Milo Ventimiglia Was Fired From a '90s Sitcom Before He Became a Star

Milo Ventimiglia's early career setback didn't keep him from becoming a Hollywood star!

The 48-year-old actor has become a household name thanks to roles on Gilmore Girls, Heroes, and This Is Us, but in his younger years, he was fired from an unaired '90s sitcom also starring Scott Baio and Sherri Shepherd.

Shepherd, 59, shared the story of her brief time working with Ventimiglia on Fox's Rewind in an Instagram post on Wednesday, June 10, revealing that she knew he was going to be "big," despite him being let go from the production.

"He was originally at the table read, but then they let him go," Shepherd recalled. "I remember he was devastated, and I said to him, 'You are gonna be big.' Now, I didn't know he was going to be that big."

Ventimiglia, who as of 1997 had already appeared in episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Saved by the Bell: The New Class, was cast on Rewind as a younger version of Baio's ad executive character, appearing in his regular "rewinds" back to the '70s.

The sitcom ended up being canceled just two weeks before it was set to air, said Shepherd, who played the secretary of Baio's character, despite the cast taping six full episodes.

Three decades later, the comedian and actress reunited with Ventimiglia in February on her talk show Sherri, where they looked back on their short time as co-stars.

"I was bummed. I was 18 at the time, it was my first job at Warner Brothers," Ventimiglia said of his experience on the show. "'What do I do now? Do I go back to school? Do I go back to waiting tables? … I remember you told me, 'Hey, don't worry about you. You're going to do great. You're going to have a nice career.'"

"I saw in you a star," she assured him. "I was so incredibly proud every time I would see you book something."

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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 6:36 AM.