History Main / AlanSmithee

* During production of ''WesternAnimation/JetsonsTheMovie'' , Creator/JanetWaldo's dialogue for Judy Jetson was re-recorded by singer Music/{{Tiffany}} after Waldo had recorded all her dialogue, as executives wanted more people to see the movie. Creator/AndreaRomano, one of the voice directors, was so against the decision that she asked to have her name removed from the end credits (though this only applies to the theatrical version, since she was still credited on the home media releases and TV airings).

Hiller [[CreatorKiller spent over a decade without directing anything]] due to the movie's awful critical reception and [[BoxOfficeBomb box office gross]]. It was also strike three for screenwriter Creator/JoeEszterhas after ''Film/{{Showgirls}}'' and ''Film/{{Jade}}'' in 1995, and was one of many busts that convinced [[Creator/{{Disney}} The Walt Disney Company]] to shut down the Hollywood Pictures label (which released ''Burn Hollywood Burn''). Its greatest legacy is as part of Creator/RogerEbert's [[https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/eberts-most-hated Most Hated film list]] and the winner of five {{UsefulNotes/Golden Raspberry Award}}s, including Worst Picture of 1998.

* After the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum magazine ''Crash'' ended, it was discovered that the letters-page editor "Lloyd Mangram" never existed. The actual editor was sometimes Barnaby Page, but not always.

** Almost everyone in the English voice cast for ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' were credited under pseudonyms due to them not knowing if their work had the Screen Actors Guild's blessing. The only voice actors who used their real names were Creator/DavidHayter, Doug Stone, and Scott Dolph[[note]]the demo and the European manual credit Hayter as Sean Barker[[/note]]. When the cast returned to re-record their lines for the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube remake, ''The Twin Snakes'', they all used their real names thanks to the project having open SAG support.

* In 2000, Creator/{{Acclaim}} briefly brought back its long-retired [[Creator/LJNToys LJN]] label for the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast port of ''Spirit of Speed 1937'', likely fearing poor critical reception.

* During production of ''WesternAnimation/JetsonsTheMovie'' , Janet Waldo's dialogue for Judy Jetson was dubbed over by pop star Tiffany due to executive meddling so as to attract more people. Creator/AndreaRomano, one of the voice directors, was so against the decision that she asked to have her name removed from the end credits. [[note]] This only applies to the theatrical version since she was credited on the media releases and tv airings. [[/note]] (Waldo understandably wasn't too happy about it either, claiming that [[TakeThat Tiffany sang through her nose]].)

* Most of the cast of ''WesternAnimation/{{Tutenstein}}'' were credited under pseudonyms due to the non-union status of the show. For the main cast of the first 35 episodes, the titular character was voiced by Creator/JeannieElias under the pseudonym of "Marcus Muldoon" and Cleo was voiced by Crystal Scales under the pseudonym of "Babi Mosquito".

* The Creator/BetteMidler vehicle ''Jinxed!'' was a TroubledProduction, with, among other problems, Midler and co-star Ken Wahl hating each other's guts and intense mutual hatred between The Divine Miss M and director Don Siegel (who, as mentioned earlier, was one of the creators of Allen/Alan Smithee on ''Death of a Gunfighter''). Siegel suffered a heart attack during production and Creator/SamPeckinpah, not the first name that comes to mind when thinking of comedy directors--then again, neither is Siegel--finished the film uncredited. Siegel recovered but this was his final film credit. All of this led to primary screenwriter Frank Gilroy billing himself as "Bert Blessing".

** Attempted, but failed by Creator/HarlanEllison for "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]", as he wanted to be credited under his pseudonym Cordwainer Bird in order to protest the heavy rewrites, especially Creator/GeneRoddenberry's deletion of a drug-dealing character and the KarmicDeath that he eventually got. However, it was well known that he used that pseudonym to flag up works that he felt were sub-par, and Roddenberry, afraid that people would otherwise go in expecting the episode to suck, was able to tie things up in legal matters until the episode had already aired, by which point it didn't matter. (Though this had the unfortunate side-effect of also preventing D.C. Fontana -- who had mostly written the final script -- getting a co-writer credit).

** D.C. Fontana didn't fare much better on TNG than she did in the last season of TOS; she was credited as J. Michael Bingham on "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E2TheNakedNow The Naked Now]]" after Roddenberry rewrote her original, darker and more character-focused draft into a more comedic episode that focused heavily on his CreatorsPet, Wesley Crusher. She would have done the same for "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E16TooShortASeason Too Short a Season]]", which similarly got rewritten beyond recognition by Roddenberry, if not for the fact that she had left the show and simply didn't want to deal with Roddenberry's lawyer.
** Another former TOS writer, John D.F. Black went under the credit of Ralph Willis for "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E8Justice Justice]]" for much the same reason as Fontana; his darker and grittier story ended up being rewritten into one with a hamfisted message about how AllCrimesAreEqual is inherently injust, with ludicrous levels of fanservice thrown in seemingly for the heck of it.
** Tracy Torme used the pseudonym Keith Mills for "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E12TheRoyale The Royale]]", after showrunner Maurice Hurley rewrote his original, more satirical plot in to a straightforward gangster pastiche. Later in that season, Torme, wrote another episode, "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E19Manhunt Manhunt]]"... which once again got butchered by Hurley in rewrites, resulting in Torme putting another pseudonym (Terry Deveraux) on the episode and storming off the series for good.
** Hurley himself had previously gone under the pseudonym C.J. Holland for "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E10HideAndQ Hide and Q]]", after it was heavily rewritten by Roddenberry. In this case however, Hurley later admitted that he had been too hasty, and that Roddenberry's rewrite had actually improved the episode.

** Alan Brennert thought that his script "Healer" was so badly acted and directed that he took his name off of the episode. It is credited to Michael Bryant.
** "Paladin of the Lost Hour", which was directed by Gilbert Cates, is credited to Alan Smithee as Cates disliked the manner in which it was edited.
** Creator/RichardMatheson had his name taken off of "Button, Button" as he was displeased with the [[AdaptationalAlternateEnding changed ending of his short story]] made at the insistence of [[ExecutiveMeddling CBS executives]]. It is credited to Logan Swanson.

** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E2InAGaddaDaLeela In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela]]" was written by "Carolyn Premish", which seems to be a pseudonym of David X. Cohen. He was present on the DVD commentary despite not being credited on this episode, and stated in a Reddit AMA that he regrets this episode and feels it went 'too far'. The episode was co-written by Matt Groening, whose only other Futurama writing credits are on episodes co-written by Cohen.
** The episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS8E3HowTheWestWas1010001 How the West Was 1010001]]" was written by "Nona di Spargement", a pseudonym for regular writer-producer Ken Keeler. In the 2022 L.A. Comic Con panel, Patric M. Verrone mentioned that the episode was written by Keeler.

Before 2000, Smithee was the only alias Directors Guild members were permitted to use. This was changed because of the comedy film ''Film/AnAlanSmitheeFilmBurnHollywoodBurn'', which revolves around a director who wants his name removed from his film, but is stymied because his name is actually Alan Smithee. Bad press surrounding the film combined with director Arthur Hiller wanting ''[[{{Irony}} his]]'' [[LifeImitatesArt name removed due to studio interference]] created an odd metatextual tangle where, under DGA rules, ''An Alan Smithee Film'' had to be credited to Alan Smithee, causing the name to be retired. Since then, aliases are selected on a case-by-case basis. However, the popularity of the name is such that Smithee's [=IMDb=] page has several post-2000 entries (none of which are presumably under DGA jurisdiction).

* Smithee "debuted" with the 1969 film ''Death of a Gunfighter''. After a year of work and [[CreativeDifferences arguing]] -- and about 25 days of shooting -- star Richard Widmark [[WagTheDirector arranged]] to have director Robert Totten replaced by Don Siegel. Siegel shot the final two weeks or so, but because he didn't shoot half the movie (and didn't personally like what ''had'' been shot), he didn't want his name used as director of the movie. Totten, not happy with how things went, also refused to take credit. And the DGA agreed that the film didn't really represent ''either'' director's vision. \\
The first suggestion for the name of the fictitious director was Al Smith, but since the DGA already had a director with that name, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Allen Smithee]] was suggested instead.\\

* Referenced in ''VideoGame/{{Wild ARMs 3}}'', though in a totally different context. Alan Smithy is a legendary Drifter who leaves signposts with advice all over the landscape.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' voice actors Daniel Brochu and Bruce Dinsmore reprised their regular roles of Buster, Binky Barnes and David Read, respectively, for the direct-to-video film ''WesternAnimation/ArthursMissingPal'', however since it was a non-union project, they went under pseudonyms. Brochu was credited as "Conway Bruce" for voicing Buster, while Dinsmore voiced Binky and David Read under the pseudonym of "Bruce Smithee".

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' producer Kara Vallow declined her usual credit for the episode "Excellence in Broadcasting" in protest of the episode's guest appearance from Rush Limbaugh.

* Creator/PhilLaMarr [[TheOtherDarrin Darrin'd]] Ahmed Best as Jar Jar Binks for much of Season 1 of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' under the pseudonym of "BJ Hughes", a fact that went unrevealed for over a decade. Unlike other examples of this trope, it should be noted that this is the only role of his on the show in which [=LaMarr=] was credited by a pseudonym, whereas he is credited by his real name for all his other roles, making this a case of choosing not to be associated with a specific role rather than an entire work. Given that Best was going through a CreatorBreakdown at the time due to harassment he received from being associated with Jar Jar, [=LaMarr=] likely went by the pseudonym to avoid going through the same ordeal.

** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E2InAGaddaDaLeela In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela]]" was written by "Carolyn Premish", which seems to be a pseudonym of David X. Cohen, who was present on the DVD commentary, and has mentioned in a Reddit AMA that he regrets this episode and feels it went 'too far'. The episode was co-written by Matt Groening, whose only other Futurama writing credits are on episodes co-written by Cohen.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS8E3HowTheWestWas1010001 How the West Was 1010001]]" was written by "Nona di Spargement", a pseudonym for regular writer-producer Ken Keeler. In the 2022 L.A. Comic Con panel, Patric M. Verrone mentioned that the episode was written by Keeler.

* This is a common practice for [[UsefulNotes/UnionsInHollywood union voice actors to use a pseudonym when doing non-union voice work]], not just dealing with hentai or fanservice series. This is the main reason why Creator/SteveBlum used the "David Lucas" pseudonym. Another practice common in video games is [[NowWhichOneWasThatVoice not even listing the English dub credits]] ''at all''.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' had a couple of cartoons with inferior animation (provided by Creator/EncoreCartoons) directed by "Allen Smithee." The episode's CreditsGag was: "Number of Retakes: Don't Ask."

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' had a couple of cartoons with inferior animation directed by "Allen Smithee." The episode's CreditsGag was: "Number of Retakes: Don't Ask."

** Jon Vitti and David Silverman used the pseudonyms "Penny Wise" and "Pound Foolish" for writing and directing the [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E3AnotherSimpsonsClipShow second]] and [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E10TheSimpsons138thEpisodeSpectacular third]] clip episodes.

Before 2000, Smithee was the only alias Directors Guild members were permitted to use. This was changed because of the comedy film ''Film/AnAlanSmitheeFilmBurnHollywoodBurn'', which revolves around a director who wants his name removed from his film, but is stymied by actually being ''named'' Alan Smithee. Bad press surrounding the film combined with director Arthur Hiller wanting ''[[{{Irony}} his]]'' [[LifeImitatesArt name removed due to studio interference]] created an odd metatextual tangle where, under DGA rules, ''An Alan Smithee Film'' had to be credited to Alan Smithee, causing the name to be retired. Since then, aliases are selected on a case-by-case basis. However, the popularity of the name is such that Smithee's [=IMDb=] page has several post-2000 entries (none of which are presumably under DGA jurisdiction).

* As noted in the trope description, the Alan Smithee name was officially retired after 1998's ''Film/AnAlanSmitheeFilmBurnHollywoodBurn''. The movie itself was a parody of "Alan Smithee" as a pseudonym, where the titular movie director who wants his name out of the [[ShowWithinAShow fictional movie]] ''Trio'', played by Creator/EricIdle, actually ''is'' named Alan Smithee. Veteran director Arthur Hiller (of ''Film/LoveStory'' and more) was unhappy with the film's script and asked to have his name taken off the credits — and sure enough, he got credited as ''Alan Smithee'', which caused the Directors' Guild to discontinue the practice.\\

Before 2000, Smithee was the only alias Directors Guild members were permitted to use. This was changed because of the comedy film ''Film/AnAlanSmitheeFilmBurnHollywoodBurn'', which revolves around a director who wants his name removed from his film, but is stymied by actually being ''named'' Alan Smithee. Bad press surrounding the film combined with director Arthur Hiller wanting ''[[{{Irony}} his]]'' [[LifeImitatesArt name removed due to studio interference]] created an odd metatextual tangle where, under DGA rules, ''An Alan Smithee Film'' had to be credited to Alan Smithee, causing the name to be retired. Since then, aliases are selected on a case-by-case basis. However, the popularity of the name is such that Smithee's IMDB page has several post-2000 entries (none of which are presumably under DGA jurisdiction).

Coincidentally, "Alan Smithee" is also an anagram of "The Alias Men". Compare this to the use of the name "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Bourbaki Nicolas Bourbaki]]" in mathematics.

* The 1986 [[ActionGenre action]] movie ''Film/LetsGetHarry'' was credited to Smithee after the [[ExecutiveMeddling studio made a post-production decision]] to expand the character of Harry from a HostageMacGuffin who only appears briefly (giving the film a SecondaryCharacterTitle) to one of the main roles, because he was played by Creator/MarkHarmon, then at the height of his sex symbol phase. Stuart Rosenberg, the director, protested, Harmon's new scenes were done without him, and Rosenberg had his name taken off the film.

* As a result of the infamous and tragic HellishCopter incident on the set of ''Film/TwilightZoneTheMovie'', second assistant director Andy House had his name removed from the credits and replaced with the pseudonym Alan Smithee.

* Averted by Creator/DavidFincher on ''Film/Alien3''. He was brought in late on an already TroubledProduction, faced ExecutiveMeddling from the start, and wound up seeing the film edited without his participation, but, since it was his first film, he informally disowned it instead.