# When celebrities' reputations jump the shark **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [March 30, 2026, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887 "2026-03-30T13:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/102 "2026-03-31T17:52:17Z")
Larry David took a lot of flak for appearing in a 2022 FTX cryptocurrency ad as a crypto skeptic who insists he’s “never wrong.” (As irony would have it, he was paid in crypto for the ad and lost a huge amount when his investment crashed.) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/103 "2026-03-31T18:43:33Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > Jeff Bridges is doing _podcast_ commercials for T Mobile using his Lebowski personae. > > They’re on TV as well (unless podcast includes this), and it positively baffles me. WHY in the world would he bother doing this? The [first commercial in this series](https://youtu.be/cr6WeN1SRQM) I saw was a strange threesome with Jeff Bridges in his Lebowski persona, Zoe Saldana, and this slacker-looking dude who I thought was supposed to be this Lebowski Jr. type, as if the big Lebowski had a son, or took on an apprentice or something. But my wife later told me it was [Zoe Saldana’s real-life husband](https://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1234823783/zoe-saldana-husband-marco-perego-saldana/), and that’s just how he looks IRL. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/104 "2026-03-31T18:45:06Z")
I saw SnoopLoops cereal in the store. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/105 "2026-03-31T18:46:43Z")
[![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/Mr_T_Cereal_front_cover.jpg?_=20160222060101) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/35/Mr_T_Cereal_front_cover.jpg?_=20160222060101) ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/106 "2026-03-31T18:51:29Z")
I dunno…did anyone really think “I can’t believe Mr. T is degrading his reputation as a thespian by engaging in this crass commercialism?” ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/107 "2026-03-31T18:53:43Z")
I think Mr. T has a similar challenge to Snoop Dogg. It’s not so much a question of professional respect as a thespian, as it is maintaining ‘street cred’. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/108 "2026-03-31T18:58:27Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Jeff Bridges He’s had some pretty serious health issues. He may want be ensuring there’s still money left after he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/109 "2026-03-31T19:03:27Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > I think Mr. T has a similar challenge to Snoop Dogg. It’s not so much a question of professional respect as a thespian, as it is maintaining ‘street cred’. Mr. T starred in a family friendly prime time television series, had his own cartoon, and released a rap about respecting your mother right. ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RO6JiFztJdg/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/RO6JiFztJdg?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=RDRO6JiFztJdg ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/110 "2026-03-31T19:05:44Z")
I’m going to nominate MC Hammer. He tried changing his name to Hammer in an effort to tap into the gangsta rap market, but this is a guy who sang for the Addams Family movie and had a Saturday morning cartoon. Trying to go all hard just made him a laughing stock. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/111 "2026-03-31T19:10:45Z")
He also wrote a book. I read a few pages of it one day while idling in the PX. _He actually wrote his autobiography_…._by himself!_ No ghost writer. No help. He plainly did so because I remember it having a style something like this: _I wrote this book. I wrote it myself. I could have had some professional writer write it but then it wouldn’t be my book. So I wrote it. These are my words. So if you don’t like it you can blame me._ ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/112 "2026-03-31T19:11:04Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Trying to go all hard just made him a laughing stock. Hammer’s got nothin’ on Pat Boone. [![](https://www.covermesongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Pat-Boone-and-Alice-Cooper2-400x289.jpg) ](https://www.covermesongs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Pat-Boone-and-Alice-Cooper2-400x289.jpg) ---
**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:** [March 31, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/113 "2026-03-31T20:36:42Z")
Ya gotta admit Boone had to have serious guts to dress like that on national TV in that era _while appearing as himself_, not portraying some artificial character. Either that or a total lack of sense. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2026, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/114 "2026-03-31T22:41:56Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Mr. T starred in a family friendly prime time television series. This one, too: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VxRdv8fbbxA/maxresdefault.jpg "Episode 1 - T And T | FULL EPISODE | RETRO RERUN") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxRdv8fbbxA) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/115 "2026-03-31T22:43:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Ya gotta admit Boone had to have serious guts to dress like that on national TV in that era _while appearing as himself_, not portraying some artificial character. Yeah, I can’t stand Pat Boone but I give him credit for having a sense of humor on that one. Now David Lee Roth doing [bluegrass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olk8rZmlhY4)? That’s embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/116 "2026-03-31T23:41:26Z")
Pat Boone may be a square in most people’s books, but he was good friends with Ozzy when they were neighbors. > _When he and Sharon and the kids lived next-door to me for a couple of years…we were just friends and neighbors getting along just fine. I was amazed when Sharon picked my version of Ozzy‘s “Crazy Train” as the opening theme of their hugely successful reality TV show. Others may celebrate his incredible rocking style and hard rock music – but I’ll always remember his warm friendliness as my next-door neighbor_. He also had a fan in Ritchie Blackmore: > …_I’ve always looked up to Pat Boone; I listened to him in the ’50s, when I was going to school, and when I was asked to play on one of his modern recordings, I considered it an honor. It’s great to be able to play on an album by someone who inspired you when you were growing up_. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/117 "2026-04-01T01:32:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Ya gotta admit Boone had to have serious guts to dress like that on national TV in that era _while appearing as himself_, not portraying some artificial character. The whole thing was tongue-in-cheek. Boone released an album covering a bunch of heavy metal songs and this was just his way to promote it. Apparently he took some flak from fans who thought metal covers were tasteless, but overall I’m not sure Boone’s reputation jumped the shark here. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/118 "2026-04-01T02:10:40Z")
Not to be confused with “Mr. T And Tina” which, believe it or not, didn’t feature him at all. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2026, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/119 "2026-04-01T03:07:53Z")
I must have missed that one. ☹ ---
**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:** [April 1, 2026, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/120 "2026-04-01T04:31:25Z")
It was a “blink and you miss it” thing: a very short-lived spin-off from _Welcome Back, Kotter_ in 1976 (several years before the other Mr. T became well-known), which starred Pat Morita as a Japanese inventor named Taro Takahashi, a.k.a. “Mr. T.” Only five episodes ever aired, and it was apparently pretty awful. > **[Mr. T and Tina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T_and_Tina)** > > Mr. T and Tina is an American sitcom and a spin-off of Welcome Back, Kotter starring Pat Morita and Susan Blanchard that aired for five episodes on ABC from September 25 to October 30, 1976. It is one of the first television shows to feature a predominantly Asian-American cast. The series was a ratings flop and was cancelled after only five aired episodes. > Pat Morita starred as Taro Takahashi, a widowed Japanese inventor who is sent with his family (an uncle and sister-in-law) from Tokyo to se... ---
**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:** [April 1, 2026, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/121 "2026-04-01T04:56:52Z")
I missed it because I was living in England in the Fall of 1976. 😣 There are posts on YouTube of the most short-lived TV series of different years. I’ll try finding _ **Mr T and Tina** _ in one for 1976. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887.md?page=7)