# 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:** 5
**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 18, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/81 "2020-12-18T00:34:38Z")
Please. That wasn’t “mangling of lines.” That was “acknowledging accent drift over centuries.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/82 "2020-12-18T14:43:49Z")
Just so. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/83 "2020-12-18T15:18:51Z")
In Steamboat Bill Jr, Buster Keaton reacts to the appearance of his trademark porkpie hat. [Buster Keaton The hat - YouTube](https://youtu.be/q92M7eC-AT8?t=138) ---
**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 18, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/84 "2020-12-18T16:02:19Z")
Not exactly on topic, but sharing anyway: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EriZ9ruZq1E/hqdefault.jpg "Stargate SG-1 Macgyver Gag") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EriZ9ruZq1E) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/85 "2020-12-18T16:54:58Z")
_St. Elsewhere_ was **notorious** for that. One of the orderlies, Warren Coolidge, was played by the actor (I forget his name) who played a character by the same name in _The White Shadow_. And just like the title character, Coolidge had a basketball career cut short by a knee injury. In one StE episode, Timothy Van Patten, who was also on TWS, was walking through the hospital. Warren called out “Hey, Salami!” (Van Patten’s character’s name on TWS). “Sorry, you got the wrong guy.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/86 "2020-12-18T21:58:03Z")
The _ **ne plus ultra** _ : [Ted Buckland runs into almost everyone from **Scrubs** while visiting **Cougar Town**.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpI-ysJbKks&ab_channel=beachvolley.net) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/87 "2020-12-18T23:44:37Z")
Watching **Rizzoli and Isles** last night, season 1. Bruce McGill’s character says he has watched **Animal House** a couple of times. Bruce McGill, of course, was **D-Day** in **Animal House**. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/88 "2021-01-09T04:47:33Z")
In the _ **Columbo** _ episode “Identity Crisis,” Guest Villain Patrick McGoohan uses the phrase “Be seeing you,” just as he did as “Number 6” on _ **The Prisoner** _. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/89 "2021-01-09T04:55:10Z")
Last Man Standing with Tim Allen just had an episode where Tim Alan playing Mike Baxter also played the character Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor from his previous series Home Improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/90 "2021-01-09T08:33:19Z")
> [@psiekier](#): > > There was this fun post-credits scene for Jennifer Aniston in _We’re The Millers_ : As a post-credit scene, the lovely thing was that the reference was in character – not just an outtake of them acting stupid. Travolta, **Get Shorty** , (after a run of less than stellar roles): > "I mean I could see myself in movies Robert De Niro had been in. Or I could maybe do an Al Pacino movie, play a hard-on. But I couldn’t see myself in ones, like say the one where the three guys get stuck with a baby. They don’t know how to take care of it and you see these big grown-up assholes acting cute…: ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/91 "2021-01-09T09:10:12Z")
Not sure if this counts. In an episode of _Mork and Mindy_, Mork makes reference to seeing the movie _Popeye_. Though later in the series he also makes an appearance as Robin Williams the actor, which for me was a bit too meta to really accept at the time. ---
**Author:** ![TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiberiusNeroClaudius)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/92 "2021-01-09T10:26:07Z")
The short lived 1995 revival of “Get Smart”has Maxwell and 99’s son Zach involved with a woman named Jessica. She turns out to be the daughter of Siegfried the Magnificent, arch-enemy of CONTROL. At one point Zach and Jessica talk about the deceptions their parents told them: Maxwell and 99 said they were in the rough and violent greeting card business. Jessica replies that you think you were lied to; my father said he was a doctor on a cruise ship. I am sure 100% of the people here know Bernie Kopell was Siegfried in “Get Smart” and later Doctor Adam Bricker on “The Love Boat.” Would you believe it, 100%? No? How about 25%? Would you settle for 3 people heard of it and one is now checking wiki? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/93 "2021-01-09T11:54:56Z")
Bernie Kopell was in another Mel Brooks TV show, a Robin Hood parody called _When Things Were Rotten_, where in one episode he spoke in a German accent just like Siegfried. ---
**Author:** ![TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiberiusNeroClaudius)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/94 "2021-01-09T13:08:58Z")
The 1961 film “One, Two, Three” has several allusions to star James Cagney. He recreates the grapefruit scene from “Public Enemy”, the cuckoo clock plays “Yankee Doodle” and Red Buttons in an uncredited role does a Cagney imitation. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/95 "2021-01-09T13:10:26Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > Ales had a a “strange goth phase”, referring to Chyler’s appearance in a Marilyn Manson video More likely it is a reference to her role in the short-lived “That 80’s Show” Brian ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/96 "2021-01-09T14:53:41Z")
> [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](#): > > The short lived 1995 revival of “Get Smart” … The what ??? Wow, now I need to go check this out. Lame though it probably was. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/97 "2021-01-09T18:01:56Z")
oops, read it wrong ---
**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:** [January 9, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/98 "2021-01-09T18:07:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Wow, now I need to go check this out. Lame though it probably was. Somehow, I’d completely forgotten about it, and now that I look it up, I see that it actually had Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, and Bernie Kopell. It lasted all of 7 episodes on Fox. > **[Get Smart (TV Series 1995) ⭐ 6.6 | Comedy, Crime, Mystery](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111982/)** > > 30m ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/99 "2021-01-09T18:59:00Z")
Yeah. Wiki has a similar article. I’d just like a good look at Barbara Feldon at an age close to my own. I was 10-ish last time when she was 30ish. I’m now the age she was when the Fox series was made. ETA: YouTube did not disappoint. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faXbKD1HBCE) from about 2 minutes in. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191/100 "2021-01-09T19:04:20Z")
Barbara Feldon was in a Valentine’s Day episode of _ **Cheers!** _ (“Sam Time Next Year,” 1991). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humorous-allusions-to-actors-previous-roles/928191.md?page=6)