The Simpsons: 10 Guest Spots That Almost Went To Someone Else
2. Phil Hartman in “Brother From The Same Planet”
Bart's "bigger brother" in the episode "Brother From The Same Planet" is basically Tom Cruise. He rides motorcycles, flies jet planes, hell, his name is literally "Tom", for crying out loud! The only way the comparison could be any less subtle is if they got the man himself to voice the character. Wait... they almost did? Oh...
Rather unsurprisingly, the role of "Tom" in this episode from Season 4 was created with the sole purpose of getting Tom Cruise to guest on the show. The writers obviously thought that Cruise wouldn't turn down the chance to play an idealised version of himself, but even Cruise's ego wasn't that big and the Top Gun star repeatedly said no.
When they realised that Cruise wasn't going to be swayed, the writers turned to an old friend for help. The legendary Phil Hartman (AKA Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure, Lyle Lanley, and countless other brilliant characters) took on the role instead. Whilst the former SNL man was no Tom Cruise, he still did an excellent job, because he was Phil Hartman and Phil Hartman could play King Lear and still bring down the house down with laughter.