The Top Ten Best/Worst Cast Changes…

[Adamantium]

In Sitcoms!

1. “M*A*S*H” - From Henry Blake and Trapper to Frank and Radar. All of these departures were met with suitable replacements (except for Radar) who were up to the challenge of keeping the show fresh. Even though the first three seasons seem to be considered the most popular, you can’t deny that bringing in Potter and BJ was a great move. It kept the show on the air for eight more seasons. And of course, Winchester replacing Frank turned out to be a stroke of genius. And even not replacing Radar turned out okay, seeing as there were four seasons without him.

2. “Cheers” - For the first five seasons, this show focused on the on-again, off-again relationship of Sam Malone and Diane Chambers. The beginning of the sixth season saw Diane gone and Rebecca Howe now in charge of the bar. Despite Diane being a very popular character (and the co-star) the show made a full recovery and even lasted one season longer with Rebecca. An earlier change, towards the end of the third season saw the passing of Coach and (in the 4th season) the introduction of Woody Boyd. The addition of Dr. Frasier Crane in the third season also proved to be a smart move by the producers.

3. “Married… With Children” - For the first (almost) four seasons, the Bundy’s neighbors were the newlyweds Steve and Marcy Rhoades. This was a great dynamic for Al Bundy and his wife Peggy. One thing that was great about this was that the show featured the couple that had been married for a long time (15 years in the pilot) versus the newlyweds in Steve and Marcy. However, towards the end of the fourth season, Steve left Marcy (and the show) to become a forest ranger. Midway though the fifth season, Marcy found herself married to Jefferson D’Arcy. He was pretty much the complete opposite of Steve, but was still good for the show. Where Al and Steve were different, Al and Jefferson were buddies. The show lasted seven seasons with Jefferson as the neighbor and so I guess even though Steve seems more popular with the fans, that we can consider this a successful cast change.

4. “The Andy Griffith Show” - Now this one’s a biggie. Even though many consider the post-Barney episodes to be crap, the show lasted three more seasons and remained successful, even to the point that when Andy Griffith quit, they replaced him and continued for three more years under the title “Mayberry, R.F.D.” So while the first five seasons, which featured the classic character Deputy Barney Fife (and for a while Gomer Pyle) the show was still popular in it’s last three years. The actual cast change wasn’t. Deputy Warren Ferguson only lasted for one season, but then bringing in Howard Sprague proved a good idea and he lasted the final two seasons of “The Andy Griffith Show” and all three seasons of “Mayberry, R.F.D.” Other cast changes in “The Andy Griffith Show” were Floyd the barber leaving and Gomer Pyle coming. Then Floyd returning only to get replaced by Emmett Clarke in the final season, while Gomer left for the marines at the end of season four and his cousin Goober took over for him for the remainder of the series.

5. “My Three Sons” - Growing up, I only saw the Bub episodes, with a few color episodes (with Uncle Charlie). So I always assumed Bub was in the majority of the show. Later on, I realized that Nick at Nite didn’t show all the episodes. That in fact Uncle Charlie was in more episodes than Bub. When William Frawley got ill in the fifth season, the producers brought in William Demarest to replace him. The following season saw the show in color and Mike (the eldest son) getting married and moving away. Stephen Douglas adopted Chip’s (the youngest son) best friend Ernie Thompson and he filled the slot to keep the title “My Three Sons.” In the later years, Robbie (the middle son, now the eldest) got married to Katie, Chip eloped with Polly and even Stephen got remarried. Even though the Mike-Bub episodes are the more classic episodes, the show lasted seven years without them, so this can be considered a successful cast change.

6. “Happy Days” - Okay, I know the show isn’t considered popular after both Richie and Ralph leave Wisconsin to join the army, however, it lasted four seasons without them. So obviously the show was still successful. With Fonzie as the star, it was still good. Just not as good. Richie was originally the main character. It was his family life that we saw. It was his friends that we saw. Then after the seventh season, Richie was gone and we were left watching Richie’s friends and family without him. New additions to the cast were made. And now it was mostly Fonzie, Joanie and Chachie and even Al seemed to have a bigger role, becoming partners with Fonzie to run Arnolds.

7. “Three’s Company” - This had two major cast changes. First the more popular of the two, Chrissy Snow. She left in the fifth season, making only cameo appearances via the telephone. She was replaced first by her cousin Cindy and then by Terri. While Cindy wasn’t a great move, Terri was. She brought something new and fresh to the show and she is personally my favorite “Blonde Roommate” in the show. The other cast change was that of the landlords. First there were the Ropers - Stanley and Helen. After they left in the third season, Ralph Furley took over. He became a classic sitcom character (in my opinion) and the show was even funnier with him. Just think John Ritter and Don Knotts in the same show!

8. “Bewitched” - This is a tough one. Because I personally have stated in the past that I loved Dick York’s Darrin and hated Dick Sargent’s Darrin. However, the show lasted three seasons without York. So that could be considered a successful cast change. But if you don’t go by that, then look at all the other changes in the show: Two Gladys Kravitz’, two Louise Tates and all the additional witches and warlocks that came by. Sure, the show was at it’s best when Dick York portrayed Darrin Stephens - that mortal married to a witch, but it still lasted without him. And there are some people out there who prefer Sargent over York. Elizabeth Montgomery was one of them.

9. “The Munsters” - For the first thirteen episodes, Beverly Owen played the “plain” Munster, Marilyn. From episodes fourteen through seventy, Pat Priest portrayed the character. Even though I personally prefer the original Marilyn, this move was still successful. Many people I talk to didn’t even know they changed Marilyns in the show!

10. “Night Court” - This show had a lot of changes through out it’s nine season run. Only Harry, Bull and Dan remained the whole run. The show lost two cast members to lung cancer first Selma Diamond (who played Selma) and then her replacement a year later Florence Halop (Who played Florence). She was then replaced by Marsha Warfield (playing Roz). It also changed the Defense, first having Liz Williams, then Billie Young and finally having Markie Post’s Christine Sullivan. With each cast change, the replacement seemed to be one step ahead of the person they were replacing. Which is one reason I believe the first season DVD sales weren’t that high, because people liked the later cast better.

There were other successful cast changes in my mind, such as Roseanne, One Day at a Time and Hey Dude but I was only going for a Top 10 list. I was also doing shows that were successful in the first place and then faced their cast change by continuing to be successful.

[Adamantium]

And now for the worst.

1. “Chico and the Man” - After the tragic suicide of series star Freddie Prinze in 1977 (towards the end of the third season), the producers decided to keep going. They replaced Chico Rodriguez (a guy in his early twenties) with a twelve year old boy named Raul Garcia. Ed Brown, aka the Man, adopted Raul and the series went for on one season. Charo even made a few guest appearances as Raul’s aunt. Nobody could have replaced Freddie Prinze, as it was proven when they tried and failed.

2. “NewsRadio” - Phil Hartman’s character Bill McNeal was the breakout character of this show. After the fourth season, Mr. Hartman was murdered. NBC renewed the show for a fifth season. They brought in Jon Lovitz to play the new anchorman, Max Louis. While Lovitz had a few good moments in the show, it was clear that something was missing. Phil Hartman was just too beloved and without him, the show wasn’t the same. NBC cancelled it after only one year with Lovitz in the cast.

3. “That ‘70s Show” - After seven season, Topher Grace (along with Ashton Kutcher) left Point Place and the series. Josh Meyers, from “Mad TV” was added to the cast for the eighth season as Randy Pearson, an employee at Hyde’s record store. Though he seemed okay in the beginning, fans were outraged when Randy and Donna started dating half-way through the season. Also, without Kelso’s energy, the series just seemed tired. And so the eighth season was the show’s last.

4. “Welcome Back, Kotter” - This series’ fourth and final season was a mess. While John Travolta was only appearing occasionally as a “Special Guest Star” for his role as Vinnie Barbarino, the star of the show, Gabe Kaplan aka “Mr. Kotter” seemed to vanish from the show himself. In fact, by count, Kotter was only in around six episodes that season. Beau was a southern Sweathog who joined the guys just as Vinnie was on his way out. It was a combination of lousy writing, lousy new Sweathog, the absence of Mr. Kotter and Vinnie Barbarino that made this a poor cast change.

5. “Wings” - An excellent series, with a lousy cast change. Thomas Haden Church, who played mechanic Lowell Mather, left to join the Witness Protection Program early in the seventh season. A few episodes later, he was replaced by Budd Bronski who didn’t even last the remainder of the season. There was no creativity in this cast change and there doesn’t seem to be a fan out there who prefers Budd to Lowell. The show lasted two seasons without Lowell.

6. “Good Times” - James Evans was too good a character to have him killed off the show. And yet that’s exactly what happened. The show post-James was not as classic as it was during James. A year later, Florida left the series, only to return for the last season. And of course, Janet Jackson joined the show in it’s fifth season. It could have been seen as successful, since it lasted three seasons without James Evans, the show was clearly not as good and in my book, earns this spot as number six of the worst cast changes.

7. “Mork & Mindy” - This cast change is classic for being bad. The series started off great with Mork, Mindy, her father and grandmother. However, at the start of season two, the father and grandmother were off the show and replaced by a brother and sister duo who worked at a deli. The ratings went down and though they tried to fix it by bringing back the father and grandmother, it seemed to be too late. Jonathan Winters joined the cast in the fourth and final season, but people had quit watching and the show was cancelled.

8. “Laverne & Shirley” - Laverne WITHOUT Shirley! How could they even continue without Shirley? The show was called “Laverne and Shirley” yet only Laverne appeared in the eighth and final season. They didn’t even bother to replace Shirley. Bad, really bad.

9. “Saved by the Bell” - Okay, so early in the gang’s senior year, Kelly and Jessie were replaced by biker chick Tori Scott. In production order, all of the Kelly/Jessie episodes were already shot, including the graduation episode. So the Tori episodes were really just fillers to mix into the season. The balance was off, and the show wasn’t as good. But, whatever.

10. “Petticoat Junction” - After five seasons on the air, the series’ star and anchor, Bea Benadaret passed away. Instead of mentioning her death on the show, they just decided to forget about the character of Kate Bradley. June Lockhart came into the show as a lady Doctor who moved into the Shady rest Hotel. It lasted two seasons without Benadaret, but was never the same. This show survived the cast changes of two out of the three daughters (one daughter was replaced twice). Yet this change was too much for the show.

[dawsongirl]

I'm one of 3 people who liked the second Darrin better. *ducks*

And yes, the Tori SBTB episodes were stupid.

[catlover79]

*smacks dawsonsgirl upside the head* You're entitled to your opinion. Personally, Dick York will always be the ONLY Darrin in my book, but Dick Sargent was a good actor and did not try to be a copycat in the role. He brought his own spin to the role, and should be commended for that.

I totally agree with the Mork & Mindy casting changes, Tori, Kotter, and so forth. I personally liked all six seasons of Good Times, but it truly was not the same without John Amos. Another terrible casting decision was the make Family Matters the Urkel Show, shoving the family aside to give Jaleel White even MORE screen time.

[treky]

I agree with you about WELCOME BACK, KOTTER. Not only was the show HORRIBLE that last season, the actors who were playing the sweathogs were all way to old to still be playing teenagers.
You're also right about LAVERNE & SHIRLEY. Back when NICK AT NITE used to show it, I saw the opening of one of the post-Shirley episodes once; and just from that you could tell how AWFUL it was.
I disagree about the last season of THAT 70S SHOW, however. I've only seen a couple of those episodes; but I thought they were pretty good.
Also; WINGS was also good that last season. (and I've always wondered whatever happened to Lowell. Now I know!)

[James]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Another terrible casting decision was the make Family Matters the Urkel Show, shoving the family aside to give Jaleel White even MORE screen time.

Unfortunately, Monica, I would have to disagree with you. Steve Urkel was Family Matters. He made me laugh so hard at that show with his clumsiness!

My contribution to this list involves the characters John and Olivia Walton on The Waltons. Between the seventh and eighth seasons of the show Miss Michael Learned left the show; it was written into the show Olivia was going to a sanitarium in Arizona to be treated for tuberculosis. According to one account Miss Learned left to concentrate on theater, plus she was disappointed as to why her role as Olivia was diminished. In her place we were treated to Rose Burton, whose relation to the Waltons I cannot remember. Then some time in the ninth (and final) season Ralph Waite left (I forget--was John going to Arizona to be with Olivia?), and around that time Rose became engaged to Stanley Perkins. I thought that was a very lame plot. I am making it a point not to collect the eighth and ninth seasons of The Waltons on DVD.

[Adamantium]

Originally Posted by treky

I disagree about the last season of THAT 70S SHOW, however. I've only seen a couple of those episodes; but I thought they were pretty good. Also; WINGS was also good that last season. (and I've always wondered whatever happened to Lowell. Now I know!)

I actually liked the final season of "That '70s Show" too. I was just making a general list. This wasn't my opinion of what cast changes I liked and didn't like. And also as a "Wings" fan, I liked the last season too. However, it dipped in quality a lot compared to the first seven seasons.

The first list was of shows that had a cast change and still lasted a while after that, thus surviving the cast change.

The second list was of shows that had a cast change and pretty much died shortly after that or was never quite as respected as it was in the past.

I probably should have made this two seperate threads, but after no one replied to the Best Cast Changes, I just decided to combine them, hoping for some responses. It's nice that I finally got some.

[comedyfreak]

I agree with both top tens. I'd like add that Mayberry RFD was still popular but, thanks to CBS wanting to drop rural comedies it was cancelled.

Married With Children had Peg Bundy pregnant than after she lost the baby, it ended up being Al's dream so she was never pregnant. They had a kid live with them, then not long after a few shows he disappeared.

[Adamantium]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

Married With Children had Peg Bundy pregnant than after she lost the baby, it ended up being Al's dream so she was never pregnant. They had a kid live with them, then not long after a few shows he disappeared.

When Seven first joined "Married...With Children," I liked it. Probably because I was a kid and it was neat to see a kid join Al, Peg, Kelly and Bud. Now that I'm older (I'm 25) I can understand why almost every fan hates the character. He just seems so anti-Married with Children.