Individual Advancement Not Guarenteed By Sitcom Success
There have been many sitcoms created over the years that had been successful due to great cast members. The success of the show depends heavily on the chemistry of the cast members. How well they compliment each other’s characters, mesh in conversations, match each other’s humor; these are all ingredients of good cast. When the show does really well and the ratings are high for a consistent period of time, these cast members tend to get offers to star or co-star in movies. The producers figure that since they are well known on a certain show, they should attract viewers to the movie that they star in. However, in the past, we’ve seen that achievement in a sitcom doesn’t necessarily guarentee the spotlight in Hollywood.
For the sake of an example, we will use That 70’s Show to demonstrate that chemistry is what makes good characters, not the individual. Topher Grace was much of the focus in That 70’s Show. He played Eric Foreman, a high school kid who had a close-knit group of friends that almost always hung out in his basement. His character was a weak, scrawny boy who was loved by his mom, hated by his sister, and scared of his dad. His girlfriend Donna (Laura Prepon) pushed him around when they wrestled, made most of the decisions, and basically presided over their relationship. Eric was teased a lot by his friends, as they teased each other. But he was a mommy’s boy, easily manipulated, small, and scrawny. That was Eric Foreman. That was Topher Grace.
Topher Grace is a serious-minded actor. That 70’s Show behind the scenes portion of the DVDs shows Topher as extremely level-headed, nearly demanding perfection on the set. When someone screwed up, he showed distress and dissatisfaction with his fellow cast members. He wasn’t nearly what his character portayed, but it was his character that made him successful. Topher has starred in two relatively big films in Spiderman 3 and In Good Company. Aside from those films, I don’t believe he has distinguished himself in Hollywood just yet.
I also think the same can be said for ex-That 70’s Show cast member Wilmer Valderrama, who played the infamous “Fez”. Other than being the host for the MTV show “Yo Mamma”, Wilmer has done next to nothing in Hollywood after playing one of the more popular characters on That 70’s Show. Laura Prepon, Eric Foreman’s girlfriend Donna has appeared in films such as Slackers, the series October Road (1st season), and the freak film, Karla. No major roles has been taken up by Laura Prepon after playing a relatively big role on That 70’s Show.
Two more characters in Mila Kunis and Danny Masterson also differ. Mila Kunis has recently been distinguished co-starring in the film Forgetting Sara Marshall. She is also the voice of the sister in Family Guy. Mila’s character was the snobby, yet not so smart Jackie who was Donna’s best friend in the show. A supporting role in the show has helped her gain popularity and seems to be growing by the day. Danny Masterson is not in the same boat, however. Other than making appearances in Dracula 2000 and Comic Book Villains, he has been relatively quiet in the movie scenery.
One exception arose from this break up of crew members. Ashton Kutcher has been on a movie prow in the last few years. He has made comedy movies stand out such as Guess Who? with Bernie Mac, Just Married with Brittany Murphy, and the recent What Happens in Vegas with Cameron Diaz. He has also done television series shows in Punk’d and Beauty and the Geek. He also was the star in the frightening film, The Butterfly Effect. Aston’s career was made possible by his clumsy, funny, and loud character Kelso in That 70’s Show.
What I think we’ve seen here is a demonstration that the cast members make each other better and together they are successful. When they are split apart when a show ends and stops airing, the results are not the same for their individual achievement. Kelso, or Ashton Kutcher, has done extremely well for himself while others in Wilmer Valderrama, who played an equally if not bigger role than Kelso did, and Danny Masterson have struggled to find the big scene.
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