I posted this on Facebook too...it is rumored that Steve Carell is leaving "The Office" but that they are going to continue the show without him. Which started me thinking about shows over the years that lost their main character or star and tried to continue...here are the ones that come to mind (and some posted by other people to my Facebook post on the same topic):
- "Sliders" - after 2 1/2 seasons, "The Professor" John Rhys-Davies left and the writers all got replaced. That was bad enough, but after Season 4 "Quinn" Jerry O'Connell left too, and the show just got ridiculous.
- "The Dukes of Hazzard" - the season where "Bo and Luke" were replaced with similar-looking but much worse cousins "Vance and Coy". The producers thought the car and Daisy were what everyone watched the show for, and didn't want to bow in to the bigger contract demands of the Bo and Luke actors. They were wrong...and the show never really recovered.
- "Valerie" - a show named for Valerie Harper. After several seasons, she left, and in the show they killed her off and replaced her with the aunt played by Sandy Duncan. This actually wasn't the worst replacement ever, and Jason Bateman expanded his role and became the star I think. Still wasn't nearly as good as the beginning.
- "X-Files" trying to replace Mulder and Scully. Couldn't be done.
- "Saved By The Bell" trying to go with similar-but-worse (if that is possible) next generation actors. And then attempting to revive the original actors by doing "The College Years". And yet people continued to watch...
- "That 70s Show" without "Eric" Topher Grace. I think everyone thought there was enough other talent to keep going, and really the other actors were all very funny and good, but for some reason, the Eric character kind of held it all together. Never recovered.
No comments:
Post a Comment