The Rundown: The Other Guys

How many hours do you think Robin spent on the leather sofa, bitching to his shrink about how he could be a full-fledged superhero on his own and that he didn't need to play the back to Batman all the time?

I'm guessing it was a lot. Hell, it was probably his shrink who told the original Robin Dick Grayson to give up the Robin schtick and bust out on his own as Nightwing. You think Batman missed him? Nope, he just grabbed some other kid looking to play Richie Cunningham to his Arthur Fonzarelli and gave him the old unitard to put on. Next thing you know, brand new Robin.

But as craptacular as it very well could have been being Robin for all those years, Robin had it great compared to the Second Fiddles that make up today's Rundown.

Top Five Other Guys...

5. Marty Jannetty
For my wrestling historian readers out there, I offer up the other guy from the former WWF Tag Team Champs The Rockers with Shawn Michaels. One minute, you're flying high as one of the top tag teams in the business, the next your partner drops you like a bad habit, superkicks you through a window at Brutus' Barber Shop and goes on to become an icon in the business. You, you bounce around failing to maintain continuous employment in the ring and still to this day the only time you're around the ring it involves Shawn Michaels in one way or another. From now on, can every "other guy" who doesn't make it be referred to as having perfectly executed a "Marty Jannetty" or what? Tell me that doesn't work...

4. Philip Michael Thomas
Anyone under the age of 24 has no idea who I'm talking about. Hell, that number might even be too low. But anyone who was around for Miami Vice knows PMT as Ricardo Tubbs, the horribly dressed "Other Guy" to Don Johnson's horribly dressed Sonny Crockett. Don Johnson went on to have a fairly successful career. Philip Michael Thomas starred in a couple Made for TV movies, recorded a couple albums and got fired from the Psychic Friends Network and replaced by Ms. Cleo. Fuck...

3. Art Garfunkel
You can't have a salute to "The Other Guy" without the best other guy of all time. Art Garfunkel doesn't deserve to be placed on this list or any list like it, but he always ends up here. Why? One, his name is Art fucking Garfunkel and that alone is good for a laugh. Two, Paul Simon kept (keeps) putting out really good music and any time one half of a tandem does great things, someone always ask, "What happened to The Other Guy?" Art Garfunkel is The Godfather of Other Guys.

2. Alex Winter
I know what you're thinking... Who? What about if I said "William S. Preston, Esquire?" One half of Wild Stallions? The other half being Keanu "Theodore Logan" Reeves... It's Bill of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. You think this dude sits at home sometimes wondering how in the christ Keanu Reeves went on be a ginormous movie star when he basically always has and always will just be Ted but in nicer clothes? What a kick in the nuts that has got to be. The two of them were on equal footing at the time they made this movie. Keanu has gone on to be a horrible actor who gets paid really, really well. Alex? The last movie credit on his IMDB page that isn't marked as "TV Gangster" or "Subway Passenger" came in 1999. Bogus!

1. Andrew Ridgeley
Barely anyone knows him by name because it's far easier to just call him "The Other Guy from WHAM!" When that is how you're commonly referred to, top spot on this list automatically belongs to you. Ridgeley also gets this spot for being the only person on this list who you could tell right from the outset that he was destine for that role. Everyone else was on equal footing at some point, even Art Garfunkel. Okay, maybe not Philip Michael Thomas. Not Ridgeley either though. George Michael was the star all along. You know you're the King of The Other Guys when you're the inspiration for a movie about "The Other Guy" from that 80's Pop band. Pick up Hugh Grant as Andrew Ridgeley in Music & Lyrics tonight and make it a Blockbuster evening!