Brian Damage
09-22-2011, 11:08 PM
At the end of last year's prime time television season, Fox -- the network with the itchiest trigger finger on television when it comes to cancelling shows -- gave Christian Slater the bad news that his show, "Breaking In," had gotten the axe. Many in the media, including myself, began proclaiming Christian Slater as the new King of the Show Killers, having suffered an 0-3 streak with "The Forgotten" and "My Own Worst Enemy." But the reality is, even if Fox hadn't reversed recently course and given "Breaking In" a second-season renewal (as a mid-season replacement), Christian Slater is nowhere near King of the Show Killers. Three cancelled TV shows wouldn't even put the man in the top 20.
Indeed, you might imagine that after three strikes a sitcom actor would typically float off into obscurity. Not true of many actors, who manage to climb aboard a new show every pilot season, only to see another effort crash and burn. But like the Phoenix from the ashes, these television duds rise again. Of course, some of the most notorious show killers eventually do land a hit: Jon Cryer, for instance, failed nearly a dozen times between Pretty in Pink and "Two and a Half Men." Others, like the supremely talented Paula Marshall, can be seen yet again on this fall season's television schedule as Maleficent in "Once Upon a Time." I give it 6 episodes.
http://www.uproxx.com/media/2011/09/the-uproxx-guide-to-televisions-20-most-lethal-show-killers/#page/1
Indeed, you might imagine that after three strikes a sitcom actor would typically float off into obscurity. Not true of many actors, who manage to climb aboard a new show every pilot season, only to see another effort crash and burn. But like the Phoenix from the ashes, these television duds rise again. Of course, some of the most notorious show killers eventually do land a hit: Jon Cryer, for instance, failed nearly a dozen times between Pretty in Pink and "Two and a Half Men." Others, like the supremely talented Paula Marshall, can be seen yet again on this fall season's television schedule as Maleficent in "Once Upon a Time." I give it 6 episodes.
http://www.uproxx.com/media/2011/09/the-uproxx-guide-to-televisions-20-most-lethal-show-killers/#page/1