Changing of casts
Why Charles in Charge changed casts is one of the most common questions I'm asked.
After CIC was cancelled at the end of the 84-85 season, it was off the air completely for the next year. In the fall of 86 it was sold into what we now know as "first run syndication" and was one of the first (If not the first) shows to make the jump from network TV to syndication.
When they approached the old cast about the new version, the producers encountered a couple of problems. One of the biggest was that Jonathan Ward, who played Douglas, had gotten a new TV show that was debuting in the fall of 86 on ABC. It also starred Christina Applegate but I can't remember the name of it, but it was cancelled after only a handful of episodes.
In addition to Jonathan's unavailibilty, there was an issue of money. First-run syndication was offering the cast members considerably less money per episode than the network version of the show. Julie Cobb, who played Jill Pembroke, was particularly offended by the pay cut and refused to come back for less money. Faced with the loss of 2 of the original family members, producers decided to recast the show with a new family and write a "transition episode." I never had any role in the decision, though I can tell you that the money wouldn't have mattered to me.
I agreed to do the transition episode but Julie Cobb refused, so they cast someone else to play her role. That episode was an emotional week for me since I was essentially handing my role over to someone else and I had to watch the show that I had helped create and realize I would no longer be part of it. I was sad when the filming was through, but I had been acting long enough to understand the whims and unpredicatability of the entertainment industry.
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