Dream Roles For Stars Of Cancelled Shows: Peacemaker's Talia Al Ghul, Ghosts' New Spirit, Grey's Doc And More

By Charlie Mason June 11, 2022 6:00 pm EST

Courtesy of NBC; The CW; CBS; The CW

Although we're still recovering from this spring's cancellation bloodbath (we're looking at you, The CW!), TVLine is here to offer a silver-linings perspective: The stars of some of those dearly departed shows are now free to take on exciting new roles on our other favorite comedies and dramas.

The TV Grim Reaper's axe came down hard this year on shows such as B Positive, The Endgame and Pivoting, as well as a bevy of CW dramas including Batwoman, Dynasty and Roswell, New Mexico. Now that the dust has settled, TVLine is reviving our annual tradition of dreaming up possible new gigs for the cast members of recently cancelled shows.

In the list below, we've come up with 17 hypothetical castings to shake things up on a host of returning series, including a Legend of Tomorrow as an Evil love interest, a Roswell alien to mend a Grey's heart, and an Our Kind of People alum as a new Resident doc.

Plus, we've found the perfect people to potentially help out Reacher, kick ass as Talia al Ghul on Peacemaker, and conjure a new spirit on Ghosts. Last month also saw This Is Us come to its conclusion, so we've got something euphoric in mind for a certain vet of that NBC drama. (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.

Adhir Kalyan

Courtesy of CBS

Past Gig: United States of Al's Afghan interpreter Al

New Gig: A coworker/potential love interest for Bob Hearts Abishola's Christina

Annaleigh Ashford

Courtesy of CBS

Past Gig: B Positive's reformed party girl-turned-wealthy retirement home owner Gina

New Gig: A neurotic, free-spirited East Texas Tech professor who gets on Young Sheldon's last nerve.

Debbi Morgan

Courtesy of Fox

Past Gig: Our Kind of People's straight-talking Aunt Piggy

New Gig: The mother of Yellowstone's Colby, who wants nothing more than for her son to give up "cowboyin'" to be a businessman.

Eliza Coupe

Courtesy of Fox

Past Gig: Pivoting's struggling working mom Amy

New Gig: A high-strung mom with over-scheduled kids on an Italian vacation on The White Lotus

Jason Isaacs

Courtesy of CBS

Past Gig: Good Sam's prickly father/surgeon Dr. Rob "Griff" Griffith

New Gig: The (British, let him use his accent!) head of a rival crime syndicate on The Cleaning Lady, with whom Thony must go toe-to-toe in Season 2.

Javicia Leslie

Courtesy of The CW

Past Gig: Batwoman's titular superhero

New Gig: Reacher's Karla Dixon, the Special Investigations Unit member/forensics accountant who helps the title character in Bad Luck and Trouble, the book on which Season 2 will be based.

Liz Gillies

Courtesy of The CW

Past Gig: Dynasty's HBIC Fallon Carrington

New Gig: A scheming songbird in Fox's upcoming country music drama Monarch. Her connection to the Roman family is TBD, all we know is that the part would combine Gillies' greatest talents — singing and causing trouble.

Maggie Q

Courtesy of Fox

Past Gig: Pivoting surgeon-turned-grocery store cashier Sarah

New Gig: Peacemaker's Talia al Ghul, daughter of the supervillain Ra's al Ghul and sometime-lover of Batman's — which Chris surely would have fun teasing her about!

Nathan Dean

Courtesy of The CW

Past Gig: Roswell, New Mexico's resident alien Max Evans

New Gig: A new Grey's Anatomy surgeon who sutures Levi's broken heart post-Nico breakup.

Naturi Naughton

Courtesy of ABC

Past Gig: Queens' fierce female rapper/newly out lesbian Jill "Da Thrill"

New Gig: A Bringston University alum, and one of the school's most legendary women's tennis players, who becomes a mentor to Simone after visiting campus on All-American: Homecoming.

Nicole Kang

Courtesy of The CW

Past Gig: Batwoman's crafty (...and occasionally poisonous) Dr. Mary Hamilton

New Gig: A brand-new officer on The Rookie who ties for being the LAPD's youngest trainee — and ironically is assigned as Nolan's first "boot" to whip into shape as a T.O.