Timothy Olyphant Made His TV Debut In This Canceled '90s Series

Young Timothy Olyphant got his foot in Hollywood's door in 1996, when he landed a role in a show whose title might raise a few eyebrows. It was called "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," and it was about two spies in a complicated romantic situation. No, it was not connected to the big movie of the same name that came out in 2005, nor was it connected to the Alfred Hitchcock romantic comedy from the 1940s. That 2005 movie didn't plagiarize this earlier TV show, either, although when I spoke to the co-creator of the '96 "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in 2024, he admitted he could see how someone might jump to that conclusion.

Who did Olyphant play in the series? Sadly, he didn't play the titular Mr. Smith — that role went to Scott Bakula. Instead Olyphant played Scooby, a guy who's part of Mr. Smith's spy team and certainly seems like a cool, loyal dude. Unfortunately, Scooby turns out to be a double agent, and the pilot ends with him going full evil and trying to murder Mr. and Mrs. Smith with a gun.

I hate to spoil this minor plot point of a nearly 30-year-old show that's no longer available anywhere on streaming, but rest assured, it's still fun to watch Olyphant here, even if you know exactly what happens. Olyphant's Scooby is the best part of that "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" pilot, providing a major spark of energy in an episode that was otherwise a little slow by today's standards.

This was Olyphant's last episode on the series, and the show itself would soon be canceled and sadly forgotten. But although it was hardly the big breakout role Olyphant likely hoped for, it may have helped the actor find his next big thing. Within a year, he was cast in "Scream 2" (the best "Scream" movie, in my humble opinion) as Mickey Altieri, and it's hard not to wonder if "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" was the reason he got the part.

Warning: Spoilers for the "Scream" franchise to follow.

Olyphant's "Scream 2" character Mickey is rarely fans' favorite killer in the franchise, mainly because he doesn't have much to do prior to his reveal. Of course, that's more of an issue with the script and not with Olyphant himself; "Scream" fans don't have a bad thing to say about his performance, especially in the film's final act when he goes mask-off. Mickey is possibly both the most sadistic and least sympathetic Ghostface in the "Scream" movies. He's motivated by a desire for fame, not revenge. Sure, the same thing could be said of the killer in "Scream 4" (which is better than you remember), but at least the villain there was only in it for the fame. They didn't seem to enjoy killing the way Mickey did, though (nor did they go to such lengths to torture Neve Campbell's heroine Sydney mentally). 

Nobody involved in "Scream 2" has credited "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" for Olyphant landing the Mickey role. In fact, when the trades (Variety included) reported on Olyphant joining the "Scream 2" cast, they didn't even mention his turn on the show at all, preferring instead to shout out his brief appearance on the medical series "High Incident" in 1997.

Still, maybe Olyphant's prior performance as Scooby helped push the film's casting director in his favor. Or perhaps playing Scooby made Olyphant realize that he loves playing villainous roles, which made him particularly eager to audition for a movie like "Scream 2." When Variety asked him how he landed his "Scream" role in a 2015 interview, Olyphant answered simply, "I auditioned — multiple times. Why wouldn't I want to be in 'Scream'? I wanted to be in the first one."

Once he landed "Scream 2," one thing became clear: Olyphant had made it. As he explained in that same 2015 interview, "That 'Scream' role was quite a gift. I had virtually nothing on my resume at that point. I'm sure some of it was made up. That was a leap of faith they all took. I'm very appreciative of them being willing to take that risk."