Of the original cast of Saturday Night Live, only four cast members would land primetime network gigs after leaving the show, three of them in lead roles.
Jane Curtin (Kate & Allie, 3rd Rock From The Sun).
Chevy Chase (Community). Chase also tried a late night talk show that bombed.
Garrett Morris landed supporting roles on Hunter & The Jamie Foxx Show.
The one everyone forgets is Dan Aykroyd. Aside from movies, Dan had returned to television not only with the syndicated Psi Factor, but a short-lived ABC sitcom, Soul Man, which parlayed a 3 episode test run in April 1997 into a full season order five months later.
Soul Man took a supporting character from Home Improvement, and brought him over, with Aykroyd top-lining as a widowed Episcopal priest with three sons. There would crossovers with Improvement in the form of guest appearances by Zachary Ty Bryan & Richard Karn during season 2.
Because it was more of a domestic sitcom than a religious-centric one, that would explain Soul Man getting that 2nd season.
In this sampler, Pastor Mike learns his eldest son is failing geometry. I can relate.
Garrett Morris also had a long-recurring role on the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls. How that show lasted as long as it did it as complete mystery to me.
ReplyDeleteThat I didn't know about.
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