Since FRASIER seems to be the topic de jour, here’s some additional inside dope. But first, a couple of brief announcements.1) I will be guesting on KABC radio in Los Angeles Tuesday night at 11:00. 790 on the LA AM dial or streaming on their website. Will be discussing this blog and God knows what. And if it works out I may be interviewed someday at 10 p.m. That's the shameless plug. And then...
2) My daughter, Annie is home from college for the holidays and is annoyed that her brother won't be able to come down from San Jose. So she took out an ad in Craig's List for a new brother. Let's all wish her luck.
Okay, now back to today's post...
A reader wondered whether John Mahoney’s appearing on CHEERS had any effect on his getting cast in FRASIER.
Yes it did.
And there’s a very weird story behind it all.
That CHEERS episode was filmed the year before FRASIER was developed. John played a hack jingle writer in “Do Not Forsake Me O’ My Postman” written by David Isaacs and me. But he was not the original actor hired for that role. I will not reveal his name because he was a dear man, a good friend, no longer with us, and I don’t want him to be remembered for this. All week this actor was a little nervous, even though he had done a lot of live theatre, and was even a regular on a popular multi-camera sitcom in the 70’s. But he had been out of the business for awhile, I suppose felt rusty, and was a little intimidated to be on CHEERS. But the truth was he was fine. Got every laugh, was liked by cast and crew.
Flash forward to show day. Dress rehearsal at 3:00, filming at 7:00. The dress rehearsal went well. Everyone was happy. This actor then got in his car, drove off the lot, AND NEVER RETURNED.
Your first thought (after being absolutely stunned) is to be royally pissed but think about it – how utterly terrified must that poor man have been to do something like that knowing full well he would never get another TV acting gig again? Your heart had to go out to him. The pain he must’ve been in.
But of course this left us with a HUGE problem. The audience was already filing in. The decision was made to just not film the scenes his character was in, recast, and shoot them the following week.
John Mahoney was hired as the replacement. Casey, Lee, and Angell saw him on that episode and thought he would be perfect for Frasier’s dad.
Now who knows? Maybe John would have gotten the part anyway. Maybe someone in casting would have brought up his name. But in all likelihood there would have been casting sessions. A hundred actors might have tried out for the role. Then call-backs, different producers, studio and network execs all weighing in with different opinions. Maybe screen tests. Politics. Lobbying. Perhaps someone else even getting the role.
How important is luck? How rare that the planets just happen to line up perfectly?
The fate of FRASIER and John Mahoney’s entire career might’ve changed if only one man, one year before, took one Lexapro.
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