"That's Al On The Left....."

The sixties folk/pop group, The Seekers, had a big hit with “I’ll Never Find Another You.”

Obviously, The Seekers didn’t write for television.

Because throughout the history of TV, when circumstances have created a need, producers and writers of hit shows have no problem with “replacing” a key character.

With another actor or actress playing the same character.

Here’s a few classic examples of the old switcheroo from my friends at Mental Floss.com…


Barbara Bel Geddes originated the role of Southfork matriarch Miss Ellie on Dallas. She exuded a quiet strength that enabled her to stand up to J.R. while also nurturing Jock and letting him think that he ran the ranch. In 1984, Bel Geddes took a break from the show for heart bypass surgery, and during her post-operative recovery she decided that she’d worked long enough and it was time to retire. Donna Reed was brought in as the new Miss Ellie, but Dallas fans openly expressed their displeasure with Reed’s glamour versus Bel Geddes’ earth mother persona. More to the point, Larry Hagman disliked her. So when the show’s ratings dipped, he made a personal appeal to Bel Geddes to return to the series. Reed was dismissed despite having signed a three-year contract.

The role of eldest daughter Becky on Roseanne was something of a revolving door. Alicia “Lecy” Goranson played Becky from 1988 until 1992, when she graduated from high school and enrolled at Vassar College. At first, she was able to make occasional cameo appearances on the show, so the writers developed the Becky-elopes-with-Mark storyline to explain her absence. But soon her studies took priority, and Sarah Chalke was hired as Becky #2. By 1997, Goranson was again able to schedule some Roseanne time, temporarily bumping Chalke out of the role. Personal circumstances forced her to miss a few episodes, leaving Chalke to pinch-hit for her occasionally


Another famous example is Dick York, the original (and to many fans, the definitive) Darrin on Bewitched. York started his professional acting career in 1943 and found steady work both on TV and in films. While filming They Came to Cordoba with Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth in 1959,a mishap aboard a railroad handcar caused York to tear most of the muscles in the right side of his back, an injury that would plague him the rest of his life.During his tenure on Bewitched, the pain became increasingly worse, despite the studio doctors loading him up with painkillers. Eventually, he was only able to stand upright for 30 minutes at a time, so he retired his role to Dick Sargent.

Rosie O’Donnell tells the story of watching Bewitched as a young kid and when they switched Darrins, without explanation, she walked up to her dad, put her hand in his and said, “Daddy?”

To which her dad replied, “Yes, honey, what is it?”

“Nothing. Just checking.”

I think it says something about the connection that we make to the characters we see on our screens each week, sometimes for years, that a change in the actor playing that character can be so jarring.

On the stage, characters can be played over a period of time by a diverse variety of actors without raising so much as an eyebrow.

But, those folks don’t come into our living rooms do they?

TV characters practically become members of the family.

By the way, television isn’t the only place where the old switcheroo gets pulled.

Turns out, it happens in politics from time to time, too.

The last time was 2000.

When Al Gore was replaced by George W. Bush at the last minute.

Come November, John McCain will have a much tougher time pulling the old switcheroo.

Oh, I’m sure he’s a talented fellow.

But it’ll take more than greasepaint and/or chads to play a black or a woman.