80's Blind Item
This diminutive actor was on a huge network hit. His favorite game was finding an extra each week that he could spend the entire week with having sex and then leave them at the end. He did not do it really out of malice, he was just a lonely guy. Anyway, one week, his A list at the time co-star, also had his eyes on an extra and they made a deal. The deal was they would get the producers to bring her back for an extra week so they could each have her for a week. Well, it turns out they both liked her so much, this extra managed to stay on the show for an entire season and even ended up getting a speaking role.
Dan Hedaya, Rhea Pearlman's husband on cheers?
ReplyDeleteTed Danson would be the A lister.
Well, the only "diminutive" actor I can think of from the 80's is Danny DeVito, which Taxi was HUGE back then.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any "A" list from them except for Judd Hirsch.
I need a shower just thinking about it though.......
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ReplyDeleteHerve Villechaize
ReplyDeleteI want to say Emmanuel Lewis or Gary Coleman, but don't think there'd be an A-list actor.
ReplyDeleteMaybe DeVito and Danson?
Good one studio gulag!
ReplyDeleteI want to say Herve from Fantasy Island, but that was in the 70's.
ReplyDeleteI'm going with Danny Devito.
What about Michael J. Fox?
ReplyDeleteThats who I thought of MJ Fox - courtney cox was on there too!
ReplyDeleteJason Alexander, Jerry Seinfeld and Ruthie the cashier.
ReplyDelete@ Angela - agreed. You are on a roll today!
ReplyDeleteSeinfeld was '90's.
ReplyDeleteArgh...the difficulty here is who was the A list actor? I'm leaning towards Fantasy Island (it went off the air in 1984) and Ricardo Montalban had been A list earlier in his career. I don't consider Judd Hirsch A list, so I don't think it was Danny Devito.
ReplyDeletePerfect Strangers? Balkie may have been considered A list?
ReplyDeleteWhat about "Bosom Buddies". It had 2 guys, one not so tall. Not a huge network hit, though.
ReplyDeleteWell, "A-list at the time" (which lasted through the 90's on another sitcome) could have been Tony Danza.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember how one extra appeared in every episode on the Taxi set? So much of each episode was a) either in the garage or b) in one of the cabs.
The emphasis was that there was only one woman in the garage, right?
And seeing someone, even in different wigs, costumes and makeup, in those cabs or in party scenes would have been more than a little noticeable.
Oh, yes. Diminutive might have described Peter Scolari (5'6 1/2" tall and thank you IMDB) and his Bosum buddies co-star definitely was on route to being A-list.
But Hanks REMAINS A-list!
Wait! Scolari (still 5'6 1/2"!) then was cast on... Newhart!
But would the devout and deeply married Newhart (still A-list in our hearts and minds) even dream of doing that?
Maybe. He just wouldn't do it.
Oh, gee. Despite Scolari's height, does any of this, um, measure up to the criteria given in the post?
I'm thinking Taxi, Rhea Perlman as the extra, Danny DeVito as the diminutive actor and Andy Kaufman as the A lister.
ReplyDelete@ kathryn : Do you remember what Ruthie the cashier looked like? ;)
ReplyDeleteDeVito, Danson, and Kelly, Woody's girlfriend/fiancee/wife?
ReplyDeleteGotta go catch up on my 80's network hits... Can honestly say I have never heard of any of the shows you mention! Except Seinfeld, course
ReplyDeleteWhat about David Faustino on "Married with Children" and his co-star Ed ONeill. There have been recent blinds that Ed O"neill is sleeping a younger co-star on the show so he is definitely no stranger to this type of behavior. David Faustino is also vertically challenged so he fits "diminutive". The show was on from 1987-1997.
ReplyDeletewhat you talikng about willis?
ReplyDeletegary coleman/forget his name.....
My first though was Michael J Fox but maybe he's not short enough? *L*
ReplyDeletewhy does everyone keep saying Devito and Danson? Devito was never on Cheers, was he?
ReplyDeleteBud and Al Bundy?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking Taxi with Danny Devito. Judd Hirsch, Tony Danza or Andy Kaufmann...
ReplyDeleteActress: Noni White who played Andrea Stewart. (though I could be completely wrong). I just noticed that it was her first acting gig and she was given lines and was credited? It's just extremely difficult to walk in to a bigtime tv show and get a speaking part as your first acting gig. Her speaking line extra work took off after that and she worked until 2005.
Devito and Danson never worked together on Cheers. Devito's wife Rhea Pearlman did.
Can't be Michael J Fox. I don't believe there was another A actor on Family Ties besides Michael. Besides, his wife was on the show with him for an entire season. That boy was far from lonely and desperate.
Since Enty doesn't specify that it's a sitcom -- I'm going with Baywatch. I just haven't figured out the players yet, though one certainly has to be Hasselhoff.
ReplyDeleteHow about St. Elsewhere? Could Howie Mandel be considered diminutive (IMDB says he's 5'9")? Former A list actor either could be Denzel Washington or Mark Harmon (both series regulars) though I'd argue Harmon is still A-list because of NCIS.
ReplyDeleteOr... were there any diminutive actors on Magnum P.I.? Tom Selleck was certainly A-list back in the day while more of an aging B-lister these days.
Though, frankly, this is reading like DeVito and Danza to me.
The fact that diminutive is used, must mean small and the fact that it's stressed that he was just a lonely guy, kinda says it all. 5'9" isn't really that short. The person has to be very short and not very attractive or appealing. Danza was hot back then. Devito was not. Can't think of an 80's drama with a diminutive actor. Webster, Different Strokes, Taxi and Family Ties (though again, Michael was popular and could get plenty of chicks. he wasn't lonely).
ReplyDeletestephani, Larry Manetti played sidekick 'Rick,' and he's 5'7. I like that guess a lot.
ReplyDeleteOops, never mind, he's been married since 1980, which is something to marvel at in itself!
ReplyDeleteI think Michael J Fox.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking David Faustino, too, for some reason.
ReplyDeleteBJ & the Bear
ReplyDeleteFaustino and O'Neill
ReplyDeleteA-lister= Tom Selleck
ReplyDeleteCo-star= Jonathan Hillerman (Higgins)
(he is 5'7")
the extra=could be any Amy Yasbeck who played someone named Diana and was on for 3 eps. between '87-88.
kathryn said...
ReplyDeleteWhat about "Bosom Buddies". It had 2 guys, one not so tall. Not a huge network hit, though.
___________________________________
That was my guess, because of Tom Hanks and Peter Scholari is short.
Michael J. Fox?
ReplyDeleteCurtis Armstrong on Moonlighting, sharing with Bruno-don't know who tha gal would be...
ReplyDeleteWhat about MASH or Chips? I know they started in the 70's but they went on through in the 80's.
ReplyDeleteAnd no one has mentioned Dallas, Knotts Landing, Dynasty or even Knight Rider.
I watched most of Dallas, loved Knots Landing and Dynasty and trust me, there were no obviously short people on those shows. They were all perfect physical specimens LOL
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I do remember that Clint Blacks wife Lisa Hartman originally had a much smaller role on Knots Landing but she was a bit hit with the viewers and she ended up being on the show for several seasons.
What about Michael Tucker from LA Law?? He ended up with Jill Eikenberry...
ReplyDeleteI also think the Peter Scolari guess is on the money...
I think that is really sweet!
ReplyDeleteBypass the casting couch!
Or else she used that too?!
I can't help but think of the girl who was brought along to settle the guys in the gang as they broke into the vault in Paris in the eighties! She got a full share, apparently!
Wasn't Taxi in the 70's?
ReplyDeleteI can't say why cause I'll get deleted, but I can tell you for a FACT that it wasn't Tom Selleck. My friend was his driver for 7 years.
ReplyDeleteALF and Willie!
ReplyDeleteShow: Fantasy Island
ReplyDeleteActors: Ricardo Montalbán and
Hervé Villechaize