# Sudden TV revamps **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [April 28, 2026, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626 "2026-04-28T18:33:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/121 "2026-05-05T15:52:37Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > _Charles in Charge_ was on for only one season, cancelled for a year, and brought back with Charles being in charge of a completely different family. Six characters were lost, six new characters replaced them. Huh. I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/122 "2026-05-05T16:18:43Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > she was originally a waitress at the Cheesecake factory (one of the most successful international product placements for a local west coast chain of restaurants) The Cheesecake Factory has restaurants across the country. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/123 "2026-05-05T16:21:41Z")
Also Leslie Winkle, and Dr. Stephanie, although both of them are more remembered for their relationships with Leonard. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/124 "2026-05-05T16:27:51Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > But I can’t remember Howard ever going out with a woman at all, he was a horndog, he was after anything with a pulse, but until Bernadette he hadn’t even went on a date with one. As others have noted, Howard certainly did have a lot of sexual partners in the early years of the series; what he didn’t have before Bernadette was an actual ongoing relationship with a woman. > [@Smid](#): > > She wasn’t this brilliant student working in her spare time as a waitress Well, Bernadette may or may not have been “brilliant,” in the way that the four guys were, but she _was_ a gifted enough student to earn a PhD in microbiology. She wasn’t just a waitress; she was working at Cheesecake Factory to pay off her student loans. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/125 "2026-05-05T16:37:34Z")
As one critic wrote, they might as well have changed the theme song’s lyrics to “He’s just there / To take care of whoever’s there…” ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/126 "2026-05-05T16:47:00Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > The Cheesecake Factory has restaurants across the country. Ah ok, my mistake, it was mostly a west coast thing about ten years ago when I looked… ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/127 "2026-05-05T16:51:15Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As others have noted, Howard certainly did have a lot of sexual partners in the early years of the series; what he didn’t have before Bernadette was an actual ongoing relationship with a woman. Ah in which case I’ve long since forgotten any of his successes… The joke always was him being the horndog, him actually getting some was not remembered, but I’m no expert on the series, never rewatched it past it’s initial run and it sort of wore on me so never will (though one mention was of prostitutes up there which I’d not count). > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Well, Bernadette may or may not have been “brilliant,” in the way that the four guys were, Wasn’t she the money maker, she was successful enough to far out earn Howard? I think they retconned her into being a graduate paying off her loans afterwards when they needed that. At first I think she was just a waitress friend of Penny, but as above, I’m no expert on the series. The actress really did well from a bit part though. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/128 "2026-05-05T16:52:14Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Wasn’t she the money maker, she was successful enough to far out earn Howard? Yes, as the series progressed, after she got her PhD, and got a high-paying job at a pharmaceutical company. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/129 "2026-05-05T16:58:37Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > She wasn’t this brilliant student working in her spare time as a waitress In the first episode that Bernadette appeared in, Penny told Howard that she was a graduate student who worked as a waitress to pay for her education. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/130 "2026-05-05T17:11:19Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > It was a police procedural where every episode played out Rashomon-style show the crime from the perspective of different characters Maybe they were too subtle for me, but I don’t remember a single episode that used the Rashomon structure. I do remember being disappointed they weren’t apparently going to follow through on that. Of course, that’s how I remember it… ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/131 "2026-05-05T18:07:00Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Ah ok, my mistake, it was mostly a west coast thing about ten years ago when I looked… Their 5th restaurant opened in 1991 in Washington DC. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/132 "2026-05-05T19:04:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Of course, that’s how I remember it… Tee hee! ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/133 "2026-05-05T21:53:50Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > In the first episode that Bernadette appeared in, Penny told Howard that she was a graduate student who worked as a waitress to pay for her education. Yes. Now there were other aspects of Bernadette that changed - initially, she seemed naive and with a very limited dating history, and with a mother almost as overbearing as Howard’s, but later on, she was revealed to have had several serious boyfriends before Howard, and a mother who was barely present. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/134 "2026-05-05T21:54:54Z")
No more about that show, please? ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/135 "2026-05-05T22:00:36Z")
Apologies. “Major Dad” had a significant swerve. In the first season, the Major is doing infantry training at one base (when he meets and falls in love with a journalist raising several children). In the second season, he’s moved to a different base with his family, and now he’s the staff secretary to the discombobulated base commander. Aside from the family, one other character (a 1st Lt.) transferred bases at the same time and continued working with the major. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/136 "2026-05-05T22:35:11Z")
Between its two seasons, _CPO Sharkey_ changed the base commander from the level-headed Captain Elizabeth Quinlan to the irascible Captain “Buck” Buckner. The title character’s first name was also changed from “Seymour” to “Otto” for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/137 "2026-05-06T19:00:17Z")
It’s not quite in the same category as others in this thread, but the tone of _Law & Order_ changed significantly when affable Lennie Briscoe was replaced by aggressive, bullying Joe Fontana. It wasn’t by choice, of course, since Jerry Orbach was terminally ill. _L&O_ had plenty of cast changes over the years, but none of them changed the tenor of the show as much as that one. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/138 "2026-05-06T19:10:44Z")
The tone of _Mission: Impossible_ changed when Stephen Hill was replaced by Peter Graves. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/139 "2026-05-06T19:43:25Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …the tone of _Law & Order_ changed significantly when affable Lennie Briscoe was replaced… Also, when Lennie started. It took a couple of seasons to complete the “not-so-sudden” revamp. There was Anita Van Buren and Jack McCoy to complete it. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626/140 "2026-05-06T19:46:43Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The tone of _Mission: Impossible_ changed when Stephen Hill was replaced by Peter Graves. The tone changed because Steven Hill was an Orthodox Jew who refused to work after sunset on Friday or during the weekend. _ **M:I** _ had a very tight schedule that often wasn’t met, and this precluded him from going on missions. He was basically restricted to planning them, while the other two leads (married couple Martin Landau and Barbara Bain) carried them out. Peter Graves had no such restrictions and thus could be an active participant. If I’m not mistaken, there was talk of dismissing Hill even in the early part of his one season, and he did indeed play an increasingly smaller role as it went on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sudden-tv-revamps/1029626.md?page=8)