Cringe-Worthy Cast Additions

You know, I hate when show's add new characters. Most of the time they aren't needed and fail miserably. But then again, that is kind of fun, especially when they help a show off the air. Here's a few "classics."



Paul "Show Killer" Falsone- Homicide: Life on the Street. I'm from Maryland so I'm still pissed about this. Long story short, NBC did a surfeit of meddling on it's much-loved though low rated crime drama. Jon Seda as Paul Falsone is the mascot, the hood ornament, the weather vane of the show's painful and steady decline. When Falsone breezed into the squad room as a hotshot detective a season before becoming a regular, that was all she wrote. Show over.


Laura Ballard-Homicide: Life on the Street- Yes, Ballard was just what the show needed. A cutesy, so intelligent detective from Seattle. It makes you forget all about Melissa Leo as Kay Howard. Not really. In fact the Ballard character seemed to be another NBC machination to lure in viewers. I didn't work. What's worse? After dating an increasingly weird and zen Tim Bayliss, Ballard was paired with Falsone. Thrillin'!

The Biggest Crime: Callie Thorne is a really good actress--and she was stuck with one of the worst roles I've ever seen.



Reagan Gilancy-The Division-During the last season when Nancy McKeon was on maternity leave or something, Downey appeared in a few episodes. As a fan of the show, Lisa Vidal, I had to suffer through full throttle Taraji Henson, Jon Hamm, an insane turnover of the secondary cast and Roma Downey. It was just too much, Reagan Gilancy was too much!






Robert Downey JR.- Larry Paul- Ally McBeal- Cast addition/subtraction causes Colletral Damage- Everybody remembers Larry on Ally McBeal as played by the talented Robert Downey Jr. In fact people stop me on the street wanting to talk about Larry Paul. I tell them Larry's not real, pick their pockets and then run away. Downey's travails during the 4th season of the show are well-known. In his absence during the fifth and final season? A ton of new folks including Josh Hopkins, Regina Hall, James Marsden, you know, folks I don't plan on talking about ever again?




John Sutton-Chicago Hope- Now you see him, now you don't. A lot happened on Chicago Hope. Mandy Patinkin gave us our first dose of his patented crazy. During one of the later seasons, David E. Kelley sent a half-dozen fine folks out the exit door. The most weird thing happened a bit earlier. Dr. Jack Sutton as played by Jamey Sheridan. Sheridan was enlisted to in effect help replace the gone Patinkin. It didn't work. Sutton was ill-defined and he was replaced by a better character, Jack McNeil played by Mark Harmon.




In a shocking twist of fate Jethro Gibbs "did away" with John Sutton, Reagan Gilancy and Beau from Welcome Back Kotter. Job well done, Colonel.