# Has a series ever actually successfully passed the torch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 1, 2025, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340 "2025-07-01T06:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/21 "2025-07-01T14:45:32Z")
Technically this is correct. Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) was a recurring character in season 1 before becoming a regular in season 2, and is still with the show. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/22 "2025-07-01T14:46:08Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t know if the same thing happened with the series _Death in Paradise_ - the lead detective changes quite a few times throughout the series, but I don’t recall watching an episode where the change actually took place, so I am not sure if it meets the OP’s character-overlap requirements for torch-passing (in some cases it definitely doesn’t - as the new lead arrives on the premise of investigating the death of the previous lead). I don’t think it has happened with the detectives. The closest was probably when Humphrey went to London and worked with Mooney on a case, then Mooney wound up being the new detective after Humphrey went back to London. But some of the junior officers have moved up in rank as senior officers moved on. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/23 "2025-07-01T14:56:11Z")
It was only a single scene but Emma Peel handing John Steed over to Tara King in _The Avengers_ was about as good as it could get. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lt_BCLtLZfw/maxresdefault.jpg "The Avengers: Emma Peel Departs HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt_BCLtLZfw) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/24 "2025-07-01T15:04:24Z")
How about **Blake’s 7**? The _Blake_ of the title was the leader of the crew in the first two seasons, but was replaced by crewmember Avon as the leader for seasons 3 and 4. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/25 "2025-07-01T15:05:41Z")
> [@Has a series ever actually successfully passed the torch?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/18): > > The Character of Blake left Blake’s 7 (British SciFi series) after the first two seasons although he popped back once or twice in the final two seasons TCMF-2L 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/26 "2025-07-01T15:28:31Z")
Similar to the _Morse_ to _Lewis_ example above, if a lot less murdery: When Andy Griffith decided to leave his namesake sitcom, it was replaced by _Mayberry R.F.D._, starring Ken Berry as Sam Jones. Sam was head of the town council and, like Andy, a widower bringing up a young son. The character of Sam was introduced late in the final season of _The Andy Griffith Show_ and became the focus of most of the remaining episodes, and most of the regular Griffith Show cast continued onto _Mayberry R.F.D._ It was very much a continuation of _The Andy Griffith Show_ with a different lead. _Mayberry R.F.D._ isn’t remembered as fondly today as its parent show, but it ran for three seasons and had generally good ratings until it fell victim to CBS’s “rural purge.” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/27 "2025-07-01T15:49:22Z")
Well sure, if you want to get technical you posted it first, but I bet I thought about it first. 😉 Speaking of lead characters in the title of the show, what about _Rosanne_? When she was kicked off the show Dan became the lead, but it was always sort of an ensemble cast anyway. Does the name change disqualify it? BTW, this wouldn’t apply to _Valerie_ → _The Hogan Family_ since Sandy Duncan never appeared alongside Valerie Harper to my knowledge. _ER_ had a number of leads over the years, even as an ensemble cast. You could certainly make the case that Drs Green and Ross were the original leads, eventually passing off to Carter, and then Kovac. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/28 "2025-07-01T15:49:25Z")
I was going to say Blake’s Seven. I think the original Mission Impossible would count as well? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/29 "2025-07-01T15:53:06Z")
Actually the Avengers works better than that. Steed wasn’t the lead originally- Keel was, but he passed the torch to Steed ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/30 "2025-07-01T15:53:34Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Well sure, if you want to get technical you posted it first, but I bet I thought about it first. It wasn’t my post 😃, but I’m sure you thought of it before @TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/31 "2025-07-01T16:10:17Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Books seem to do this a lot (see Tom Clancy with the Jack Ryan Jr stuff) but clearly these new Tom Clancy books are nowhere near as popular as the original ones with Jack Ryan Sr, so they’re kind of an iffy case of a torch pass. “Tom Clancy” has now written more books since he died than he ever wrote when he was alive. The franchise of his name keeps them pumping out every six months. One Jack Ryan Jr. novel and one Jack Ryan Sr. novel. And somehow Jack Ryan Sr. is still President of the United States even though his first term started in the 90’s! The new authors also don’t seem to be allowed to kill off legacy characters so Mr. Clark is still in action even though he’s about 80 years old by now. The torch of the franchise was successfully passed but story-wise it’s more of a torch that just stubbornly keeps burning but without any of the light or heat that it used to provide. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/32 "2025-07-01T17:05:18Z")
Gomer and Goober Pyle of the Andy Griffith show. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/33 "2025-07-01T17:15:05Z")
I don’t think this was a case of Gomer coming in and Goober eventually leaving on that show, but more a case of Gomer getting his own spin-off series. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/34 "2025-07-01T17:17:36Z")
Yeah, but they were onscreen together many times. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/35 "2025-07-01T17:18:19Z")
That’s nice. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/36 "2025-07-01T17:19:33Z")
So far, that certainly qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/37 "2025-07-01T17:34:22Z")
Do non-fiction shows count? What about Ken Jennings appearing as a guest many times on _Jeopardy_ when Alex Trebek was host, then taking over the show when Trebek left? ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/38 "2025-07-01T17:36:00Z")
M, from Judi Dench to Ralph Fiennes ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/39 "2025-07-01T17:37:25Z")
There is Jimmy Palmer working for, then taking over for Ducky on _NCIS_. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340/40 "2025-07-01T17:38:08Z")
I don’t think she appeared with him in the movies, did she? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-series-ever-actually-successfully-passed-the-torch/1020340.md?page=3)