# Odd Coincidences in Moves and TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2008, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776 "2008-06-22T11:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/1 "2008-06-22T11:36:56Z")
I was (sorta) watching a movie called “Nina Takes A Lover” starring Laura San Giacomo(fee-na-nay). I realized that a few years later she would star in a TV series where the only other female character was named …Nina. Michael E. Knight has played the character of Tad Martin on “All My Children” for many years, and was married to Catherine Hickland. Hickland was once married to David Hasselhoff, who played Michael Knight in the TV series “Knight Rider”. Oh, but it does not stop there. Justin Breuning, the star of the new remodeled TV series of KNight Rider , is the actor who played the son of Michael E, Knight’s character, Tad Martin of AMC. So, I’m not talking Kevin Bacon SDOS here, just odd coincidences. Anybody? Bueller? Bueller? ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/2 "2008-06-22T12:56:19Z")
I liked the little coincidence someone here noted in another thread-- George Clooney was in a medical-themed sitcom back in the 1980s, and of course became a star in a medical drama years later. The shows-- E/R and ER. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/3 "2008-06-22T17:48:02Z")
Carrie-Anne Moss was both in The Matrix, and a show called Matrix a few years earlier. [Matrix](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106062/) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/4 "2008-06-22T18:30:53Z")
Billy Crystal was on Howard Cosell’s Saturday Night Live program, which premiered on ABC before NBC’s Saturday Night, then several years later was a star of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/5 "2008-06-22T18:37:33Z")
Damn 5 minute edit window. :mad: In fact, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Christopher Guest also appeared on Cosell’s program. They all would go on to later prominence on NBC’s SNL. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/6 "2008-06-22T18:50:43Z")
1998’s _Ronin_ had three actors who had played Bond villains, in other movies. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/7 "2008-06-22T18:54:22Z")
On the TV series _The West Wing_, Tim Mathieson played Jed Bartlet’s first Vice President but was replaced by a new Vice President who was played by Gary Cole. In the Brady Bunch movies, Tim Mathieson played Carol Brady’s first husband who had been replaced by Mike Brady who was played by Gary Cole. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/8 "2008-06-22T21:59:15Z")
The 1995 Johnny Depp western _Dead Man_ features actors from all four _Alien_ movies (John Hurt, Lance Henriksen, and Michael Wincott). ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/9 "2008-06-22T22:01:13Z")
Katherine Heigl has played a character named Isabel or Isobel in 3 different projects, all apparently unrelated. (Roswell, MTV’s Wuthering Heights, and Grey’s anatomy.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/10 "2008-06-22T23:09:42Z")
My wife and I never watched a reality program or game show, preferring our TV hours be spent on Buffy and Law and Order reruns. At least not until the summer of 2001 when we decided to take a chance on Fox’s _Murder in a Small Town X_, which aired every Tuesday at 9:00pm. I’m not going into the mechanics of the stupid show, just the eerie coincidental part. The last episode of the show was scheduled for 9:00 pm, September 11th, 2001. Because it tanked so hard in the ratings, Fox moved the final show up a week as so to get it off the air sooner (now airing 9-4-2001). The coincidence is _the winner, a NYC firefighter, died in the terrorist attacks_. His name was Angel Juarbe, he won $250,000, a car, and a bunch of other stuff, and he died on the same day he was originally scheduled to “win”. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/11 "2008-06-23T00:15:59Z")
Something I thought of while watching _Don’t Mess With The Zohan_: John Turturro is of Italian descent, and plays an Arab (Palestinian) in that movie. Tony Shalhoub is of Arab descent (Lebanese) and has played Italians, notably Primo in _Big Night_ and Antonio in _Wings_. They play ethnically neutral brothers in _Monk_. (Shalhoub’s show, but Turturro’s guest starred in a couple of episodes.) What this all means is basically nothing. Just a little odd thing that popped into my brain. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/12 "2008-06-23T00:35:26Z")
In 2003 Hugh Laurie played a quirky, crabby doctor with a wife and 3 kids in a British series called [Fortysomething](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370139/). His last name in the series is a dictionary word (“Slippery”). In 2004 Hugh Laurie played (and continues to play) a quirky, crabby doctor with a female boss and 3 underlings in an American series. His last name in the series is a dictionary word (“House”). 'Cept now he has an American accent. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/13 "2008-06-23T00:51:15Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] Billy Crystal was on Howard Cosell’s Saturday Night Live program, which premiered on ABC before NBC’s Saturday Night, then several years later was a star of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. [/QUOTE] Then he was in a movie called Mr Saturday Night. ---
**Author:** ![Erasmus\_Darwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@Erasmus\_Darwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erasmus_Darwin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/14 "2008-06-23T00:57:14Z")
Both Kitchen Confidential and How I Met Your Mother premiered on September 19th, 2005. The shows had an actor or actress from each of the following: Freaks & Geeks (John Francis Daley and Jason Segel) Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Nicholas Brendan and Alyson Hannigan) Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (John Cho and Neil Patrick Harris) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Pangloss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Peter\_Pangloss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Pangloss)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/15 "2008-06-24T04:53:51Z")
Inspired by Ranchoth’s post: Three actors in THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD–Max von Sydow (Jesus), Telly Savalas (Pilate), and Donald Pleasance (Satan)–all went on to play archvillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in different James Bond movies. ---
**Author:** ![TJVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@TJVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJVM)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/16 "2008-06-24T14:19:55Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] 1998’s _Ronin_ had three actors who had played Bond villains, in other movies. [/QUOTE] I can think of Jonathan Pryce and Sean Bean. Who’s the third? ---
**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:** [June 24, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/17 "2008-06-24T14:30:08Z")
[QUOTE=TJVM] I can think of Jonathan Pryce and Sean Bean. Who’s the third? [/QUOTE] When I saw **Ranchoth** ’s post, I could only think of one, Michael Lonsdale. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/18 "2008-06-24T23:32:58Z")
Joanne Woodward played a person suffering from multiple-personality disorder in _Three Faces of Eve_, and years later played a psychiatrist treating a person with multiple-personality disorder in the TV movie _Sybil_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/19 "2008-06-25T05:16:23Z")
In _Firefly_, Morena Baccarin played a character who was a Buddhist and Ron Glass played a character who was a Christian. In real life, Baccarin is a Christian and Glass is a Buddhist. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Pangloss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Peter\_Pangloss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Pangloss)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776/20 "2008-06-25T06:00:50Z")
Julie Andrews played Cinderella in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s TV musical in 1957. Leslie Ann Warren played Cinderella in the 1965 TV remake. They appear together in VICTOR/VICTORIA, and have a hilarious catfight scene. Dueling Cinderellas! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-coincidences-in-moves-and-tv/453776.md?page=2)