History Main / ThePeteBest

* ''Series/{{Ed}}'' had an in-universe example. A band sued their founder, lead singer, and songwriter, on the grounds that she plagiarized her lyrics. It was all a pretense because the record label didn't like her. They had already scouted a potential replacement, but the trial took so long, the replacement joined another band. They tried to take back their leader, in vain. The episode ended with the band performing in front of a not so impressed talent scout.

* {{Invoked}} in-universe in ''Series/BreakingBad''. One of the reasons that [[VillainProtagonist the protagonist Walter White]] decides to enter the meth business is to create a successful enterprise of his own, after having missed out on a chance to be a part of the multi-billion company Gray Matter, which he had founded along with two of his college friends. Though he was one of the primary forces behind the creation of Gray Matter, no one at the company is willing to acknowledge it in public, [[spoiler: especially once Walt is publically exposed as a drug lord near the end of the series]], and his role in starting the company has long since been forgotten.

* The first movie about the amnesiac super-assassin, Jason Bourne, was a 3-hour epic film called ''The Bourne Identity'' that premiered on television in 1988 and starred Richard Chamberlain. However, when people mention Jason Bourne, the first person most people think of is Creator/MattDamon and his role in the remake and sequels that came afterwards. How bad is this? The official tropes page for the [[Film/TheBourneSeries Bourne series]] doesn't even ''mention'' the 1988 film.

* Everybody knows that the IMF on ''Series/MissionImpossible'' was always led by Creator/PeterGraves' Jim Phelps. Mostly forgotten is Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill in the first season. Hill left the show (and temporarily, acting) for reasons that were partly religious, and his character was given the BrotherChuck treatment.

* [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] was first played by Creator/BrianCox in ''Film/{{Manhunter}}'' (as Dr. "Lecktor"), and later by Creator/AnthonyHopkins. Cox's substantial roles in ''Film/{{Rushmore}}'', ''Film/SuperTroopers'', ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', ''Film/Red2010'', and the ''[[Film/TheBourneSeries Bourne]]'' films have since made him a recognized character actor, but as ''Manhunter'' is far less known the other films (especially since the novel ''Literature/RedDragon'' it was based on was later remade a second time) and Hopkins' portrayal became so iconic, Cox carried the 'first to play Lecter' footnote for much of his career. Many still wonder what he could've done with the role if he'd been cast in the later films.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' had its own "Pete Best" with Paul Schneider, who played Mark Brendanawicz in the first two seasons. The character was [[TheScrappy pretty widely disliked by the fans]] for coming off as [[TheGenericGuy bland]] compared to the other characters while critics noted Schneider never seemed to quite fit with the rest of the ensemble cast, his status as the odd man out only becoming more obvious when the show began [[GrowingTheBeard finding more of its own distinct identity]] away from its [[Series/TheOfficeUS parent show]]. Eventually, Schneider left the show at the end of Season 2 (with Mark being PutOnABus and [[LongBusTrip never coming back]]) and was replaced by Creator/AdamScott and Creator/RobLowe as the characters of Ben Wyatt and Chris Traeger Respectively, who were [[BreakoutCharacter an instant hit with fans]] as well as a perfect fit for the show's newfound style, rapidly becoming {{More Popular Replacement}}s.

* In the NHL there were many teams that qualify for this trope. Aside from the famed "original six" The early NHL had many notable teams such as the Senators who spent their last few seasons in St. Louis, several Montreal based teams that attempted to compete with the Canadians, The Quebec Bulldogs, The Hamilton Tigers, The Brooklyn/New York Americans(the last of the nonoriginal six teams to leave the league), and the Pittsburgh Pirates/Philadelphia Quakers. When the Original Six finally decided to allow new teams into the NHL (after some pressure during TV negotiations) St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh were among the first to join the league with new franchises, but none of them are continuations of the old teams. Quebec City and Hamilton are the last remaining old NHL cities with no NHL hockey yet but are often considered as expansion/relocation destinations[[note]]Though as it sits right between Toronto and Buffalo a team in Hamilton is pretty unlikely, the owners of both the Maple Leafs and the Sabres have said they would block any attempt to put a team there. Quebec City has twice been passed over for an expansion team (in favor of Las Vegas and Seattle) thanks to its tiny media market and the weak Canadian dollar[[/note]]. So, one day this trope may be averted for all the old NHL teams.

* In the NHL there were many teams that qualify for this trope. Aside from the famed "original six" The early NHL had many notable teams such as the Senators who spent their last few seasons in St. Louis, several Montreal based teams that attempted to compete with the Canadians, The Quebec Bulldogs, The Hamilton Tigers, The Brooklyn/New York Americans(the last of the nonoriginal six teams to leave the league), and the Pittsburgh Pirates/Philadelphia Quakers. When the Original Six finally decided to allow new teams into the NHL (after some pressure during TV negotiations) St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh were among the first to join the league with new franchises, but none of them are continuations of the old teams. Quebec City and Hamilton are the last remaining old NHL cities with no NHL hockey yet but are often considered as expansion/relocation destinations. So, one day this trope may be averted for all the old NHL teams.

* The four major North American pro sports leagues all had numerous franchises in their early years that went defunct. The Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Bulldogs, Frankford Yellow Jackets, Providence Steam Roller (all NFL), Baltimore Bullets (NBA)[[note]][[NamesTheSame not to be confused with]] the Baltimore Bullets team that's now known as the Washington Wizards[[/note]] and Montreal Maroons (NHL) all had the distinction of winning league championships before going under.

** Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons is a fighter active from the mid-nineties to the present day, skilled in UsefulNotes/MuayThai. His body shape and style are both almost identical to that of legendary former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, and in fact, he trained Silva at one point and had a real-life enmity with him. Almost no one knows who "Pele" is (not the least because his [[NamesTheSame name]] makes him ThePeteBest in another way), while Silva has had much more success and is regarded as one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world.

** The show parodies Pete Best's story with Creator/EddieMurphy as Clarence Walker, the saxophonist who's still bitter about being kicked out of the band.
** In the second episode of the 14th season, with Creator/MatthewBroderick as a guest, they make a parody of Albert Goldman, author of a controversial biography of John Lennon, which made this character (played by Creator/PhilHartman) claim that he had been part of The Beatles and played trombone in the band before they reached the stardom, but was expelled by everyone present (both John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Elvis) on considerations about his lack of talent and large build. In the end, Mr. Goldman threatened to take revenge eventually for that affront (it should be noted that this author wrote a polemic biography of Elvis, too).
** Happened on the show as well. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Coe George Coe]] made a bunch of appearances in the first season as a utility player when they needed someone to play an older man, and was credited as a Not Ready For Prime Time Player on the first episode, though he was never really a full cast member.

* Max Frei of ''Literature/LabyrintsOfEcho'' fame is none other than [[MoustacheDePlume Svetlana Martynchik]], but it didn't start this way. Igor Styopin originally co-wrote Frei's early works. After Martynchik was revealed as the woman behind Max Frei in 2001, she continued writing under that name alone.

* The infamous Wrestling/MickieJames[=/=]Wrestling/TrishStratus StalkerWithACrush storyline was written by Mickie herself but it was written with Wrestling/{{Lita}} in mind, Lita having acted as Mickie's mentor down in OVW. However, when Mickie was called up Lita was out with an ACL injury and the angle was rewritten for Trish Stratus instead. It is now considered one of the best feuds in diva history. Of course, [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Lita was also forced to turn heel]] because of the unfortunate "Wrestling/{{Edge}} incident," so the angle wouldn't have worked anyway.

** Perhaps no NFL quarterback has been the victim of this more than one Tyrod Taylor. While Taylor will always hold a special place in the hearts of Buffalo Bills fans for his role in helping them break their playoff drought in 2017, the team nonetheless decided to move on from him in the subsequent offseason, drafting Josh Allen in the 2018 draft while trading Taylor to the Cleveland Browns. Taylor was named the Browns' Week 1 starter, but only started three games before being injured and replaced by rookie quarterback Bater Mayfield, who dazzled in the opportunity and thereby won the permanent starting job over Taylor. This would turn out to be the start of a pattern for Taylor, who would experience a near-identical scenario (initially win the starting job, get injured early in the season, rookie earns the starting job in his absence) twice in the next three years, being displaced by Justin Herbert with the L.A. Chargers in 2020 and by Davis Mills with the Houston Texans in 2021. In 2022, Taylor signed as a backup for the New York Giants.

** Perhaps no NFL quarterback has been the victim of this more than one Tyrod Taylor. While Taylor will always hold a special place in the hearts of Buffalo Bills fans for his role in helping them break their playoff drought in 2017, the team nonetheless decided to move on from him in the subsequent offseason, drafting Josh Allen in the 2018 draft while trading Taylor to the Cleveland Browns. Taylor was named the Browns' Week 1 starter, but only started three games before being injured and replaced by rookie quarterback Bater Mayfield, who dazzled in the opportunity and thereby won the permanent starting job over Taylor. This would turn out to be the start of a pattern for Taylor, who would go on to lose the starting job in a very similar way to Justin Herbert in 2020 with the L.A. Chargers and to Davis Mills in 2021 with the Houston Texans. In 2022, Taylor signed as a backup for the New York Giants.

* ''Literature/TheInkBlackHeart'': InUniverse and lampshaded. Anomie, an anonymous Internet troll and fan of cartoon ''The Ink Black Heart'', called Seb Montgomery, an artist who helped with animating the first couple episodes of the cartoon, "the Pete Best of ''The Ink Black Heart''." This is actually plot relevant, as Anomie's habit of making arcane Beatles references helps the protagonists, private detectives Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott, figure out his identity.

** It has had not one, but two actors portray Bruce Banner, [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk everyone's favorite jolly green giant rageaholic]]. But Creator/EdwardNorton, who originated the role for the franchise, is not the actor everyone associates with the role; that would be Creator/MarkRuffalo, who took over the role for ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' and has played the character in every appearance since.

** One prominent example of this is Sterling Sharpe, who began his career with the Green Bay Packers in the Majkowski era, but was also one of Green Bay's top receivers for Favre's first three seasons, so much so that when he was knocked out of the 1995 season by what turned out to be a CareerEndingInjury, some fans questioned whether Green Bay could succeed without him. To fill the hole, the Packers bumped up one of their secondary recievers to Sharpe's position: [[https://apnews.com/article/6f767ad8ece39060dfa215614499ade9 Robert Brooks]]. Today, Brooks' name is inextricably linked to Favre's (as are those of other, later-arriving star recievers like Antonio Freeman and Donald Driver), while Sharpe is primarily associated in most people's minds with Majkowski (and/or remembered as "Shannon Sharpe's brother").

** Similarly, Sterling Sharpe, who began his career in the Majkowski era, was one of Green Bay's top receivers for Favre's first three seasons, so much so that when he was knocked out of the 1995 season by what turned out to be a CareerEndingInjury, some fans questioned whether Green Bay could succeed without him. To fill the hole, the Packers bumped up one of their secondary recievers to Sharpe's position: [[https://apnews.com/article/6f767ad8ece39060dfa215614499ade9 Robert Brooks]]. Today, Brooks' name is inextricably linked to Favre's (as are those of other, later-arriving star recievers like Antonio Freeman and Donald Driver), while Sharpe is primarily associated in most people's minds with Majkowski.

* Thanks to the 2006 Broadway revival of ''[[Theatre/CompanySondheim Company]]'', Raúl Esparza has well and truly eclipsed any other actor to play the role of Bobby, despite being ''born'' in the same year the show debuted.

* [[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] was first played by Creator/BrianCox in ''Film/{{Manhunter}}'' (as Dr. "Lecktor"), and later by Creator/AnthonyHopkins. Cox's substantial roles in ''Film/{{Rushmore}}'', ''Film/SuperTroopers'', ''Film/X2XMenUnited'', ''Film/{{RED}}'', and the ''[[Film/TheBourneSeries Bourne]]'' films have since made him a recognized character actor, but as ''Manhunter'' is far less known the other films (especially since the novel ''Literature/RedDragon'' it was based on was later remade a second time) and Hopkins' portrayal became so iconic, Cox carried the 'first to play Lecter' footnote for much of his career. Many still wonder what he could've done with the role if he'd been cast in the later films.

* Creator/EricStuart, the longtime voice actor for James (and Brock) in the 4Kids dub of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', was actually the ''second'' voice actor for the character. Creator/TedLewis was James's voice actor for the first few episodes of the show's run. Lewis went on to voice Tracey and [[BigBad Giovanni]], among many other minor characters, and notably returned to the role of Giovanni even after [[TheOtherDarrin the mass voice actor replacement of 2006]].