# One Performance that destroyed another **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266 "2006-07-27T15:01:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [July 27, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/21 "2006-07-27T20:04:06Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] And, of course, Christopher Reeve was forever Superman, no matter how hard he tried to play anyone else. [/QUOTE] As was George Reeves. When he shows up in **From Here to Eternity** , you can’t help buy see him as Superman (which was on TV at the time). It’s not as noticeable in **Gone With the Wind** , though. It’s hard not to see Tom Baker as Doctor Who, even when he showed up in Narnia (on the BBC, not the movie). ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/22 "2006-07-28T03:42:17Z")
**Monty Python and the Holy Grail** ruined all other medieval movies for me, but in a good way. Anyway they did medieval better than any serious film ever did. And of course, similarly, **The Life of Brian** has productively ruined all Roman Empire, sword-n-sandal, and biblical epics for me. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/23 "2006-07-28T04:16:16Z")
I went to see the Indigo Girls last week. I love their music and was really excited at the opportunity to see them live and in a small outdoors venue, which I assumed would be up close and personal, and it was. I was directly in front of the middle of the stage maybe 100 feet back. And the whole time I ended up thinking of the Saturday Night Live sketch that I’d recently seen with Amy and Rachel spoofing them. Sheryl Crow was in the sketch with them and it was one of the all-too-rare really funny skits. It just kept running through my head. “We can harmonize anything…” Half way through, the show got rained out and it was probably just as well. “Thanks y’all…” ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/24 "2006-07-28T05:13:23Z")
I tried watching the classic film [Double Indemnity](http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0036775/) but I just couldn’t believe that Mr. Douglas would be a bad man. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/25 "2006-07-28T05:19:26Z")
Poor Ted Levine. I mean, he’s had a respectable career, but any time I see him in ANY role (like Mr. Starbuck in that TV version of “Moby Dick”), I expect to hear, “It… puts… the lotion… on its skin…” Every time I see him on “Monk,” I picture him dancing around naked with his weenie tucked between his legs, and crack up. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/26 "2006-07-28T05:43:11Z")
I can’t see Kiefer Sutherland in _anything_ without thinking of Jack Bauer. It doesn’t help that a number of his roles have had the same demented or sociopathic qualities, but even when he’s in Woman Wanted or The Three Musketeers, I keep waiting for him to utter those Jack catchphrases and start mowing people down. I guess that’s not such a big problem in The Three Musketeers, they were sort of the French CTU of their day. But it’s a Disney movie, so there’s not much in the way of hi-tech wizardry or hacksaws. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2006, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/27 "2006-07-28T05:47:24Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] I can’t see Mandy Patinkin in anything without hearing “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.” [/QUOTE] Every time I see Patinkin, this is what goes through my mind: “It is like your name… Sykes. I’m sure it doesn’t bother you at all that it sounds like ‘ss’ai k’ss,’ two words in my language which mean ‘excrement’ and ‘cranium’…shithead.” As for Deadwood, every time I see E. B. Farnum, I hear…well. “Hi, I’m Larry. This here’s my brother, Darryl. And this is my other brother, Darryl.” ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/28 "2006-07-28T05:48:49Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] I can’t see Mandy Patinkin in anything without hearing “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.” [/QUOTE] This reminded me of one: I can’t see Wallace Shawn in anything without hearing “_INCONCEIVABLE!_” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/29 "2006-07-28T06:04:56Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] Every time I see Patinkin, this is what goes through my mind: “It is like your name… Sykes. I’m sure it doesn’t bother you at all that it sounds like ‘ss’ai k’ss,’ two words in my language which mean ‘excrement’ and ‘cranium’…shithead.” [/QUOTE] So I’m not the only one who thought of this scene first for Patinkin! ---
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/30 "2006-07-28T06:38:51Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I can’t see Kiefer Sutherland in _anything_ without thinking of Jack Bauer. Having never seen an episode of _24_, I can’t watch Kiefer Sutherland in anything without thinking of _The Three Musketeers_. And I don’t really think that’s how he intended people to remember his career. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/31 "2006-07-28T06:59:54Z")
[QUOTE=Foldup Rabbit] [QUOTE=Marley23] I can’t see Kiefer Sutherland in _anything_ without thinking of Jack Bauer. [/QUOTE] Having never seen an episode of _24_, I can’t watch Kiefer Sutherland in anything without thinking of _The Three Musketeers_. And I don’t really think that’s how he intended people to remember his career. [/QUOTE] To me he is still the lead punk/teen vampire from Stand by Me/The Lost Boys. The two roles seemed like one character to me. I am not sure who this Mandy Patinkin is everyone is talking about, but I loved Inigo Montoya in [“Dead Like Me”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348913/). 😉 I actually think even in Princess Bride, Wallace Shawn is playing Wallace Shawn. He was almost a character in The Hotel New Hampshire. Anyone ever noticed how many movies Reverend Jim and Louie De Palma have done since they left the Sunshine Cab Company? Incredible careers they have both had, funny that Bobby barely did anything and he wanted to be an actor. [slight hijack]When Taxi was on, almost everybody knew that Tony Danza really was a boxer before going into acting but one of my friends announce to all of us “You know, Tony was an aspiring boxer”. Without missing a beat, my brother replied, “Yes, and Bobby was really an aspiring actor”. The words hung in the air for a moment, our friend said, “Wow, that’s weird”. The rest of us broke up laughing at him. [/hijack] Jim ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/32 "2006-07-28T07:07:13Z")
[QUOTE=thwartme] When [Jeff Conaway](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001063/) joined the cast of Babylon 5, I couldn’t help but think “Hey, [Bobby](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077089/) got a regular gig!” thwartme [/QUOTE] Well looks like Flounder from Animal House. managed to leverage his education into a quite respectable position with the Centauri government as well ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/33 "2006-07-28T07:19:55Z")
If we can include one’s actor’s performance ruining a completely different actor’s performance… I can’t take Dennis Hopper in _Blue Velvet_ seriously after seeing Steve Martin doing a similar gas-sucking schtick in _Little Shop of Horrors_. Hopper’s character is supposed to be really disturbing, but he just makes me giggle. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2006, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/34 "2006-07-28T08:00:48Z")
And every time I see Dan on Deadwood, much to my chagrin, I keep hearing “Franks and beans! Franks and beans!” Which is unfortunate, because Earl Brown brings so much to that role, as well as playing Meat Loaf in “To Hell and Back.” And let’s admit it, when Ricardo Montalban shows up on TV, how many of you yell out, “KHAAAAAN! KHAAAAAN!” You know you do. :wally ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/35 "2006-07-28T09:24:24Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] I recently re-watched _Forbidden Planet_, where he plays the space ship captain, and couldn’t get the _Naked Gun_ movies out of my head. [/QUOTE] Yes, _Naked Gun_ and _Police Squad_ ruined every other performance by Leslie Nielsen, especially those cop movies where he is essentially playing Frank Drebin in a serious setting. How could you possibly take that seriously now? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/36 "2006-07-28T11:55:55Z")
[QUOTE=Baker] So I’m not the only one who thought of this scene first for Patinkin! [/QUOTE] What is that from? I don’t recognize it! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/37 "2006-07-28T12:39:11Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] Yes, _Naked Gun_ and _Police Squad_ ruined every other performance by Leslie Nielsen, especially those cop movies where he is essentially playing Frank Drebin in a serious setting. How could you possibly take that seriously now? [/QUOTE] Well, when the Zucker brothers were casting “Airplane!,” they deliberately loaded the cast with the kind of stiff, ultra-serious, B-Movie stars you’d expect to see in a typical Seventies disaster movie: Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, et al. Nielsen and the others were hilarious precisely BECAUSE they were spoofing the very kinds of roles they’d had to play seriously their whole lives. When the Zukers made the TV series “Police Squad,” they were spoofing Lee Marvin’s old series “M squad.” Once again, Leslie Nielsen was funny precisely because he was playing the part totally straight. Frank Drebin was a comic version of a kind of character Leslie Nielsen had been playing for years. So, Nielsen is now perceived as a comedian BECAUSE he starred in a movie and a TV series that lampooned the kind of serious dramatic work he’d spent his whole life doing! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/38 "2006-07-28T12:47:10Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] What is that from? I don’t recognize it! [/QUOTE] The original “Alien Nation” movie. He played Sam Francisco, who was renamed “George” by his partner Sykes. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/39 "2006-07-28T13:09:05Z")
My sister couldn’t watch _Ocean’s Twelve_ after watching _Derailed_. She couldn’t make the jump from psycho robbing-rapist type to suave cat burglar. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266/40 "2006-07-28T13:16:49Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] I just can’t help hearing Smith say: “Hobbits…are a _disease_” [/QUOTE] In _Everything Is Illuminated,_(a great movie!) Elijah Wood plays a jewish american visiting Ukraine as part of his lifelong obsession with collecting obscure family artifacts. The most significant object he comes across is a wedding ring – a plain gold band. He is told (through a translator,) in a particularly intense scene, “The ring does not exist for _you_, _you_ exist for the ring.” I think that part was probably easier to receive as the author intended in the novel. Elijah Wood doing his watery eye-widening thing in reaction to it was just… …too much. Very emotional scene, and you’re sitting there magining the insane old man he’s travelling with going all-over-Gollum and his oddball translator coming up with twisted reasons why _he_ should carry the ring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-performance-that-destroyed-another/366266.md?page=3)