# Casting the original stars in a remake. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111 "2006-02-18T19:38:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/1 "2006-02-18T19:38:02Z")
From this thread on [Wonder Woman](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=359477) there seemed to be popular consent that Lynda Carter should be cast as WW’s mom. Am I the only person here that hates it when they recast an original cast member in the remake of something? It really takes me out of the moment. Not only is it usually someone who can’t act very well, it is one big wink at the audience. I’m not a big fan of audience winking! Maybe it just makes me sad seeing someone from the original cast, once a primetime player, reduced to a supporting role in a property they made famous. No offense to those who like this kind of thing, it just really bugs me. Anyone else bothered by this? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/2 "2006-02-18T20:26:12Z")
Depends on the circumstances. I did a thread a while back on best and worst shout out cameos that touched on the theme. If the part is well done and serves some purpose then I tend to think of such casting as a nice touch and a respectful acknowledgement of the contributions of the original. Casting Lynda Carter as Hippolyta would be a terrific example of that. I could also see her doing a reprise of the original role in a passing the mantle kind of thing, i.e. she’s ascended the throne and so must pass the identity of WW to another. At worst it’s pandering stunt casting. Think Jacklyn Smith in the second Charlie’s Angels movie or David Soul and Whats-his-name Glaser in the Starsky and Hutch movie. Simply from a marketing perspective the producers of the WW movie would be foolish not to cast Lynda Carter in some significant capacity. She’s been a terrific representative of the character and the franchise and would undoubtedly continue to be so in promoting the movie. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/3 "2006-02-18T20:33:47Z")
I usually find it amusing when they do this sort of thing. There’s also an indirect form of this when someone is cast in a show that has some relation to the subject of their original show. They recently had Michael Learned as a patient on an episode of _Scrubs_, which brought a little smile to my face, as Miss Learned, besides playing Olivia on _The Waltons_ for years, was also the star of a later drama, _Nurse_, which, as you can probably guess from the title, was set in a hospital. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/4 "2006-02-18T20:34:58Z")
I just realized that the indirect form is also relevant to Lynda Carter, in _Sky High_, including a shout-out line about not being Wonder Woman. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/5 "2006-02-18T20:36:02Z")
Sorry for posting again, but there’s another excellent example of the indirect form that just occurred to me. Molly Ringwald’s appearance near the end of _Not Another Teen Movie_ was sublimely appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/6 "2006-02-18T20:40:57Z")
It just seems to be campy when it happens. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/7 "2006-02-18T20:42:44Z")
[My best/worst cameos thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338845&highlight=cameos) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/8 "2006-02-18T20:49:54Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > It just seems to be campy when it happens. Dude…it’s a superhero movie. It’s inherently campy, unless the source material is by Frank Miller. Even dark source material doesn’t guarantee non-camp…look at the _Spawn_ movie… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/9 "2006-02-18T21:43:31Z")
Didn’t Buster Crabbe guest star in an episode of the Buck Rogers tv show? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/10 "2006-02-18T21:52:23Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Didn’t Buster Crabbe guest star in an episode of the Buck Rogers tv show? [Yes](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0185568). ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/11 "2006-02-18T22:18:27Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Dude…it’s a superhero movie. It’s inherently campy, unless the source material is by Frank Miller. Even dark source material doesn’t guarantee non-camp…look at the _Spawn_ movie… The best comic movies, just like the best comics themselves, are the ones that abandon camp and play it straight. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/12 "2006-02-18T22:59:39Z")
Noel Whatsherface, the original Lois Lane, appeared as Teri Hatcher’s mom on one episode of **Lois & Clark**. I thought it was cute. So, no, I guess my answer to the OP is “doesn’t bother me.” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/13 "2006-02-18T23:02:28Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > The best comic movies, just like the best comics themselves, are the ones that abandon camp and play it straight. So that would be…Sin City? That’s the only comic book movie I can think of right now that played it totally straight. And like I said, that’s Frank Miller source material, so there was no camp in the first place. What other superhero movies have played it completely straight? ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/14 "2006-02-18T23:04:32Z")
Batman Begins played it fairly straight. The XMen movies, for the most part, did as well. The spiderman flicks, especially the second one, went more for action/adventure than a lot of other comic book films (Aunt May’s Superman comment aside.) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/15 "2006-02-18T23:04:33Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Noel Whatsherface, the original Lois Lane, appeared as Teri Hatcher’s mom on one episode of **Lois & Clark**. I thought it was cute. > > So, no, I guess my answer to the OP is “doesn’t bother me.” Noel Neill ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/16 "2006-02-18T23:06:32Z")
Okay, I forgot about Batman Begins. But X-Men had its camp moments. Practically anything that was intended to sound tough coming from Halle Berry’s mouth turned out camp. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/17 "2006-02-18T23:09:21Z")
What’s wrong with camp, anyway? I enjoy camp. When the little homages like Noel Neill turning up on _Lois & Clark_ or Michael Learned showing up on _Scrubs_ happen, I feel amusement and happiness that the creators of the show have some knowledge of what came before and enough respect for the history to make it happen onscreen. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/18 "2006-02-18T23:18:02Z")
> [@middleman](#): > > Not only is it usually someone who can’t act very well For what it’s worth, I’ve been pretty impressed by Richard Hatch in the new _Galactica._ ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/19 "2006-02-20T19:17:36Z")
How could you not enjoy the supreme awesomeness of Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights? He was just _amazing_. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111/20 "2006-02-20T23:00:48Z")
I liked James Garner in the Mel Gibson **Maverick**. I thought it was a nice touch and a fun pairing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casting-the-original-stars-in-a-remake/345111.md?page=2)