There are a lot of instances where some actor's ego causes problems. Sometimes these problems lead to the actor quitting. Then fans who liked the actor stop watching the show, even though the show is still good. So what do you feel is better, cancel the show or recast the actor?
shareI say kill the character off one way or another and carry on.
If the show is solid you’ll be fine.
It's kind of difficult to continue it without someone who looks like the departed actor/actress.
shareIt depends on the show. Sometimes the lead can leave and they just change the concept of the show. But, I think the quality goes down most of time.
Andy Griffith Show was harmed when Barney left and made even worse when Andy left and was replaced by Ken Berry. Northern Exposure went downhill when Joel left. Big Bang needed Sheldon since show revolved around him although it may have still worked with the other zany characters. All in the Family went downhill without the Stivics and especially when Edith left.
On the other hand, Waltons didn't need John Boy but I missed his character's viewpoint, Happy Days didn't need Richie and Walking Dead survived without Rick although the series would've been better if he had stayed.
The New Rosanne Show was able to continue without Roseanne. Mash survived two main characters leaving without hurting quality. That's rare.
An aside. I was a small kid when Bewitched replaced Darren. I thought he looked different when the show returned in the Fall, but assumed he was the same actor when I saw the name Dick. Anyway, I like both equally, but many didn't like the replacement and thought the show went downhill.
Wasn’t the Ken Berry show technically a spinoff? I just remember it vaguely.
shareAndy Griffith quit and the network wanted to continue the show with Ken Berry as his replacement. Of course, they couldn't continue to call the show by its original name.
My parents didn't like Berry and found the show unfunny so they stopped watching it. I liked Berry so I continued with it. But nowadays I find the Berry show unwatchable while I continue to enjoy the reruns with Griffith.
The two Dicks were very different though. Dick York was the better Darren. And he always played the hapless foil. Dick Sargent played the character as a sarcastic gay.
shareA small child's perspective is different. I didn't know what gay was. And time goes slower so a summer hiatus feels longer than two months. I was still learning to read at the time so Sargeant was beyond my reading level. I saw the name Dick which reassured me it was the same person. After a few years, I did find out he was a different actor. Sam, her parents, aunts, cousin Serena, Uncle Arthur and Tabitha were my favorites. I barely focused on Dirwood.
shareOf course Uncle Arthur aka Paul Lynde was gay as well. My point is that a gay uncle fits. But Darren was a married heterosexual male and a flamboyant wisecracking queen like Dick Sargent was wrong for the role.
shareI didn't know Lynde was gay, just wisecracking and funny. He was one of my favorite actors as a kid. He didn't play a gay uncle since gay didn't really exist on 60s TV.
And I liked Sargeant who seemed like York's doppelganger since I couldn't tell them a part. Of course, I can now. He doesn't appear flamboyant to me.
Oh, Lynde is well known now as gay. But you obviously couldn't have a gay character on tv in the 60's. But the movie and tv industry is full of gays. So you had plenty of closeted gay characters like Uncle Arthur, Dr Smith on "Lost in Space", and Charles Nelson Reilly comes to mind. They all minced. Sargent wasn't effeminate, but he perfected that snarky gay sarcasm. York didn't have that.
shareI don't believe any of those characters were gay, but the actors' "gayness" bled through to the characters they portrayed.
Exception was actor Harris who said Dr. Smith was not gay and in real life he was straight. But Smith was a gay stereotype. If you watch the original pilot and early episodes, Smith is boring and serious. Only when Harris began his over-the-top performance did Smith become interesting and stole the show.
How about Barney Fife? Straight but played as a gay stereotype also.
Some of the most effeminate men I've ever known have been heterosexual.
There's a different quality to an effeminate gay man. It's generally called "camp". It's effected femininity for show. For example, I've always been a very boring masculine guy with no flamboyance at all. No one ever assumes I'm gay until I tell them. But when I started hanging out with gay guys in my 20's, there was an affectation to their behavior. And I picked that up myself. It's more for show.
Dr Smith was even in love with a female alien on one episode. So yeah, like all men on tv in the 60's, he was supposed to be straight. But Dr Smith was a camp a gay character nonetheless.
Nah, Barney Fife was a nerdish straight male. He never did the sarcasm and flamboyance one would expect from a stereotypical gay male.
I just googled gay and camp. Interesting. I didn't know there was a strong association and history with camp and gay men. I knew about the flamboyance, but I didn't know it was called camp.
More googling. June Lockhart acknowledged that Smith was TV's first "queen" in an interview.
Harris said his character was an evil villain so he knew he'd be off the series soon which is why he started sneaking in comedic bits. After a few weeks, Irwin told him to do more. Right choice since he turned the show into a memorable classic.
Those are some great examples. I had no idea about the Andy Griffith example. What about how Valerie Harper left her eponymously named show in the late 80’s over a salary dispute and it ended up successfully carrying on due to the comedy star power of a young Jason Bateman?
shareI never watched that show but I remember she left. Bateman also became more popular than star Ricky Schroeder in another series. Bateman was always very talented.
shareGood question.
Hhmmmm...
Well, one doesn't really watch regular TV. I do remember some blasts from the past that may apply to the OP.
"MASH", from the 70s and early 80s survived several supporting cast members leaving the show. I don't think though, it could have survived if it lost the top guy - ALan ALda. ALda stayed on for the duration of the program.
"Cheers" also comes to mind. I believe the character of "Diane" , played by Shelley Long - was critical to the show. SHe ended up leaving. Kirstie ALley came in and the show did fine. However, could it have survived if it lost the top guy - Ted Danson?
Probably not.
A fair and knowledgable post.
I would only add that when Alda got involved in the MASH scripts the show got very sanctimonious and became a bit of a bore.
Also, when Diane left Cheers I thought it stumbled a bit afterwards. No matter, I always loved Norm and Cliff but the show lost something.
Boy, once Alan Alda took over the scripts for M*A*S*H, They became very Anti-War every week with a speech to go with it. Interestingly enough, when Wayne Rogers(Trapper John) left M*A*S*H, it's because he didn't think it would've lasted as long as it did and he would've stayed on if so, but that also his character got swept under the rug alot in favor of Hawkeye
shareIt really depends on the show.
Die Hard without Bruce Willis would not be the same.
Terminator without Schwarzenegger can work out.
The Mandalorian would be the same no matter who is under the helmet.
Friends would not be the same with replaced actors.
Greys Anatomy can replace anyone with whoever else by just writing the storyline in a way that one has quit his job or got fired and someone else got hired.
It depends on the show, I guess.
Robert Patrick did a very good job during the last two seasons, although Fox Mulder (and Scully) was the soul of the X Files several years.
A lot of people may tend to show loyalty to the actor but Bewitched and A-Team both proved it can be done successfully.
share