Posted on 11/25/2012 7:06:22 AM PST by PJ-Comix
People in the entertainment business sometimes make horrible career decisions. This is what is known as the "McLean Stevenson Effect." Named after actor McLean Stevenson who played the part of Henry Blake in the hit TV series "M*A*S*H." Stevenson was unhappy with being part of an ensemble so after about 3 seasons left the show to become the lead in the "McLean Stevenson Show" which promptly flopped. His career never recovered.
Another victim of the McLean Stevenson effect was Shelly Long who was in the hit series "Cheers." She left after 5 seasons to become a movie actress but pretty much flopped in that endeavor.
Finally there was Jeff Conaway who starred in my own favorite TV series "Taxi." After 3 seasons he left the show with a one-way ticket to obscurity.
Who else made poor showbiz career decisions to become victims of the "McLean Stevenson Effect."
Set up to fail...hmmmm.By the directors/producers/script writers? How would they have done that,apart from telling him,because they were unhappy with his performances and/or his character,that they were gonna kill him off?
He went on to do Trapper John MD which had a good run for 7 years.
According to wiki, he had guest appearences in 60 different shows.
Except for Bonanza and Mash, I’ve never heard of any of the shows mentioned on this thread.
I think I’m better for it.
Just sayin’.
Like I said. Smart guy. He actually USED the “entertainment” clowns to his benefit. Thanks for the update.
He was good in “Quiz Show”...and then he vanished/died or something.
Depends on what you are satisfied with.
Most people could retire at 30 if they were OK with living like Mahatma Gandhi for the rest of their life ;-)
Ginger from Gilligan’s Island didn’t leave, I guess, but always complained about how that series ruined her chance to be a big star.
Also, Don Adams was sort of stuck after Get Smart because he was typecast.
Stevenson could see the writing on the wall about M*A*S*H becoming the voice of Alan Alda so he chose not to participate in the show moving from an ensemble to one with a lead (Alda) and everybody else in support roles. Since nobody else on the show really had a big role after M*A*S*H, Stevenson just short-circuited the process but also lost out on a chunk of residuals.
Sasha Alexander - quit after the first 2 seasons of NCIS as agent Caitlyn Todd. She did forgettable parts in forgettable movies for 5 years. Now she’s back in TV on TNT’s “Rizzoli and Isles”. It’s an OK show but nowhere as good as NCIS.
Apparently, the trick is that if your show is around for 100 episodes they can syndicate it, at which point the dough just rolls in.
Of course that’s what Artie Lange from the Howard Stern Show said a few years ago to some actor whose show was about to hit the 100 episode threshold, and the actor agreed.
The tv execs set him up. I distinctly remember all the MASH actors emphasizing that one point.
They gave him a choice, play the lead or you’ll never act again. It would have been wiser for him to tell them to shove it and then go into theatre until a good part came along.
The only thing show business will not forgive is failure.
Ken Wahl of “Wiseguy.”
I’ve heard that the actors on Friends got $400k per episode. I guess it depends on the show.
Actors in successful television series earn much less today. My accountant does television acting work and says that the salaries are way down. His gigs are typically small roles and does the work mostly as a hobby during the slow accounting months, but he says the big stars earn a fraction of what they did earlier.
I think Sasha Alexander is married to Sophia Loren’s son and left to start a family.
The way she went out, there is no way for her to return. We don’t watch NCIS anymore anyway - the show seems to be leaning left now.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_money_did_the_cast_of_friends_make_per_episode
They started out making about $22 grand an episode, but they topped out towards the end at a million dollars an episode.
How he ever had an acting career after Rambo - Part1, is beyond me.
I always get a kick out of watching Miss Kitty's saloon in "Gunsmoke," filled with "working girls." Straight arrow Marshall Matt Dillon would go in there to have a drink and NEVER indulged in the women. Maybe they should have had an episode where Marshall Dillon returned to Dodge City after a couple of weeks on the trail and asks Miss Kitty to get him a room plus one of the working women for the evening.
I was just a kid when that happened but I get the impression that a lot of viewers really resented it when he left. People loved their Bonanza and they didn’t like it when big shot actors messed with it.
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