Ridiculous TV Show Cast/Setting Changes That Even Suspension of Disbelief Cannot Overcome

[furryman]

The first season of She Spies was a humorous version of Charlie’s Angels but what really made it work was the chemistry between the male boss and the female agents. In the second season the actor playing the boss was replaced and the show became a depressing Nadia ripoff.

One show where they made it work was Dark Shadows. The actress playing Victoria Winters left, they spent a few episodes trying to use a different actress, seeing this wasn’t working they went back in time and concentrated on Quentin.

[Jim_s_Son]

@Just_Asking_Questions

There was Mrs. Columbo, a spin-off show about the wife of famous NBC detective Lt (that’s my given first name) Columbo. It tried to capitalize on the success of Columbo, but didn’t work.

From Wikipedia:

Shortly after the Columbo series ended its original run on NBC in 1978, despite objections from Columbo producers Richard Levinson and William Link, NBC executive Fred Silverman went forward in producing Mrs. Columbo as a spin-off to the original series. The information NBC released about the show was unambiguous about the fact that Mrs. Columbo in the new series was in fact the theretofore unseen wife frequently mentioned on Columbo. The show received poor ratings, however, and as part of efforts to revamp it, the linkage between this Kate Columbo and the Mrs. Columbo of the original television series was reduced. The name of the character was changed to Kate Callahan after an off-screen divorce, and the series was renamed Kate the Detective, followed by Kate Loves a Mystery.

In this ultimate incarnation, the producers completed their retreat from the show’s original premise, and Kate Callahan was then regarded as being a completely different character than Mrs. Columbo of Columbo, Kate’s ex-husband now named Philip. None of the changes aided the new show’s ratings, however, and it was pulled from the air in 1980, after 13 episodes.

Completely revamped twice, with no connection to the original at all, in only 13 episodes! Take that,* It’s About Time*!

Might be the worst casted decision ever. The people behind the original Columbo told Silverman to at least get an older, hopefully ethnic, woman make it believable that she was Mrs Lt Columbo. Like Maureen Stapleton or Zohra Lampert. Instead they got the 20something very WASPish Kate Mulgrew. And in one episode that is one the “Columbo” DVD the murderer is a nice guy who does it accidentally (Donald Pleasance). Make it someone the audience despises so that when he is caught, the audience cheers.
Wish I could remember the putdowns Johnny Carson had at the time of Silverman’s reign of error at NBC

[Darren_Garrison]

Having watched a lot of reruns of Columbo lately (I probably saw episodes as a child, but have no memory of them) I coincidentally just this week googled to see if his wife was ever shown and came up with info on Mrs. Columbo. Seems that the “sequel” in question went through four titles in it’s one season: Mrs Columbo, Kate Columbo, Kate the Detective, and Kate Loves a Mystery.

[Annie-Xmas]

@ElvisL1ves

“The Big Bang Theory”, in which Stuart was introduced as a suave, articulate artist on the make, but was immediately changed to a hopeless nebbish with no explanation.

In an early episode, when Penny makes fun of the grown men and all of their “toys,” Leonard packs his things up and says he’s going to sell them all to “Kenny at the comic book store.” While it’s not implausible that Kenny sold the store to Stuart, but you think someone would mention him once in a while.

OTOH, the children’s book Ramon the Pest has Howie Kemp’s mother mentioned his big sister, who mysteriously disappeared in future sequels. And in Beezus and Ramona, Dorothy. Quimby and her sister’s family name is “Haswell,” but later it becomes “Day.”

[Soylent_Juicy]

@MrAtoz

True, but Knots Landing was a spin-off of Dallas, and multiple plotlines in Knots Landing’s 1985-86 season were based on the characters’ reactions to Bobby dying. When it turned out that Bobby had not, in fact, died, those plotlines no longer made sense. As I understand it, the show dealt with that by simply never mentioning the fact that Bobby was alive again.

I didn’t know that! Thank you.

I did not enjoy the last season of Parks & Rec. It was like a whole different show.

[Telemark]

When Charles in Charge left CBS after one year for syndication the entire Pembroke family was replaced with the Powell family. The Pembrokes moved away and rented their house to the Powells, with the condition that Charles be allowed to keep living there.

[Sir_T-Cups]

@MrAtoz

Kind of like on Boy Meets World, when Mr. Feeny started out as the kids’ sixth-grade teacher, then became their principal when they went on to high school, and finally followed them to college where he implausibly became a professor. Granted, there was no cross-country moving involved, but somebody ought to be keeping an eye on this Feeny character. Why can’t these kids ever get away from him?

This isn’t ENTIRELY unplausable.

My preschool teacher ended up moving to teach what would become my 4th grade class beginners Spanish, and then moved up to end up being my 8th grade teacher. She didn’t follow me to college, but she did keep popping up in my life.

We’re expecting our third child next month!

*Calm down people that was a joke

[thelurkinghorror]

In believe principals are rarely upjumped teachers. It’s usually a separate track. Not to say that it’s never happened, it’s just not the norm.

[Wheelz]

On My Name Is Earl, Earl spent more than half of season 3 in prison. While it didn’t necessarily stretch the suspension of disbelief, it did shift the tone and direction of the show considerably – and not in a good way, IMO.

[kaylasdad99]

@MrAtoz

Kind of like on Boy Meets World, when Mr. Feeny started out as the kids’ sixth-grade teacher, then became their principal when they went on to high school, and finally followed them to college where he implausibly became a professor. Granted, there was no cross-country moving involved, but somebody ought to be keeping an eye on this Feeny character. Why can’t these kids ever get away from him?

Ron Stoppable was keeping an eye on him. With the help of Kim Possible, he manipulated events and career opportunities for Mr. Feeny so he was never far from view. Not many people know this, but Feeny was She-go’s beloved uncle, and therefore always a potential bolt hole for her and Dr. Drakken, when Drakken’s schemes went pear-shaped.

[kaylasdad99]

@Annie-Xmas

In an early episode, when Penny makes fun of the grown men and all of their “toys,” Leonard packs his things up and says he’s going to sell them all to “Kenny at the comic book store.” While it’s not implausible that Kenny sold the store to Stuart, but you think someone would mention him once in a while.

I figured that Kenny was another denizen of the store. If his customers were buying and selling among themselves all the time, it would explain why Stuart had such a hard time making ends meet.

[What_Exit]

@Wheelz

On My Name Is Earl, Earl spent more than half of season 3 in prison. While it didn’t necessarily stretch the suspension of disbelief, it did shift the tone and direction of the show considerably – and not in a good way, IMO.

Yeah, the show never really recovered from that in my opinion. Then there was the season in the dream world shortly after.

[theR]

@thelurkinghorror

In believe principals are rarely upjumped teachers. It’s usually a separate track. Not to say that it’s never happened, it’s just not the norm.

Nope. Principals average roughly a dozen years of teaching experience (just over 13 for private schools). That includes principals with no teaching experience, but it would be hard to have numbers that high if most principals never taught.

[thelurkinghorror]

@theR

Nope. Principals average roughly a dozen years of teaching experience (just over 13 for private schools). That includes principals with no teaching experience, but it would be hard to have numbers that high if most principals never taught.

Ah my mistake. I think I heard it from a principal I know, who I don’t think has taught for that long, and also I might’ve misremembered something.

[ElvisL1ves]

@kaylasdad99

I figured that Kenny was another denizen of the store. If his customers were buying and selling among themselves all the time, it would explain why Stuart had such a hard time making ends meet.

He could also run another comic book store (there has to be more than 1 in LA, right?). Maybe even Frodo’s of Shelbyville.

[cochrane]

@ElvisL1ves

He could also run another comic book store (there has to be more than 1 in LA, right?). Maybe even Frodo’s of Shelbyville.

Worst. Comic book store. Ever!

[WildBlueYonder]

@kunilou

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.

I really liked this show, they took it off and put what, another old cop show! I saw the guy that plays Mr Boynton on a recent rerunned show, Newhart I believe, still nice looking in spite of being older. Just checked his filmography was quite long! I’ll have to watch for him on Perry Mason.

On Miss Brooks, they finally kissed, that was a great scene!!

@CalMeacham

The 1967 Sherwood Schwartz comedy It’s About Time , in which the premise was that two astronauts ended up in caveman days, reversed the premise and had the astronauts (along with four of the cavepeople returning to the present. Instead of Astronauts having to deal with primitive conditions, cavepeople, and dinosaurs (hey, it’s TV!), the show dealt with cavepeople trying to adjust to the Modern World for the last seven episodes.

I loved that show…back then. Now. NOT! What a stupid show!

[Knowed_Out]

@sir t-cups

this isn’t entirely unplausable.

My preschool teacher ended up moving to teach what would become my 4th grade class beginners spanish, and then moved up to end up being my 8th grade teacher. She didn’t follow me to college, but she did keep popping up in my life.

We’re expecting our third child next month!

*calm down people that was a joke

which part???

[Knowed_Out]

In Brett Butler’s series Grace Under Fire, she was the single mother of three kids, all grade school aged with the daughter being the oldest. After season 3, the middle child, 12-year old Quentin, suddenly became 16 and over 6 feet tall. Different actor. Supposedly, the mother of the first Quentin pulled him out of the show after Butler flashed him.

[sciurophobic]

@MrAtoz

That was one of the things I always liked about MASH*. While several characters left over the years, they weren’t completely forgotten about. When the situation called for it, departed characters would be mentioned. Hawkeye would occasionally talk about Trapper, everyone remembered Henry Blake fondly, and even Frank Burns was mentioned at times when you would logically expect people to be thinking about him.

The one time I would have liked to see this happen is when Winchester first arrived. I would have liked to have seen Hawkeye ask Charles if he knew Trapper, who was also from Boston.