My Favorite Television Recasts

11.

Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe



Replaces George Dzundza as Sergeant Max Greevey on Law & Order



Once the character of Max Greevey was killed off, Dick Wolf and the casting Gods struck gold when they cast Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe...Lennie was an old school detective who liked old school techniques, could barely use a cell phone and was "technologically challenged", if you will. Lennie has also been married multiple times, had a daughter with whom he had no relationship with, and was a sober alcoholic. Lennie was a breath of fresh air on this show...this show was pretty much humorless until the appearance of Lennie Briscoe.

10.

Cheryl Ladd as Kris Monroe



Replaces Farrah Fawcett as Jill Monroe on Charlie's Angels



I know I may be in the minority on this one but I'm sticking to my opinion and my opinion only here...Fawcett became a household name as Jill Monroe and her ego got the best of her and decided to leave the show after its freshman season...needless to say, some ugly legal/contractual battles ensued because ABC obviously did not want to lose their biggest star, but Fawcett left and they then cast Fawcett look-alike Ladd to replace her and legitimized it by making the characters sisters. I also thought Ladd was a better actress at the time (Fawcett really hadn't discovered her acting chops yet). This was not the end of the Fawcett drama either...the final result of the contractual battle between Fawcett and ABC was that Fawcett had to make four appearances on the show during its sophomore season in order to honor her original contract and she did...so for 4 episodes of the season 2, 4 angels were on the job instead of 3.

You know me too well Citizen...there will be another entry from Bewitched.

I'm not sure which I prefer. Cheryl was there longer so there was more of her as Kris, but the originals are the originals. As I was never a fan of Farrah (Jaclyn Smith for me) and a child at the time, I wasn't bothered by which of them were there.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

9.

Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio



Replaces Pat Morita as Arnold on Happy Days



It was a minor role in the show's ensemble, but I liked the change because I never thought Pat Morita was funny in this role, just my opinion.

8.

Roy Roberts



Replaces Robert F. Simon as Frank Stephens on Bewitched



SImon was acceptable in the role of Darrin's father, but I preferred the chemistry between Roberts and Mabel Albertson, who played Phyllis, Darren's mother.

7.

George Lindsey as Goober Pyle



Replaces Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show



Next to Don Knotts' Barney Fife, Jim Nabors probably did the most scene-stealing on this show as gas pump jockey Gomer Pyle so CBS decided to spin him off into his own series (Gomer Pyle USMC) and brought George Lindsey onto the canvas as his cousin Goober...one of television's most seamless recasts...you had to look very closely to see that these were two different characters played by two different actors.

6.

Benjamin Bratt as Detective Ray Curtis



Replaces Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan on Law & Order



The chemistry between Noth and Jerry Orbach (Lennie Briscoe) was SO solid I never thought the casting Gods would find a suitable replacement when Noth left the show but Benjamin Bratt stepped up to the plate and created an almost instant chemistry with Orbach.

5.

Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe



Replaces Shelley Long as Diane Chambers on Cheers



One of television's most welcome recasts ever...personally I found Diane Chambers to be one of the most annoying TV characters ever and though there was a modicum of chemistry between Long and Ted Danson (Sam Malone), I could never get behind them as a couple and I was thrilled when I learned Long was leaving the show to pursue a movie career. Wisely, the show did a complete 180 with this ensemble member by casting Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe, the tightly wound manager of the bar after Sam sold it to sail around the world but the boat sank so he returned to Boston and got himself hired as a bartender at the bar he once owned. Sam butted heads with Rebecca who didn't fall for Sam's playboy antics, but the character of Rebecca was softened through her "romances" with billionaires Evan Drake (Tom Skerrit) and Robin Colcord (Roger Rees) who treated Rebecca like crap and made her deliciously human.

4.

Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy



Replaces Michael Moriarty as Benjamin Stone on Law & Order



The "order" part of this show garnered a new intensity with the casting of Waterston as the new Assistant DA.

3.

Elizabeth Rohm as Serena Southerlyn



Replaces Angie Harmon as Abby Carmichael on Law & Order



Serena wasn't the smoking hot sexpot that Abby was, but she was a more appropriate ally and sounding board for Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). At times, it seemed like McCoy spent more time arguing with Serena over some of his methods than he did with defendants and defense attorneys. Serena was one of the few assistants Jack had who ALWAYS kept him accountable for his actions.

2.

Mike Farrell as BJ Honeycutt



Replaces Wayne Rogers as Trapper John McIntyre on MASH




Alan Alda and Wayne Rogers were so great as Hawkeye and Trapper so TPTB were thrown when Rogers decided to leave the show. Again, the show made the right move in the casting of Mike Farrell as BJ Honeycutt. Though BJ was warm and funny and a good friend to Hawkeye, he was not the babe hound that Trapper was...BJ was a devoted family man who loved his wife Peg and daughter, Erin at home, despite a couple of temptations in Korea.

There will be no honorable mentions as I had enough trouble coming up with 25. Anyone who has been paying attention to this thread and thinks about it for more than three seconds should be able to figure out what number one is...and now, my number one television recast...

1.

Dick Sargent



Replaces Dick York as Darrin Stephens on Bewitched

This was the classic case of TV recasting that set the standard for all the rest because of the way it was handled by the show's executive producer and star Elizabeth Montgomery's husband, William Asher. A lot of people don't know this, but Dick Sargent was originally approached for the role of Darrin, but he had already committed to another sitcom, The Tammy Grimes Show, so the role went to Dick York. After five seasons, York developed some serious health issues that would force him to bow out of the show halfway through the fifth season. When it became clear that York would no longer be able to continue in the role, Asher considered having Samantha marry another mortal but it was determined that Darrin had to be a pretty special mortal for Samantha to give up her life as a witch and after five seasons, Asher was sure audiences would not accept Samantha being married to another mortal, so Sargent was again approached about taking the role and accepted. As for addressing the change onscreen, Asher chose not to and decided he would ease viewers into the change during the summer rerun season by only airing 5th season episodes in which Dick York did not appear, making the appearance of new Darrin Dick Sargent a little less jarring for audiences and it worked...the recast was accepted without question and Sargent played the role for three more seasons.



Hope you enjoyed the list.

I knew that would be your number 1!....I love Bewitched. I just watch the first few seasons of it recently.

Great job on this list!

Gideon, do you have any commentary on Dick Sargent replacing Dick York?

Other than what I've said above, I think William Asher handled the whole thing beautifully and I really had no problem with Sargent in the role though I LOVED York...his rubbery face and his skill at physical comedy were a perfect match for the role.

I agree with you. Sargent walked into some pretty big shoes and did a good job filling them too. But I'm a huge Dick York fan for all the reasons you just mentioned...he was a master of physical comedy with that rubbery face of his. I had always wanted to see a movie remake of Bewitched with Jim Carrey as Darrin.

As a TV addict, this is one of my favorites of your lists. Some of the replacements were easy choices because the original characters weren't very likable, but some of the other characters who left the shows were so good that it's hard to believe that anyone could take their places, but then the replacements were just as good as the original characters.

Some of my favorites in your list are:

• Woody Harrleson as Woody Boyd replacing Nicholas Colosanto as Coach on "Cheers"
• Harry Morgan as Colonel Sherman Potter replacing McLean Stevenson as Lt. Colonel Henry Blake on "M*A*S*H"
• Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe replacing George Dzundza as Sergeant Max Greevey on "Law & Order"
• Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio replacing Pat Morita as Arnold on "Happy Days"
• Benjamin Bratt as Detective Ray Curtis replacing Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan on "Law & Order"
• Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe replacing Shelley Long as Diane Chambers on "Cheers"
• Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy replacing Michael Moriarty as Benjamin Stone on "Law & Order"
• Mike Farrell as BJ Honeycutt replacing Wayne Rogers as Trapper John McIntyre on "M*A*S*H"
• Dick Sargent replacing Dick York as Darrin Stephens on "Bewitched"

These are all cases where I liked the first character so much that I didn't think they could get a replacement that would be as good, but in most of these cases, the replacement was even better than the original.


Some honorable mentions are:

• Joe Mantegna as Dave Rossi replacing Mandy Patinkin as Jason Gideon on "Criminal Minds"
• Traylor Howard as Natalie Teeger replacing Bitty Schram as Sharona Fleming on "Monk"
• Sarah Chalke replacing Alicia Goranson as Becky Conner on "Roseanne"

I remember when they first announced they were going to make a Bewitched movie, the first thing that popped into my head was "Jim Carrey would be a perfect Darrin!" Will Ferrell? What the hell were thinking? Then again, Ferrell was just the tip of the iceberg of what was wrong with that movie.

Some honorable mentions are:

• Joe Mantegna as Dave Rossi replacing Mandy Patinkin as Jason Gideon on "Criminal Minds"
• Traylor Howard as Natalie Teeger replacing Bitty Schram as Sharona Fleming on "Monk"
• Sarah Chalke replacing Alicia Goranson as Becky Conner on "Roseanne"

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HATED Sarah Chalke as Becky on Roseanne...if I do a worst TV recast list, that one would definitely be in the top 3. Loved her on Scrubs though.