Stole It Right Out From Under

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:19pm

Name a play, tv show or movie where a lesser character stole the show. Not just got a bit of attention, but yanked it right out from under the nose of the leads.

Megan Mullally on Will & Grace
Christine Baranski on Cybill

[romantico]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:22pm

I know it's been debunked but I can SO EASILY see it being true.

Gwyneth Paltrow 'stealing' Shakespere in Love away from Winona Ryder

http://www.laineygossip.com/GOOPys-blind-riddle/13111

Updated On: 4/24/14 at 08:22 PM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:27pm

I think Goth means one actual cast member stole the show from another cast member who was (or was assumed to be) the lead.

Don Knotts pretty much did it on the Andy Griffith Show.

Updated On: 4/24/14 at 08:27 PM

[romantico]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:33pm

Oh. Got it!

[madbrian]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:35pm

At the recent Blithe Spirit revival, Susan Louise O'Connor stole every one of her scenes in the role of Edith from the likes of Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett, Jayne Atkinson, and Christine Ebersole.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 8:42pm

"At the recent Blithe Spirit revival,"

Same with the London revival with Alison Steadman. The actress playing Edith was brilliant.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:06pm

Jimmie Walker, Good Times

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:07pm

I'm not a huge fan, and his career fizzled, but Cuba Gooding Jr from Jerry Maguire springs to mind.

Actually most of my examples are of shows and/or characters I don't particularly like but...

Urkel - Family Matters

The Fonz - Happy Days

Not sure this counts as he was part of the basic ensemble, but Niles grew to dominate Frasier.

Sheldon from Big Bang?

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:07pm

John Travolta, Welcome Back Kotter

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:09pm

Michael J Fox, Family Ties

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:09pm

Maggie Smith on Downton (yes she was always a key cast member, but you can see the writers now scrambling to give her more screentime and pithy lines.)

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:13pm

But Sheldon is the lead in Big Bang Theory.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:13pm

Aaron Paul on Breaking Bad (his character was meant to die in season one, but he essentially got bumped to co-star, largely due to audience reaction.)

Peter Dinklage on Game of Thrones might count too. It's a huge ensemble show, but, despite a lot of good acting, I suspect he'll remain the only actor on the show who constantly gets nominated. (Jessica Lange for American Horror Story may count too--true each season has different characters, and she was the biggest name from the start but from a supporting role in season one, the show has constantly now been built around her.)

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:14pm

Rerun on What's Happening

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:15pm

Jack Black in High Fidelity.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:17pm

"But Sheldon is the lead in Big Bang Theory."

He wasn't at the start was he? I thought it was Galecki (sp?) and whoever plays Penny with the other guys equally supporting. Can you tell I barely have ever watched?

Eddie Haskell - Leave it to Beaver!

I think this is easier, at least for me, to pick from TV shows than from theatre or movies--partly because with tv shows you can usually tell if it happens due to the character suddenly becoming more prominent.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:24pm

Joey Lawrence, Blossum

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:30pm

Benson, Soap

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 9:55pm

Cliven Bundy, The Sean Hannity Show

[madbrian]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 10:18pm

Harriet Harris in most things, but particularly in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in her guest appearances on Frasier.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 10:53pm

Webster originally started as a vehicle for Alex Karras and Susan Clark, with no child involved at all. The addition of Emmanuel Lewis was proposed when ABC saw him in a commercial and saw a potential rival to NBC's Diff'rent Strokes and star Gary Coleman. They approached Karras and Clark with the idea of adding him to their show that was already in development. There was a lot of tension on the set during the first few seasons as Karras and Clark saw their show quickly shift focus from their characters to Lewis's Webster. The show even had some early promos under a different title, Then Came You, and the network changed it fairly last minute to Webster, despite the objections of Susan Clark, who still held creative control at that point.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 10:58pm

For me, Vanessa Redgrave in MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE. In her one scene with Tom Cruise. She played such a wonderful villain.

Alan Alda stole M*A*S*H, which started as much of a vehicle for Wayne Rogers.

Also movie: Hopkins in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. He's only in 10 scenes.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 6:14am

Andy Kaufman, Taxi

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 6:25am

Arnold the pig, Green Acres

[ArtMan]

Posted: 4/25/14 at 6:44am

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight