My Greatest Fear #36: That the Awesome Guest Star Won’t Become a Series Regular

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Recently, something terrible happened on New Girl.

Olivia Munn left the show.

Granted, she was only in three episodes, but I love me some Olivia Munn, so to add her to one of my favorite shows made me a very, very happy man.

But I was also a nervous wreck during those episodes, because I knew that it was too good to be true. Something that amazing couldn’t possibly last. Munn was just a tease, a short-lived fling in between filming The Newsroom and R-rated comedies.

The worst of it was that a part of me held onto that sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t too good to be true. That she would become a regular on the show, just like Cece the first season. Can you imagine New Girl without Cece? Okay, fine, it would still be pretty damn good, but you need another woman in there to balance Jess and give Schmidt someone other than himself to lust after.

(Sidenote about New Girl: How about that kiss?! That was the best onscreen kiss since Peter Parker webbed Emma Stone in The Amazing Spider-Man this past summer.)

You know the end of this story: Olivia Munn’s character had to move on after three episodes, breaking my Asian-loving heart and loins. I understand that’s the way it had to be, and I probably should have enjoyed it more while it lasted instead of crouching in fear of her dismissal every time an episode ended.

Have you ever experienced a guest star who was so amazingly awesome that you wished they would become a series regular? Do you share my fear during their time on the show, holding out hope that they might be the exception to the rule? Here are some of mine from the past and present:

      Robert California on

The Office

      Jay Duplass on

The Mindy Project

      Salma Hayek on

30 Rock

      Rob Lowe on

Parks and Recreation

      (exception to the rule! Still terrified that they’ll cut him!)

 

      The cute, sassy Asian girl on

New Girl

      this past week

 

      Patrick Warburton on

Seinfeld

      Elizabeth Banks on all of the shows

 

      Josh Holloway on

Community

    (seriously, how good were those paintball episodes?)

I think that’s enough for me. What about you?

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12 thoughts on “My Greatest Fear #36: That the Awesome Guest Star Won’t Become a Series Regular”

  1. Josh Holloway is hot. I didn’t catch that episode though, too bad!

    I don’t get the fuss over Oliva Munn…did you know her mom is ethnically Chinese but Vietnamese (Olivia grew up speaking Vietnamese)? Don’t ask me how I know that…

    Reply
    • She actually spoke decent Japanese on The Newsroom this past season too…it was good enough that I couldn’t tell if she knew some Japanese in real life or if she just memorized the sounds of the words for the episode.

      Reply
  2. 1) Crista Flanagan on Mad Men
    2) Phoebe Augustine/Ronette Pulaski on Twin Peaks
    3) Conan O’Brien on 30 Rock
    4) Almost every guest star on Damages since every season brings new characters
    5) Larry Thomas/Soup Nazi on Seinfeld

    Reply
  3. I miss Amy Ryan’s character from The Office. And I’m trying not to get too attached to newer characters on The Walking Dead (Herschel, Maggie, Michonne) because that show has no qualms about killing off people right and left. I won’t be fooled anymore after Lost (I’m looking at you, Mr. Eko!).

    When Lost was on, I was really hoping that this other great new character they’d introduced in the 2nd season, Henry Gale, would stick around for a while. I just knew there was something a little off about him, and I wanted to find out more. 🙂

    Reply
    • I liked Amy Ryan too–I’m glad she and Michael ended up together. And yes, The Walking Dead is the best example of this! Just as soon as you start to think that someone is a permanent addition to the show, a zombie eats them.

      Reply
    • Just last weekend, my dad was talking to my brother and me about Lost. My brother and I watched the entire series, while our folks are just now in season 2. Anyway, my dad said he didn’t want any spoilers, but he was really curious if he’d ever see Henry Gale on the show again, which really cracked us up.

      Reply
  4. I love New Girl (but never have time to watch it anymore). I’m bummed I’ve missed out on this whole season! I’m glad you like it, though – if I ever get a few hours to jam in a bunch of episodes, I’ll try to catch up on this show.

    Reply

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