I watched the show Big Bad Beetleborgs as a kid. The best way to describe it is Power Rangers meets the Munsters with magic. It was weird. Halfway through the show, they replaced an actress. Now they could have gone the Rosanne route with a wink and a nod. Or they could have gone the normal Power Rangers route of “this new person is taking up the mantle and it doesn’t really matter because we’re just using Japanese footage anyway.” Instead they did this:
Even as I ten year old, I thought it was ridiculous.
This is only a temporary change to the setting, but I have a problem with the Mirror universe in DS9. In the TOS episode I can buy that this alternate universe was next to ours partially because all the characters were there. But that all the DS9 characters would be together 100 years in the future in a very different timeline? Not likely.
She went from being IIRC a lieutenant to being the top doctor in all of Starfleet (presumably an admiral), and then went back to the same ship and returned to her earlier rank, all in that short timespan. I just never bought it.
I can’t remember its title, but I read there was an actress change on a soap opera once in which the character’s love interest kissed her, then pulled back and she was now the replacement.
It was set in a fictitious Midwest city called Central city (the original stories were set in The Minneapolis-St Paul area). I have no idea if the army had a system where enlistees would be stationed together but there definitely was one in the Coast Guard when I enlisted in 1979 “the buddy system”. Chatsworth joined the army because he saw how the women drooled over Dobie when he was home on leave or liberty. Since he was rich, Mumsie probably put in a few words with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense. It isn’t inconceivable someone could be discharged and later brought back in. It happened to baseball player Billy Martin (or so he claimed)…discharged because of too many dependants, recalled after being a World Series hero in 1953. Molitaries can offer early outs in case of hardships (probably hard on the army having Maynard) or a RIF (reduction in force).Mr Pomfritt first became a college professor and then made a mistake in telling his former “young barbarians” S Peter Pryor Junior College accepted any high school graduate (I imagine Maynard got passed so teachers wouldn’t have to deal with him again).
I’d say that continuity was a bigger deal for most shows back in 1960. All the examples mentioned here are later. I can’t think of any 1950s shows that threw out continuity quite as freely.
For what it is worth, we actually had a guy leave the Navy, rejoin after Civilian life was going so well and actually request returning to the USS Ranger and got it granted. So Crusher’s thing is a little odd but not out of the question.
The Husband change was a little weird and didn’t really work for me but the daughter chance I thought was made of awesome and handled in a very funny and meta way. Plus the fact 2nd Becky was a lot easier on the eyes and a better actress didn’t hurt. I think Sarah Chalk is pretty awesome. So Roseanne benefitted.
Does I Love Lucy taking all 4 characters to Connecticut count?
Burns and Allen had the one character change actors in the middle of the show. They outdid Roseanne back in to 1952 or so.
Honeymooners went from a repeating skit to the classic show leaving behind the original Alice Kramden. I’m sure that was a little jarring to the audiences of the time even if we’re all too young to have experienced it.
I see that Wikipedia says this, but they don’t say where they got it from and I don’t believe it. Dwayne Hickman’s autobiography is the closest thing to official I know of and he never gives a site for the town. It was obvious to me as a Rust Belt kid that it was set in California. My memory also tells me that California was the place that called community colleges “junior” colleges, but other states may have done so back then. In any case, my point is the same no matter where it was set.
[Lou Grant]You got fanwanking. I hate fanwanking.[/Lou Grant]
Similarly, in Parks and Recreation and there is a major character, Mark Brendanowitz, who leaves his City Planner job for the private sector at the end of S2 and is never seen, heard from, or even mentioned again. Not even by Ann Perkins, whom he was seriously involved with.
Lucy and Ricky moved to Connecticut first, which is wholly believable as a younger couple becoming more successful and wanting to own a home with some land. The Ricardos and Mertzs missed each other so it was they get a whole bunch of baby chicks as an egg laying business so Fred runs the business and hires someone to run the building they own (which is in Ethel’s name), stopping by occasionally to check on it. Possible, but are you really going to add a new business venture and move to be near some friends within commuting distance?
Not only did George Burns stop the show to introduce Larry Keating to Bea Bendaret as her new husband (Fred Clark left to do a play), the character of Harry Morton changed considerably. Clark portrayed him as a shady real estate agent who was constantly eating. Keating portrayed him as an honest accountant with a lot of intellect and snobbishness.
Burns and Allen also have a season when the Morton’s are in New York because of a year long transfer by his company. The Burns move to the same hotel too. In actuality it was to give Gracie more chances to confuse strangers she meets. They also introduce their son Ronnie as an aspiring young dramatic actor who is ashamed of his parents as comedians. There had been one episode where George opens a door to introduce his son Ronnie and daughter Sandra (who had little interest in acting, just some background characters). Then everyone moves back to California and Ronnie is a girl chasing college student.
Good example but you have it backwards. The show started in the fictional Midwestern city of Monticello which was a generic Cincinnati. Even the back drop on the opening was Cincinnati. (Dig that cryptic voice over on the intro! :eek: )
Then it moved to L.A… It also changed networks!
E.O.N. was one of the few soap operas that was worth a rip. Today it would probably be on at night alongside shows like Law & Order and Greys Anatomy.
There was Our Miss Brooks, which magically transferred Miss Brooks and Mr. Conklin (the principal) from a public school to an exclusive private school. Why Mr. Conklin, for whom Miss Brooks had been a constant irritant, would agree to have her on his staff again, is never explained. The whole idea seems to be contrived to give Miss Brooks a different boyfriend, but audiences preferred Mr. Boynton, so the producers brought HIM back to teach at the private school, as well.
