# Why do people like Roseanne, Colin Quinn etc. keep getting work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898 "2003-02-18T15:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/1 "2003-02-18T15:52:55Z")
Why do people who are apparently way, way past the arc of whatever entertainment value they once had keep getting shots that up and coming talent would die for? Is talent that thin? Is it just inertia, the power of show biz connections … or what ? [Roseanne Pilot](http://msnbc.com/news/873192.asp?0cv=CB20) > [@](#): > > Roseanne is filming a pilot for what has been described as a “studio-based TV cooking/talk show.” All the behind-the-scenes workers have been told they have to be prepared to be part of a reality-based show. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/2 "2003-02-18T15:59:20Z")
Because people keep talking about them in popular fora like, say, this one. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/3 "2003-02-18T16:25:07Z")
Familiar mediocrity trumps unknown talent every time. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/4 "2003-02-18T20:38:38Z")
Maybe they’re really funny in person, which would make it easy to sell execs on a new show. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/5 "2003-02-18T23:33:10Z")
Well, Roseanne had a show that really was of such high quality for a very long time, and she was very successful with her stand-up comedy before that. She is someone who, I believe, has the potential to sell. She may flop 100 times, but I can still see her striking gold with something some time, perhaps in the distant future. She seems worth taking a chance on. Now as for **Colin Quinn** , boy am I stumped. (and I’ll be watching this thread with interest for an answer to that one). ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/6 "2003-02-19T01:33:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moe \* > \*\*Well, Roseanne had a show that really was of such high quality for a very long time, and she was very successful with her stand-up comedy before that. She is someone who, I believe, has the potential to sell. She may flop 100 times, but I can still see her striking gold with something some time, perhaps in the distant future. She seems worth taking a chance on. > > \*\* I second that. Even her “flop” of a talk show was critically revered. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/7 "2003-02-19T02:52:46Z")
Comedians call Colin Quinn the comedian’s comedian which is another way of saying he isn’t funny. He is so grossly ineloquent that there is no possibility of smooth delivery even if he did manage to come up with something funny. Shoot him. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/8 "2003-02-19T04:15:39Z")
I like Colin Quinn. Lord knows, he’s not funny, or particularly clever, or really talented in any imaginable way. But he’s got this whole “everday guy” kinda thing. He looks like the kind of guy who’d be fun to crack a couple beers and watch a ballgame with him. The wierd part is, I really hate both beer and professional sports. ---
**Author:** ![Rie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a6a055/32.png) [@Rie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/9 "2003-02-19T13:04:44Z")
Because God hates us and wants us to suffer? ---
**Author:** ![gris\_gris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@gris\_gris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gris_gris)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/10 "2003-02-19T13:59:53Z")
hey i like quinn you bastards! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/11 "2003-02-19T15:03:13Z")
Back when I was a young man, the **Whoopi Goldberg** phenomenon drove me up a wall. She started out in the unwieldy Oprah-vehicle _The Color Purple_, then appeared in a string of money-losing critical flops like _Burglar_ and _Clara’s Heart_. Through all of this, Hollywood seemed manaically focused on promoting her career and making her a big star…when she finally turned in a non-embarrassing performance, in _Ghost_, they shoved an Oscar at her so fast they almost knocked her over. She’s had television shows, hosted the Academy Awards, and now she’s starring in the critcally-panned Broadway revival of _Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom_. And over all of these years, through her entire 20-inch IMdB filmography entry, she has sucked like a French horn in reverse. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/12 "2003-02-19T15:04:36Z")
I like him too, but there’s little question that there are more talented people out there that don’t get TV shows. Unfortunately, nobody will watch a TV show with Ralph P. Unknown Jr. It’s not a good investment. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-like-roseanne-colin-quinn-etc-keep-getting-work/155898/13 "2003-02-19T18:01:09Z")
I admit to having had a profound “what the _hell?_” reaction when I saw Whoopi Goldberg’s name on the cast for STNG… In the long run, I enjoyed her character and how she played her, but still…