You become the moderator on The View.
Herschel Bernardi also claimed this one.
And I’ve heard it about Harrison Ford.
When you’re a model in Uniqlo’s promotion material - rest in peace, Orlando Bloom.
A lot of that has to do with the hierarchy of fame in Hollywood. No matter how popular and/or critically-praised you are for being the star of a successful TV show, TV Fame is still regarded as more fleeting, less substantial, and of overall lesser value than Movie Fame. Also, successful TV actors can see their fame and career quickly dissipate once their show goes off the air whereas a successful movie actor can be famous for decades. That’s why so many TV stars try to strike while the iron is hot and take at least one shot at being a movie star. Granted, it’s often a gamble but I think if most of us were in such a position, we’d probably take it.
Oh, phew, I thought you were going somewhere else with this. :eek:
I have no problem with those actors who try to start up a movie career while they’re hot from a TV series. Like you said, it’s a smart move.
The ones who are stupid are the ones who try to get out of their TV series so they can go on to a movie career. Most of them quit their series and then find out they don’t have a real career in movies. And now they don’t have a TV series either.
Three words: Home Shopping Network
You become a judge on Dancing With the Stars, or a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice.
To which they inevitably reply “Yeah, tell that to George Clooney.”
Of course, he’s the one exception to that rule that comes to mind right off the bat.
I guess sometimes supporting actors can become big movie stars, like John Travolta on “Welcome back, Kotter” or Clint Eastwood in “Rawhide” (although Clint had the screen credit in “Francis the talking mule joins the Navy”.You probably get about one every decade versus lots of flops like David Caruso or Dick van Dyke.
Probably has something to do with people won’t buy (movie tickets) what they can see for free (tv).
You’re replaced by Ashton Kutcher.
Maybe, but sometimes a successful TV actor or actress who does this is in kind of a Catch-22. You’re become famous as the star of popular TV series so you start getting offers for some great movie roles. However, you have to decline the movie roles because they conflict with your TV show’s shooting schedule. So, you leave the TV series so you can accept the movie role offers only for the movie offers to dry up because you’re no longer a famous TV star.
Getting back to the thread topic, I’d say your career moment has passed if you’re appearing in “male enhancement” TV infomercials.
To which I say Michael J. Fox - the man made nine feature movies during the seven years he was doing Family Ties.
The judges on DWTS are the same every season; they’re all dancers who became household names when they got the DWTS gig. Your latter point, however, is legitimate.
I’m reminded of Pierce Brosnan, who they wanted for James Bond in the early '80s but who couldn’t get out of his Remington Steele contract to do it. He stayed for the run of that show, and after that managed to have a pretty good film career. Well, other than Mamma Mia, but that was a weird byway in a lot of people’s careers.
Thanks. I don’t watch either program, just see commercials for them. Perhaps I was thinking of has-been celebrity contestants on the DWTS show.
You become a cameo appearance for a car commercial (Eric Estrada and Fabio, anybody?).
I…can’t…explainShatner… 
Maybe that should read, “you become a CONTESTANT on DWTS?”
Though, to be fair, Travolta had a LOT of flops between periods of respectability. Right off the top of my head, Shout, Perfect, Blowout, Look Who’s Talking Now, and Battlefield Earth were all major flops.
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Maybe, but sometimes a successful TV actor or actress who does this is in kind of a Catch-22. You’re become famous as the star of popular TV series so you start getting offers for some great movie roles. However, you have to decline the movie roles because they conflict with your TV show’s shooting schedule. So, you leave the TV series so you can accept the movie role offers only for the movie offers to dry up because you’re no longer a famous TV star.
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True, but it was luck (and good scheduling) that the shootings for the **Back to the Future **films didn’t conflict with those for “Family Ties.”
A good example of the TV/movie Catch-22 is what happened to Kate Jackson. Her career was riding high on the success of “Charlies Angels” when she was cast to play Dustin Hoffman’s estranged wife in Kramer v. Kramer. Unfortunately for her, by the time production on the movie began, it came into direct conflict with her shooting schedule for “Charlie’s Angels” so Jackson had to drop out and the part instead went to an up-and-coming actress named Meryl Streep. Of course, Kramer v. Kramer is a big hit that ends up winning Oscars for Best Picture and Streep as Best Supporting Actress and launching her career as the pre-eminent actress of the last 30 years. Jackson does one more season of “Charles Angels” and then leaves the series presumeably so her schedule would be open to accept movie offers that, for the most part, never materialize.
It’ll be interesting to see if Steve Carell manages to keep the movies coming now that he’s left THE OFFICE.