Giovanni Ribisi To Replace Tommy Dewey In Fox Comedy ‘Dads’

Giovanni Ribisi will be replacing Tommy Dewey as one of the lead characters in Fox’s multi-camera comedy series Dads.

Dewey was set to play Warner, a video game entrepreneur in his 30s whose life is turned upside down when his father unexpectedly moves in with him. However, after an “imperfect” taping of the show’s first episode late last week, it was decided that the role needed to be tweaked and recast.

Ribisi was most likely chosen for the role because of his pre-existing relationship with series creator Seth MacFarlane and his writers and executive producers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild. Ribisi co-starred in the team’s blockbuster film Ted, and he has also been cast in an upcoming Western comedy co-written by the trio and directed by MacFarlane.

Dewey was the first actor cast in Dads, and was joined by Martin Mull, who will play Warner’s father, Crawford, and Seth Green, who will play Eli, the other son whose father moves in with him. Dewey’s recasting is the second so far — Vanessa Lachey replaced Erin Pineda as Warner’s wife after the table read.

Giovanni Ribisi has largely been focusing on films lately, and Dads will mark his first major series commitment since his recurring role as Ralph Mariano on My Name is Earl from 2005 to 2008. He also did some voice acting in a recent episode of Family Guy, which was also created and executive produced by MacFarlane.

However, the 38-year-old began his acting career on network TV, appearing in The New Leave It to Beaver, Married With Children, and The Wonder Years. He also put in a prominent performance in The X-Files episode “D.P.O.”, and played Frank Jr., the brother of Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) on Friends.

Are you surprised that Giovanni Ribisi has replaced Tommy Dewey as one of the leads in Dads?

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