# If one of your favourite shows were to almost entirely change the actrors. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-one-of-your-favourite-shows-were-to-almost-entirely-change-the-actrors/694481 "2014-07-31T13:34:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-one-of-your-favourite-shows-were-to-almost-entirely-change-the-actrors/694481/21 "2014-08-01T03:11:56Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > A workplace show with ensemble cast can realistically change over time, as happened on _Law & Order, MASH_, and other shows. Swapping out the main leads in a family-based drama, on the other hand (as happened late in the \*Dukes of Hazzard \*series) just doesn’t work, and was quickly reversed. Yep. If it was a workplace based ensemble cast, sure. I watched \*\*e.r. \*\*every year despite almost all the original cast leaving over time. I didn’t give up on **House** when they changed out the ducklings. I like **CSI** ’s current cast better than the original one. But other types of shows would be pretty weird, even if they were workplace based. Castle, for example, wouldn’t work if everyone left. My actual favorite shows still on the air ( **Haven** and **Hart of Dixie** ) would be ruined if the leads left. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-one-of-your-favourite-shows-were-to-almost-entirely-change-the-actrors/694481/22 "2014-08-01T04:46:39Z")
It depends. I enjoyed the first season of _Fargo_ - a series based loosely off the movie - and the second season is a prequel that will feature an entirely new cast. I’m going to keep watching it because I think the writers are very good, and because not only are the actors new, the characters are as well. It happened again with _Midsomer Murders_ (the lead left and was replaced by a new Chief Inspector) and it turned out fine. If the actors were playing the same characters, it would be more difficult, but still depends. With a more plot-driven show, I might keep watching, but if it happened in, say, _Seinfeld_, it’d be awful. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-one-of-your-favourite-shows-were-to-almost-entirely-change-the-actrors/694481/23 "2014-08-01T17:00:18Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > “…_.The Daily Show_, with Ann Coulter…” Damn you Ekers for making me spit out my coffee. And not in a good way! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-one-of-your-favourite-shows-were-to-almost-entirely-change-the-actrors/694481/24 "2014-08-01T17:20:43Z")
It would really depend. On so many shows, the actors really OWN the role and make it their own. They make that character worth something (and in some cases, change the entire direction of the series through the power of their performance). If, for example, after several seasons you suddenly had some random character actor take over playing Spock, or Bob Saget replacing Andreas Katsulas as G’Kar, the effect would be so jarring and so different that it would be nigh impossible to call it the same character. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-one-of-your-favourite-shows-were-to-almost-entirely-change-the-actrors/694481/25 "2014-08-01T20:30:46Z")
By the end of \*\*\*West Wing’s \*\*\*run, Aaron Sorkin was gone and the show had jumped the shark. I’m not sure if they were hoping to do a new season with Jimmy Smits as the new President, but even if they were, NBC wasn’t planning to bring back the show. But SUPPOSE that, while Sorkin was still running things and was still writing top-notch scripts, he’d decided to have Jed Bartlet lose the next election or lose in the primaries. A new President would mean a WHOLE new batch of aides and speechwriters and advisors. An ENTIRELY new cast (or close to it). Would I have kept watching? You know, I probably would have, then. Sorkin was the star, in my mind. If his plots and dialogues were still sharp, I’d have given him a chance with a whole new cast. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-one-of-your-favourite-shows-were-to-almost-entirely-change-the-actrors/694481.md?page=1)