2009-09-15T12:51:24Z")
He did kill the guy with 6 fingers, he finished that job. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/14 "2009-09-15T12:51:39Z")
I’ve noticed that Courtney Thorne-Smith has bailed on a few shows as well. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/15 "2009-09-15T13:03:43Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > And it was a shitty, pointless movie, so kind of a good move on his part. > > Stranger No. It was a TV series and it was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/16 "2009-09-15T13:08:26Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > No. It was a TV series and it was pretty good. No, you misunderstand. The series was great. The follow-on direct-to-DVD telefilm: sucktastical. Regardless, Patinkin completed the show, and elected (sagely, as it turns out) to decline on the film. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/17 "2009-09-15T14:00:50Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The series was great. The follow-on direct-to-DVD telefilm: sucktastical. Regardless, Patinkin completed the show, and elected (sagely, as it turns out) to decline on the film. Agreed - I finally got around to watching it on Sunday and though I wasn’t expecting much, I was still disappointed. The new Daisy ( a character I had been starting to warm up to in the second season ) in particular was _fucking awful_. I mean just horrible. The rest ( Dolores aside ) weren’t much better, weighed down by an exceptionally weak story. Patinkin would have helped, but he wouldn’t have saved it. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/18 "2009-09-15T14:08:38Z")
I don’t know the timeline – if Patinkin had been in, would they have stepped up the production? I definitely agree that the “new Daisy” was awful, and that if Laura Harris had dropped out, they should have brought in a new character, the way they brought in Daisy after Betty left. Leaving out Kiffany and burning down Der Waffle Haus was heresy, and there was not nearly enough Dolores and especially Crystal. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/19 "2009-09-15T14:50:13Z")
Funny I was just thinking of him the other day because two cable stations are recently running **Yentl** and **Alien Nation**. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131/20 "2009-09-15T14:59:11Z")
I will say, however, that the bits with George’s family were quite nice - although it contradicted established canon from the series… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-mandy-patinkin-ever-completed-a-tv-show/510131.md?page=2)