My Favorite Television Recasts

[Gideon58]

The art of the television recast is such a tricky thing that unfortunately doesn't work more than it does. An inevitability of show business, an actor gets tired of playing a role, or an actor gets a swelled head and thinks he can ignite a movie career, or sadly, an actor simply passes away IRL, the logical thing would be to just write the character off the show, but it's amazing how rarely this happens...sometimes a character is pivotal to a storyline (especially in serialized television) and getting rid of the character is impossible so TPTB will replace the actor, or sometimes an actor becomes impossible to work with and firing them is the only answer. Sometimes they don't even replace the character that's leaving they just insert another character who was similar to the one leaving. Anyway, it's a very tricky thing but there were one or two shows that were masterful at it, evidenced in their multiple entries on this list. OK, these are my favorite television recasts:

[Gideon58]

25.

Barney Martin

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Replaces Phil Bruns

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As Morty Seinfeld on Seinfeld

Martin was such a perfect recast of this character that I only learned a year or so ago that Martin did not originate the role of Morty Seinfeld.

[Gideon58]

24.

Jack Coleman

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Replaces Al Corley as Steven Carrington on Dynasty

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I waffled about this one for years because even though Corley was more believable as a homosexual, Coleman was definitely a better actor and made his storyline with Sammy Jo (Heather Locklear) more plausible. Corley never would have been able to pull that storyline off.

[Gideon58]

23.

David Ogden Stiers

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Replaces Larry Linville on MASH

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When Larry Linville decided to leave his role as the whiny cry-baby tattletale Major Frank Burns, the casting Gods decided to cast a different character and actor to fill the same void in the ensemble. Stiers' character, Major Charles Emerson Winchester was also a pain in the ass to Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and BJ (Mike Farrell) because he was unbelievably arrogant, was into classical music, and brought the same kind of conflict to the MASH unit that Frank Burns did.

[Gideon58]

22.

Diane Neal

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Replaces Stephanie March on Law & Order: SVU

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When Stephanie March left her role as Assistant DA Alexandra Cabot, the character was written off the show as having to go into witness protection. Diane Neal, who had done a guest appearance years before as part of a trio of women accused of raping a male stripper, was then brought on to play the new Assistant DA Casey Novak. I preferred Casey because she worked a lot more on her instinct than Cabot did...Casey didn't have to have rock hard evidence to bring a case to trial and didn't mind taking shortcuts to get a conviction and had no qualms about interrupting a weekly poker game of judges to get a signature on a search warrant.

[Gideon58]

21.

Sandra Gould replaces Alice Pearce as Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched

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Don't get me wrong, I loved Alice Pearce as Gladys, but the recast worked for me because even though Gould may have not had the comic timing that Peace did, she brought the annoyance/shrill level of the character to a level Pearce never did. Gould nailed the nosy/busybody neighbor and I think her chemistry with George Tobias, who played Abner, was stronger than his chemistry with Pearce.

[Gideon58]

20.

Markie Post

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Replaces Ellen Foley on Night Court

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Post had WAY more chemistry with Harry Anderson than Foley did.

[Gideon58]

19.

Peter Graves as Jim Phelps

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Replaced Steven Hill as Dan Briggs on Mission: Impossible

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I was an adult before I even knew Peter Graves replaced another actor on this show.

[Gideon58]

18.

Fred Dalton Thompson as DA Arthur Branch

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Replaces Dianne Wiest as DA Nora Lewin on Law & Order

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This one hurts a little because I have always loved Dianne Wiest, but this role was just not a good fit for her and Fred Dalton Thompson slipped into the position like a comfortable shoe.

[Miss Vicky]

Some of these choices seem odd. I guess my definition of a recast and your definition aren't the same.

[Gideon58]

Some of these choices seem odd. I guess my definition of a recast and your definition aren't the same.
As I tried to explain in my introduction to the list, I'm casting a little wider net here with the concept of recasting...I'm not just talking about the recast of a specific character by another actor, but I also consider a recast a new character who serves the same purpose in the ensemble that the previous actor served. David Ogden Stiers was not hired to play Frank Burns, but Charles Emerson Winchester served the same place in the MASH ensemble that Larry Linville did.

[Gideon58]

17.

Kasey Rogers

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Replaces Irene Vernon as Louise Tate on Bewitched

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Though it was a minor role in the show's ensemble, the change did not go unnoticed by this viewer and I liked it.

[Gideon58]

16.

Aneta Corsaut as Helen Crump

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Replaces Elinor Donohue as Ellie Walker on The Andy Griffith Show

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Watching Sheriff Andy Taylor romance Ellie Walker was like watching him date Betty Anderson on Father Knows Best, giving it sort of an "ick" factor to me...Andy and Helen Crump were immediately believable and acceptable as a couple.

[Gideon58]

15.

Woody Harrleson as Woody Boyd

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Replaces Nicholas Colosanto as Coach on Cheers

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/1028/4328colasanto.jpg

TPTB at Cheers were thrown when Nicholas Colosanto, the actor who played the former coach of Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and bartender at Sam's bar, suddenly passed away. Instead of casting another actor in the role of Coach, they decided to bring fresh meat to the bar in the form of young hunky Woody Harrelson as country hayseed Woody Boyd on his first job off his family's farm. I also loved the way the writing team respected the sanctity of the character of Coach by having the character pass away as well, addressing it onscreen and having Coach mentioned during special occasions at the bar.

[Gideon58]

14.

Don Knotts as Ralph Furley

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Replaces Norman Fell and Audra Lindley as Stanley and Helen Roper on Three's Company

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Norman Fell and Audra Lindley did so much scene-stealing on Three's Company as the landlords of Jack (John Ritter), Chrissy (Suzanne Somers), and Janet (Joyce DeWitt), that ABC decided to spin them off into their own series. Fell and Lindley were reluctant and Fell only agreed to the spinoff if he and Lindley were given the option to return to the original series if the spinoff didn't work. The spinoff didn't work but the Ropers never returned to Three's Company and Don Knotts, after winning 5 Emmys for playing Barney Fife, found a new career playing the trio's new landlord.

[Gideon58]

13.

Harry Morgan as Colonel Sherman Potter

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Replaces McLean Stevenson as Lt. Colonel Henry Blake on MASH

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Once McLean Stevenson decided to leave his very popular role as the extremely laid back not so regular army Henry Blake, the show did something rare for this show and actually killed off the character who was actually being shipped home. Not wanting the MASH unit to be rudderless for too long, TPTB went to veteran Harry Morgan, who had done a guest appearance on the show previously as a hard-nosed general, to begin playing Blake's replacement, Colonel Sherman Potter, who was a little more regular army than Blake but he did have a sense of humor and cut Hawkeye (Alan Alda) a little slack because he was a such a great surgeon. He also found Frank Burns (Larry Linville) as annoying as Hawkeye did and corresponded regularly with his beloved wife back home, Mildred.

[Gideon58]

12.

Hermione Baddeley as Mrs. Naugatuck

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Replaces Esther Rolle as Florida Evans on Maude

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CBS was spinoff-happy in the 70's and once Florida Evans was spun off into her own show (Good Times), Maude (Beatrice Arthur) was given a new maid in the form of a saucy cockney named Mrs. Naugatuck, who gave Maude nothing but headaches and didn't give a hoot about Maude's liberal views. Mrs. Naugatuck even had a boyfriend (J. Pat O'Malley) who occasionally spent the night, much to Maude's thinly disguised shock.

[Citizen Rules]

This is an interesting thread idea, very original. I forgot about all these recast, so it's great to see them here...( yes, I'm reading along:))

[Gideon58]

This is an interesting thread idea, very original. I forgot about all these recast, so it's great to see them here...( yes, I'm reading along:))
Nice to see you Citizen...glad you're still around.

[Citizen Rules]

Yup I'm here, I'm waiting for more entries:) I bet Bewitched will make another appearance.

[Gideon58]

11.

Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe

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Replaces George Dzundza as Sergeant Max Greevey on Law & Order

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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.

[Gideon58]

10.

Cheryl Ladd as Kris Monroe

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Replaces Farrah Fawcett as Jill Monroe on Charlie's Angels

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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.

[Gideon58]

Yup I'm here, I'm waiting for more entries:) I bet Bewitched will make another appearance.
You know me too well Citizen...there will be another entry from Bewitched.

[honeykid]

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.

[Gideon58]

9.

Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio

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Replaces Pat Morita as Arnold on Happy Days

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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.

[Gideon58]

8.

Roy Roberts

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Replaces Robert F. Simon as Frank Stephens on Bewitched

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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.

[Gideon58]

7.

George Lindsey as Goober Pyle

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Replaces Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show

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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.

[Gideon58]

6.

Benjamin Bratt as Detective Ray Curtis

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Replaces Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan on Law & Order

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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.

[Gideon58]

5.

Kirstie Alley as Rebecca Howe

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Replaces Shelley Long as Diane Chambers on Cheers

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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.

[Gideon58]

4.

Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy

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Replaces Michael Moriarty as Benjamin Stone on Law & Order

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

[Gideon58]

3.

Elizabeth Rohm as Serena Southerlyn

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Replaces Angie Harmon as Abby Carmichael on Law & Order

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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.

[Gideon58]

2.

Mike Farrell as BJ Honeycutt

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Replaces Wayne Rogers as Trapper John McIntyre on MASH

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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...

[Gideon58]

1.

Dick Sargent

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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.

[Citizen Rules]

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!

[Citizen Rules]

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

[Gideon58]

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.

[Citizen Rules]

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.

[gbgoodies]

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"

[Gideon58]

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.
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.

[Gideon58]

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"
[/QUOTE]
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.

[SeeingisBelieving]

TPTB at Cheers were thrown when Nicholas Colosanto, the actor who played the former coach of Sam Malone (Ted Danson) and bartender at Sam's bar, suddenly passed away. Instead of casting another actor in the role of Coach, they decided to bring fresh meat to the bar in the form of young hunky Woody Harrelson as country hayseed Woody Boyd on his first job off his family's farm. I also loved the way the writing team respected the sanctity of the character of Coach by having the character pass away as well, addressing it onscreen and having Coach mentioned during special occasions at the bar.

Do you know I could have sworn that Woody was in the series while Coach was still there. Isn't that weird, and it isn't that long since I've seen the show:p.