Dream Roles For Cancelled Shows' Stars: SEAL Team's New Recruit, MIA Good Doctor Sis, Power Beau And More
When TV executives close a door, they open a window for the stars of cancelled shows to book brand-new gigs.
Now that the dust has settled from television's spring cleaning — which brought the cancellations of All Rise, Prodigal Son, American Housewife and more shows — it's time for our annual tradition of casting stars from recently cancelled or concluded shows in fresh TV jobs, playing roles both real and invented by us.
In the list below, we've come up with 15 hypothetical castings to shake things up on a host of returning series, including a Last Man Standing daughter as a never-before-seen Good Doctor sister, or a former MacGyver hacker as one of The Rookie's new rookies. Plus, we've also taken our dream castings to the world of premium cable, where we'd like to see American Gods' Ricky Whittle head over to a different Starz drama, among other potential hirings.
Elsewhere on our list, you'll find a Supergirl hero causing trouble for Ginny & Georgia, a former Superstore employee scrubbing in at Grey's Anatomy and a Good Fight addition to which we have no objections. (But again: These are dream castings from Team TVLine, not actual news items. Not yet, anyway!)
Scroll through the list below to review our picks, then hit the comments to share the beloved faces you want back on TV ASAP.
Wilson Bethel
Past Gig: All Rise Deputy District Attorney Mark Callan
New Gig: A love interest for This Is Us' Madison, who can finally give her what she wants: to hear the words, "I love you, too."
Nicole Maines
Past Gig: Supergirl's Nia Nal aka superhero Dreamer
New Gig: A perky theater geek on Ginny & Georgia who befriends Ginny... then reveals she has a dark past
Molly McCook
Past Gig: Last Man Standing fashionista Mandy No. 2
New Gig: Cassie Reznick, Morgan's never-before-seen sister on The Good Doctor — a successful composer who always rubs her sibling the wrong way
Jordan Calloway
Past Gig: Black Lightning's Khalil Payne aka Painkiller
New Gig: SEAL Team's cocky new recruit, filling the void left by Full Metal (and giving Clay a version of his former self to mentor)
Tristin Mays
Past Gig: MacGyver's Riley Davis, hacker extraordinaire
New Gig: The Rookie will be introducing some new rookies in Season 4 — and this time, they'll stick around! (Sorry, Greg Grunberg.) Mays would do well as a brash boot to keep Nolan on his toes.
Logan Pepper
Past Gig: American Housewife's poor little rich kid, Cooper
New Gig: A chorus boy who's transformed into a leading man in his first semester on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
John Slattery
Past Gig: NEXT's A.I. pioneer Paul LeBlanc
New Gig: A Succession media mogul who senses blood in the water at Waystar and attempts a hostile takeover... while firing off witty quips, of course
Allison Janney
Past Gig: Mom's grateful alcoholic Bonnie Plunkett
New Gig: Louise's longtime gal pal on The Conners — a fellow rock-and-roller who returns to Lanford to help plan Dan and Louise's wedding... and makes a pass at Dan
Colton Dunn
Past Gig: Superstore's acerbic announcer, Garrett
New Gig: The Grey's Anatomy nurse who reminds the doctors the hospital doesn't run on their genius alone
Necar Zadegan
Past Gig: NCIS: New Orleans' Special Agent Hannah Khoury
New Gig: With the OG NCIS team in need of new leadership, given Gibbs' indefinite suspension (and now faked death), it'd be nice to have a familiar face calling the shots in the big orange room. (But sorry about the cuisine downgrade, Hannah!)
Tom Payne
Past Gig: Prodigal Son's brilliant but tormented profiler Malcolm Bright
New Gig: A new Good Fight lawyer who charms Sarah Steele's Marissa
Ricky Whittle
Past Gig: American Gods' demigod Shadow Moon
New Gig: Power Book II: Ghost's new side piece for queenpin Monet Tejada (played by Mary J. Blige)
Simone Missick
Past Gig: All Rise's trailblazing Judge Lola Carmichael
New Gig: The upcoming Lee Daniels-produced Fox drama Our Kind of People, about "the aspirational world of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, a historical stronghold where the rich and powerful Black elite have come to play for over 50 years."
Riann Steele
Past Gig: Debris' MI6 Agent Finola Jones
New Gig: Let's cut out the "middle man" of an exploded spaceship and send Steele into outer space proper, as a new ally of The Mandalorian!
Kim Cattrall
Past Gig: Filthy Rich's Margaret Monreaux, a televangelist with secrets
New Gig: A sex-obsessed publicist with a penchant for naughty one-liners who returns to Manhattan to reunite with old friends in HBO Max's And Just Like That...