Five TV Shows That Ended with a Different Cast Than it Started

It’s not unusual for an actor to leave a series at some point, forcing the show to replace the character they played. Hopefully people like the new character as much as the old (Kirstie Alley for Shelley Long on Cheers for instance, or Sandy Duncan for Valerie Harper on The Hogan Family, Ashton Kushter for Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, and Lisa Bonet leaving A Different World actually helped that show). Of course replacing the main cast usually doesn’t work, take The Dukes of Hazard as a prime example (who here remembers Coy and Vance?) or Three’s Company (did anyone work after Suzanne Somers left?).



Likewise it isn’t unusual for a character to be added for one reason or another, and hopefully they fit in very nicely (Betty White on Mary Tyler Moore is a great example. And Seven of Nine anyone? And MASH was amazing, every new character added to the show rather than subtracted!). But some shows will have so much cast turnover that it results in a show with that doesn’t even seem like the same series anymore!


Whether it be by circumstance or actual decisions,  here are five TV shows that ended up with an almost entirely different cast than they started:




Beverly Hills, 90210

The funny thing about this is that the cast changes were so dramatic it actually changed the premise of the show. At first, 90210 was about The Walsh family moving to Beverly Hills from Minneapolis. But then Shannon Doherty left, which honestly didn’t hurt the show much I thought Tiffani-Amber Thiessen was great. Then the parents left, making guest appearances later on. When Jason Priestly finally left we had a whole new show! Producers were so worried about losing viewers they actually got Luke Perry back on a semi-regular basis. The funniest part? The Walsh House was still very much an active location in the show. Sure.








ER

I loved ER but man did this show have a revolving door with its characters. Seriously the entire original cast was replaced by the end! Dr.Carter did come back for cameos and the final season, but still. The show managed to survive replacing some of it big names like George Clooney and Anthony Edwards, but by the time Noah Wyle left I had lost interest. And I imagine a lot of people did. Especially when John Stamo joined the cast!





Sabrina, The Teenage Witch

This one just hurt. I was a fan of this show, but when Sabrina went to college it was less and less interesting. Then the final season got rid of everything that made the show good. Well, except Salem. Rather than Aunt Hilda and Zelda friends Roxie and Morgan are living in the house. The whole premise of the show has changed (it should have been called Sabrina, Young Adult) to Sabrina working at a newspaper or something. i don’t know, I gave up. I did see the final episode which I really liked.





Scrubs

I hate talking about Season 9, but there was no way I could leave this one off. The brilliant decision to move the focus of the show to a school with a whole new group of characters was just inspired. Oh wait, some of the original cast members were still around! Sort of. Sucked, cancelled. By the way I decided Saved By The Bell:The New Class was more of a spin-off so it didn’t count. Though I should mention that The New Class seemed to have a “new class” every year!!






Happy Days

Is there a better example than this? The show started as a look at the 50’s through the eyes of Richie and his pal Potsie. Ok sure Fonzie became the popular character but it was still focused on Cunningham. Then changes happened. It was one thing when both Ron Howard and Don Most left the series, but when Joannie and Chachi took off for their spin-off series the only people left were Fonzie, Howard, and Marion! Oh and Potsie, who seemed to never appear. I have said that the fact the show lasted so long baffles me, and this is why. Anyone else remember Crystal Bernard on this show? Or Linda Purl??? The most telling thing is that reunions since always tend to gloss over these second string characters no one remembers. Seriously watch the Season 10 into, if it weren’t for that famous theme song you’d think you were watching some awful Fonzie spin-off. It got a little better in Season 11 when Joanie and Chachi were back but the show ended a few years past its prime. Seriously.





There are plenty of other examples of massive cast turnover, for good (Law & Order, does anyone remember the original cast of that show?) and for bad (X-Files anyone?). Comment and let me know which I missed and maybe I’ll be back with another five examples.