# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/122 "2026-04-01T16:42:57Z")
Apparently, Michael Richards, the actor who played Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld is also a standup comedian. I wonder why he isn’t doing that any more? ---
**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:** [April 1, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/123 "2026-04-01T16:49:14Z")
At least he got a second chance on _Curb Your Enthusiasm_: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ktZde2tEK1Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Curb Your Enthusiasm - If only there were a horrible name") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktZde2tEK1Y) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/124 "2026-04-01T16:53:19Z")
A Mea Culpa written by someone else. Yeah, the shark was indeed jumped. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/125 "2026-04-01T17:22:07Z")
It took 23 years for Jerry Van Dyke to recover from _My Mother the Car_ 1965-66. His redemption finally came with _Coach_ 1989–97. He was nominated 4 times for an Emmy but didn’t win. He survived the lean years with a odd banjo/comedy act. He often performed in my home state of Arkansas. Hot Springs was a popular tourist spot with spas and clubs where Jerry sometimes performed. Jerry retired and lived in Arkansas. Died Jan 5, 2018, in Malvern Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/126 "2026-04-01T17:32:43Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > He’s had some pretty serious health issues. He may want be ensuring there’s still money left after he’s gone. He had lymphoma that required extreme chemo (my best friend happened to have exactly the same cancer at the same time); unlike my friend, during or just after the cancer chemo, Jeff contracted COVID which very nearly killed him. The medical expenses were certainly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars but I find it hard to believe that Jeff’s wealth couldn’t easily absorb the hit. But you may be right. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/127 "2026-04-01T17:43:54Z")
IIRC he torpedoed his standup career (and reputation) by making extremely hostile racist remarks on stage. ---
**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, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/128 "2026-04-01T18:58:38Z")
He was POed by a heckler and flew off the handle. Unfortunately, it was videotaped and made public. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/129 "2026-04-01T21:27:45Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He was POed by a heckler and flew off the handle He called the heckler a n\*\*\*er and made a reference to lynching. Even his fellow comedians were very critical of him. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/130 "2026-04-01T22:50:46Z")
One evening, just a few years after he crashed and burned, I was channel-surfing, and there Hammer was, doing a Bible lesson. ---
**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 2, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/131 "2026-04-02T00:29:30Z")
I always felt a bit bad for Hammer. He had a few harsh lessons when it came to managing money, employing friends and family who did nothing by drain his accounts, providing nothing in return, and whoever advised him to go hard to stay relevant did him a disservice. I think Hammer was talented enough that he might have been able to make it through the gangsta rap period without trying to make himself out to be something he wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/132 "2026-04-02T03:33:11Z")
“I didn’t choose the Thug Life… in fact the Thug Life kicked me out!” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/133 "2026-04-02T13:23:10Z")
Mickey Rooney, once the highest paid actor in Hollywood, will always be remembered by people my age (old, but not Mickey Rooney is a star old) as the crazy guy pretend washing invisible dishes as his wife shills insurance. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/134 "2026-04-02T13:56:00Z")
Interesting. I know him only as a star of movies that were 10-20 years old when I was a kid seeing them on TV. I have no recollection of any commercials he ever appeared in. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/135 "2026-04-02T14:03:28Z")
Probably won’t imbed and it’s other people commenting on how weird it is, but I found this clip. Not only did it not embed, it wouldn’t let me post at all. I had to break the link with a space before the word ‘shorts’ in the link if you wanna try that hard to see. [https://www.youtube.com/](https://www.youtube.com/) shorts/pNOm9ob\_Arg ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/136 "2026-04-02T14:06:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > How about Orson Welles? About 45 years ago, he was doing [commercials for Paul Masson wines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Welles_Paul_Masson_advertisements). To go from directing one of the highest-rated movies of all time to shilling low-end wines is quite a drop in one’s career. > > “We will sell no wine before its time.” When I was a kid, my father worked for Paul Masson, setting up signage in supermarkets, restocking and straightening the bottles, etc. We had SO MUCH Paul Masson-Orson Wells crap in our garage. The signs were slick, so on the rare snow days in Atlanta, we used them for sleds. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2026, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/137 "2026-04-02T14:10:12Z")
Thank you. FTR, here it is [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pNOm9ob_Arg/maxresdefault.jpg "I don’t know how to wash dishes, JANET!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNOm9ob_Arg) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/138 "2026-04-02T14:10:46Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Probably won’t imbed and it’s other people commenting on how weird it is, but I found this clip. Not only did it not embed, it wouldn’t let me post at all. This should do it: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vKG_aJveYbA/hqdefault.jpg "Garden State Life Mickey Rooney 2004 Commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKG_aJveYbA) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/139 "2026-04-02T14:12:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Interesting. I know him only as a star of movies that were 10-20 years old when I was a kid seeing them on TV. I have no recollection of any commercials he ever appeared in. I remember Mickey Rooney doing some commercials – but not that particular one. However, that’s easily explained. 2004 was in our family’s toddler-TV phase when we watched very little adult TV. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/140 "2026-04-02T14:34:39Z")
> [@solost](#): > > But why does Jon Hamm, who seems to be having a very active career, and appears or does vioceovers in several other commercials, need to also hawk online gambling? “Active career” and lots of money don’t always go together. Dean Winters has been a regular in at least five series I remember ( _Rescue Me_, _Oz_, _Law and Order SVU_, and _30 Rock_) plus I don’t know how many one-offs and even a couple of movies - but I remeber reading he’s earned more from those Allstate Mayhem commercials than all the movie and TV roles put together. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887/141 "2026-04-02T14:56:01Z")
That’s not hard to understand at all. Featured actors on TV shows make good money but not life-changing never have to work again money. Only a few big stars get to do that. On the other hand a multi year national commercial campaign can be very lucrative. I’ve read that Flo from progressive makes $1 to $2 million a year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-celebrities-reputations-jump-the-shark/1028887.md?page=8)