Casting What-Ifs
The project began as Cheech and Chong joining the Army; Columbia preferred Dennis Quaid to Harold Ramis, and Kim Basinger was offered the role ultimately played by the actress the transcript calls P. J. Souls.
This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:20Read transcript
- The initial concept was Cheech and Chong joining the Army, but their demand for creative control ended that version.
- The characters were rewritten for Bill Murray and Harold Ramis.
- Columbia preferred Dennis Quaid for Ramis’s role, and participation was made conditional on Ramis remaining in the cast.
- Kim Basinger was offered the role ultimately played by the actress identified in the transcript as P. J. Souls; the offer fell through because Basinger’s agent requested what the panel calls a crazy amount of money.
- The panel thinks Basinger’s star power and appearance would have overwhelmed the ensemble.