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There are sometimes casting changes on television shows; either a character is replaced by another actor with a new character, or a new actor takes over an existing role when the original actor is dropped (the latter method is categorized as "Same Character, Different Actor").

Some cast changes have been significant enough to cause the show to "Jump the Shark" by detrimentally affecting the quality of the show; similar, though not entirely parallel, is the Cousin Oliver concept.

Examples of shows to have very significant casting changes

Show casting changes listed here must have a discontinuation the same character after the actor has left. In fictional shows, the script typically allows others characters to be aware of the absence of the character—usually as a death, which has lead to the phrase "killing off a character".

Sitcoms

Soap operas

On daytime soap operas, cast departures and recasts are extremely frequent, and examples are far too numerous to cite individual examples here. On primetime soaps, however, cast changes are less frequent.

News or talk shows

Unclassified

Examples of shows with "Same Character, Different Actor"

In the television world, the act of same character, different actor indicates that an actor is playing a role that was previously played by another actor.

Television series often have many reasons for replacing a character's actor such as: the original actor has died, the original actor was fired/did not settle dispute, the original actor quit, the original actor could not be contacted to fill the role again.

Same character, different actor can refer to main characters of the series or occasional guest characters.

One instance of same character, different actor occurred in the United States sitcom The Munsters. For the first few episodes, Beverley Owen played the cousin Marilyn Munster, however, not even making a full season, Owen left the series after getting married. Pat Priest was hired to fill the role. The only thing different about the character was the actor and the show continues as though nothing has changed.

Daytime soap operas are known widely in the US for frequently "recasting" major characters. Although this has been done since the days of radio, one of the most memorable cases was in 1959 on the soap Love of Life. Actress Bonnie Bartlett (who, in turn, took over from Peggy McCay in 1955) played the character Vanessa Dale all the way up until her wedding to Bruce Sterling. She marched down the aisle at the end of a Friday episode and the next Monday, Bruce lifted her veil and the audience saw Audrey Peters as Vanessa for the first time.

As the World Turns holds the record for having the most actors play a single role. Tom Hughes was born onscreen in 1963 and has since been played by 13 different actors: James Madden, Jerry Schaffer, Frankie Michaels, Richard Thomas, Paul O'Keefe, Peter Link, Peter Galman, C. David Colson, Tom Tammi, Justin Deas, Jason Kincaid, Gregg Marx, and, currently, Scott Holmes, who's been in the role since 1987.

Show casting changes listed here must have a continuation of the same character, but other characters are generally not aware of the actor change. In some cases, other characters may acknowledge the change in the character's physical appearance, either in a jokingly manner or use it as a plot device.

Soap operas

  • Coronation Street, a lot of the child characters have been played by more than one actor, including Tracy Barlow (4 actresses), Peter Barlow (4 actors), Rosie Webster (3 actresses), Nick Tilsley (2 actors).
  • Dallas, when Donna Reed replaced Barbara Bel Geddes for one year as Miss Ellie (Bel Geddes later returned to the role).
  • Dark Shadows, had several instances:
    • Mitchell Ryan portrayed Burke Devlin from the first episode in 1966, he was fired in 1967 for not showing up for an episode due to acholism, he was replaced by Anthony George.
    • Mark Allen portrayed Maggie Evans' father Sam Evans, he was replaced by David Ford two months later until the character was killed off two years later.
    • George Mitchell portrayed Matthew Morgan, the person who killed Bill Malloy in 1966, he was replaced by Thayer David two years later.
    • James Hall portrayed Willie Loomis in a few episodes in 1967, then he left and was replaced by John Karlen who stayed on the show playing different characters til the very end of the series.
    • Richard Woods portrayed Dr. Dave Woodard in two episodes in 1967, he was taken over by Robert Gerringer, and then Gerringer left the show because he refused to cross the picket line, he was replaced by Peter Turgeon that same year until the character was killed off.
    • Dana Elcar who portrayed Sheriff George Patterson in 1966, he missed one episode in 1967 and was replaced by Vince O'Brien, then Elcar resumed the role for one last time, then he was taken over by Angus Carnes in 1967, then back to Vince O'Brien in 1968, then replaced by Alfred Sandor for one episode, and back to Vince O'Brien.
    • Nancy Barrett who portrayed Carolyn Stoddard on the show missed one episode of the show in 1968 because she was ill, she was temporary replaced by Diana Walker.
    • Alexandra Moltke who portrayed Victoria Winters from the beginning in 1966 until she left the show in 1968 due to her pregnancy, she was replaced by Besty Durkin, and then Carolyn Groves.
    • Craig Slocum who portrayed Harry Johnson in 1968 miss one episode and was replaced by Edward Marshall in 1969.
  • In Sons and Daughters Rowena Wallace decided to leave the show. Later her character Pat the Rat was played by actress Belinda Giblin in disguise as 'Alison Carr'. The story was that Pat the Rat had had extensive plastic surgery in South America and had returned in disguise to exact revenge. When Wallace decided that she wanted to return to Sons and Daughters, a long-lost twin sister for Pat was invented.

Sitcoms

Movies

Unclassified

External links

Television programming

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "List of television show casting changes".

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