Best/Worst Replacement of a TV Character

In My Humble Opinion
41

Well, I just have to put in a word against all of those shows that think it would be cute for their lead to spend a season pregnant, followed by a season with a baby, followed the very next season with the baby miraculously transforming into a wise-cracking 7 year old!

While many sitcoms practiced this, I thought the worst example was Murphy Brown, which had the birth of Avery completely connected to the 1992 election. After the baby episodes weren’t really working, Avery fell into a time vortex, only to reemerge during the last season as Haley Joel Osment!

Incidentally, the only thing I give “Full House” credit for was the gumption to cast a 6 month old, and then allow her to age naturally through the course of the show. Cosby Show also did good by not prematurely aging Sondra’s kids, but they are the exception…

42

Let’s see…

DESIGNING WOMEN: Started with a very strong line-up, but replacing Delta Burke with that ditz from Newhart almost killed the show. The actress who came in for the last season was better, but no one could fill the Delta void.

ALICE: Well, who could possibly replace Florence Jean Castleberry? This impossible challenge was actually met with Belle, who while maybe not quite as memorable as Flo, still managed to make the part her own, and was funny to boot. Sadly, her stay lasted only a year, (allegedly Linda Lavin didn’t get along with her), and so we were subjected to the very unfunny Jolene years.

THREE’S COMPANY: So Crissy Snow wasn’t Medea, so what, Suzanne Somers did what the part required, and at least was memorable. Who has any kind of fondness for Teri or the other one. And the less said about the spinoff “Three’s a Crowd”, the better.

GOLDEN GIRLS/GOLDEN PALACE: Ok, so technically the show name changed, but this was basically an attempt to keep the show going for yet another season, even though Bea Arthur wasn’t interested. There is a certain perverse humor at the idea of Bea Arthur’s replacement being Cheech Marin. Sadly, there was virtually no humor in this short-lived spin-off.

STAR TREK - THE NEXT GENERATION: This is a bit of a tossup for me, for while I don’t think Diana Muldur, brought in to play the Doctor for the second season, worked especially, it was at least an attempt to add some much needed conflict into the show. And she was ages better than Gates McFadden. Look, Gates seems like a very nice lady, but she puts me to sleep, everytime she appears on the screen.

FACTS OF LIFE: Sorry, I love this show, and am quite fond of the last few seasons in places, (especially because MacKenzie Astin was my first crush), but Beverly Ann instead of Edna Garrett? Sigh… On the other hand, replacing 4 of the girls from the first season with Nancy McKeon was divine.

DIFFER’NT STROKES: I loved Charlotte Rae, and the older lady who took her place was good too. But I know there was a third cook, and she completely escapes me. Cooks are one thing, however, as Mr. Drummond’s wife was recast too!

FANTASY ISLAND: Tattoo was such a part of the dynamic of this show, I will at least give them credit for going against casting a Tattoo-lookalike as his replacement. But Mr. Belvedere was just missing something…

DOCTOR WHO: Since someone else brought this show up, perhaps the ultimate in recasting, let me just say that the original recasting of the lead role, from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton, was a daring experiment, and one that almost wasn’t enough to save it, if it weren’t for the strong portrayal of Troughton. Pertwee and Tom Baker both were radical changes from what had come before, and Peter Davison made me a fan in the first place, making the character dangerously vulnerable and thus more thrilling than Tom Baker. Sadly, I only watched out of habit during Colin Baker’s time (poor character choices, and change just for change’s sake), though I have grown to appreciate him more when last I saw his era. McCoy never really had the gravity or seriousness the part requires from time to time. And McGann showed promise, even though at times he seemed like a construction, a compilation of all that had gone before.

More, as it comes to me…

43

Best:

Replacing Jeffery Hunter with William Shatner as the lead in Star Trek, of course! Also replacing Majel Barrett with Leonard Nimoy as the “Number One”/First Officer character same.

Worst:

Whoopi Goldberg “replacing” Paul Lynde as the center square on Hollywood Squares. I liked Lynde’s effeminate grumpiness…too bad he’s gone now, I’m sure he would be a great campy cameo to have on any show. He also played Samantha’s Uncle Arthur on Bewitched.

[hijack] I must take issue with those that have said that Woody on Cheers was an improvement over Coach. Both were funny in their own way and played the airheaded bartender role each with a unique flavor.[/hijack]

44

Allow me to share one more sad bit of infamous casting:

During the 1980’s there were a number of quite successful Perry Mason movies. Did you know the last one didn’t have him in it at all? Raymond Burr had apparently passed away, but the network had already committed to filming a new TV movie. The solution, as it was, was for some guy to come in to take the case, since Perry was out of town. At least they didn’t recast the role, but with Mason, and the stand-in was utterly unwatchable, the final Perry Mason mystery was a bit of a bust.

Oh, and the ultimate in lame replacements?

Lyle Waggonner!

Lyle Waggoner came in during the second season of WONDER WOMAN to play Steve Trevor, Jr., the son of Steve Trevor, Sr. who had appeared during the first season and was played by, uh… Lyle Waggonner.

Okay, so that wanted to move the show from the 1940’s to the 1970’s, but sons who look identical to fathers is like something out of a comic book! Oh, yeah… never mind.

45

Worst: Bo (John Schnider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) Duke were replaced (while they were in contract negotiations) by their “cousins,” whose names escape me at this point. This change was blasphemy to my 11-12 yr. old mind.

Best: Diane (Shelly Long) with Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) on Cheers. I hate Diane. If I see a rerun on, I’ll watch until I see which era it is in. If it’s Diane, it’s gone.

46

Best:
Stephanie Vanderkellen and Michael Harris for Leslie and Kirk on Newhart.

I aspire to that level of shallowness…

47

BEST

Surly Homer to Dumb Homer on The Simpsons

WORST

Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta) to Beau De Labarre (Stephen Shortridge) on Welcome Back Kotter

48

Worst: The replacement of James MacArthur (Danny “Danno”
Williams) on Hawaii Five-O by William Smith (James “Kimo”
Carew)

49

Coy and Vance Duke, who were pretty-boys with no character. They didn’t last long, they dragged back Tom and John pretty darn soon. Shame they hated each other.

My fave was always Cooter anyway.

And Enos Strait, who made a spinoff series that I enjoyed but was canned, came back to the show after being replaced by Cletus Hogg.

50

I’ll agree with that. But he was a better replacement than Joe Besser.

51

This one is almost as obvious as the Shemp question! Have all of you forgotten or what?

(Yes, I realize that half of you weren’t born yet.)
WORST REPLACEMENT:

Tara King for,

Emma Peel (Diana Rigg)

on the British program, “The Avengers”.
I can’t believe no one posted this yet!

52

Shemp was the original - he was a Stooge before even Moe or Larry were - while he was also a replacement when Curly fell ill, he WAS the Original Stooge.

53

Re: Doctor Who. I would disagree that the 2nd and 3rd Doctors (Troughton and Pertwee) got along in the reunion episodes, specifically “The Three Doctors,” in the first couple installments. IIRC, the Time Lords sent the 1st Doctor into the fray to make peace. “The Five Doctors” had very little interaction between the 2nd and 3rd Doctors until the show’s climax.

Granted their clashes were more along the lines of comical disagreements, to be honest.

Chalk up another one who rather liked Colin Baker’s “interesting brazenness.” A daring departure from the nice, likeable lad-next-door of Peter Davison’s portrayal, that perhaps did not work as well as one would have hoped. When Colin Baker’s Doctor had a serious, thoughtful moment, it paid off; remember “… nevermore a butterfly.”

Sir

54

When I first viewed this thread I thought Perry Mason would be mentioned because of the replacement of Ray Collins, as Lieutenant Arthur Tragg, by Richard Anderson (later Oscar Goldman of Six Million Dollar Man.)
Collins left the series at age 73–he was in poor health.
FWIW, Burr died in 1992.
The unfortunate replacement I most regretted was in Dragnet, with Harry Morgan replacing Ben Alexander (committed in 1966 to another series) as Friday’s partner. The saving grace was that Bill Gannon was quick-witted in his own right, same as Frank Smith had been.
The runner-up is Gunsmoke, in which Dennis Weaver was replaced by Ken Curtis, who, I don’t think, has done much since, while Weaver flourished after leaving. In any case, I considered Chester Goode better than Festus Haggen (both could get Doc Adams’ goat equally well. :D).
As for the Three Stooges, you must admit that Joe Besser and Joe DeRita did well enough, although Curly and Shemp were pretty much irreplaceable.

55

I doubt that Cafe Society existed the last time this thread was posted to, but I’m not going to move it now. Feel free to start a new thread over there.

Zombie closed.