10 Hollywood Actors Who Have Bricked On TV

Who popularized the wave of movie actors flocking to television? Was it Glenn Close, who was lured to the tube for a one season stint on The Shield and ended up staying at FX to lead Damages? Kyra Sedgwick's star-making turn on TNT's The Closer? Or does it go back to Martin Sheen and The West Wing? One thing's for certain—these days, it's the thing to do.

Look no further than the current TV season, which boasts new shows with big names like James Caan (on Back in the Game), James Spader (on The Blacklist), and freaking Robin Williams (on The Crazy Ones)—and in the same year that two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey headlined a Netflix series. But for every star that gets gassed to come to TV, there are a handful that fail spectacularly. Former A- and B-listers trying to recapture relevance, or younger stars struggling to make their movie careers pop who look to TV in search of a win, only to lose, very badly. We're talking shows that are lucky to make it to mid-season, much less get renewed for a second. Read on for 10 Hollywood Actors Who Have Bricked on TV.

Written by Frazier Tharpe (@The_SummerMan)

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Fail(s): King & Maxwell (TNT, 2013)

The most recent loss discussed here, Rebecca Romijn's brick is an early fall start to a foundation of fails sure to be built by December. She went the basic cable procedural route, as the prototypical no-nonsense badass woman saddled with the smarmy, wise-ass male partner, in TNT's King & Maxwell. The show got the axe not long after its first season finale aired during the end of the summer, leaving its 25 dedicated fans in mourning.

Fail(s): The Firm (NBC, 2012)

After a decade of not being able to transcend in Hollywood beyond rom-coms and leading C-movie thrillers (or worse—what up, Stealth) Josh Lucas thought his break would come on TV in a small-screen sequel to...John Grisham's The Firm?

The OG thriller is vintage Tom Cruise and a great way to pass a rainy Saturday on TNT, but was anybody asking for the next chapter of Mitch McDeere's story? The answer is, of course, a resounding no. The show got mixed to negative reviews, and worse, the execution and production values reminded everyone of 1993 a bit too much. Just one month after a two-hour premiere, NBC relegated it to Saturdays to die a sad an lonely death. Lucas's only project since was seventh lead in a Nic Cage thriller helmed by "auteur" Simon West...

Fail(s): Prime Suspect (NBC, 2011-2012)

"Prime Suspect is a procedural sure, but a Grade A one," claimed the countless promos. (Seriously. If you got to a movie theater on time during the summer/fall 2011, these were unavoidable.) These cases aren't being solved by just any cardboard-cutout of a hard-nosed investigator. This is a real character you can sink your teeth into, far from your typical cop. Look at that snazzy hat she wears!

The sad part is, Prime Suspect actually did get favorable reviews but Bello's Jane Timoney did not blow up like The Closer's Brenda Johnson (Krya Sedgwick) in the way NBC hoped, which is to say, not in the least. It didn't make it past mid-season, and was replaced with...The Firm. Hats off to NBC.

Fail(s): Missing (ABC, 2012)

Judd scored an Emmy nomination for outstanding actress in a miniseries, but a brick is still a brick, especially because Missing wasn't conceived as a miniseries. Read this interview she gave here, where she not only calls Missing event TV, which is typical shameless plugging, but acts as if her arrival on TV is an event as well, one she made the producers jump through hoops to finalize.

The best excerpt is her take on a proposed season two: "I've already brought in a couple of people to meet with the producers, people who are career Africanists and who were advisors to the UN Security Council, experts in international arms trafficking, experts in all kinds of African stuff, and they would be our story consultants." Unfortunately, those meetings were a huge waste of time, because audiences didn't exactly take to Judd as Jacqueline Bauer. Better luck next time.

Fail(s): Luck (HBO, 2012)

It's not Hoffman's fault. David Milch, the man behind Deadwood, is a weird genius that TV lovers will follow anywhere, so when it was announced that Michael Mann, Milch, and Hoffman were coming together for a series on HBO, we all riverdanced with joy.

And then the third horse died.

Luck, an unconventional (duh) and quietly brilliant (duh, again) series about horse racing, had been given the greenlight for a second season when another horse on the set up and died. And just like that, the second season was off. No more show. PETA is not to be fucked with. —Ross Scarano

Fail(s): Vegas (CBS, 2012-2013)

Quaid's star wasn't at its peak when he signed on to lead Vegas, but his move to TV retained the air of a power move, rather than one of desperation. He was signing with the biggest broadcast network out, as the true blue hero of a crime drama that also boasted Michael Chiklis.

But such is the double-edged sword of CBS. If you're not doing NCIS numbers then you're no good to them, especially with bills like Quaid's $150,00 per episode fee. (He was one of the highest paid drama actors on-air during the 2012-2013 season.) And suddenly one of the season's surest bets fell to Fridays and the writing was on the wall.

Fail(s): Smith (CBS, 2006)

One of the more embarrassing bricks in recent history—or maybe not? The quick, three-episode trial run CBS allowed Smith—which followed Liotta as the leader of a group of professional thieves balancing suburban life—before yanking it may not have been enough to really stick in memories. So maybe as far as the general audience is concerned, Ray Liotta has yet to try headlining his own series? He should really get on that, as a good drama on the tube could work out well for him. Or, it could be the first casualty of its TV season...

Fail(s): Pan AM (ABC, 2011-2012)

Ricci's Pan Am had one thing going for it in a season full of broadcast microwaved Mad Men pilots: It was better than NBC's Playboy Club. Still, iconic as Pan American World Airways was, there was no audience for the melodramatic lives of rock star pilots and their adoring stewardesses, andthe series didn't make it past the mid-season.

Fail(s): ¡Rob! (CBS, 2012)

Rob Schneider isn't very funny, and has of late, been coasting by with quasi-racist supporting roles in his more famous friends' films. So imagine our surprise when CBS bought his sitcom, the cleverly titled ¡Rob!, with the ground-breaking premise of a beleaguered husband contending with his wife's tight-knit Mexican family. Then imagine our utter shock when said comedy didn't make it to a double digit episode count. Por qué?

Fail(s): My Own Worst Enemy (NBC, 2008); The Forgotten (ABC, 2009-2010); Breaking In (FOX, 2011-2012)

The patron saint of film-to-TV failures, Christian Slater is the butt of many jokes, mainly for performances that detractors classify as a bad Jack Nicholson impersonation. Talented though he may be, it's hard to stick up for the guy when his television choices have been so spotty.There was the bland, aptly titled ABC procedural The Forgotten, and the epically bad high concept (read: dumb, unsustainable premise) Dr. Jekylll-meets-Jack Bauer-by way of Jack Torrance NBC thriller My Own Worst Enemy.

But FOX's Breaking In had promise and the best reviews, not to mention a hail mary renewal that saw Slater ascend to lead. Alas, that second chance ran out rather quickly. Most would have given up at this point, but Slater is relentles. He'll star in a drama next year helmed by Kyle Killen. As in the guy behind Lone Star and Awake, two great series that didn't make it to second seasons (in Lone Star's case, a third episode). Fingers crossed that history doesn't repeat itself?