Best replacement actor on a film franchise or long-running tv series

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Although it was before the film was finished, Michael J. Fox as Marty Mcfly replacing Eric Stolz. A lot of Stolz's footage exists but he comes off as bland whereas Michael J. Fox really sells the character's initial disbelief.

Absolutely!!!!

Why I Love Back to the Future

[Riv86672]

Okay, we’re doing this two different ways, so I’m doing one of each.

Actor replaces actor as the same character:
On Everybody Loves Raymond, Paul Reubens played Amy’s (Robert’s GF/wife) brother Russel, the comic shop owner.
Next time we see the character he’s played by Chris Elliott, and his name’s been changed to Peter. He still remembers Raymond coming to his comic shop though, so it’s the same character.

New character replaces departing character:
On Charmed, Prue Halliwell’s killed off and replaced by the younger, hotter Paige Matthews.
She changed the dynamic of the group making Piper the eldest sister and Phoebe the middle sister, which was commented on a few times. And did I mention Paige was hotter.

[Riv86672]

BJ Hunnicutt for Trapper John on M*A*S*H*.

I would have said Col Potter for Col Blake myself.

One thing I liked about M*A*S*H* even as a kid, is they didn’t replace their characters w. clones of the departing character. They always changed things up.
Trapper was a horndog, cheating on his wife while overseas, while BJ was a dedicated family man.

Burns was an idiot and minimal surgeon, while Charles was a better surgeon than anyone at the camp, and easily able to keep up in terms of pranks and schemes.

Col. Blake was a nice guy but easily manipulated, letting the others run the show. Col. Potter was NOT having that ****, though he did mellow out once he established his Command.

Even Klinger, who was already on the show, was shown to be no Radar. He had trouble taking over the Company clerk job, but once he got it down, he did it in his own style.

[Scott Taylor]

Generally MASH followed the movie at first, but once it took off as a show they got rid of the irreverent tone for the most part and focused on real issues. The early stuff was mostly cornball with a few serious moment, the later stuff the opposite. So casting followed that mold.

Hawkeye stayed the same actor through the entire series but his character changed during the second phase. He became way less of a womanizer. Hotlips changed as well, from first to second phase, though she was more consistent. Radar and Father Mulcahey seemed to be pretty much the same throughout the show's history.

[j9ac9k]

Also, Maj "Hot lips" Houlihan went from a sexist joke who fawned over Burns (for no apparent reason) and was allowed to stand on her own, given the respect due a Major who was head nurse and become a complex character.

[edit] Oh, you did mention Hotlips .... still, she saw real growth.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Going back to daytime soaps for a second, I would add the character of Dinah Marler on Guiding Light.

She was originated by Jennifer Gatti (who starred in Bon Jovi's "Runaway" video), then was replaced by Paige Turco (April in 2 Ninja Turtles movies).

However, when the character was brought back in the mid-1990s after a few years off the show, she was played by Wendy Moniz, and her dynamic performance finally made the character worth noticing. Moniz eventually married her GL costar Frank Grillo (Crossbones in the MCU movies).

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Why I Love Back to the Future

Bob Gale Interview: Back to the Future 35th Anniversary
https://screenrant.com/back-future-bob-gale-interview/

[DrNewGod]

One thing I liked about M*A*S*H* even as a kid, is they didn’t replace their characters w. clones of the departing character. They always changed things up.
Trapper was a horndog, cheating on his wife while overseas, while BJ was a dedicated family man.

Burns was an idiot and minimal surgeon, while Charles was a better surgeon than anyone at the camp, and easily able to keep up in terms of pranks and schemes.

Col. Blake was a nice guy but easily manipulated, letting the others run the show. Col. Potter was NOT having that ****, though he did mellow out once he established his Command.

Even Klinger, who was already on the show, was shown to be no Radar. He had trouble taking over the Company clerk job, but once he got it down, he did it in his own style.

I find it hard to pick a "best" among the MASH replacements, because they were all so good. The show-runners really knew what they were doing.

...Hawkeye stayed the same actor through the entire series but his character changed during the second phase. He became way less of a womanizer. Hotlips changed as well, from first to second phase, though she was more consistent. Radar and Father Mulcahey seemed to be pretty much the same throughout the show's history.

I couldn't see it as a kid, but rewatching MASH as an adult, I have to wonder if Alda (a Korean War vet) was steering Hawkeye down a road of PTSD that culminated in the final episode. In my head canon, Hawkeye returned to Crabapple Cove as a general practitioner, and never touched a scalpel again.

[AndrewCrossett]

In the later seasons Alan Alda pretty much had creative control of his character.

Becoming a GP seems to be what he wanted to do according to the finale. I don't think his activities after the war were ever mentioned in AfterMASH.

I definitely think Hawkeye would have been out marching with the kids during the Vietnam War. (Which would have driven the conservative writer who created the character crazy.)

[caj]

Going back to daytime soaps for a second, I would add the character of Dinah Marler on Guiding Light.

She was originated by Jennifer Gatti (who starred in Bon Jovi's "Runaway" video), then was replaced by Paige Turco (April in 2 Ninja Turtles movies).

However, when the character was brought back in the mid-1990s after a few years off the show, she was played by Wendy Moniz, and her dynamic performance finally made the character worth noticing. Moniz eventually married her GL costar Frank Grillo (Crossbones in the MCU movies).

I LOVED Wendy Moniz as Dinah. She was incredible - even after they ruined the character for the sake of propping up Reva's sister Cassie (who I hated).

Unfortunately Moniz and Grillo recently divorced after many years of marriage. It was sad because in my (crazy) mind, Dinah and Hart did actually end up together. LOL

[Castle]

Don Cheadle for Terrence Howard as War Machine.

Howard might actually be the better actor -- he's had great acclaim for many of his roles from Hustle & Flow to TV's Empire, but I think Cheadle is better for War Machine because Cheadle is a better supporting actor/second banana, where Howard is meant for lead roles. So, yeah, it's kind of a strange compliment for Cheadle, I know.

Howard just announced his retirement from acting, so we'll never know if he could have led a superhero movie himself.

This OP question is hard because it would be far easier to list the recasts that were NOT as good as the original.
- Donna Reed on Dallas
- Jack Coleman, Emma Samms, Karen Cellini on Dynasty (although the first two were good, just not as good)
- Dick Sargent on Bewitched
- George Clooney as Batman -- in my opinion the worst of the original 3
- any of the Brady Bunch daughter replacements
- Lee Meriwether as Catwoman (I like Eartha Kitt as Catwoman because she's so different that you really can't compare her to Newmar)
- John Astin as Riddler

etc. etc.

Howard was too much of an alpha male. He was bound to clash with Robert Downey Jnr. Another Alpha male.

[Jim Kelly]

- Lee Meriwether as Catwoman (I like Eartha Kitt as Catwoman because she's so different that you really can't compare her to Newmar)

I prefer Julie Newmar, but Meriwether could have been the first Catwoman opposite Adam West if the timing had been different. Originally, BATMAN was supposed to appear on T.V. in the fall of 1966--for the 1966-1967 season. Julie Schwartz announced that in the Batman letter column. It was only chosen at the last minute as a mid-season replacement for January of 1966. William Dozier was making the movie (which came out in the summer of 1966) with the idea it would create interest in the upcoming series. If that had happened, it would have seemed like Meriwether was the original Catwoman and Newmar was the replacement.

Meriwether later played Ruth Martin on ALL MY CHILDREN--taking over the part that Mary Frickett had originated and played for decades.

Personally, the first season of M*A*S*H was my favourite. I like those actors best--I thought that season had a sharper edge to it. The characters that were introduced afterward were relatively softball and the series didn't have the same acid wit. It got progressively softer and softer until I lost interest and didn't watch the last several seasons.

[caj]

Personally, the first season of M*A*S*H was my favourite. I like those actors best--I thought that season had a sharper edge to it. The characters that were introduced afterward were relatively softball and the series didn't have the same acid wit. It got progressively softer and softer until I lost interest and didn't watch the last several seasons.

Agree completely.

I thought I was going to like Colonel Potter, but it wasn't long until he was Hawkeye's lapdog.

[Riv86672]

I find it hard to pick a "best" among the MASH replacements, because they were all so good. The show-runners really knew what they were doing.

I couldn't see it as a kid, but rewatching MASH as an adult, I have to wonder if Alda (a Korean War vet) was steering Hawkeye down a road of PTSD that culminated in the final episode. In my head canon, Hawkeye returned to Crabapple Cove as a general practitioner, and never touched a scalpel again.

Thanks, and, that’s a great observation re:Alda and the eventual fate of Hawkeye. Now I’m dying to see an M.A.S.H. story of him in his later days.

[Osiris-Rex]

Actor replacing another for the same character. Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show was played by Walter Baldwin in one episode and was subsequently played by Howard McNear for the rest of the series.

Actor replacing a departing character in the same show. After Howard McNear had a stroke and later died, Floyd the Barber was replaced with Emmett Clark, the fix-it man, played by Paul Hartman.

(As I recall even the barber shop outer facade was converted into a repair shop)