Stunt casting is like cashing in or gaining ratings from someone's CURRENT fame, not past fame. Bonnie Franklin or any of the primetime celebs are considered stunt casting. Stunt Casting is like The Kardashian sister on OLTL or Days and NBC having Nene Leakes on The show for a few episodes as Maxine's daughter.

Stunt casting is like cashing in or gaining ratings from someone's CURRENT fame, not past fame. Bonnie Franklin or any of the primetime celebs are considered stunt casting. Stunt Casting is like The Kardashian sister on OLTL or Days and NBC having Nene Leakes on The show for a few episodes as Maxine's daughter.

If you run an ad that Bonnie Franklin is going to be on your show, then you are doing so based on their past fame, and you want people to tune in for that.

If you run an ad that Bonnie Franklin is going to be on your show, then you are doing so based on their past fame, and you want people to tune in for that.

That's done with any actor, running ads stated who is joining your show. Joan Collins I consider stunt because of the Diva status she holds. Even Cynthia Watros is Stunt casting when she went to Another World temporary as Victoria Love.

GH was the king of stunt casting in the late 70s/early 80s and they appealed to the big guns: Sammy Davis, Jr., Milton Berle, Elizabeth Taylor. Sammy also appeared on OLTL and had a love for the genre...it was always great to see him.

Carol Burnett did several stints on AMC but, oddly enough, I always had a hard time believing in her as Verla Grubbs. Whereas I could believe Sammy as Bryan Phillips' father on GH or ET as Helena Cassadine, for some reason I either saw Carol as Carol or as Eunice on AMC.

I'd say the original stuntcasting of Rick Springfield on GH back in the day proved very successful for both the show and his career.

Edited November 7, 201213 yr by applcin

To me, if an actor requests to be on the show because they enjoy it as a fan that's not stunt casting (like Liz Taylor or Carol Burnett, if they want to be on your show you do everything you can to make it happen). It's when the show sends out "feelers" to an actor's agent or hires someone semi-famous over someone suited for the role then it's stunt casting.

Was Joan Crawford really stunt casting though? Wasn't that when her career was falling off and she took over her daughter's role?

Didn't Gloria Monty have something to do with it?

I really liked Shirley Jones' stint on Days a few years ago.

Leann Rimes' appearances were great too.

To me, if an actor requests to be on the show because they enjoy it as a fan that's not stunt casting (like Liz Taylor or Carol Burnett, if they want to be on your show you do everything you can to make it happen). It's when the show sends out "feelers" to an actor's agent or hires someone semi-famous over someone suited for the role then it's stunt casting.

I still consider it stunt-casting if it's done with TPTB believing that the presence of the particular "star" will make a bigger impression with viewers than it would if they cast a lesser known individual. If, let's make believe, both Liz Taylor and Constance Towers approached GH in 1981 to put them on the show and there was the one role of Helena to be had, there's no doubt in my mind they still would have chosen the star power of Liz over Constance.