https://popculturereferences.com/what-was-the-strangest-case-of-an-actor-getting-demoted-from-a-regular/

In the newest Pop Culture Theme Time, I'm asking you what you think was the strangest case of an actor getting demoted from a regular to a recurring character on a TV series.

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Today, in the newest Pop Culture Theme Time (https://popculturereferences.com/category/pop-culture-theme-time/), I’m asking you what you think was the strangest case of an actor getting demoted from a regular to a recurring character on a TV series.

Pop Culture Theme Time is a feature where I put a question to you to see what you think about a particular theme. I might later revisit the theme for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns or Top Five.

As you well know, TV shows, especially long-running ones, have two major problems with their casts. The first is strictly a narrative one, in that plots that worked in Season 1 might not work still in Season 7. For instance, take a show like Boy Meets World, when Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) was 12 in the first season, his parents, Alan and Amy (William Russ and Betsy Randle), were major parts of his life. When he’s in college in Season 6, not so much. The second problem is monetary. As a show gets older, it gets more expensive, and so shows tend to save money by cutting down on actor salaries. An easy way to do this is simply cut down everyone’s episodes outside of the undisputed STARS of the show. Now, for the most part, even when everyone gets episode cuts, it doesn’t knock you down from a regular to a recurring, but there ARE instances where that’s exactly what happens.

So I want to know what you think was the weirdest instance of an actor being DEMOTED to a recurring character after previously being a regular. Note that instances where the actor themself obviously no longer wants to be a regular is NOT weird at all, so I don’t think stuff like Joseph Gordon-Levitt becoming a recurring character in the final season of 3rd Rock From the Sun or Kaitlyn Dever becoming a recurring character in Season 7 of Last Man Standing (and then a guest star only in the final two seasons) would count, as obviously the reduction was the choice of the actor.

I mean instances where the SHOW decided to demote them, and you think it was an odd choice.

My pick is Stanley Livingston on My Three Sons. By the final season, Livington’s Chip Douglas was the only remaining original son still on the show, and in Season 11, he had married his college girlfriend, Polly, which you would think would open him up for some more plots, but instead, the show basically dropped Chip as a character for the final season, Season 12, featuring him in less than a third of the season’s episodes. It’s so strange to be the central plot point of Season 11 (his whirlwind romance with his college girlfriend, leading to their elopement) only to be dropped entirely the following season (and the show didn’t KNOW Season 12 was its final season, by the way).

Okay, that’s my pick! What’s yours?

I believe Stan Livingston was shooting a movie around that time, so that might be part of the reason he’s not seen much. I’ve also heard he was getting tired of the role. With no Chip, the writers didn’t see a reason to have Polly appear. I think she was only in one episode that Chip wasn’t- and that was season 11 where the women have a fashion show.

Ronne's face looks far less round and squishy cheeked than Stan's in that photo by the way. How long *exactly* were Fedderson and CBS going to try to play her as "being 18-19"?

By a possible Season 13 or 14, she'd be starting to be the Kyle Darrin of My Three Sons!

I was going to ask about Ronne Troup. She had a large story about Polly in Season 11 from dating, going steady, and the eloping. I was curious as to why her name was never added to the show's opening credits.

Then both Chip and Polly are largely absent from most of Season 12. I wish the show would have focused more on them rather than the ridiculous (sorry I don't fancy actors playing twins, brothers or long lost cousins) Fergus story.

Fergus keeps making me think of Willie from The Simpsons... and not in a good way.

"Pop Culture Theme Time" did not do the proper research for this question regarding Stanley Livingston. He was not intentionally dropped or demoted by the producers of M3S. Here is what TMC quoted:

"It’s so strange to be the central plot point of Season 11 (his whirlwind romance with his college girlfriend, leading to their elopement) only to be dropped entirely the following season (and the show didn’t KNOW Season 12 was its final season, by the way)."

Stanley has given the reasons for his reduced role in S12 in an interview. First, he was considering taking a role offered to him on The Virginian. Since the M3S producers were aware there was a chance Stan would not return for S12 of the series, they had the writers concentrate on writing shows that focused on some of the other characters THEY WERE CERTAIN would be back: Dodie, Barbara, Katie, Ernie...
Second: However, since Stan found out that Don Grady would not be back as Rob, that factored into his decision to return to M3S for S12, as he wanted to help keep M3S afloat. This came AFTERWARD.

In other words, show episodes were written centered on the other characters with the possibility in mind that Stan would not be returning. He did return, but the scripts were done.

So once again, M3S's producers have been unfairly attacked for their handling, when in reality they did their best under the circumstances. There were lots of new characters, including the triplets, so Stan also pointed out that due to that fact it was also natural that episodes would be written to spread the focus around.

I was going to ask about Ronne Troup. She had a large story about Polly in Season 11 from dating, going steady, and the eloping. I was curious as to why her name was never added to the show's opening credits.

Then both Chip and Polly are largely absent from most of Season 12. I wish the show would have focused more on them rather than the ridiculous (sorry I don't fancy actors playing twins, brothers or long lost cousins) Fergus story.

In my previous post, I explained why Chip/Stanley is "largely absent" from S12, so of course that meant Polly/Ronne also to a large degree.

The S12 opening credits you are seeing are not the correct ones. We have never seen the actual, correct S12 opening since its original airings. That is why Don Grady's name appears despite his having left the series, and why Ronne's name is absent. They are just earlier, wrong openings spliced onto S12 prints.

In my previous post, I explained why Chip/Stanley is "largely absent" from S12, so of course that meant Polly/Ronne also to a large degree.

The S12 opening credits you are seeing are not the correct ones. We have never seen the actual, correct S12 opening since its original airings. That is why Don Grady's name appears despite his having left the series, and why Ronne's name is absent. They are just earlier, wrong openings spliced onto S12 prints.

Also, Ronne Troup and Dawn Lyn (along with the rest of the main cast) would normally have been in the closing credits--the main cast were in included in all other seasons. They probably were in the season 12 original episodes, too, but in the sped-up rerun credits, the entire main cast is cut out. So in these chopped-up reruns, Ronne and Dawn are not credited in any episode.

Dawn not being in the modern fake credits is so demeaning - more so than for an adult like Ronne was.

Imagine the fergus episodes being a TV movie. It would probably be the worst movie ever.

Kilt drag tends to be, yes.