Originally posted by Lynn S. M.:
I've heard that explanation as well, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me, for two reasons:
1) I'm extremely bad at distinguishing faces. I've often found that two people whom I think look similar enough to be siblings look nothing at all alike to other people. But even so, I had no difficulty whatsoever distinguishing between Michael and Dean.
2) If they wished to visually distinguish Michael and Dean, they could simply have had Michael dye his hair. Or they could have given him a buzz cut. Or a facial tattoo. Or made his attire very distinct. Or any of a number of other things.
My guess is that the official explanation might be a part of the reason, but that there was more that went into the decision than what is revealed by the official reason. I don't know what the "more" might be, and I don't care to speculate, but the official reason just doesn't pass the smell test to me.
Joy,
Lynn
I have read speculation that they were going for a more young looking character to appeal to a younger female audience.
I do think Dean and Michael look alike, but I did not notice that until after I read the explanation for changing Jimmy's. I don't think it ever confused me when I was first watching the show.
