I have to agree, partially. The episodes immediately following his death and their trying to cope with it I thought were very well done.
Catastrophic TV cast departures
- Thread starter The Borgified Corpse
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I have to agree, partially. The episodes immediately following his death and their trying to cope with it I thought were very well done.
The problem there wasn't the cast, it was the writers. What you're describing is the third and final FOX season. After Tracy Torme finally severed all ties with the show, the writing for the back half of season 3 was in the hands of morons who didn't have a clue what science fiction was, so they just ripped off old plots from sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movies willy-nilly. But again, that ended once the series moved to SciFi for its final two seasons and was supervised by a staff of people who were actually capable writers who understood a thing or two about science fiction and characterization. Even though the cast continued to change, the storytelling was still orders of magnitude better than the last half-season on FOX.
Actually I liked that season better than the two that preceded it. Again, keeping the original cast doesn't count for much if they're in the hands of inept writer-producers, as TDZ was in its 4th-5th seasons. In S6, they had to drop cast members and relocate to Toronto to save money, but they were also finally able to bring aboard the showrunner they'd wanted but failed to get two years before. They abandoned the lame storylines their predecessors had imposed on the show, moved away from the episodic "Johnny Smith, Psychic Detective" stories and back to a season-long arc, turned Greg Stillson back from a second banana to a more central and complex figure, and most importantly, returned Sarah to a central role after two seasons in which she'd been reduced to a bit player. And the departed regulars did make occasional guest appearances throughout the season.
Yes, I'm aware of all that, and I wasn't disputing that, so I don't see why you're pointing it out. I was simply saying that the temporary replacement of Wopat and Schneider doesn't meet the definition of the word "catastrophic," which implies something disastrous and permanently damaging, if not fatal. The Coy/Vance period, as lame as it was, was a brief and quickly forgotten interlude, and the series continued for two more seasons after it ended. Hardly a catastrophe.
By the way, John Picard, did you know the executive producer of The Dukes of Hazzard was named Paul R. Picard?
Thespeckledkiwi
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I think it wasn't just Michael J Fox leaving but I believe two others left, James and the Mayor's assistance. To me, losing Michael J Fox and then James was pretty bad.
Agreed! *mutters bitterly about stupid execs*
Cara DeLizia's departure from Disney's So Weird really ruined the show for me. Fi Phillips is one of my favorite young Disney characters, and I thought So Weird did a good, fun job of combining goofy fun with the darkness and heart that any paranormal show should have.
Her departure tanked the show. Disney brought in a new lead, who was supposed to up the show's musical appeal by playing an aspiring singer wanting to learn about the business from MacKenzie Phillips' character. Problem was, they'd built the show's whole mythology on Fi's drive to understand the paranormal, as well as her struggle to come to grips with her father's death. The first two seasons had this lovely running thread about her father that completely disappeared when the new character came on board. Instead the show got lighter, more "pop"-y, and eventually about nothing.
Frankly Ezri would have worked a lot better, IMO, if she hadn't been introduced as "Jadzia lite" and had been brought on board as simply another character. In light of how cool the ENT Andorians were, I would love it if Nicole had played a "Talas" type and hooked up with Bashier. Hee).
Homicide: Life on the Street definitely wasn't the same without Andre Braugher. He's just irreplaceable.
I am wondering what CSI will be like without Grissom. There's no two ways about it--it's hard when the lead of a show leaves.
And the X-Files...I wasn't the biggest fan of that show, but I watched it enough to not be able to imagine it being the same show without Mulder and Scully.
I am wondering what CSI will be like without Grissom. There's no two ways about it--it's hard when the lead of a show leaves.
And the X-Files...I wasn't the biggest fan of that show, but I watched it enough to not be able to imagine it being the same show without Mulder and Scully.
It was amazing how different and unfunny the show became after he left. It was just him being funny but even Andy was funnier with him around.
I also think Diane leaving Cheers killed the show. I never liked the character of Diane but she enhanced the other characters in the way they interacted with her.
I may be in the minority on this, but I thought the show got way better towards its later years. Don Knotts was a lot funnier than the Ropers, and with Priscilla Barnes they actually had a smart character in the blonde girl role, completely eliminating all the painful "she so stupid" jokes they had with Chrissy/Cindy.
I stopped watching after he died, it was just too sad for me to watch.
However I have seen reruns and I must say the show was still pretty damn good after he died. They handled his death well, and you know the tears on camera are real.
He didn't die from a heart attack, his aorta (the thing that carried blood out of the heart) ripped and he died while the doctors tried to fix him.
And I agree with Boston Legal, the show worked with the new characters every season, except in season 4 and 5, felt like a completely different show.
QFT on both of these.
Homicide was over for me when Braugher left. Bayliss without Pembleton didn't work for me, and the girl who came on after was dreadful.
Plus his departure took like half the season.
This is all true, but I feel the deaths of Walt Bannerman and Malcolm Janus -- both of which somehow halted Armageddon -- were extremely unnecessary if Armageddon was going to be given the Judgment Day treatment by the end of the season/series.
For me, it was David Duchovney leaving The X-Files.
The show still worked...but it was never really the same for me. And let's face it, the premise of the show as Fox Mulder's quest that Scully more or less got sucked into over time.
And continuing Fox Mulder's quest without Fox Mulder (except in the occasional guest appearance) was just sorta odd.
Still, The X-Files is one of my favorite shows.
Interesting that people are saying Peterson leaving CSI will be catastrophic. I watched the first 2 seasons of that show and frankly, I found him to be kinda annoying alot of the time.
I don't watch the CSI shows as a matter of routine...but my favorite one is BY FAR Miami. Las Vegas is probably my second favorite...but it is more in spite of Peterson than because of him. I like all the other characters alot more.
The show still worked...but it was never really the same for me. And let's face it, the premise of the show as Fox Mulder's quest that Scully more or less got sucked into over time.
And continuing Fox Mulder's quest without Fox Mulder (except in the occasional guest appearance) was just sorta odd.
Still, The X-Files is one of my favorite shows.
Interesting that people are saying Peterson leaving CSI will be catastrophic. I watched the first 2 seasons of that show and frankly, I found him to be kinda annoying alot of the time.
I don't watch the CSI shows as a matter of routine...but my favorite one is BY FAR Miami. Las Vegas is probably my second favorite...but it is more in spite of Peterson than because of him. I like all the other characters alot more. 
The good thing was that he came back in Series VIII. But it was a severe blow since the antagonistic relationship Rimmer had with the rest of the crew was the comedic lynchpin of the show.
Coupling was the same way. Jeff's bizarre theories about men, women, & sex were the pivot point around which all the show's comedy revolved.
Agreed. The Andy Griffith Show without Barney Fife is just excruciating.
Words alone cannot express how much I miss having Ebert on my TV every Sunday night. But I thought that Richard Roeper & Michael Phillips were just starting to come into their own when they left the show so that ABC/Disney could go in its "new direction."
Except that ENT Andorian females were portrayed as large, strong, and Amazonian, nothing like the pixieish deBoer. (Which was probably necessary due to the sheer weight of the animatronic headpiece with the antennae.)
Malcolm Janus should never have been created. The central arc of The Dead Zone is Johnny Smith trying to keep Greg Stillson from causing Armageddon. For no comprehensible reason, the showrunner in season 4/5 chose to redefine Stillson as the dupe of some ill-defined Illuminati-type secret society, essentially defanging him as an antagonist and putting a cipher in his place. I was delighted that they killed off Janus and abandoned that storyline, regardless of the plot holes that created. The one good thing that came of it was that the 6th-season staff was able to build the arc of Stillson's apparent "redemption" out of its remains, which took the show in some fresh directions and led to an interesting and surprising (if rushed) payoff in the finale.
Oh, I know, and I agree, and so do Stephen King, David Cronenberg, and the Pillars. But it was irresponsible of the new writers to just dump the characters like that. Denny O'Neil is known for saying "never just 'visit' your characters". I'm assuming this applies doubly to deaths, and Janus' death was just that: a visitation of the character.
That was actually a network mandate. Season 4's "premiere" is actually a restructuring of the season 3 finale, which differed vastly from what aired at the start of S4 and was held off by USA because they didn't like it. The original script can be floating around the Internet somewhere. Janus is nowhere to be found there, thankfully, as he was created by the network. Instead, Stillson kills his father in cold blood and covers it up himself (with a little help from Sonny Elliman, also notably absent in later years), the cane is not thrown out (USA wanted them to "get rid of the sci-fi stuff", which is weird given the show is about a psychic trying to prevent the end of the world) and Rebecca dies in her assassination attempt of Stillson, who comes out of it looking like a hero, discussing his higher political aspirations. I would have loved to have seen that episode more than any other in the final three years.
Everyone hated him, but Grey's Anatomy hasn't been the same without Isaiah Washington. Burke added a lot to the show, and to Christina's character.
ER finally died out when Eric LaSalle and Anthony Edwards left, although some say it was George Clooney and Julianna Marguiles's departure that changed the show's quality. I was done when Paul McCrane's character got hit on the head with a helicopter. I hear the addition of Angela Bassett and Stamos has given the show a resurrgence. So much, NBC has ordered three more episodes.
TNG kinda sucked without Dr. Crusher, even though she had the lamest episodes. Weird how ensembles work.
When Shannon Doherty left 90210, it was a big loss, but when Jason Priestley left, the show should've ended because it was all about the Walsh's.
Speaking of teen shows, the biggest phallacy was the idea that Mischa Barton's departure is what tanked The O.C. The problem was she sucked so bad that people tuned out and never returned. The last season was actually really good without her but no one cared at that point.
ER finally died out when Eric LaSalle and Anthony Edwards left, although some say it was George Clooney and Julianna Marguiles's departure that changed the show's quality. I was done when Paul McCrane's character got hit on the head with a helicopter. I hear the addition of Angela Bassett and Stamos has given the show a resurrgence. So much, NBC has ordered three more episodes.
TNG kinda sucked without Dr. Crusher, even though she had the lamest episodes. Weird how ensembles work.
When Shannon Doherty left 90210, it was a big loss, but when Jason Priestley left, the show should've ended because it was all about the Walsh's.
Speaking of teen shows, the biggest phallacy was the idea that Mischa Barton's departure is what tanked The O.C. The problem was she sucked so bad that people tuned out and never returned. The last season was actually really good without her but no one cared at that point.
The WHAT?!?
Stargate Atlantis has yet to have a truly catastrophic cast departure. (Thankfully, no one's been stupid enough to try doing the show without Dr. McKay.) But I feel like it was a show that achieved perfection in the 1st season and then spent the next few years chipping away at what Season 1 had built. It started when they got rid of Lt. Ford. He wasn't a major character but I think replacing him with a Teal'c rip-off spoiled the balance that the show achieved in Season 1. Then they exacerbated things by killing off one of the most beloved characters on the show, Dr. Beckett. Then they replaced Dr. Weir with Col. Carter in a cynical attempt to grab some of SG-1's departing audience. I didn't have a problem with the Weir/Carter swap except that they never really did anything with Carter; certainly nothing that couldn't have just as easily been done with a different character. (Hell, Weir had more interesting stuff to do in her scant few Season 4 guest appearances than Carter had to do all year.)
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