# Humorous Allusions to Actors' Previous Roles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191 "2020-12-16T16:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/21 "2020-12-16T18:43:44Z")
Can prison be counted as a “previous role”? In the movie, “Expendables 3”, the Expendables break a fellow team member, Doc, out of prison because they need him for their difficult mission ahead. The team member, Doc, who was sprung from prison is played by Wesley Snipes. One of the new team members asked Doc why he was in prison. Doc replied, “Income tax evasion”. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/22 "2020-12-16T19:01:36Z")
In a slight departure from the OP’s request, George Lazenby made an allusion to a previous actor in the SAME role when he took over the 007 franchise from Sean Connery. When the Girl drives off and leaves him by himself on the beach (“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”), he quips “This never happened to the other fellow”. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZhBCiQ49Iz8/maxresdefault.jpg "On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1/9) Movie CLIP - This Never Happened to the Other Fella (1969) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhBCiQ49Iz8) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/23 "2020-12-16T19:23:32Z")
A whole episode of _Scrubs_. > **[The Fugitive](https://scrubs.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fugitive)** > > The Fugitive is a 1993 film starring Harrison Ford. The Fugitive was referenced in the episode "My Friend the Doctor", when Janitor revealed to J.D. that he played the part of a transit cop. In reality, this part was played by Neil Flynn, who... ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/24 "2020-12-16T19:33:28Z")
In one of the Netflix seasons of _Arrested Development_ there’s a scene where George Bluth Sr. was trying to evade the authorities by disguising himself as a woman or something like that (I don’t remember the exact context anymore). Then he realizes that is a bad plan, as the narrator says something like “Realizing he was never going to win an Emmy for playing a woman…”, pretty obviously referencing Jeffrey Tambor’s Emmy for his other role on _Transparent_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/25 "2020-12-16T20:11:24Z")
Most of the ones that come immediately to mind have already been covered. One case where they missed a golden opportunity for this (according to my wife, Pepper Mill, who’s a big Scott Bakula fan) was when, at the end of the first episode of **Star Trek: Enterprise** they finally get the transporter working and successfully beam Bakula (as Jonathan Archer) out. It would have been perfect if, upon resolidifying, he then said “Ohhh, boy!”, the inevitable line used by Bakula as Sam Beckett in **Quantum Leap** after “leaping” into another body. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/26 "2020-12-16T20:21:28Z")
On _Andromeda_, Capt. Dylan Hunt finds the sword of Hercules in a storage nook. [Andromeda Hercules reference - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9myMUWeHP4) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/27 "2020-12-16T20:35:11Z")
In Santa Clause 2 Tim Allen playing the robot Santa yells at Tim Allen playing the real Santa “you are a sad strange little man”. Same line Tim Allen delivered as Buzz Lightyear to Cowboy Woody. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/28 "2020-12-16T20:43:19Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I just remembered this exchange between William Shatner and John Lithglow on _ **Third Rock from the Sun** _ : In another episode, Jane Curtin’s character is watching television and the announcer says “Up next, the Susan Saint James story” to which Curtin dismissively snorts and says “Who’d want to watch _that?_” before changing the channel. Jane Curtin and Susan Saint James having been co-stars on [Kate & Allie](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086742/). ---
**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:** [December 16, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/29 "2020-12-16T20:45:29Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Same line Tim Allen delivered as Buzz Lightyear to Cowboy Woody. And, in said movie (_Toy Story_), when Buzz and Woody are trapped in Sid’s bedroom, Woody is stuck in a milk crate, under a Binford toolbox. Binford was the fictional tool company which sponsored “Tool Time,” the television series hosted by Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) on _Home Improvement_. [![](https://i.imgur.com/jWuExWr.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/jWuExWr.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/30 "2020-12-16T20:46:51Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > In one of the Netflix seasons of _Arrested Development_ there’s a scene where George Bluth Sr. was trying to evade the authorities by disguising himself as a woman or something like that (I don’t remember the exact context anymore). Then he realizes that is a bad plan, as the narrator says something like “Realizing he was never going to win an Emmy for playing a woman…”, pretty obviously referencing Jeffrey Tambor’s Emmy for his other role on _Transparent_. Also on _Arrested Development_, this woman (who I’m gonna call Trixie because I can’t remember her name) shouts an angry parting shot at Michael Bluth, and calls him “Opie.” Narrator Ron Howard comments: _“Trixie had gone too far. And she had best watch her mouth.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/31 "2020-12-16T20:54:48Z")
Speaking of Tim Allen, one of those ending social media commercials in “Last Man Standing” had his character Mike searching for an alternative to “winning is everything”. Kyle suggests “Never give up. Never surrender.” Mike really likes this, repeats it, then does the salute. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/32 "2020-12-16T20:55:34Z")
> [@cormac262](#): > > In **Paul** , as Sigourney Weaver’s character is about to attack Kristin Wiig, Blythe Danner’s character decks Sigourney saying the iconic “Get away from her you bitch !!!” Hmm, I never felt a particular desire to see _Paul_, but if Blythe Danner is in it I may have to seek it out. > [@Jophiel](#): > > In another episode, Jane Curtin’s character… I think there was also an episode of _3rd Rock_ where Mary (Jane Curtin) and Dick went to a sci-fi convention and Mary saw a couple cosplayers dressed as coneheads. Jane, of course, was the original Prymaat on _SNL_. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/33 "2020-12-16T21:02:18Z")
In **Star Trek VI** Spock says > [@](#): > > An ancestor of mine maintained that if you eliminate the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Leonard Nimoy never played Holmes onscreen, but he did play The Great Detective on stage in the William Gillette play **Sherlock Holmes** in 1976 [https://fanlore.org/wiki/Sherlock\_Holmes\_(1976\_play)](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_(1976_play)) Holmes uses a variation of the line in _The Sign of Four_, but I think it’s in the Gillette play, which is cobbled together from several Holmes stories. It’s been too long since I saw or read it. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/34 "2020-12-16T21:15:34Z")
In the Futurama episode _A Bicyclops Build For Two_, Leela, voiced by Katey Segal, calls her fiance Alcazar “Al” and dresses like Peggy Bundy in an attempt to keep him happy, resulting in a scene that parodies the sitcom _Married With Children_. Katey Segal played Peggy on Married With Children. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/35 "2020-12-16T21:31:36Z")
Nathan goes nuts at Super Nova Con: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vV2EZ-K_FeI/maxresdefault.jpg "Castle 5x06 "The Final Frontier" Jonathan Frakes Makes a Cameo (HD/CC)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV2EZ-K_FeI) Not only dropping a line or three from _Firefly_, but referencing Whedon and taking a shot at the director of the episode, who is the guy getting an autograph at the start of the clip. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/36 "2020-12-16T21:45:35Z")
At the end of **Doc Hollywood** Michael J Fox meets up with Woody Harrelson’s character and Bridget Fonda’s character at a restaurant in LA (Beverly Hills). Bridget Fonda’s character is all excited about seeing celebrities. At the every end of the scene (camera is on Fox, so you only hear the dialogue), Fonda asks “Is that a star ?”. And Harrelson’s character replies, “No. That’s Ted Danson”. A nice jab at his “Cheers” co-star. ---
**Author:** ![RobotDevilDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@RobotDevilDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobotDevilDog)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/37 "2020-12-16T23:08:33Z")
Eight Simple Rules did a good portion of one episode parodying Three’s Company, John Ritter’s earlier show, as a dream sequence. It was very funny. And for good measure, the final scene has John Ritter waking up in bed next to Don Knotts. (Yes, that was also a dream.) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/38 "2020-12-16T23:39:01Z")
And let’s not forget the scene in _Stay Tuned_ where John Ritter’s character is zapped into an episode of _Three’s Company_. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oKBsohgTKiY/hqdefault.jpg "John Ritter in Stay Tuned - Three's Company") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKBsohgTKiY) ---
**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:** [December 16, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/39 "2020-12-16T23:41:54Z")
Mary Tyler Moore hosted a show, _Mary_, after her sitcom ended. Dick van Dyke was a guest and they did skits about Rob and Laura. The topper was when she met Van Dyke at the end and said she had auditioned for the show, but Rose Marie got the part. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/40 "2020-12-16T23:43:50Z")
_Boston Legal_ is rife with subtle digs at _Star Trek_ and _TJ Hooker_–both Shatner platforms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=3)