# TV Series That Turned Over Their Entire Cast **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471 "2009-09-09T20:45:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/41 "2009-09-10T10:20:54Z")
There are soap operas that started out on radio; surely some of them had complete turnaround in the cast! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/42 "2009-09-10T11:32:29Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > By the midway point of its 14 year run, MADtv had divested itself of the entirety of its original cast. Well, heck, _Saturday Night Live_ has been in steady turnover since its early years. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/43 "2009-09-10T12:05:21Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Speaking of Aussie soaps, _Neighbours_ must surely have turned its whole cast over by now? Stefan Dennis is still there, apparently (or has been back for some time after leaving for a bit – does that count?) _Taggart_ would seem to fit the bill; none of the current cast were in the earlier episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/44 "2009-09-10T13:32:42Z")
SNL started in 75 and in 80 they had an all new cast. Those early 80s shows were pretty bad until Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo came along. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/45 "2009-09-10T13:34:08Z")
Wow, I get to be the first to mention MST3K. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/46 "2009-09-10T13:38:58Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Wow, I get to be the first to mention MST3K. Apart from: [QUOTE=C. Montgomery Burns in post #15] When Jim Mallon handed Gypsy over to Patrick Brantseg in the middle of the 8th season, Mystery Science Theater 3000 had turned over every member of the cast. [/QUOTE] Never mind – maybe next time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/47 "2009-09-10T13:40:39Z")
> [@audit1](#): > > Bob Mcgrath (Bob) and Loretta Long (Susan) have been since the beginning. I can honestly say I’ve not seen Susan in years. She was sitting on the steps with the rest of the cast at the end of the 30 Year special. That was the last I’ve seen her. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/48 "2009-09-10T13:45:08Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Apart from: > Never mind – maybe next time. 😃 You know, I read every post in this thread, and yet there it is.. Huh. I blame the fact that it’s still before noon. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/49 "2009-09-10T14:34:37Z")
Charlie’s Angels was down to only one original Angel at the end so thats a 66% cast make over. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/50 "2009-09-10T14:40:28Z")
The British show Spooks, aka MI-5, were losing cast members at a rate of at least one major character per episode by about series three or four. I stopped watching around then, but surely they can’t have hung on to anyone original by now. Oh, and Monarch of the Glen also qualifies, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Hrududu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Hrududu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hrududu)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/51 "2009-09-10T14:48:24Z")
Skins changed casts after 2 years. The idea was to follow students in their last 2 years of school. When they finished school the show started to follow a completely different group. No 28 year old teenagers staying in school year after year. It didnt completely change cast though. One of the main characters in the 2nd batch is the sister of one of the main characters from the 1st batch. Although she only appeared minimally in the 1st two series. The plan seems to be to follow this by replacing everyone every 2 years. Provided the show sticks around that long. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/52 "2009-09-10T16:40:02Z")
I’ve watched a fair number of British TV series on BBC America over the last several years and I’ve noticed something: British TV series have no compunction about killing off main characters (or otherwise removing them from the show). In US TV shows, you know the main characters are going to get out of the jam they’re in because we almost never kill off a character. On British shows, that’s not the case. Here are some British series that come to mind that have done this: Torchwood Doctor Who (of course) Primeval MI5 Not Going Out I’m not sure why this is. Do British actors want more variety? Does it have to do with the British film industry? (Newer actors on a series are cheaper than long-term actors?) Does anyone know? J. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/53 "2009-09-10T16:48:52Z")
American shows will kill off a character if the actor wants out. Some examples : Jean Stapleton from All in the Family Jimmy Smits from NYPD Blue McLean Stevenson from MASH Maybe British actors do not like to stay on shows for very long. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/54 "2009-09-10T16:57:00Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > I’m not sure why this is. Do British actors want more variety? Does it have to do with the British film industry? (Newer actors on a series are cheaper than long-term actors?) > > Does anyone know? My WAG is that it’s an effect of the British system, in which, rather than being ongoing and open-ended like American shows, British TV shows are presented in the form of “series” of a relative handful of episodes. Once the “series” is over, there may or may not be another, and there may be a substantial gap of years between their production. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/55 "2009-09-10T17:10:57Z")
_The Tonight Show_ with Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. _Late Night_ with David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon. And here’s one that’s suitable for a bar bet. In 1949 NBC aired _The Life of Riley_ starring Jackie Gleason. The show lasted one season, but came back in 1953 with William Bendix as Riley and a completely new cast. That version ran for 5 years, so does it count as one show with a completely different cast or two different shows? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/56 "2009-09-13T06:12:25Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > American shows will kill off a character if the actor wants out. Some examples : > > Jean Stapleton from All in the Family They didn’t kill her off until sometime after it morphed into Archie Bunker’s Place. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471/57 "2009-09-14T13:13:08Z")
M_A_S\*H came close, with only Alan Alda and Loretta Swit left by the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-that-turned-over-their-entire-cast/509471.md?page=2)