Everyone knows that familiar feeling of when you turn on a show - maybe it is new to you or maybe you are rewatching an old nostalgic favorite - and as you watch, all of a sudden, you see a face that you recognize and point and say, “Hey, I didn’t know they were in this!” It is easy to forget that movie stars have to start somewhere, but they aren’t usually remembered for their stints on sitcoms or police procedurals before they hit it big. There will always be easy examples of stars hitting it big after first coming up on the small screen, such as George Clooney in ER. But sometimes, it is hard to recall where someone got their start, and their performances have been largely forgotten by audiences over time.
Other times, maybe after an actor is further along in their career but needs work, they may find themselves being introduced into an already successful TV show - oftentimes replacing a cast member leaving - and these sorts of performances often evaporate from fans' mental databases of actor roles as well.
Whether either or neither is the case, below are performances and characters that, despite the celebrity or prestige of the actor, have largely been left behind and forgotten about.
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Universally loved and one of the most recognizable celebrities of today, Paul Rudd, long before being known as Ant-Man of the MCU or a newscaster in Anchorman, was Mike Hannigan, Phoebe’s final love interest and eventual husband in Friends. Rudd’s famous charisma and nice-guy charm were always in full effect with this character, leading to his quick rise to becoming a fan favorite.
Those qualities along with his goofy disposition and eccentric behavior perfectly matched that of the wildcard Phoebe, and the two seemed as if they couldn’t be a better pair. Luckily, fate brought the two characters together… if you call “fate” Joey lying to Phoebe about having set up a date for her with a friend named Mike, and then going into the park and yelling the name until finally someone with that name responds and says they will go out with her. That classifies as fate still, doesn’t it?
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Widely known for starring as Leonard on The Big Bang Theory, Johnny Galecki has been acting for quite a while, beginning his career as a child actor with roles in popular films like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. But not all his roles have been major ones, as before rising to TV stardom as a certified genius and roommate of Sheldon, he was the little brother of Roseanne series regular character Mark Healy. From there, his part gradually grew to be eventually that of the love interest of Darlene Conners, one of the main cast members of the show. When Galecki first made an appearance in the sitcom, it had been as a character named Kevin, but he soon was brought back with the name David, and from there on out, he would be a recurring character who develops a romance with and ends the show marrying Darlene. Having kids with one of the main characters of the show is a pretty big step up from being a character with a changing name, and Galecki would go on to be featured in most episodes for the rest of the popular show's run.
It is funny how little this character and performance is thought of though when the other roles of The Big Bang Theory cast are brought up. The other series leads such as Jim Parsons have had several notable parts that have earned him recognition like in The Normal Heart or Hidden Figures, or Kaley Cuoco whose show The Flight Attendant has led to her fame rising even more. And fellow Big Bang Theory co-star who had also previously been a child actor, Mayim Bialik, will always be known as Blossom from the sitcom of the same name. Galecki’s role as David on Roseanne seemingly is his next best claim to fame after Big Bang Theory, but it just isn’t too memorable of a part, apparently.
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Everyone knows Pamela Anderson, and everyone knows the show that was Tim Allen’s original claim to fame, Home Improvement. But do you ever associate the two together? Do you even realize that is where Pamela Anderson was first introduced into the world of acting? That’s right, she didn’t magically sprout from the beaches of Baywatch first; she was the “Tool Time girl” on Allen’s fictional show within a show. So, while she may have struck it big by saving the beach-goers of Los Angeles, she was first in charge of handing tools to Tim and Al of Tool Time.
Looking back now, Anderson is almost unrecognizable. Seeing the young and fresh-faced star before all the controversy of her career is a strange sight, and just flip on either Seasons 1 or 2 of the show and see for yourself what the Playboy model looked like early on.
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It seems like it would be hard to forget when someone is on one of the most popular and critically acclaimed TV shows of all time, but who honestly when thinking of Laura Linney thinks of her as being on Frasier? Not only was the Ozark and Truman Show actress a recurring character in the final season of the hit sitcom, but she was the lead character Frasier Crane’s last love interest - and one which he ends the show trying to pursue (and possibly is giving up his dreams of show business for). This kind of elevates her from just a recurring character to a rather vital one, doesn’t it? So isn’t it even more strange that her appearance on the show has been largely forgotten by the masses?
Frasier won an - at the time - record-setting number of Emmys with 37, and at one point won five best comedy program awards in a row. The successful show began as a spin-off to another massively popular sitcom Cheers, and this one followed the life of Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist moving back to his hometown of Seattle and reconnecting with his family while exploring the world of show business as a radio host. The persnickety and at times snotty character has had his unlucky stabs at love throughout both of the two shows' runs, but in the final season, he appears to make a real connection with Laura Linney’s newly introduced character Charlotte. So much of a connection blooms that in the finale episode when she is forced to move to Chicago for work and he has an opportunity to begin a career in TV in Los Angeles, he chooses to follow her to Chicago and the show ends on a positive and uplifting note - a feeling relatively uncommon for Frasier. Linney has gained critical recognition throughout her career, and her role on Frasier was no different, winning her an Emmy for her role in the final season.
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It is well known that before Bryan Cranston was everyone’s favorite meth-cooking chemistry teacher Walter White in Breaking Bad, he was Malcolm’s wacky father Hal in Malcolm in the Middle. But even before this came a significant part that would end up being one of his biggest breaks and highest profile roles up until that point in his career, and that was playing Tim Whatley of Seinfeld.
Playing Jerry’s dentist as well as being a short-lived love interest of Elaine’s who, like most people, has multiple awkward or questionable interactions with the crew, that result in many group discussions at the coffee shop about his behavior, and a larger conversation about people like him in society. The Seinfeld norm, basically. And, man, is there some weirdness being dished out by the four-time Leading Actor Emmy winner in the different appearances he makes over the course of the show. In one episode, it is brought to Jerry’s attention that not only is Cranston’s character sleeping with his dental assistants, but he may be involving patients involuntarily when they are put under during dental procedures. Just leave it to the '90s to go and try to make a storyline about a doctor sexually assaulting patients seem funny, but this crass episode plot doesn’t seem to effect his standing with the main characters as Jerry returns to his office again in a later episode.
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Unless you are a dedicated fan of The X-Files, you may not even know that star and series lead David Duchovny left the show after the 8th season, and though he did return afterward, he was no longer really the main focus of the show. Leaving his partner Dana Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, meant that she was in need of a new partner to investigate the paranormal activity of the X-Files with, and Robert Patrick’s new character, a former marine and police officer named John Doggett, filled the opening admirably. Patrick was, and still is, known mainly for his big break of a part in The Terminator franchise's second film T2: Judgment Day, in which he plays the main antagonist, but here, he got to play one of the good guys for once - not a common occurrence in his career full of villainous roles.
Scully and Mulder were always filling the screen with sexual tension, and their complicated work and personal relationship dynamics, along with vastly differing beliefs, were always a large part of the show. So when Duchovny left, fans worried they would never be able to recapture the same sort of partnership that made people love the show so much. But new characters open up new possibilities, and a major shift occurred in the foundation of the show's dynamic after he departed.
Patrick’s new character took over the unofficial “no-nonsense non-believer” role in the partnership that had previously belonged to Scully, and now thanks to her years spent with the idealistic and alien-obsessed Fox Mulder, the special agent from then on found herself filling the role of “believer” and was no longer the skeptic she once was - thanks to the numerous pieces of unexplained evidence she had come across over their investigations. So while Patrick’s Doggett may not be anyone's favorite character in the X-Files, his appearance, which has been largely forgotten by audiences, was a vital one in keeping the show afloat.
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