Role With It

The casting process in television has always fascinated me. What would a show have been like if someone else had landed their big starmaking role? Can you imagine anyone else besides William Shatner playing Captain Kirk? Or how about William Shatner as Maxwell Smart? Actually, that might have been pretty cool. Still, with every TV show there's a long auditioning process where studios reject actors, actors turn down studios and sometimes parts are switched around or entirely new characters are created. Here's a dozen or so casting anecdotes I've heard over the years.

Lucille Ball wanted radio co-star Gale Gordon to play Fred Mertz but he was already committed to another series. He would later make three appearances as Ricky's boss.

The part of Rob Petrie on a pilot originally titled "Head Of The Family" came down to two relative unknowns, Dick Van Dyke and TV game show host Johnny Carson.

John Astin at first auditioned for Lurch on The Addams Family. He was offered the part of Gomez provided he could grow a moustache.

The role of Samantha on Bewitched was originally offered to English actress Tammy Grimes who turned it down. She went on to star in her own self-named show which lasted a month.

Two screentests for the 1960's Batman TV series were filmed one starring Adam West and the other Lyle Waggoner.

Fred Dryer, former NFL star, was considered for Sam Malone on Cheers. Julia Duffy auditioned for Diane Chambers. They both later made appearances on the show.

Blanche on The Golden Girls was a role intended for Betty White since it was modeled after her Sue Ann Nivens character. She and Rue McLanahan agreed to switch parts.

Lisa Kudrow was cast as Roz on Frasier only to be replaced after one week of filming.

On Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Sarah Michelle Gellar originally landed the role of Cordelia while Charisma Carpenter and other actresses auditioned for Buffy.

Korean actress Yunjim Kim unsuccessfully tried out for Kate on Lost but impressed the producers enough that they created a part just for her.

Among the actors who were considered to play Michael Scott in The Office were Paul Giamatti, Martin Short, Hank Azaria and Bob Odenkirk. Rainn Wilson also auditioned for the part and was later cast as Dwight.