JamesG
02-11-2023, 01:58 PM
Upon relocating from ABC to Fox, more than a year after its initial cancellation, fan-favorite Baxter daughter Mandy, originally played by Molly Ephraim, was recast with Molly McCook, an actress that looks and sounds nothing like her predecessor.
The much-ballyhooed switcheroo went over like a lead balloon.
The show’s higher-ups anticipated — and were prepared for — the blowback.
“We fully expected [the backlash],” exec producer Kevin Abbott told EW.com at the time. “You don’t take a character played by an actress that’s beloved and suddenly switch them out. I’m glad they missed Molly Ephraim; that’s a good thing. And they’re going to go through the same process we did in casting… It’s a little jarring, then you grow to love her. We hope the audience starts to feel the way we do.”
https://tvline.com/lists/tv-controversies-reactions-angry-fans-character-deaths/last-man-standing-mandy-recast/
The much-ballyhooed switcheroo went over like a lead balloon.
The show’s higher-ups anticipated — and were prepared for — the blowback.
“We fully expected [the backlash],” exec producer Kevin Abbott told EW.com at the time. “You don’t take a character played by an actress that’s beloved and suddenly switch them out. I’m glad they missed Molly Ephraim; that’s a good thing. And they’re going to go through the same process we did in casting… It’s a little jarring, then you grow to love her. We hope the audience starts to feel the way we do.”
https://tvline.com/lists/tv-controversies-reactions-angry-fans-character-deaths/last-man-standing-mandy-recast/