Seann William Scott to Replace Clayne Crawford on "Lethal Weapon"; Series Renewed for Season 3 at Fox
by Nellie Andreeva
May 13, 2018


One of the most dramatic storylines this upfront season has come to an end, with American Pie alum Seann William Scott tapped to star opposite Damon Wayans on Fox’s "Lethal Weapon".

He replaces original co-lead Clayne Crawford whose option for next season will not be picked up by producer Warner Bros. TV over on-set behavior issues.




With Wayans and Scott as new leading duo, "Lethal Weapon" has been renewed for a third season about 24 hours before Fox is slated to unveil its fall 2018 schedule to advertisers at its upfront presentation.

In his first series regular role, Scott will be playing a new character who will be partnered with Wayans’ Murtaugh.




“Seann is a fantastic addition to this already amazing cast,” said Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn.

“Lethal Weapon is packed with action, drama and pure fun and we can’t wait to see Damon and Seann together on screen. Matt Miller, his incredible team and everyone at Warner Bros. have been tremendous partners, and we’re thrilled to bring this show back for another season.”

http://deadline.com/2018/05/seann-william-scott-cast-lethal-weapon-replace-clayne-crawford-out-series-renewed-season-3-fox-1202388143/

Clayne Crawford breaks his silence on Lethal Weapon firing, wishes cast and crew good luck next season (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/clayne-crawford-responds-lethal-weapon-firing-1111487)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Crawford was fired (http://forums.previously.tv/topic/43422-lethal-weapon-in-the-media-well-i-got-news-for-you-rog-im-not-crazy/?page=4) after doing nothing to change his behavior each time he was reprimanded, prompting Warner Bros. TV to refuse to even consider moving forward with the series with him aboard. Thus Fox didn't have the option of renewing the show with Crawford attached. "To my cast and crew - CONGRATULATIONS on season 3 (https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/8j62f0/lethal_weapon_seann_william_scott_replaces_clayne/)! To the Fans - Thank you for the overwhelming support and love," Crawford wrote on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/BiuysOoHfqh). "Riggs was a dream role and the experience will live with me forever. My heart is full. Good Luck nxt season!!" ALSO: Some Lethal Weapon fans aren't happy with the Seann William Scott casting. (http://www.tvguide.com/news/lethal-weapon-clayne-crawford-seann-william-scott-reactions/)

The show is dead.

I've never watched this show but I do like SWS. I've always had a crush on him lol.

Fox Brass on "Lethal Weapon" Lead Recasting
by Nellie Andreeva
May 14, 2018


Fox made more headlines yesterday with the dramatic last-minute renewal of "Lethal Weapon" with Seann William Scott replacing original co-lead Clayne Crawford.

On Crawford’s ouster and bringing back "Lethal Weapon" with a new co-star, Scott, playing a new character, Fox chairman Dana Walden said, “It wasn’t our choice. Our partners at Warner Bros. came to us and said that they could not deliver the show as it was.”




She noted that it was a difficult decision on both the part of the studio and the network. After the studio presented Fox with Scott as a replacement, the network signed off on a third season.

“I think we made the right choice,” she said, noting that Scott’s addition brings “good new dynamic to the show with a lot of its original dynamic intact.”




Newman added that “90 percent of the cast is coming back,” including the Murtaugh family, which is an important focal point of the show.

“We will be making sure to let the audience know there is something new” on the series this fall, he added regarding Fox’s marketing plans for Season 3 and noted that another cop drama, ABC’s "NYPD Blue", had to replace one of its two leads after the first season after David Caruso’s exit, but went on to have a long and successful run.

http://deadline.com/2018/05/lucifer-canceled-lethal-weapon-clayne-crawford-ouster-recasting-fox-executives-reaction-1202390233/

Fox Brass on "Lethal Weapon" Lead Recasting
by Nellie Andreeva
May 14, 2018


Fox made more headlines yesterday with the dramatic last-minute renewal of "Lethal Weapon" with Seann William Scott replacing original co-lead Clayne Crawford.

On Crawford’s ouster and bringing back "Lethal Weapon" with a new co-star, Scott, playing a new character, Fox chairman Dana Walden said, “It wasn’t our choice. Our partners at Warner Bros. came to us and said that they could not deliver the show as it was.”




She noted that it was a difficult decision on both the part of the studio and the network. After the studio presented Fox with Scott as a replacement, the network signed off on a third season.

“I think we made the right choice,” she said, noting that Scott’s addition brings “good new dynamic to the show with a lot of its original dynamic intact.”




Newman added that “90 percent of the cast is coming back,” including the Murtaugh family, which is an important focal point of the show.

“We will be making sure to let the audience know there is something new” on the series this fall, he added regarding Fox’s marketing plans for Season 3 and noted that another cop drama, ABC’s "NYPD Blue", had to replace one of its two leads after the first season after David Caruso’s exit, but went on to have a long and successful run.

http://deadline.com/2018/05/lucifer-canceled-lethal-weapon-clayne-crawford-ouster-recasting-fox-executives-reaction-1202390233/

http://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/lethal-weapon-will-return-in-season-3-with-seann-william-scott.php

I like Scott. He was great in Goon, but Lethal Weapons doesn’t work more than it does, and when it does, it was because Crawford could anchor it with some truly anguished performances. I don’t suspect that Scott will be capable of that, and Lethal Weapon will lean harder toward its action-comedy elements, giving up what little drama it had. It will probably be a bigger show, but I doubt it will be as good, not that it was ever that good to begin with.

Fox execs say they didn't fire Clayne Crawford from Lethal Weapon, but they supported the decision (http://deadline.com/2018/05/lucifer-canceled-lethal-weapon-clayne-crawford-ouster-recasting-fox-executives-reaction-1202390233/)
Fox Television Group CEO Dana Walden says it "was not our choice" to drop Crawford. "Our partners at Warner Bros. came to us about three weeks ago to tell us that they could not deliver Lethal Weapon as we’ve known it, that there were some real challenges in the cast,” he says. ALSO: Fox says canceling Lucifer was a "ratings-based decision." (http://deadline.com/2018/05/lucifer-canceled-lethal-weapon-clayne-crawford-ouster-recasting-fox-executives-reaction-1202390233/)

Lethal Weapon reveals Seann Williams Scott's character -- he's not named "Riggs" -- and adds Maggie Lawson as his ex (https://deadline.com/2018/07/lethal-weapon-seann-william-scott-character-name-maggie-lawson-play-his-ex-fox-series-1202435219/)
There was "chatter" that Scott, in taking over for Clayne Crawford's Martin Riggs on the Fox drama, would play Riggs' brother (https://deadline.com/2018/05/seann-william-scott-cast-lethal-weapon-replace-clayne-crawford-out-series-renewed-season-3-fox-1202388143/). But Scott's character now has a name, and it's not "Riggs." Scott will play Wesley Cole, a war veteran and father. Former Psych star Maggie Lawson will recur as his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child.

Seann William Scott was a Big Factor in "Lethal Weapon’s" Return to Fox – TCA
by Anthony D'Alessandro
August 2, 2018


For a moment, there was a possibility that "Lethal Weapon" wouldn’t return for a season 3 on Fox following the firing of star Clayne Crawford over his on-set behavior issues.

But the TV series creator Matt Miller’s ability to land American Pie star Seann William Scott made a huge difference in the show’s return.




“If we could not feel confident to bring that show back with a great cast in a way that the audience would accept it, we would have simply not brought the show back,” said Fox TV Group boss Gary Newman today at TCA. “Until they came up with Seann, we were planning a schedule without Lethal Weapon.”

“When Warner Bros. came to us at the end of last season and said that they needed to make a change, Matt Miller started developing that character, and it was very much informed by the actor he was able to get. We’re incredibly excited about being in business with Seann. We pursued him before and never successfully landed him and Matt is a fantastic showrunner and came up with a great character.”




There was talk that Scott would play a brother to Crawford’s Riggs, or even return as Riggs, but with plastic surgery.

“There were really no thoughts of plastic surgery or bringing back the same character,” said Newman to those rumors.

https://deadline.com/2018/08/lethal-weapon-seann-william-scott-replacement-clayne-crawford-behavior-tca-1202439045/

Damon Wayans: Lethal Weapon is a lot "lighter" in tone with Seann William Scott (https://deadline.com/2018/08/lethal-weapon-damon-wayans-casting-shakeup-on-lseason-3-clayne-crawford-sean-william-scott-1202439412/)
“We’re only the first (episode) in but it is definitely a lot lighter in tone, and we are having fun, on and off set. It’s just a lot looser, nobody’s overthinking, just doing and having fun doing,” Wayans told critics at the TV press tour. As for former co-star Clayne Crawford, he says: “I wish him the best, I wish him luck. Onward and upward.”

Clayne Crawford made a great Riggs character. I hope the new guy will be as good in this different role but I have my doubts. I'll try to keep an open mind as I watch the first few episodes.

Here's the first look at Damon Wayans and Seann William Scott teamed up on Lethal Weapon (https://www.tvinsider.com/708407/lethal-weapon-murtaugh-wesley-cole-first-look-photo/)
The first glimpse of the post-Clayne Crawford era of Lethal Weapon shows Wayans' Roger Murtaugh and Scott's Wesley Cole having a beer on the back of a boat that is being towed by a tow truck.

lDnQlic_bH4

Why You Rarely Hear About Seann William Scott (https://www.looper.com/334520/why-you-rarely-hear-about-seann-william-scott/)

His attempts at TV were "Lethal"

Seann William Scott is known primarily for his work in film, but he certainly doesn't consider television to be beneath him. Before his breakout role in American Pie, he appeared on sitcoms, in commercials, and in music videos, and in the 2010s, he gave the small screen another shot. Along with comedy heavy hitters like Chris Pratt, Adam Scott, Kumail Nanjiani, and Elizabeth Banks, Scott lent his voice to the IFC project Timms Valley, a stop-motion animated project involving dolls facing hilariously adult problems. Unfortunately, the show didn't get a full series order from IFC.

In 2018, Scott joined a TV production that was already in progress and beset with stress and backstage drama. After numerous onset incidents, the producers of Fox's Lethal Weapon fired star Clayne Crawford (https://www.looper.com/122772/real-reasons-clayne-crawford-fired-lethal-weapon/) and brought in Scott to perform opposite Daman Wayans (https://www.looper.com/122288/seann-william-scott-replaces-clayne-crawford-lethal-weapon-season-3/). The new blood didn't save the show, with a still-agitated Wayans threatening (https://deadline.com/2018/10/damon-wayans-leaving-lethal-weapon-fox-1202475490/) to leave the series in the middle of the season. It was a moot point, because Fox decided to cancel Lethal Weapon in May 2019 (https://deadline.com/2019/05/lethal-weapon-canceled-fox-three-seasons-1202605535/). The taint of that troubled production, and his inability to rescue the series, didn't do anything to give Scott's career a boost.

Read More: https://www.looper.com/334520/why-you-rarely-hear-about-seann-william-scott/?utm_campaign=clip