Steve Carell
What failed
Not auditions, but jobs he actually got. Carell was cast in four network shows between 1996 and 2004 and watched all four die, usually within weeks: seven episodes, three, six, three weeks. He was forty-two before he carried anything.
What happened next
The Office was itself nearly cancelled after a first season with mediocre ratings; NBC renewed it largely because The 40-Year-Old Virgin was about to open. It took $109 million.
The point
His failures were cancellations, not rejections — for nine years the verdict on his network shows was not no but not enough people watched, which is harder to learn from and easier to take personally.
The sequence
4 documented failures, shown with the successes in between. Every entry carries its own source — the wins are part of the record, and leaving them out is how these stories get distorted.
- 1996
The Dana Carvey Show airs seven of ten planned episodes.
- 1997
Over the Top is cancelled after three episodes air.
- 1999
Becomes a correspondent on The Daily Show, where he stays six years.
- 2003
Watching Ellie is cancelled after six episodes of its second version.
- 2004
Come to Papa runs for three weeks.
- 2004
Plays Brick Tamland in Anchorman, released in July, his first major film role.
- 2005
The Office is renewed after a poorly rated first season, largely on the expected success of a film he co-wrote.
- 2005
The 40-Year-Old Virgin takes $109 million.
- 2006
Golden Globe for The Office, and the first of six consecutive Emmy nominations (2006–2011).
Sources
- Steve Carell (Wikipedia)
The film made $109 million in domestic box office sales and established him as a leading man.
- Over the Top (Wikipedia)
the series was canceled after only three had aired
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Related failures
Others in film & television, and nearby.
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