And what a fun game it is! Yesterday I did a post on TV stars who become movie stars. More often though, it goes the other way. When movie stars are riding the crest of popularity, the very thought of doing a television series is absolutely abhorrent. TV is soooo far beneath them.But then they have a few boxoffice misfires. And they start to age. And younger, newer, fresher faces appear on the scene. Those major starring roles stop coming. As do the paparazzi. And eventually we TV producers hear that “so-and-so is considering doing a series. They’re not sure yet but if the greatest idea in the history of mankind should be proposed to them they’d think it over. The next season you hear they’ll “meet with A-List writers”.
Eventually they’ll jump in, usually with a network commitment. But whatever, we got ‘em!
So here’s the fun game. What year do these big boxoffice stars join us TV grunts in the muck? Remember, cable shows add a certain prestige so that speeds up the process. But if Dustin Hoffman were still getting starring roles better than MR. MAGORIUMS WONDER EMPORIUM he wouldn’t be in an upcoming HBO series. Leave your guesses in the comment section. I’ll start you off with a few and then you’re on your own. Let’s check back in five years and see how right we all were.
Tom Cruise – 2014 (with Katie Holmes and his excuse will be that he’s doing it for “her”)
Seth Rogen – 2012 (when Judd Apatow also returns to TV)
Julia Roberts – 2013 (HBO but it will be her company producing and will probably be
excellent)Drew Barrymore – 2013 (after she realizes she’s made the same movie seven times)
Billy Crystal – 2009 (at least that’s when it should have been considering the amount of movie work he’s getting)
Tobey Maguire – 2014 (but he’ll do pilots in 2012 and 2013)
Megan Fox – (2013 but will get fired after three episodes)
Okay. Now it’s your turn.
Will Ferrell
Jack Black
Will Smith
Samuel L. Jackson
Mark Wahlberg
Katherine Heigl
Penelope Cruz
Johnny Depp
George Clooney
Jennifer Lopez
Ben Affleck
Brad Pitt
Matt Damon
Leo DiCaprio
Kate Winslett
Jennifer Aniston
Michael Cera
Scarlett Johanson
Cameron Diaz
Shia LaBeouf
Robert Downey Jr.
Ben Stiller
Angelina Jolie
Samdra Bullock
Russell Crowe
Adam Sandler
Eddie Murphy
