Shows that were not the same after a character left

[Hypestyle]

Happy Days after Ron Howard and Donny Most left.

[Dr. Skeleton]

Optimus Prime in the original (Generation 1) Transformers series. His successor, Rodimus Prime, was a capable leader but he was no Optimus...

Good one. It took me a while to get used to an Optimus free Trans series.

[titanfan]

Deep Space Nine after they killed off Jadzia Dax. Dax was far from my favorite character nor did the show really hinge on her. But the decision to bring in another Dax Host and spend key parts of the next season establishing that new character really altered the dynamic of the show and I'm not sure if it was in a completely good way. I actually liked Ezri overall, but I felt that the show put too much focus on this new character while trying to wrap up the story lines of what was one of the most expansive casts on TV at the time.

They killed off Dax and then spent more time on the new Dax than they ever spent on old Dax throughout the entire series. It was so weird, it sounds like they really had no confidence in the old actress that they never wrote for her.

But to me the series was already ending so I don't know if it changed it all that much. You can always throw out the new Dax episodes/storylines and they are the same.

[Grapeweasel]

Narcos without Pablo Escobar. I can't believe they killed him off. I hope somebody got fired for that idea.

[K7P5V]

Good one. It took me a while to get used to an Optimus free Trans series.

I know, right?! Didn't take long for Prime to be brought back, though (twice in the third season):

"Dark Awakening"







"The Return of Optimus Prime"
(Pt.1/Pt.2)

[Anthony W]

Earth: Final Conflict.

That show was never the same after the lead Kevin Kilner left after the first season.

[AnakinFlair]

Deep Space Nine after they killed off Jadzia Dax. Dax was far from my favorite character nor did the show really hinge on her. But the decision to bring in another Dax Host and spend key parts of the next season establishing that new character really altered the dynamic of the show and I'm not sure if it was in a completely good way. I actually liked Ezri overall, but I felt that the show put too much focus on this new character while trying to wrap up the story lines of what was one of the most expansive casts on TV at the time.

It's always extra dicey when they bring in a new character during what everyone knows is the final season. Because then you have to spend precious time in a limited number of episodes establishing this new character and trying to get the audience to like them. I did like Ezri, and I know why it happened (contract talks fell through), but I feel if they were going to bring in a new Dax, they should have done it during seasons 5 or 6.

Stargate Atlantis, when Weir left. Carter wasn't a bad leader by any stretch of the imagination (she has that deferment style of commanding that reminds me of Captain Raydor from Major Crimes), but something still felt lost without Weir, can't quite put my finger on it. Then Woosley was just a weird fit altogether though he did grow on me.

I was also going to say when Weir left on Atlantis. I liked Carter, and was happy to have her back. And I found Woolsey to be... okay. My problem was that Weir's 'death' came out of left field. Then they set it up that she could come back, either as an enemy or an ally, but they never really did anything with that. And to me, the problem was that Weir represented stable leadership on the expedition. And after she left, it was like a revolving door of leaders. They needed to pick one person and stick with them. And maybe that would have been Woolsey, had they not been canceled after season 5.

For me, a show that was never quite the same was when Calista Flockhart left Supergirl after Season 1. Sure, they brought her back occasionally, but that first season invested a lot in the relationship between Cat and Kara, and with CatCo being a place where Kara could be human, and not have to be Supergirl. After Cat left, though, CatCo very quickly faded to the background, and it was just never as good.

I'll also throw in Arrow was never really the same after Moira was killed.

[BlueandGold]

Good Times wasn't the same after James Evans Sr was killed off.

[Captain Smith]

Too many to list but Law and Order, and Law and Order SVU suffered terribly with the loss of the early crew. The latest set of actors on SVU are horrible.

[Hellion]

The Wire after season three, which saw the killing off of Stringer Bell and the arrest (and thus written off the show except for a cameo in season 5) of Avon Barksdale. Many critics laud Season 4 as the best of the show, and to its credit there was a bit of focus on the diminished/surviving members of the Barksdale crew, but it never felt the same for me after Season 3. The Barksdale gang was the heart of the show for me, and there wasn't much endearing about the Stanfield gang that replaced them.

The Thick Of It after Hugh Abbott is written out of the show (because the actor who played him was busted for possessing child pornography). The comedy of Hugh centered around him being bumbling and out-of-touch. With his replacement, Nicola, the show emphasized more and more neurotic, shouting freakouts and meltdowns and became ultimately less funny than Hugh's more subtle dim-wittedness.

[caj]

Good Times wasn't the same after James Evans Sr was killed off.

Agree completely with this.

[InfamousBG]

Law & Oder: SUV. I still loved it after Stabler but it was just not the same (I guess he back now lol).

[j9ac9k]

"Silicon Valley" after TJ Miller left.

"Coupling" after Jeffrey left and they tried to replace him with Oliver - just a pale comaprison that didn't work.

[Sutekh]

They killed off Dax and then spent more time on the new Dax than they ever spent on old Dax throughout the entire series. It was so weird, it sounds like they really had no confidence in the old actress that they never wrote for her.

It was so weird when they had that episode back on Trill dealing with Ezri's mom and brother and their business, and I was like, 'We had six years of Dax, and I don't even know if she *has* parents or siblings, what the hell?'

I'm totally biased though, 'cause I was studying psychology in college at the time, and Ezri's 'counseling' technique of listening absently to someone's issues, then going into a long ramble about all the stuff going wrong in her romantic life, work through her own crap while rambling, then tilt her head and say, 'maybe that would work for you, too?' made me want to leap through the screen and rescue whoever her victims (ahem, patients) were.

But anyway, yeah. That last season of Deep Space 9 was a mess, and the loss of Jadzia, and, IIRC, Sisko, for most of it, was a big part of it.

Seconding also the mentions of Earth: Final Conflict never really recovering from losing Boone, Andromeda never really feeling the same without Tyr, and Babylon 5 not quite finding a good replacement for Ivanova.

Given how destabilizing losing a cast member can be, I am sometimes surprised by the shows that *haven't* really suffered for it, like Next Generation losing Denise Crosby.

[InfamousBG]

Narcos without Pablo Escobar. I can't believe they killed him off. I hope somebody got fired for that idea.

Lol...Season 1 & season 2 were amazing. I like them all though. Pablo just made the first 2 better.