Swapping actors mid-show in DC-related TV adaptations

[Buried Alien]

TV Tropes refers to it as the "Other Darrin" trope: mid-show, a new actor replaces another actor in an already established role on a TV series.

Let's catalog a few of these here for DC-related shows.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: Noel Neill replaced Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane.

BATMAN: Eartha Kitt replaced Julie Newmar as Catwoman.

WONDER WOMAN: Not sure if this counts, but Lynda Carter replaced Cathy Lee Crosby as Wonder Woman. I don't know if the TV movie that Ms. Crosby appeared in was meant to be a pilot for the series that eventually starred Ms. Carter in the title role.

SHAZAM!: John Davey replaced Jackson Bostwick as Captain Marvel.

THE FLASH (2014/2015 series): The Linda Park character is slated to return, and she will NOT be reprised by the actress who briefly portrayed her in the premiere episode.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[KurtW95]

Sara Lance was not played by Caity Lotz in Season 1 of Arrow. And Jimmy Olsen was was by two different actors in Lois and Clark.

[protege]

I'm not sure what you're asking here; i will say I preferred John Davey over Jackson Bostwick as Captain Marvel.

[Jim Kelly]

The only one I would quarrel with is Cathy Lee Crosby. That was a TV movie/pilot that didn't result in a TV series. The next year, they tried a different approach to Wonder Woman with another TV movie/pilot starring Lynda Carter and positive response to that one produced two more episodes. Then the following season, the series began its full run. If we got into all the pilots with actors that didn't get a full series, we'd be off on a different tangent.

Noel Neil had already played Lois Lane in the Kirk Alyn serial, so in a way she was returning to the role she had established on screen. Or maybe Joan Alexander should have got the part.

It's kind of hard to fault the producers of BEWITCHED, as Dick York simply couldn't go on in the part. Likewise, Sandra Gould stepped into the role of Mrs. Kravitz after the death of Alice Pearce. And on ALIAS SMITH AND JONES, Roger Davis stepped into the role of Hannibal Hayes after Pete Duel's death.

Not that those are DC related. But when an actor dies or is too ill to go on, I can understand replacing the actor. When that isn't the case, it bugs me--but I gotta admit that John Davey looked a lot more like Captain Marvel than Jackson Bostwick.

And I didn't like it when Gerard Christopher replaced John Haymes Newton on SUPERBOY--but I guess it was a good thing in the end.

[MajorHoy]

"Swapping" to me means more like "Actor A played this character on one show, but then started playing a different character on another show". I think "replacing" may have been the better choice for the thread title.

And while sometimes people REPLACE another actor because of death / illness, there are also other reasons that may come up. Sometimes the reasons may come down to contract negotiations or set chemistry, other times it may just be personal reasons. Having Terrence Howard for Rhodey in the first Iron Man movie, then going to Don Cheadle for the second and third films is the big one that comes to mind for a change, though I don't think it was ever said why exactly that change happened.

[The Darknight Detective]

The only one I would quarrel with is Cathy Lee Crosby. That was a TV movie/pilot that didn't result in a TV series. The next year, they tried a different approach to Wonder Woman with another TV movie/pilot starring Lynda Carter and positive response to that one produced two more episodes. Then the following season, the series began its full run. If we got into all the pilots with actors that didn't get a full series, we'd be off on a different tangent.

I remember watching the Cathy Lee movie when it was originally broadcast. I couldn't understand then why she was so different from Super Friends Wondy until I found out years later that she was modeled after the non-super Diana from the early '70s (defunct by the time of the movie).

[BohemiaDrinker]

THE FLASH (2014/2015 series): The Linda Park character is slated to return, and she will NOT be reprised by the actress who briefly portrayed her in the premiere episode.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Thing is, I'm pretty sure pilot Linda was only meant as a easter-egg. It's really inconsequential, since the only people that noticed that are long time Flash comics readers.

[MykeHavoc]

George Newbern taking over voicing Superman from Tim Daly is one of my favorite swaps. Troy Baker taking over Joker from Mark Hamill, not so much. Both Michael Ironside and Andre Braugher did great jobs as Darkseid (not sure if that counts, as the Superman/Batman movies weren't technically a part of the DCAU, but they did bring back most of the same voice actors).

[The Darknight Detective]

How about John Astin spelling Frank Gorshin as the Riddler? I kept waiting for him to shout out "Ah, Fester!"

[Jim Kelly]

Even though I liked John Astin (because of ADDAMS FAMILY) and thought he looked more like the Riddler--it bugged me that he wouldn't shave off his moustache. Yet another actor who refused to shave for the part. Or Neil Hamilton who wouldn't grow a moustache for his role. It bothered me even more when Astin later showed up on other shows without the stache. Kinda made me think that the actors on BATMAN had such a low opinion of it that they weren't willing to compromise for the roles they played.

There were also three different actors who played Mr. Freeze. And if you count Lee Meriwether in the movie, three actresses playing Catwoman.

[Dr. Jan Itor]

Wasn't Superboy played by two different guys in his show?

[protege]

The only one I would quarrel with is Cathy Lee Crosby. That was a TV movie/pilot that didn't result in a TV series. The next year, they tried a different approach to Wonder Woman with another TV movie/pilot starring Lynda Carter and positive response to that one produced two more episodes. Then the following season, the series began its full run. If we got into all the pilots with actors that didn't get a full series, we'd be off on a different tangent.

Noel Neil had already played Lois Lane in the Kirk Alyn serial, so in a way she was returning to the role she had established on screen. Or maybe Joan Alexander should have got the part.

It's kind of hard to fault the producers of BEWITCHED, as Dick York simply couldn't go on in the part. Likewise, Sandra Gould stepped into the role of Mrs. Kravitz after the death of Alice Pearce. And on ALIAS SMITH AND JONES, Roger Davis stepped into the role of Hannibal Hayes after Pete Duel's death.

Not that those are DC related. But when an actor dies or is too ill to go on, I can understand replacing the actor. When that isn't the case, it bugs me--but I gotta admit that John Davey looked a lot more like Captain Marvel than Jackson Bostwick.

And I didn't like it when Gerard Christopher replaced John Haymes Newton on SUPERBOY--but I guess it was a good thing in the end.

I'm not sure i agree about gerard christopher over John Haymes newton- I suppose he was a better actor, but JHN looked more like Superboy.

[Jim Kelly]

I thought John Haymes Newton looked more like Superboy, too. But I meant that Gerard Christopher ended up being a hero to the show, while it was in legal hell--and having the master tapes, he made copies of the show available to fans. So maybe it was a good thing that SUPERBOY was recast.

The role of Luthor was also recast with Sherman Howard replacing Scott Wells. i've completely forgotten Scott Wells--I only remember Sherman Howard doing a great Lex.

[Jim Kelly]

Kind of DC related.

Soap operas are always recasting their characters, of course. There was one soap opera that my mother always had to watch when I was growing up and when it came on she would put up with no distractions but sit with a cup of tea until her stories were over. And this soap was LOVE OF LIFE--which had a high turn over of actors in the same role--there were five Rick Latimers.

In the '70s, there was a new character on LOL named Benny Harper. The first actor who played him was tall and thin and not that great in the role. He left after only a couple of years on the show and he was replaced by another actor whose Benny was a much more complex character with a bit of an edge. Not long after the first Benny left the soap, he ended up in the news because he had been cast as Superman. That actor, the first Benny, was Christopher Reeve.