10 Potential TV Castings We’re SO Glad Didn’t Happen

Following on from the recent film 10 potential castings we’re so glad didn’t happen, the world of TV is littered with alternate castings which could have tanked hit shows too. Now that we’ve seen what a success these ten shows were, it’s interesting to look back on where they might have gone very wrong.

Not that all these castings would have been awful, per se. In some cases, the actor not cast was kept on hold, eventually getting a part elsewhere in the series which they nailed into the floorboards. Other times though, the near miss is so bizarre you’ll be thanking your lucky stars.

There’s several TV shows which have been carried by their performances; great acting can make poor scripts decent. Some of these shows though are amongst the most critically acclaimed of all time, so messing with that formula is definitely something to avoid.

Also, with the likes of Game Of Thrones and Friends auditioning so many stars they could each fill the list on their own, it’s limited to one per series here, just to keep things a bit more interesting.

Kicking off with a weird one, and a rare example of studio meddling being a universally positive move. When Chris Carter wrote the original first script, Pamela Anderson was the only woman on his mind; the script was specifically written for her.

This draft focussed more on her struggling to be taken seriously, the sexism and misogyny in the FBI and Scully’s supermodel looks. A mixture of discrimination, blonde jokes and the glass ceiling saw her promising career derailed when she was paired with Spooky Mulder on The X-Files.

Fox (the studio, not Mulder) didn’t think Pamela Anderson was the right person for the project though, and insisted on Carter auditioning other actresses. Once he saw a different Anderson, Gillian, read for the role, he changed his tune immediately.

The script was retooled to be grittier, focussing on Scully’s medical training and tenacity. Scully became less of a caricature, and evolved into one of the most well rounded characters in sci fi television history.

Gillian Anderson’s brilliant deadpan delivery proved to be the perfect partner with David Duchovny’s dry sarcasm, and the pair developed one of the best dynamics on television.