Now I know why Typecasting is a bad thing... (1 Viewer)

[DeathStar1]

I always knew it was a problem, but never knew how much of a problem is could be.

Katey Segal seems to have escaped the Peg Bundy image. She has that new ABC Show, and has established a small voice acting career as Leela on Futurama.

However, poor Ed O'Neil is a different story. IIRC, this guy is a classically trained actor, and whenever I hear Dragnet talked about on the radio, they alawys seem to refer to him as Al Bundy.

Too bad some people can't just get over that image and give the show a chance. Forget the actors and their history, just watch the show and judge it on that alone..

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, they haven't seen Dragnet yet, so they'll naturally think of him in terms of a character he played weekly for ten years. A lot of people haven't seen O'Neill as much but Al Bundy.

Still, he should be great in this - find someone who has episodes of Big Apple on tape, or even catch his bit part in The Spanish Prisoner. O'Neill didn't quite purge Married With Children from my head with Big Apple, but I sure as heck wasn't thinking of Al Bundy when I watched it. The guy's good.


To a certain extent, actors typecast themselves - if you're going to play the same role every week for a decade (I'm talking to you, Kelsey Grammar) or otherwise get too closely associated with one specific role/type, it's going to take some effort to be seen as something else, and the best way to do it is to low-key it. The ads I've seen for Dragnet don't push O'Neill as the star, so he'll probably be able to make the role his own - a lot of people may watch it and not realize he was Al Bundy.

It could be similar to the Ted Danson career arc - made his name on Cheers and various other Sam Malone-like roles, and when his post-Cheers projects (like Ink) came out as "STARRING TED DANSON", they bombed, but for Becker CBS promoted the character, and it did pretty well.

 

[John_Lee]

It took me forever to watch Cheers with Kirstie Alley and not think 'Virgilia Hazard.'

 

[RossTerry]

in tv guide a few weeks ago, they had a blurb on coming shows.

they mentioned dragnet and said within the first 5 minutes of it you would forget ed o'neil ever played al bundy

i'll give it a chance

 

[TonyD]

if you have HDNET on directv you can watch eps of BIG APPLE.
and WOLF LAKE.
and FIRST MONDAY.

 

[Steve_Knutzen]

When's Dragnet start and on what channel?

 

[RossTerry]

Dragnet

Feb. 2

ABC

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Everytime they run the commercial where Al Bundy says "My name's Friday. I'm a cop," my friends and I all say "No, your name's Bundy. You're a shoe salesman."

 

[Rob Gardiner]

It took me forever to watch Cheers with Kirstie Alley and not think 'Virgilia Hazard.'

For me it was Lt. Saavik.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

If Dragnet is does not have a lot of comedy elements, then Ed will be wasted. He is a great actor, but also a side splitting comedian.

Friday: "Just the facts mam. Exactly what are the measurements of your big-uns?"

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I was worried about him too, but only for a few seconds. He had a part in Sibling Rivalry as a cop, and if you haven't seen this, you haven't lived. It's out on 4/1 (I hope that isn't a joke) and Kirstie Alley is in it too.
Also in the 10th Kingdom, least we forget! Yep, you'd think he has been typecast but he broke out!
Glenn

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Ed O'Neill will probably do fine as long as there are no scenes with him on a couch with his hand down the front of his pants.

I hope for ABC's sake that it's a big hit for them. They need it.

 

[Jason Seaver]

If Dragnet is does not have a lot of comedy elements, then Ed will be wasted. He is a great actor, but also a side splitting comedian.

Well, you could argue he was wasted in Married... With Children as well - his dramatic work in Big Apple was fantastic, and he never got to do anything like it on MWC.

 

[clemente]

I think anyone who watched Ed O'Neil in Big Apple a few seasons back, is fully aware that the guy can be a serious drama guy....sadly we were a very small bunch since the show didn't last long.

 

[Danny Tse]

Before becoming Al Bundy, Ed O'Neil played a cop on a short-lived NBC series, of which I forgotten the name to. It was actually quite interesting to see him as a comic actor on "Married...With Children." He's a great actor. Period. Dramas or comedies.

 

[Ralph Summa]

Jason,

It's funny you should compare Ted danson with Ed O'Neil. Ed was a finalist for the role of Sam Malone. I doubt he would have pulled off the role like Danson did, but he would have looked more like a baseball player than "Chicken Legs' Danson did in uniform!

I also liked O'Neil in "Dutch".

 

[Nigel McN]

I'd never done a crazy thing in my life before that night. Why is it that if a man kills another man in battle it's called heroic, yet if he kills a man in the heat of passion it's called murder.