Nine TV shows that went on without a key performer

[hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com]

Can there be Roseanne without Roseanne? A look at other TV shows
that went on after a key actor left:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-shows-that-lost-their-star-20180607-story.html

[Horace LaBadie]

In article <3974221b-abd1-48ce...@googlegroups.com>,

Wagon Train, after Ward Bond's death.
Alias Smith and Jones, after Pete Duel's death.
Cover Up, after Jon Erik Hexum's death.

[Ian J. Ball]

I can't speak to the first two, but the last one is a bad example -
"Cover Up" never recovered, and was never the same, after Hexum's death.

Ditto "8 Simple Rules" - it may have gone on for years after John
Ritter's death, but it was never ever 1/4 as good as it was when he was
leading the show.


--
"Three light sabers? Is that overkill? Or just the right amount
of "kill"?" - M-OC, "A Perilous Rescue" (ep. #2.9), LSW:TFA (08-10-2017)

[anim8rfsk]

In article <pfet3n$ri$1...@dont-email.me>,

Ian J. Ball <IJB...@mac.invalid> wrote:

> On 2018-06-08 21:31:31 +0000, Horace LaBadie said:
>
> > In article <3974221b-abd1-48ce...@googlegroups.com>,
> > hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> >
> >> Can there be Roseanne without Roseanne? A look at other TV shows
> >> that went on after a key actor left:
> >>
> >> http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-shows-that-los
> >> t-their-star-20180607-story.html
> >>
> >
> > Wagon Train, after Ward Bond's death.
> > Alias Smith and Jones, after Pete Duel's death.
> > Cover Up, after Jon Erik Hexum's death.
>
> I can't speak to the first two

Wagon Train brought back a guest star as the new wagonmaster and went to
90 minute color adventures, while Robert Horton moved to A MAN CALLED
SHENANDOAH and increasing obscurity. The later Wagon Trains are as
different as the hour color Gunsmokes are from the half hour B&W
Gunsmokes. It survived just fine.

--
Join your old RAT friends at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1688985234647266/

[Rhino]

But which of those shows did WELL after the star's death, as opposed to
just barely hanging on for maybe one more season before getting cancelled?

--
Rhino

[David Johnston]

According to Wikipedia Alias Smith And Jones never recovered from the recast. Cover Up never did all that well. Wagon Train did fine.

Then of course there's Doctor Who.

[Horace LaBadie]

In article <anim8rfsk-80BD0...@news.easynews.com>,

John McIntyre took over as wagon master Christopher Hale. He had been
the Lt. on the original half-hour Naked City, before that was cancelled
and brought back as an hour series. McIntyre was credited in 152
episodes of Wagon Train.

[Your Name]

The actor (Mark McManus) who played the title role in the UK crime
drama "Taggart" died, but the show still continued under the same name
for quite a few more years. They didn't replace th actor (they of
course had the character die as well), but simply carried on with the
other characters and added new ones over the following years. McManus
died in 1994, but the "Taggart" show carried on until 2010.

The British crime drama "Inspector Morse" finished about two years
before the actor playing the title (John Thaw) role died, but they
basically continued the show by doing a spin-off with his sidekick
"Lewis". When that show in turn was coming to an end, they did have a
set-up for continuing again with another spin-off about Lewis' sidekick
Hathaway, but didn't make it and instead went with the "Endeavour"
prequel one-off about a young detective Morse, which then went on to be
a series which is still going.

[Michael OConnor]

> According to Wikipedia Alias Smith And Jones never recovered from the recast. Cover Up never did all that well. Wagon Train did fine.

Cover-Up debuted on 9/22/84 and Jon-Erik Hexum died on 10/18/84, less than a month after the debut, so only four episodes at most were aired before his death. The show didn't stand a chance.

[RichA]

Most of those shows didn't lose the main character. They lost "A" character.

[jdunlop]

Petticoat Junction lost its star, Bea Benaderet, after about five seasons. They brought June Lockhart in for the last couple of seasons, before the rural shows were all cut by CBS in 1970.

[A Friend]

In article <87b3408e-2a72-424f...@googlegroups.com>,

Ann Sheridan died during the 1966-67 run of her Western comedy series
PISTOLS 'N' PETTICOATS. She was in only 21 of the 27 episodes. CBS
cancelled the series about a month and a half after Sheridan's death,
although the cancellation was almost certainly because of poor ratings.
(The show premiered in 30th place but had fallen to 70th — out of 113 —
by the end of its run. It was on opposite GET SMART on NBC and THE
LAWRENCE WELK SHOW on ABC, so PISTOLS really didn't have a chance. You
might say it was outgunned.)

[David Johnston]

The Avengers is kind of an interesting case because the original protagonist wasn't Steed but this medical examiner guy who kept finding weird murders and Steed character was just the mysterious man from the government. But they retooled it at the end of the first season and made Steed the main character because he was far more interesting.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <87b3408e-2a72-424f...@googlegroups.com>,
jdunlop <jdu...@aol.com> wrote:

The *only* two actors to make it all the way through were Edgar Buchanan
as Uncle Joe and Linda Henning as Betty Joe (who happened to be the
producer's daughter). Everybody else there at the end was a recurring
guest or a replacement actor or a character that joined later.

[Adam H. Kerman]

You left out a significant part of the story:

There was a work stoppage shutting down production of the first
series. Ian Hendry got cast in movies in the meantime and was no longer
available. There was no choice but to retool. I suspect it was involuntary
as Hendry was well liked.

Also... I thought he was a medical doctor with a private practice, not a
medical examiner. He'd played a police surgeon in a short lived earlier
series, but I didn't think he had a similar police role in The Avengers.

I know a couple of episodes weren't destroyed but I've never seen them.
I have seen the Doctor King episodes from the second series. King is
obviously the Dr. Keel character and these were unproduced scripts from
the first series.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <pfh5u1$94e$1...@dont-email.me>,

I've seen the surviving eps. They're so ragged that 'not destroyed' is
argumentative.

[Horace LaBadie]

In article <3974221b-abd1-48ce...@googlegroups.com>,
hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

Cagney & Lacey !

Chris was played by Loretta Swit in the Pilot (prior commitment to
M*A*S*H,) Meg Foster (deemed "too pretty" and fired after seven
episodes), and finally Sharon Gless.

[danny burstein]

Star Trek: Voyager survived (for some loose value thereof)
after Genevieve Bujold left the series


--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

[RichA]

It was a stupid show. Half of them didn't even attempt a rural accent.

[anim8rfsk]

In article <pfhndn$6k9$1...@reader1.panix.com>,

danny burstein <dan...@panix.com> wrote:

> In <hlabadie-17560B...@aioe.org> Horace LaBadie
> <hlab...@nospam.com> writes:
>
> >In article <3974221b-abd1-48ce...@googlegroups.com>,
> > hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>
> >> Can there be Roseanne without Roseanne? A look at other TV shows
> >> that went on after a key actor left:
> >>
> >> http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-shows-that-los
> >> t-t
> >> heir-star-20180607-story.html
>
> >Cagney & Lacey !
>
> >Chris was played by Loretta Swit in the Pilot (prior commitment to
> >M*A*S*H,) Meg Foster (deemed "too pretty" and fired after seven
> >episodes), and finally Sharon Gless.
>
> Star Trek: Voyager survived (for some loose value thereof)
> after Genevieve Bujold left the series

snort

[Your Name]

On 2018-06-09 23:21:27 +0000, danny burstein said:
> In <hlabadie-17560B...@aioe.org> Horace LaBadie
> <hlab...@nospam.com> writes:
>> In article <3974221b-abd1-48ce...@googlegroups.com>,
>> hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>>
>>> Can there be Roseanne without Roseanne? A look at other TV shows
>>> that went on after a key actor left:
>>>
>>> http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-shows-that-lost-t
>>> heir-star-20180607-story.html
>>
>> Cagney & Lacey !
>>
>> Chris was played by Loretta Swit in the Pilot (prior commitment to
>> M*A*S*H,) Meg Foster (deemed "too pretty" and fired after seven
>> episodes), and finally Sharon Gless.
>
> Star Trek: Voyager survived (for some loose value thereof)
> after Genevieve Bujold left the series

Doesn't really count since Bujold wasn't really in the series. She quit
and was replaced after only a day and a half of shooting, so none of
her filming was ever in the broadcast episodes.

[A Friend]

In article <hlabadie-17560B...@aioe.org>, Horace LaBadie

Foster was run-of-the-mill recasting, a la Jimmy Olsen on LOIS & CLARK.
Foster was replaced not because she was too pretty, but because CBS
thought the series had a lesbian tone with her as Cagney. That kind of
thing didn't fly in 1981-82.

[Your Name]

On 2018-06-09 23:26:48 +0000, RichA said:
> On Saturday, 9 June 2018 11:57:03 UTC-4, anim8rfsk wrote:
>> In article <87b3408e-2a72-424f...@googlegroups.com>,
>> jdunlop <jdu...@aol.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Petticoat Junction lost its star, Bea Benaderet, after about five seasons.
>>> They brought June Lockhart in for the last couple of seasons, before the
>>> rural shows were all cut by CBS in 1970.
>>
>> The *only* two actors to make it all the way through were Edgar Buchanan
>> as Uncle Joe and Linda Henning as Betty Joe (who happened to be the
>> producer's daughter). Everybody else there at the end was a recurring
>> guest or a replacement actor or a character that joined later.
>

> It was a stupid show. Half of them didn't even attempt a rural accent.

It was a sitcom ... it wasn't meant to be realistic. Similar reason to
the rural accents in The Bevelerly Hillbillies being way-over-the-top.

[Your Name]

CBS may have, but others weren't. "The Waltons" didn't even start until
1971 and went for 10 years. :-)

[Adam H. Kerman]

A Friend wrote:

>Horace LaBadie <hlab...@nospam.com> wrote:
>>hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

>>>Can there be Roseanne without Roseanne? A look at other TV shows
>>>that went on after a key actor left:

>>>http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-shows-that-lost-their-star-20180607-story.html

>>Cagney & Lacey !

>>Chris was played by Loretta Swit in the Pilot (prior commitment to
>>M*A*S*H,) Meg Foster (deemed "too pretty" and fired after seven
>>episodes), and finally Sharon Gless.

>Foster was run-of-the-mill recasting, a la Jimmy Olsen on LOIS & CLARK.
>Foster was replaced not because she was too pretty, but because CBS
>thought the series had a lesbian tone with her as Cagney. That kind of
>thing didn't fly in 1981-82.

Like "Felix and Oscar are gay", the rumors were started by the network
executives themselves. No viewer saw anything of the kind.

Foster had a chin that Ian would love.

[Dimensional Traveler]

Ya, doesn't count because Bujold never appeared in any aired episodes.
(Never even finished filming the first episode.)

--
Inquiring minds want to know while minds with a self-preservation
instinct are running screaming.

[Your Name]

Never even finished the second day of filming. :-)

[anim8rfsk]

In article <pfi45q$gbd$1...@dont-email.me>,

Funny line though.

[Ian J. Ball]

Yes - IIRC, Foster was very attractive, more attractive than Gless
(whom I like...).

--
"Three light sabers? Is that overkill? Or just the right amount
of "kill"?" - M-OC, "A Perilous Rescue" (ep. #2.9), LSW:TFA (08-10-2017)

[Adam H. Kerman]

Ian J. Ball <IJB...@mac.invalid> wrote:

>On 2018-06-10 02:48:29 +0000, Adam H. Kerman said:
>
>> A Friend wrote:
>>> Horace LaBadie <hlab...@nospam.com> wrote:
>>>> hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>
>>>>> Can there be Roseanne without Roseanne? A look at other TV shows
>>>>> that went on after a key actor left:
>>
>>>>>
>http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-shows-that-lost-their-star-20180607-story.html
>>>>>
>>
>>>> Cagney & Lacey !
>>
>>>> Chris was played by Loretta Swit in the Pilot (prior commitment to
>>>> M*A*S*H,) Meg Foster (deemed "too pretty" and fired after seven
>>>> episodes), and finally Sharon Gless.
>>
>>> Foster was run-of-the-mill recasting, a la Jimmy Olsen on LOIS & CLARK.
>>> Foster was replaced not because she was too pretty, but because CBS
>>> thought the series had a lesbian tone with her as Cagney. That kind of
>>> thing didn't fly in 1981-82.
>>
>> Like "Felix and Oscar are gay", the rumors were started by the network
>> executives themselves. No viewer saw anything of the kind.
>>
>> Foster had a chin that Ian would love.
>
>Yes - IIRC, Foster was very attractive, more attractive than Gless
>(whom I like...).

I told you!

[anim8rfsk]

In article <pfjjpb$np6$4...@dont-email.me>,

"Adam H. Kerman" <a...@chinet.com> wrote:

As much as I love Joanna Pettit, Meg really should have been "The Girl
With the Hungry Eyes"