Originally Posted by
Comic-Reader Lad
I know Ted McGinley has been named the poster child for a show jumping the shark, but I really did not like him on Happy Days.
It's not that I hated him. It's just that he simply was not a good replacement for the easy-going charm of Ron Howard. The end of the Richie-Fonzie relationship left a big hole in the show that it really never recovered from. I continued to watch after Howard's departure, but it was never the same. Giving more story time to Joanie and Chachi did work for me, however. Even though a lot of people like to make fun of them, I thought they were a good coupling on the show and had great chemistry together. However, the new post-Richie characters of Roger, his brother Flip, Jenny Piccolo, Ashley Pfister, and KC Cunningham never became ones I cared about.
While we're on Garry Marshall's shows, I would add Rhonda on Laverne & Shirley's California years.
And Remo, Jeanie, Nelson, Glenda Faye, and Jonathan Winters as Mearth on Mork & Mindy sucked the comedic air out of the room.
On Alice, Jolene couldn't hold a candle to either Flo or Belle (who did take me awhile to warm up to, but I did)
On the Facts of Life, late series additions Andy Moffat and Pipa added nothing. George Clooney was ok, but unnecessary.
On Charlie's Angels, didn't care for either of Kate Jackson's replacements, Tiffany or Julie.
Generally, when shows fell prey to the "lets add a kid to the series from out of nowhere" syndrome, it ended badly: Cousin Oliver on Brady Bunch, next door neighbor Ricky on Partridge Family, Seven on Married with Children, Stephanie on All in the Family/Archie Bunker's Place, Alex on One Day at a Time, etc. I'm still pretty ok with Janet Jackson on Good Times, however, probably because of her dramatic introduction to the series. I didn't mind Oliver and Ricky when I was a kid myself, but once I got past 12 or something, I started liking them less and less.