More real-life circumstances written into shows-- the more bizarre the better
Michael O’Hare played Commander Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 but was replaced for season 2. Though he made a few appearances after, the reason for his removal was never explained until his death in 2012. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracznski revealed that O’Hare had severe mental illness, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, that worsened during filming the show and that he promised to keep the secret until O’Hare’s death.
Gregory Sierra was hired for the main cast of Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, but he asked to be written out of the series after four episodes, not wanting to reside in Miami where the show was being filmed. He was subsequently replaced by Edward James Olmos and his character, Lieutenant Martin Castillo.
When Michael Conrad unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 4 of Hill Street Blues, his character Phil Esterhaus also “died”, and rumored to have done so on top of his girlfriend while they were making love.
More real-life circumstances written into shows-- the more bizarre the better
Michael O’Hare played Commander Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 but was replaced for season 2. Though he made a few appearances after, the reason for his removal was never explained until his death in 2012. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracznski revealed that O’Hare had severe mental illness, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, that worsened during filming the show and that he promised to keep the secret until O’Hare’s death.
Gregory Sierra was hired for the main cast of Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, but he asked to be written out of the series after four episodes, not wanting to reside in Miami where the show was being filmed. He was subsequently replaced by Edward James Olmos and his character, Lieutenant Martin Castillo.
When Michael Conrad unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 4 of Hill Street Blues, his character Phil Esterhaus also “died”, and rumored to have done so on top of his girlfriend while they were making love.
Before the fifth season of Here’s Lucy, Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. The show progressed with her character also having a broken leg and she spent much of the season in a wheelchair and full-leg cast.
More real-life circumstances written into shows-- the more bizarre the better
Michael O’Hare played Commander Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 but was replaced for season 2. Though he made a few appearances after, the reason for his removal was never explained until his death in 2012. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracznski revealed that O’Hare had severe mental illness, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, that worsened during filming the show and that he promised to keep the secret until O’Hare’s death.
Gregory Sierra was hired for the main cast of Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, but he asked to be written out of the series after four episodes, not wanting to reside in Miami where the show was being filmed. He was subsequently replaced by Edward James Olmos and his character, Lieutenant Martin Castillo.
When Michael Conrad unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 4 of Hill Street Blues, his character Phil Esterhaus also “died”, and rumored to have done so on top of his girlfriend while they were making love.
Before the fifth season of Here’s Lucy, Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. The show progressed with her character also having a broken leg and she spent much of the season in a wheelchair and full-leg cast.
Between the second and third seasons of The Sopranos, actress Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, passed away. Instead of starting Season 3 with her dying in the interregnum, they chose to film one more scene using incredibly primitive CGI, pasting her face on another actress’s body and using bits of dialogue outtakes.
More real-life circumstances written into shows-- the more bizarre the better
Michael O’Hare played Commander Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 but was replaced for season 2. Though he made a few appearances after, the reason for his removal was never explained until his death in 2012. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracznski revealed that O’Hare had severe mental illness, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, that worsened during filming the show and that he promised to keep the secret until O’Hare’s death.
Gregory Sierra was hired for the main cast of Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, but he asked to be written out of the series after four episodes, not wanting to reside in Miami where the show was being filmed. He was subsequently replaced by Edward James Olmos and his character, Lieutenant Martin Castillo.
When Michael Conrad unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 4 of Hill Street Blues, his character Phil Esterhaus also “died”, and rumored to have done so on top of his girlfriend while they were making love.
Before the fifth season of Here’s Lucy, Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. The show progressed with her character also having a broken leg and she spent much of the season in a wheelchair and full-leg cast.
Between the second and third seasons of The Sopranos, actress Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, passed away. Instead of starting Season 3 with her dying in the interregnum, they chose to film one more scene using incredibly primitive CGI, pasting her face on another actress’s body and using bits of dialogue outtakes.
Shortly before filming began on the pilot to WKRP in Cincinnati, actor Richard Sanders suffered a cut to his forehead and was forced to appear wearing a large bandage. This subsequently became a signature look for his character Les Nessman, who sported a bandage somewhere on his person for most episodes.
Michael O’Hare played Commander Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 but was replaced for season 2. Though he made a few appearances after, the reason for his removal was never explained until his death in 2012. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracznski revealed that O’Hare had severe mental illness, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, that worsened during filming the show and that he promised to keep the secret until O’Hare’s death.
Gregory Sierra was hired for the main cast of Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, but he asked to be written out of the series after four episodes, not wanting to reside in Miami where the show was being filmed. He was subsequently replaced by Edward James Olmos and his character, Lieutenant Martin Castillo.
When Michael Conrad unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 4 of Hill Street Blues, his character Phil Esterhaus also “died”, and rumored to have done so on top of his girlfriend while they were making love.
Before the fifth season of Here’s Lucy, Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. The show progressed with her character also having a broken leg and she spent much of the season in a wheelchair and full-leg cast.
Between the second and third seasons of The Sopranos, actress Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, passed away. Instead of starting Season 3 with her dying in the interregnum, they chose to film one more scene using incredibly primitive CGI, pasting her face on another actress’s body and using bits of dialogue outtakes.
Shortly before filming began on the pilot to WKRP in Cincinnati, actor Richard Sanders suffered a cut to his forehead and was forced to appear wearing a large bandage. This subsequently became a signature look for his character Les Nessman, who sported a bandage somewhere on his person for most episodes.
Another Xena example-- when Lucy Lawless fractured her hip, coincidentally, the show had just wrapped a body-switch episode with Callisto (Hudson Leick). In order to write out Lawless, the producers brought back Leick, and changed the ending of the body-switch episode, having Xena remain in Callisto’s body-- and remain throughout the next week’s episode as well, with just a few line rewrites. All of Lawless in that episode is a single shot of her face, and a bit of her voice. The next few episodes following that are “fight-light,” with Lawless reclining a lot.
Michael O’Hare played Commander Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 but was replaced for season 2. Though he made a few appearances after, the reason for his removal was never explained until his death in 2012. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracznski revealed that O’Hare had severe mental illness, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, that worsened during filming the show and that he promised to keep the secret until O’Hare’s death.
Gregory Sierra was hired for the main cast of Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, but he asked to be written out of the series after four episodes, not wanting to reside in Miami where the show was being filmed. He was subsequently replaced by Edward James Olmos and his character, Lieutenant Martin Castillo.
When Michael Conrad unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 4 of Hill Street Blues, his character Phil Esterhaus also “died”, and rumored to have done so on top of his girlfriend while they were making love.
Before the fifth season of Here’s Lucy, Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. The show progressed with her character also having a broken leg and she spent much of the season in a wheelchair and full-leg cast.
Between the second and third seasons of The Sopranos, actress Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, passed away. Instead of starting Season 3 with her dying in the interregnum, they chose to film one more scene using incredibly primitive CGI, pasting her face on another actress’s body and using bits of dialogue outtakes.
Shortly before filming began on the pilot to WKRP in Cincinnati, actor Richard Sanders suffered a cut to his forehead and was forced to appear wearing a large bandage. This subsequently became a signature look for his character Les Nessman, who sported a bandage somewhere on his person for most episodes.
Another Xena example-- when Lucy Lawless fractured her hip, coincidentally, the show had just wrapped a body-switch episode with Callisto (Hudson Leick). In order to write out Lawless, the producers brought back Leick, and changed the ending of the body-switch episode, having Xena remain in Callisto’s body-- and remain throughout the next week’s episode as well, with just a few line rewrites. All of Lawless in that episode is a single shot of her face, and a bit of her voice. The next few episodes following that are “fight-light,” with Lawless reclining a lot.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Rosalind Chao’s character, Keiko O’Brien, was pregnant with her second child with he husband Miles. Then Nana Visitor, who played Major Kira, became pregnant in real-life with the baby of her boyfriend Alexander Siddig, the actor behind Dr. Julian Bashir. So the writers concocted a story in which Kira, Keiko, and Bashir were involved in a runabout accident, and Keiko was hurt, necessitating Bashir moving Keiko’s baby to Kira’s womb. She would go on to carry the baby, named Kirayoshi in her honor, to term. A funny moment occurred about this when Kira told Gul Dukat that she was carrying Chief O’Brien’s baby. The look on his face.
More real-life circumstances written into shows-- the more bizarre the better
Michael O’Hare played Commander Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 but was replaced for season 2. Though he made a few appearances after, the reason for his removal was never explained until his death in 2012. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracznski revealed that O’Hare had severe mental illness, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, that worsened during filming the show and that he promised to keep the secret until O’Hare’s death.
Gregory Sierra was hired for the main cast of Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, but he asked to be written out of the series after four episodes, not wanting to reside in Miami where the show was being filmed. He was subsequently replaced by Edward James Olmos and his character, Lieutenant Martin Castillo.
When Michael Conrad unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 4 of Hill Street Blues, his character Phil Esterhaus also “died”, and rumored to have done so on top of his girlfriend while they were making love.
Before the fifth season of Here’s Lucy, Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. The show progressed with her character also having a broken leg and she spent much of the season in a wheelchair and full-leg cast.
Between the second and third seasons of The Sopranos, actress Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, passed away. Instead of starting Season 3 with her dying in the interregnum, they chose to film one more scene using incredibly primitive CGI, pasting her face on another actress’s body and using bits of dialogue outtakes.
Shortly before filming began on the pilot to WKRP in Cincinnati, actor Richard Sanders suffered a cut to his forehead and was forced to appear wearing a large bandage. This subsequently became a signature look for his character Les Nessman, who sported a bandage somewhere on his person for most episodes.
Another Xena example-- when Lucy Lawless fractured her hip, coincidentally, the show had just wrapped a body-switch episode with Callisto (Hudson Leick). In order to write out Lawless, the producers brought back Leick, and changed the ending of the body-switch episode, having Xena remain in Callisto’s body-- and remain throughout the next week’s episode as well, with just a few line rewrites. All of Lawless in that episode is a single shot of her face, and a bit of her voice. The next few episodes following that are “fight-light,” with Lawless reclining a lot.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Rosalind Chao’s character, Keiko O’Brien, was pregnant with her second child with he husband Miles. Then Nana Visitor, who played Major Kira, became pregnant in real-life with the baby of her boyfriend Alexander Siddig, the actor behind Dr. Julian Bashir. So the writers concocted a story in which Kira, Keiko, and Bashir were involved in a runabout accident, and Keiko was hurt, necessitating Bashir moving Keiko’s baby to Kira’s womb. She would go on to carry the baby, named Kirayoshi in her honor, to term. A funny moment occurred about this when Kira told Gul Dukat that she was carrying Chief O’Brien’s baby. The look on his face.
In 2018 Roseanne was renewed for a 10th and final season, picking up where the show left off in 1998. Roseanne Barr was fired from the set after 9 episodes, and the remaining cast members re-tooled the show into The Conners, with Barr’s character’s disappearance explained as fatally overdosing on opiates.
More real-life circumstances written into shows-- the more bizarre the better
Michael O’Hare played Commander Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 but was replaced for season 2. Though he made a few appearances after, the reason for his removal was never explained until his death in 2012. Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Stracznski revealed that O’Hare had severe mental illness, including paranoid delusions and hallucinations, that worsened during filming the show and that he promised to keep the secret until O’Hare’s death.
Gregory Sierra was hired for the main cast of Miami Vice where he played Lieutenant Lou Rodriguez, but he asked to be written out of the series after four episodes, not wanting to reside in Miami where the show was being filmed. He was subsequently replaced by Edward James Olmos and his character, Lieutenant Martin Castillo.
When Michael Conrad unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 4 of Hill Street Blues, his character Phil Esterhaus also “died”, and rumored to have done so on top of his girlfriend while they were making love.
Before the fifth season of Here’s Lucy, Lucille Ball broke her leg in a skiing accident. The show progressed with her character also having a broken leg and she spent much of the season in a wheelchair and full-leg cast.
Between the second and third seasons of The Sopranos, actress Nancy Marchand, who played Livia Soprano, passed away. Instead of starting Season 3 with her dying in the interregnum, they chose to film one more scene using incredibly primitive CGI, pasting her face on another actress’s body and using bits of dialogue outtakes.
Shortly before filming began on the pilot to WKRP in Cincinnati, actor Richard Sanders suffered a cut to his forehead and was forced to appear wearing a large bandage. This subsequently became a signature look for his character Les Nessman, who sported a bandage somewhere on his person for most episodes.
Another Xena example-- when Lucy Lawless fractured her hip, coincidentally, the show had just wrapped a body-switch episode with Callisto (Hudson Leick). In order to write out Lawless, the producers brought back Leick, and changed the ending of the body-switch episode, having Xena remain in Callisto’s body-- and remain throughout the next week’s episode as well, with just a few line rewrites. All of Lawless in that episode is a single shot of her face, and a bit of her voice. The next few episodes following that are “fight-light,” with Lawless reclining a lot.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Rosalind Chao’s character, Keiko O’Brien, was pregnant with her second child with he husband Miles. Then Nana Visitor, who played Major Kira, became pregnant in real-life with the baby of her boyfriend Alexander Siddig, the actor behind Dr. Julian Bashir. So the writers concocted a story in which Kira, Keiko, and Bashir were involved in a runabout accident, and Keiko was hurt, necessitating Bashir moving Keiko’s baby to Kira’s womb. She would go on to carry the baby, named Kirayoshi in her honor, to term. A funny moment occurred about this when Kira told Gul Dukat that she was carrying Chief O’Brien’s baby. The look on his face.
In 2018 Roseanne was renewed for a 10th and final season, picking up where the show left off in 1998. Roseanne Barr was fired from the set after 9 episodes, and the remaining cast members re-tooled the show into The Conners, with Barr’s character’s disappearance explained as fatally overdosing on opiates.
When Jane Leeves got pregnant her character Daphne Moon developed an eating disorder, gaining weight over a number of episodes. Then spent a few episodes away at fat camp while the actress gave birth, to return the show fully cured.
Episodes that are largely hallucinations
Reservation Dogs: This is where the plot thickens.
Reservation Dogs: “This is where the plot thickens”
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Shades of Gray”
The Sopranos: “Isabella”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: “Distant Voices”
House - " Hallucination Liar"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Normal Again
Justice League Unlimited - “For The Man Who Has Everything”
Mad Men - “Far Away Places” (Roger drops acid); “Waterloo” (Bert sings and dances after dying); “The Crash” (The team takes a concoction of drugs to boost productivity)
Reservation Dogs: “This is where the plot thickens”
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Shades of Gray”
The Sopranos: “Isabella”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: “Distant Voices”
House - " Hallucination Liar"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Normal Again
Justice League Unlimited - “For The Man Who Has Everything”
Mad Men - “Far Away Places” (Roger drops acid); “Waterloo” (Bert sings and dances after dying); “The Crash” (The team takes a concoction of drugs to boost productivity)
Reservation Dogs: “This is where the plot thickens”
Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Shades of Gray”
The Sopranos: “Isabella”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: “Distant Voices”
House - " Hallucination Liar"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Normal Again
Justice League Unlimited - “For The Man Who Has Everything”
Mad Men - “Far Away Places” (Roger drops acid); “Waterloo” (Bert sings and dances after dying); “The Crash” (The team takes a concoction of drugs to boost productivity)
Murdoch Mysteries - “Why Is Everybody Singing?”
MASH – “Dreams” (season 8, episode 22)
The members of the 4077th – Col. Potter, Father Mulcahy, Hawkeye, B.J., Margaret, Maj. Winchester, and Klinger – have their dreams (dreams are a form of hallucination, no?) invaded by the harsh reality of war.