# Best/Worst Replacement of a TV Character **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 24, 2000, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057 "2000-12-24T03:39:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/21 "2000-12-25T19:02:46Z")
Worst: 1. The replacement for Becky in **Roseanne** was a flop. The real Becky came back the following season, and shortly thereafter the Connors won the lottery & the whole show went down hill like a full cement truck with no brakes[sup]\*[/sup]. [sub]\*Or a house in California on a rainy day.[/sub] 1. Whoever ends up replacing Bob Barker on **The Price is Right**. ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2000, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/22 "2000-12-25T20:53:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by kasuo \* > > Best > > > > “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” > > Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) replaced by Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer)\*\* > > Carry on. > > ^\_\_~ Dude… DOOD! Terry is way more smoking hot than Nicole, although if they both wanted to have a threesome, I would certainly not abject. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/23 "2000-12-26T01:42:28Z")
All the shows I would have mentioned have been mentioned but I’ll just add MHO if that’s OK. **torgo** > [@](#): > > Torgo WORST: > > Show: The Andy Griffith Show > Departed: Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) > Replaced by: Deputy Warren Ferguson (Jack Burns) > > Talented and hilarious Knotts is replaced by Jay Lenoish sounding, no-talent Burns–instantly forgettable. “The Andy Griffith Show”, shot in color at this point, would limp on for 3 more painful years, a shadow of what it once was. > Show: Chico and the Man > Departed: Chico Rodriguez (Freddie Prinze) > Replaced by: Raul Rodriguez (Gabriel Melgar) > > Lesson learned: when your star offs himself, pull up the stakes. > Show: All in the Family > Departed: Mike & Gloria Stivic (Rob Reiner & Sally Struthers) > Replaced by: Stephanie Mills (Danielle Brisebois) > > The arrival of Edith’s niece Stephanie marks the transformation of “AITF” from a socially relevant groundbreaking sitcom into another show with a smartass kid. > BEST: > Show: Cheers > Departed: Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) > Replaced by: Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley) > > Proving that the writing’s the thing, Alley’s clumsy and pathetic Rebecca Howe fit in seamlessly when the show lost uptight intellectual Diane Chambers. I agree with you up until the point that you (1)put this under “BEST” and (2) said anything good about the show after the change had been made. Sorry but I can’t stand Rebecca. I find her character thoroughly unfunny and the dialogue just got worse and worse after that. MASH: I strongly prefer Winchester to the (as already mentioned) extremely 2-D Burns. I prefer BJ to Trapper as well. It seemed with that change the overall tone of the show matured. Roseanne: Yeah, the change to the other Becky sucked, but the show knew they couldn’t replace her and even joked about it. I liked that. ---
**Author:** ![Et\_tu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df788c/32.png) [@Et\_tu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Et_tu)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/24 "2000-12-26T07:32:34Z")
I liked the new husband better than the old one on I Dream of Genie. I guess because I started watching the sequence on cable when his character was up, so the “original” looked like the substitute. ---
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/25 "2000-12-26T07:37:32Z")
I don’t know any of the actor names, so I’ll just refer to them by character names. Days of Our Lives: Austin Reed (Actually, this was Patrick Muldoon to Austin Peck) Belle Brady-went from 3 to 15 Brady Black-from about 5 to 17 Phillip Kariokis-same Shawn Douglas-changed actors when he was about 12, then again when he “grew up” Passions: Kay Bennet Gwen Hotchkiss Gwen’s mom All of these replacements just sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/26 "2000-12-26T15:25:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Attrayant \* > \*\*Worst: > > Whoever ends up replacing Bob Barker on **The Price is Right**. > > \*\* With all due respect, old boomers may recall the original Price is Right with the easygoing and unflappable Bill Cullen. Of course, it was a totally different show with the same four contestants competing for the whole show (and from day to day) for 50’s era consumer goodies (cars, appliances, vacations, etc.) A couple of years ago the Game Show Network ran some of the original episodes, and it held up remarkably well. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/27 "2000-12-26T15:48:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Uh, I don’t believe they had a choice. Good ol Nic Colasanto HAD to be replaced cause, uh, he died. But I liked Coach’s character better than Woody. I didn’t think that these had to be voluntary replacements. They didn’t have any choice on replacing Selma from Night Court for the very same reason. I think the point is just whether or not the replacement worked well, or killed the show. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/28 "2000-12-26T17:25:17Z")
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned these: BEST Show: “Babylon 5” Jeffrey Sinclair (Michael O’Hare) replaced by John Sheridan(Bruce Boxleitner) - I know lots of people don’t like Boxleitner that much, but ad least he came equipped with a personality. WORST Show: “Babylon 5” Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian) replaced by Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins) - Season 5 was basically dead air anyway, considering that most major plot points had been resolved by the end of Season 4, but replacing one of the show’s most fun, poignant characters with a very pale imitation didn’t help much. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/29 "2000-12-26T20:04:22Z")
Best: MASH- Trapper John (Wayne Rogers) with BJ Honneycut (Mike Farrell) Best: Cheers- Diane Chambers (Shelly Long) with Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley). Really, the removal of Shelly Long led the series to make stories that involved a lot more people than just Sam and Diane. It wasn’t just Kirstie Alley that replaced Diane, it was the whole cast really. Best: MASH- Spearchucker Jones (Timothy Brown)with nobody. He was a tag-along character anyway. Have you ever seen the episodes he’s in? He has maybe 10 lines total and they weren’t funny. Worst: Cosby Show- Rudy Huxtable (Keshia Knight Pulliam) with Olivia Kendall (Raven-Symone). Toward the end of this show, Rudy got too old so they stopped giving her lines and added a new little girl to be cute. While Rudy was still in most episodes, she mostly was in the background watching here career end before she was 15. It seems to be a real test of a show’s quality to see how they handle new characters. MASH and Cheers will always be remembered in the top 5 shows of all time, but the Costy Show, while popular, will not be. Most people wrote Cheers off as dead after Diane left, but I actually think it got quite a bit better. To bad Coach died, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/30 "2000-12-26T20:15:00Z")
Best: Replacing Dr. Crusher with Dr. Pulaski in ST: TNG, if you ask me. That cast was getting way too complacent; I kept expecting them to start doing group hugs, especially after they all started sleeping with each other. Worst: Replacing Dr. Crusher with Dr. Pulaski, if you ask my wife. She thought Dr. Pulaski was to cranky and objectionable, and just didn’t fit in. They mitigated both of these by switching them back. Even worse, in my opinion: Replacing The Highlander with Highlander: The Raven. Why was that again? Oh, yeah, Adrian Paul wanted to work on movies. Snerk. Okay, maybe it wasn’t worse. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/31 "2000-12-26T23:16:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \* > \*\*Worst: > > Replacing Dr. Crusher with Dr. Pulaski, if you ask my wife. She thought Dr. Pulaski was to cranky and objectionable, and just didn’t fit in. > > They mitigated both of these by switching them back.\*\* I agree with your wife. Dr. Pulaski was a VERY feeble attempt to bring the cantankerousness (is that a word?) of Dr. McCoy. She sucked. And not in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2000, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/32 "2000-12-26T23:47:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > **Dr. Pulaski was a VERY feeble attempt to bring the cantankerousness (is that a word?) of Dr. McCoy.** It became painfully obvious that it was intentional when she quoted him re: the Transporters (something about atoms scattered about the Galaxy.). I stopped trying to like her at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/33 "2000-12-27T13:44:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kasuo \* > \*\*Best > > “Star Trek: Voyager” > Kes (Jennifer Lien) replaced by Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) > > Worst > > “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” > Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) replaced by Ezri Dax (Nicole de Boer) > \*\* Hey! I liked Ezri!! I did like Jadzia too, but Ezri was great. I hope to see Nicole de Boer in other shows in the future - I thought it was a shame the show ended so soon after she joined the cast. I can’t agree with the Kes/Seven of Nine one either, because, again, I liked both characters. In fact, Kes was the ONLY character I liked in Voyager for a long time - the first season was awful, and it’s not much better these days. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/34 "2000-12-28T00:51:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cazzle \* > **I liked Ezri!! I did like Jadzia too, but Ezri was great.** Ah, good. Someone else with sense. This is tanamount to heresy among Trek fans (as is my conviction that TNG was the worst of the Trek series), but Ezri was a superior character to Jadzia in every way. Jadzia was smarter, more self-assured, and a better officer, but these are the PROBLEMS with her. She was too perfect. She was almost never wrong, almost never afraid, almost never awkward. (The only exceptions I can think of are about 3 episodes dealing with former hosts. In 6 years, they only gave her a handful of times to be HUMAN.) Ezri was the opposite extreme - absolutely not together at all until the series was almost over. She was far more interesting to watch, as she adjusted to being joined, got over her space-sickness, squelched Jadzia’s feelings for Worf. Not to mention that she’s a hotty. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/35 "2000-12-28T01:24:48Z")
Tengu wrote: > [@](#): > > Jadzia was smarter, more self-assured, and a better officer, but these are the PROBLEMS with her. > > She was too perfect. She was almost never wrong, almost never afraid, almost never awkward. Not to mention the fact that, since Terry Farrell was a model (rather than an actress) before joining the DS9 cast, she can’t act her way out of a paper bag. Berman & company hired her for her looks (much like they later did with Jeri “7 of 9” Ryan). ---
**Author:** ![Shylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Shylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shylock)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/36 "2000-12-28T17:39:02Z")
I never liked the Rebecca character in Cheers, so for me that would qualify as a “WORST”…although the Sam and Diane show had about worn out its welcome. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > \*\*I’m kinda surprised no one’s mentioned… > > BEST > > John Burns (Randall Carver) replaced by Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd) on _Taxi_. \*\* Yes Yes Yes. The two (?) seasons of Taxi with both Reverend Jim and Latka are some of the best written, funniest shows ever put on television. Another “WORST”: in Homicide, when they got rid of the female coroner - I forget her name, but the one with dark hair, the small mole, and the cynical attitude. Man, I thought she was sexy. Great show, in general, that was… ---
**Author:** ![OrcaChow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47c2d/32.png) [@OrcaChow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrcaChow)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/37 "2000-12-28T18:11:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*Worst: Replacing Dick York with Dick Sargeant as Darrin on “Bewitched”. York was far better as physical comedy than Sargeant (which, unfortunately, led to his demise). Sargeant played the role as a smug SOB and you wanted Endora to turn him into a frog or something. \*\* Dick Sergeant was reportedly the producer’s original choice for Darrin but was unavailable at the time. Yep, Dick York was edgier. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/38 "2001-01-10T18:56:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > Not to mention the fact that, since Terry Farrell was a model (rather than an actress) before joining the DS9 cast, she can’t act her way out of a paper bag. Berman & company hired her for her looks (much like they later did with Jeri “7 of 9” Ryan). \*\* Oh? Terry Farrell had 7 movies and a TV series on her resume before being cast as Jadzia Dax. And Jeri Ryan had 6 movies and a series. I’d say that makes them actresses. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/39 "2001-01-10T19:01:57Z")
BEST replacement From “Friends”: Terry (Max Wright) with Gunther (James Michael Tyler) as Central Perks manager. (Personally, I hope Gunther bags Rachel someday. :D:D ) WORST replacement From “I Dream of Jeannie”: Larry Hagman with Wayne Rogers as Major Anthony Nelson (from series to TV movie). (The TV movies were just too pale compared to the series.) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057/40 "2001-01-10T19:08:24Z")
When i saw this thread i pictured the first reply mentioning one person as worst replcement and every poster thereafter agreeing with him\*. I’m absolutely shocked. Who is that one person? **Shemp**. 'Nuff said. \*Of course, since i said that everyone will chime in saying how much they love Shemp…:rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-worst-replacement-of-a-tv-character/47057.md?page=3)