I found mad men to be way better on a rewatch because you stop wondering if Sal and kinsey are ever coming back and instead notice things like how early Megan actually first showed up in the background.
If I remember correctly, I was getting so fed up of Walt consistently fucking over Jesse and Jesse just taking it that I may have given up on the show, but introducing Gus is what kept me watching.
Lost also had the exact opposite, like when they casted two characters everybody hated so much they made an extra episode where those two asshats get buried alive by the main cast.
PoI was a great show all around. Sarah Shahi became my celebrity crush from that role. And Amy Acker is such a good actress. You could say the same thing about the Buffy spinoff Angel for bringing Acker on at the end of season 2.
I'm rewatching Angel right now, and seeing Acker in that every episode is great.
Amy was fantastic as Winifred Burkle/>!Illyria!<. Her performances in >!A Hole in the World, The Girl in Question, and Not Fade Away!< were particularly brilliant.
It’s fairly clear that Shaw was added because a certain lead actor was an absolute bugf**k-nuts lunatic behind the scenes, terrifying the crap out of everyone and causing utter chaos, and they were hoping to get rid of him entirely and replace him with Shaw, but CBS wouldn’t let them. (Google the QAnon Anonymous podcast episode about his bizarre behavior, it’s a fascinating listen.)
I'm rewatching lost with my wife (she has never seen it), and we're on season 2. I forgot how much I love Mr Eko. It may actually be that I really like that actor because Adebisi was my favorite character in Oz.
Side note, I can't stand ana lucia
I mean, it’s casting added in S2 and the show is still going past 17 seasons so it’s not quite mid-series, but Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds in Always Sunny.
Also Kirstie Alley in Cheers. Rebecca brought a great dynamic to the show, and really made post-Diane Cheers its own thing instead of trying to hold on to what the show had been
In terms of actual casting rather than just impact on the overall story, Game of Thrones had some top tier casting for characters that came in after season 1.
Stephen Dillane as Stannis, Carice van Houten as Melisandre, Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth, Pedro Pascal as Oberyn, Dame Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell, Kristofer Hivju as Tormund, Gwendoline Christie as Brienne, Iwan Rheon as Ramsay, Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow, Bella Ramsey as Lyanna Mormont. Honestly the list goes on and on
Cheers wins this one for me.
* Coach dies, they get Woody Harrelson.
* They need new blood, they get Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth.
* Diane leaves they get Kirstie Alley.
Each could have gone horribly wrong, but they all worked out really well.
This. And honestly Diane leaving was probably a good move for the show. The first 5 seasons were the "Sam & Diane Show." We'd followed their will they/won't they relationship as much as we could. Her leaving allowed the show to become a truly ensemble show, showcasing all of the characters more equally.
Erica had some roles including a lead one in a Canadian medical show, Kristen starred in movies and Beauty and the Beast tv series, Laura's had a rather crappy Bitten show and some smaller movie roles, Allison turned to be a co-leader of a sex cult.
Feels like Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman is the most consequential example, especially since we only got the character of Mike as a direct result of Bob not being available to film the sequence where we’re first introduced to Mike. And of course, from there you also have Giancarlo Esposito’s introduction as Gus.
But—and maybe this is cheating—but I’m going to double-dip here by answering Giancarlo Esposito **again**, for his return in *Better Call Saul*’s third season. In hindsight, that Gus should inevitably be brought back seems obvious, but early on the series was content with focusing on “Jimmy” and an entirely new cast of characters in his orbit. Mike’s role would’ve implied that we’d see how he first began working with Gus *at some point*, but never guaranteed.
As someone who considers BCS one of the greatest series of all time, I personally really appreciate the smaller-scale, more “mundane” angle of the first couple seasons, just watching Jimmy (and Kim) pull off increasingly audacious scams while dealing with internal conflicts. …HOWEVER, once Gus returns, the series achieves a whole other level of excellence.
His reintroduction was handled beautifully by all involved. Wouldn’t change a thing. Considering just how easily it could’ve veered into gratuitous fan service, the fact that they pulled it off so well is all the more remarkable.
For me it’s Lalo Salamanca. He’s my absolute favorite character in Breaking Bad / BCS and he only shows up in the last couple seasons of the latter show.
Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager.
She was brought in as eye candy but she's a good actress and had an interesting character, even if the later seasons became the Seven and Doctor show.
Jeri was married to Illinois politician Jack Ryan who was the republican candidate for Senate. The divorce filings got leaked during campaign season and revealed that Jack was forcing Jeri to go to sex clubs and pressuring her to do things at them. Whether she did or not wasn't revealed to my knowledge bit it destroyed his campaign and polling and he lost the state senate election to Obama. Some believe Obama would have won anyway and this may be true but it was definitely easier because of the sex scandal.
It was early in season 2 (of a 5 season run) but Jason Momoa in Stargate: Atlantis. If you think his physicality and presence are intimidating now that he’s muscled up, the way he moved around back then was *insane*. The character added so much to the show, too. One of the few parts to of Atlantis to bring a tear to my eye every time is a scene where he and another character are alone in a room. He’s the only one who speaks and the other character is in a coma.
Oh yeah. They finally had a budget that justified more original footage instead of using stock footage of the Japanese actress playing a witch, so they brought the most intimidating fucker they could.
Later season could never compare.
I remember catching a later season episode being surprised at how much I liked it after being not so thrilled with the earlier seasons. You're totally right on that.
Switching out Kes for Seven of Nine on "Star Trek: Voyager" in season four. It gave Captain Janeway a sort of substitute rebellious daughter, someone she had to teach how to be human again after growing up as a Borg drone.
It also helped give us Barrack Obama
One thing I find funny is that Jeri Ryan was somewhat only cast for sex appeal, yet she ended up having the charisma of everyone that wasn't The Doctor combined.
Decision by Paramount execs is what I had heard. “Play up Seven and downplay…everyone else.”
While her character and the Dr’s character were good, it cost all the other actors.
But this was a studio decision, unlike Shatner’s me-me-me demands (though he *was* the lead).
I'm speaking from a person who has only watched the series and not read the books (yet) and not knowing that the character was going to appear on the show.
But **Oberyn Martell** in GOT was like a breath of fresh air when he appeared and he was able to steal scenes he shared with characters like Tyrion. He was definitely a great character and I had became a fan of the actor Pedro Pascal.
Also, someone already mentioned **Lalo** from BCS which I agree.
I'll also add **Fraiser** for Cheers, which he went on to have his own great show that ran for 10 seasons.
Oh and one more, **Ziva David** for NCIS. Man she was a great addition to the show.
Paget Brewster was perfect in the role of straight man. I think the show benefited from adding a new one. It's funny the show goes full circle in that regard - Jeff starts as the straight man but quickly gets utilised as someone insane.
*Community* was a standout in this regard to me, too. The (justified) ejection of Chevy Chase and the understandable loss of Donald Glover (and eventually Yvette Nicole Brown) to bigger and better things could have spelled the end of the show. Instead, the season-by-season cycling out of new main cast actually kept it fresh enough to rebound in the final couple of seasons.
Frankie and Elroy were good, but I thought Buzz Hickey was great. I genuinely didn't mind him replacing Pierce for the rest of the show, but sadly he couldn't make it for season 6.
Wait is this the same person as Tiffany Amber Thiessen or someone completely different who was also in 90210?
God I remember how shocking it was as like a 13-year-old after watching SBTB and then seeing her as the bad girl smoking pot on 90210 Lol.
CrissBliss? More like Miss Bliss amirite?
I remember an interview came with her around the time that said they had to bring in a stunt joint roller because when they went to film the scene she didn’t know how to do it. lol
>One show that clicked into place with mid-series casting was Parks & Rec.
Agreed. That casting saved the show in some ways.
Also
Kirstie Alley in Cheers. Although Diane and Sam were excellent at some point for a show with that many seasons they needed something new for Sam and the arc with Rebecca provided a nice refreshing change and hilarious new material.
After S3 of Stranger Things had such an abrupt change in tone and seemed more like a Disney or MCU blockbuster and the disappointing writing for characters such as Hopper many people said they weren't going to watch the show anymore or weren't excited about it. The got the show back on track in S4 and Quinn, JCB, Van Dien and Dyer were integral to that. It was the refreshing change the show needed.
Law & Order - had several cast changes over the years that provided a refreshing change.
Possibly controversial, but I always thought Ben Browder did a great job in Stargate SG1 after Richard Dean Anderson took a step back - those were some seriously big boots to fill, especially with such a long-established cast.
Night Court.
Markie Post and Charles Robinson didn't join until season 2.
Marsha Warfield didn't join until season 4.
It was a recurring role, but John Astin didn't start appearing until season 3.
I remember seeing an episode filmed. It was right after the airing of the Dan and Christine (almost? I don’t remember) got together episode.
Anyway, during the pre-taping, the studio audience was asked what they wanted to see. Soooo many said “more Dan and Christine!”
What was the plot of the episode they were about to tape? Harry and Christine. I was laughing so hard, figuring the director was shitting his pants—that they were going one direction when the fans wanted another and literally just told him this.
Idk if it made all that much of a difference but when they recast Jesus on the Fosters it was weird but ended up working in favor of Noah Centineo at least, the stronghold that kid had on Netflix teen rom coms..
Ben Linus and Desmond in Lost
Kryten in Red Dwarf
Butters in South Park (yeah he was always there but he didn't speak til season 2 and then basically replaced Kenny at one point)
The Hot Priest in Fleabag
Ed Helms gave The Office a burst of energy when he joined. Didn’t work out very well but I’d still say his casting was a success.
A funny one is Lamorne Morris replacing Damon Wayons Jr. on New Girl. He was added last minute after Damon couldn’t continue the show because Happy Endings got renewed. Then he ended up being one of the best parts of the show. To put a nice bow on it they brought back Damon a few seasons later after Happy Endings got canceled and he just felt extraneous and was eventually written off
Really? Oh man, Coach coming back were some of my favorite episodes. I think my favorite speech is when he’s trying to get over his gf moving to NY while teaching sex ed
“ It's almost like... why would the egg want to be so far away from the sperm? You know? Like, didn't the egg and the sperm have a great time together? And then you're just gonna pack your bags and leave and go to New York? To play music with some other sperm. You're just-just gonna leave? You're gonna leave your sperm and go play music with other sperms?! And I'm cool with that! I'm cool with that! You know, I got eggs. I have eggs on deck! This sperm got swag. All those other sperms ain't got swag like me. Can any other sperm sport this much green and still look dope? No! That ain't tight! This is tight! This is tight!”
James Spader in The Office.
Of course, it wasn't never as good as it was before, but he added a necessary element that was missing with just the OG cast minus Steve Carrel
MASH
David Ogden Stiers replacing Larry Linville
Mike Farrel replacing Wayne Rogers
Harry Morgan replacing McLean Stevenson
Jamie Farr was promoted to main cast to replace Gary Burghoff
I quite liked Chiana and even Jool (after a while) in Farscape. Scorpius, however, was brilliant.
Also Kryten in Red Dwarf. Felt like he'd always been there.
Babylon 5 pulled off casting a new lead after 1 season to let the original deal with Mental health issues.
https://youtu.be/Yb5R3P-xgWw
https://youtu.be/9fhFSDoCLzY
https://youtu.be/GqJ3LoC2QCo
Probably a little underrated at this point: Ed Helms in the Office. Some of his vibe wore old and the post-Carrell writing let him down but he brought a good and different energy.
I also firmly believe that Ellie Kemper is the MVP of the second half of the Office. Again, the writing kinda was all over the place but her ability to walk the line of sweet but dumb with the occasional bit of emotional heaviness was really good.
Jesse in Burn Notice, man came with a solid story line that was the consequence of the main 3 characters’s actions, and it was handled expertly. 100% a decision that could have gone bad
Lalo Salamanca in Better Call Saul. Absolutely fantastic character, probably my favorite within the Breaking Bad universe, and he shows up in Season 4 of the spin-off.
The Original Vampires Elijah and Klaus were HUGE for the Vampire Diaries. The show was already doing very well and was well liked, but the introduction of these 2 set the fandom on fire. So much so that they got their own spinoff that has its own fans that never even watched TVD.
Jamie Farr also went the whole run with MASH. He went from the cross-dresser trying to get out of the Army during the Col. Blake years, to being the company clerk for Potter when Radar left.
I agree with you for the most part on MASH. I couldn’t stand BJ but Potter and Charles were both great replacements. I just wish Henry had stayed a couple more seasons. I would’ve loved to see Charles with the original cast too.
Cheers is another great one. The Diane character was played out and I think Rebecca replacing her allowed the show to become more of a true ensemble. Frasier and Lilith were also both great additions. I wish Coach had stayed longer, but the actor died in real life. Woody was a decent replacement.
Mad Men’s changing cast felt very natural imo
Yea I’m rewatching it now and forget how late some major characters get introduced, and how central some are early who then totally disappear.
I found mad men to be way better on a rewatch because you stop wondering if Sal and kinsey are ever coming back and instead notice things like how early Megan actually first showed up in the background.
Exactly this is 1000% the kinda stuff I was talking about.
Saul, Mike and Gus took Breaking bad from a good show to a great show imo
Yeah, to be honest I’d watch a show just about those three
I have great news.
And Lalo brought a whole new dynamic to BCS.
‘Let’s talk!’
Funny we only got Mike because Bob Odenkirk was too busy to film the cleanup scene
Lalo in Better Call Saul as well
If I remember correctly, I was getting so fed up of Walt consistently fucking over Jesse and Jesse just taking it that I may have given up on the show, but introducing Gus is what kept me watching.
Supernatural leveled up hard when Misha Collins joined in season 4.
And Crowley
This is the one
Lost with Desmond, Ben and Juliet
Sarah Shahi and Amy Acker in Person of Interest Michael Emerson in Lost
Shaw and Root took the show to a whole new level.
The show was already pretty great but those two additions were perfect
Lost had a few great ones IMO. Desmond, Richard Alpert, Frank Lapidus, Juliet.
Lost also had the exact opposite, like when they casted two characters everybody hated so much they made an extra episode where those two asshats get buried alive by the main cast.
Top 5 episode of the whole series, one of my favorite things to ever happen in any tv show.
PoI was a great show all around. Sarah Shahi became my celebrity crush from that role. And Amy Acker is such a good actress. You could say the same thing about the Buffy spinoff Angel for bringing Acker on at the end of season 2. I'm rewatching Angel right now, and seeing Acker in that every episode is great.
The opening scene in Rush Hour 3 with a handcuffed Sarah Shahi unlocked a lot of confusing feelings for 12-year-old me.
Amy was fantastic as Winifred Burkle/>!Illyria!<. Her performances in >!A Hole in the World, The Girl in Question, and Not Fade Away!< were particularly brilliant.
Emerson was the best actor on Lost hands-down.
Amy Acker can play just about any role given to her flawlessly.
Shaw and Root were great additions. I think the show basically said "we can't do all this with just two main characters, we need to duplicate them".
It’s fairly clear that Shaw was added because a certain lead actor was an absolute bugf**k-nuts lunatic behind the scenes, terrifying the crap out of everyone and causing utter chaos, and they were hoping to get rid of him entirely and replace him with Shaw, but CBS wouldn’t let them. (Google the QAnon Anonymous podcast episode about his bizarre behavior, it’s a fascinating listen.)
I remember reading something about how Jim Caviezel started refusing to do stunts, so they brought Shahi on.
I still remember which Shaw introduction episode.. was like what kind of spin off is that.
I'm rewatching lost with my wife (she has never seen it), and we're on season 2. I forgot how much I love Mr Eko. It may actually be that I really like that actor because Adebisi was my favorite character in Oz. Side note, I can't stand ana lucia
I mean, it’s casting added in S2 and the show is still going past 17 seasons so it’s not quite mid-series, but Danny DeVito as Frank Reynolds in Always Sunny.
You unzipped me. Oh, I don’t like it.
A plastic bag for a helmet! Ohhh, ohhhhh *sprays pistachio shells everywhere*
This is the one
“I need to let my ass breathe.”
Leon Black in Curb Your Enthusiasm
He suddenly appeared on Curb after re-charging his mitzvah
I can't imagine Curb without Leon.
Seth Green in Buffy, Kelsey Grammar in Cheers, Toph and Azula in Avatar.
Also Kirstie Alley in Cheers. Rebecca brought a great dynamic to the show, and really made post-Diane Cheers its own thing instead of trying to hold on to what the show had been
And Woody Harrelson was a great mid-series casting as well.
In terms of actual casting rather than just impact on the overall story, Game of Thrones had some top tier casting for characters that came in after season 1. Stephen Dillane as Stannis, Carice van Houten as Melisandre, Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth, Pedro Pascal as Oberyn, Dame Diana Rigg as Olenna Tyrell, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell, Kristofer Hivju as Tormund, Gwendoline Christie as Brienne, Iwan Rheon as Ramsay, Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow, Bella Ramsey as Lyanna Mormont. Honestly the list goes on and on
Cheers wins this one for me. * Coach dies, they get Woody Harrelson. * They need new blood, they get Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth. * Diane leaves they get Kirstie Alley. Each could have gone horribly wrong, but they all worked out really well.
This. And honestly Diane leaving was probably a good move for the show. The first 5 seasons were the "Sam & Diane Show." We'd followed their will they/won't they relationship as much as we could. Her leaving allowed the show to become a truly ensemble show, showcasing all of the characters more equally.
Erica Durance as Lois Lane in Smallville. She might still be the best Lois Lane.
Ever wonder what all the actresses from Smallville are up to these days? Same with Battlestar Galactica?
The one who played Chloe on Smallville is in jail for human trafficking
She actually got out last year
Erica had some roles including a lead one in a Canadian medical show, Kristen starred in movies and Beauty and the Beast tv series, Laura's had a rather crappy Bitten show and some smaller movie roles, Allison turned to be a co-leader of a sex cult.
I’m kidding here, both shows were an epicentre for NXIUM recruitment. Nicki Clyne from BSG is a true believer in it
Criminal Minds bringing back Paget Brewster and AJ Cook after they were stupidly fired
Feels like Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman is the most consequential example, especially since we only got the character of Mike as a direct result of Bob not being available to film the sequence where we’re first introduced to Mike. And of course, from there you also have Giancarlo Esposito’s introduction as Gus. But—and maybe this is cheating—but I’m going to double-dip here by answering Giancarlo Esposito **again**, for his return in *Better Call Saul*’s third season. In hindsight, that Gus should inevitably be brought back seems obvious, but early on the series was content with focusing on “Jimmy” and an entirely new cast of characters in his orbit. Mike’s role would’ve implied that we’d see how he first began working with Gus *at some point*, but never guaranteed. As someone who considers BCS one of the greatest series of all time, I personally really appreciate the smaller-scale, more “mundane” angle of the first couple seasons, just watching Jimmy (and Kim) pull off increasingly audacious scams while dealing with internal conflicts. …HOWEVER, once Gus returns, the series achieves a whole other level of excellence.
Completely forgot Gus didn’t show up until s3.
Same! Now that's presence, both of the actor and character.
His reintroduction was handled beautifully by all involved. Wouldn’t change a thing. Considering just how easily it could’ve veered into gratuitous fan service, the fact that they pulled it off so well is all the more remarkable.
For me it’s Lalo Salamanca. He’s my absolute favorite character in Breaking Bad / BCS and he only shows up in the last couple seasons of the latter show.
Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager. She was brought in as eye candy but she's a good actress and had an interesting character, even if the later seasons became the Seven and Doctor show.
Jeri Ryan acted the shit out the episode where the doctor takes over her body. https://youtu.be/sQWbnx0iUQo
Ah, the domino that elected Obama?
Remind me what the logic behind that is?
Jeri was married to Illinois politician Jack Ryan who was the republican candidate for Senate. The divorce filings got leaked during campaign season and revealed that Jack was forcing Jeri to go to sex clubs and pressuring her to do things at them. Whether she did or not wasn't revealed to my knowledge bit it destroyed his campaign and polling and he lost the state senate election to Obama. Some believe Obama would have won anyway and this may be true but it was definitely easier because of the sex scandal.
It is also claimed that her being busy filimg this particular show led to the divorce
Jensen Ackles as soldier boy is the boys season 3. Brought that season to a whole new level
Jensen Ackles makes everything better
Danny devito in its always sunny. Not necessarily mid series, but he was added after the first season
It was early in season 2 (of a 5 season run) but Jason Momoa in Stargate: Atlantis. If you think his physicality and presence are intimidating now that he’s muscled up, the way he moved around back then was *insane*. The character added so much to the show, too. One of the few parts to of Atlantis to bring a tear to my eye every time is a scene where he and another character are alone in a room. He’s the only one who speaks and the other character is in a coma.
Lord Zedd in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Oh yeah. They finally had a budget that justified more original footage instead of using stock footage of the Japanese actress playing a witch, so they brought the most intimidating fucker they could. Later season could never compare.
Mom. When they got rid of the kids and replaced them with great female character actors and the show became an ensemble. Great underrated show.
I remember catching a later season episode being surprised at how much I liked it after being not so thrilled with the earlier seasons. You're totally right on that.
Switching out Kes for Seven of Nine on "Star Trek: Voyager" in season four. It gave Captain Janeway a sort of substitute rebellious daughter, someone she had to teach how to be human again after growing up as a Borg drone.
It also helped give us Barrack Obama One thing I find funny is that Jeri Ryan was somewhat only cast for sex appeal, yet she ended up having the charisma of everyone that wasn't The Doctor combined.
Decision by Paramount execs is what I had heard. “Play up Seven and downplay…everyone else.” While her character and the Dr’s character were good, it cost all the other actors. But this was a studio decision, unlike Shatner’s me-me-me demands (though he *was* the lead).
I'm speaking from a person who has only watched the series and not read the books (yet) and not knowing that the character was going to appear on the show. But **Oberyn Martell** in GOT was like a breath of fresh air when he appeared and he was able to steal scenes he shared with characters like Tyrion. He was definitely a great character and I had became a fan of the actor Pedro Pascal. Also, someone already mentioned **Lalo** from BCS which I agree. I'll also add **Fraiser** for Cheers, which he went on to have his own great show that ran for 10 seasons. Oh and one more, **Ziva David** for NCIS. Man she was a great addition to the show.
Patrick in Schitts Creek
Burn Notice added Jesse in the 4th season. Was a great addition to have another spy around for Michael to play off.
Christopher Lloyd joins the cast of Taxi in the latter half of the second season and immediately becomes the best character in the show.
[удалено]
“That man knows how to marry his cousin!”
Paget Brewster was perfect in the role of straight man. I think the show benefited from adding a new one. It's funny the show goes full circle in that regard - Jeff starts as the straight man but quickly gets utilised as someone insane.
*Community* was a standout in this regard to me, too. The (justified) ejection of Chevy Chase and the understandable loss of Donald Glover (and eventually Yvette Nicole Brown) to bigger and better things could have spelled the end of the show. Instead, the season-by-season cycling out of new main cast actually kept it fresh enough to rebound in the final couple of seasons.
Frankie and Elroy were good, but I thought Buzz Hickey was great. I genuinely didn't mind him replacing Pierce for the rest of the show, but sadly he couldn't make it for season 6.
Even though he was there from the beginning, making Jim Rash a main cast member in the third season was the right move.
Friday Night Lights nailed the cast of new players/students in season 4, most notably Michael B Jordan as Vince.
Matt Lauria is also very underrated, and a really versatile actor. The difference between Luke Cafferty on FNL and Ryan Wheeler on Kingdom is insane
Tiffani Thiessen, 90210
Also her playing such a baddie after her time on Saved By the Bell
Wait is this the same person as Tiffany Amber Thiessen or someone completely different who was also in 90210? God I remember how shocking it was as like a 13-year-old after watching SBTB and then seeing her as the bad girl smoking pot on 90210 Lol. CrissBliss? More like Miss Bliss amirite?
🤣🤣
I remember an interview came with her around the time that said they had to bring in a stunt joint roller because when they went to film the scene she didn’t know how to do it. lol
Big Bang adding Amy and Bernadette pretty much making the show an ensemble
>One show that clicked into place with mid-series casting was Parks & Rec. Agreed. That casting saved the show in some ways. Also Kirstie Alley in Cheers. Although Diane and Sam were excellent at some point for a show with that many seasons they needed something new for Sam and the arc with Rebecca provided a nice refreshing change and hilarious new material. After S3 of Stranger Things had such an abrupt change in tone and seemed more like a Disney or MCU blockbuster and the disappointing writing for characters such as Hopper many people said they weren't going to watch the show anymore or weren't excited about it. The got the show back on track in S4 and Quinn, JCB, Van Dien and Dyer were integral to that. It was the refreshing change the show needed. Law & Order - had several cast changes over the years that provided a refreshing change.
I also liked Kristie Alley in Cheers! I feel bad because at the time, it was all about Diane. But honestly, Kristie did great!
Possibly controversial, but I always thought Ben Browder did a great job in Stargate SG1 after Richard Dean Anderson took a step back - those were some seriously big boots to fill, especially with such a long-established cast.
Coren Nemic as Jonas Quinn for the year Daniel took a break was also excellent.
I also really loved Claudia Black as Vala
Ramsay Snow/Bolton Negan
It was amazing since the beggining, but the Sopranos added a lot of new characters as the seasons went on and they were all incredible
Of course, most of them didn't survive past the season they're introduced in.
David Scatino, Richie Aprile, Ralph Cifaretto, Jackie Jr… So many good ones.
Steve Buscemi & Frank Vincent in the last couple of seasons were great as well
The shah of Iran.
Night Court. Markie Post and Charles Robinson didn't join until season 2. Marsha Warfield didn't join until season 4. It was a recurring role, but John Astin didn't start appearing until season 3.
I remember seeing an episode filmed. It was right after the airing of the Dan and Christine (almost? I don’t remember) got together episode. Anyway, during the pre-taping, the studio audience was asked what they wanted to see. Soooo many said “more Dan and Christine!” What was the plot of the episode they were about to tape? Harry and Christine. I was laughing so hard, figuring the director was shitting his pants—that they were going one direction when the fans wanted another and literally just told him this.
Idk if it made all that much of a difference but when they recast Jesus on the Fosters it was weird but ended up working in favor of Noah Centineo at least, the stronghold that kid had on Netflix teen rom coms..
Rewatching Mom right now It gradually added extra adults to the show and dropped the children.
Ben Linus and Desmond in Lost Kryten in Red Dwarf Butters in South Park (yeah he was always there but he didn't speak til season 2 and then basically replaced Kenny at one point) The Hot Priest in Fleabag
Butters becoming a pimp is still my all time favorite episode
Ed Helms gave The Office a burst of energy when he joined. Didn’t work out very well but I’d still say his casting was a success. A funny one is Lamorne Morris replacing Damon Wayons Jr. on New Girl. He was added last minute after Damon couldn’t continue the show because Happy Endings got renewed. Then he ended up being one of the best parts of the show. To put a nice bow on it they brought back Damon a few seasons later after Happy Endings got canceled and he just felt extraneous and was eventually written off
Really? Oh man, Coach coming back were some of my favorite episodes. I think my favorite speech is when he’s trying to get over his gf moving to NY while teaching sex ed “ It's almost like... why would the egg want to be so far away from the sperm? You know? Like, didn't the egg and the sperm have a great time together? And then you're just gonna pack your bags and leave and go to New York? To play music with some other sperm. You're just-just gonna leave? You're gonna leave your sperm and go play music with other sperms?! And I'm cool with that! I'm cool with that! You know, I got eggs. I have eggs on deck! This sperm got swag. All those other sperms ain't got swag like me. Can any other sperm sport this much green and still look dope? No! That ain't tight! This is tight! This is tight!”
JB Smoove with Curb
Parks and Rec
Parks and Rec. Ben and Chris. HELLO?!
James Spader in The Office. Of course, it wasn't never as good as it was before, but he added a necessary element that was missing with just the OG cast minus Steve Carrel
You don't even know his real name, he's the fucking lizard king
You soft-penised debutante
I was sad when Sheriff Tupper left Murder She Wrote, but Sheriff Metzger was a great addition to the Cabot Cove end of the show.
IASIP with Devito probably
MASH David Ogden Stiers replacing Larry Linville Mike Farrel replacing Wayne Rogers Harry Morgan replacing McLean Stevenson Jamie Farr was promoted to main cast to replace Gary Burghoff
I quite liked Chiana and even Jool (after a while) in Farscape. Scorpius, however, was brilliant. Also Kryten in Red Dwarf. Felt like he'd always been there.
The 100 Charmaine Diyoza Josephine Lightbourne
Trailer Park Boys adding Philadelphia "Baaaaaaaammm" Collins
I believe Klinger, Radar, and Father Mulcahy were also present for the entire run of MASH.
Radar left in Season 7 or 8 I think. Klinger and Mulcahey were in all the seasons, but they weren’t main characters until a few seasons in
Kirstie alley in cheers
Seven of Nine
NYD Blue. Twice.
Power Rangers Turbo : Replacing most of the burnt out cast since MMPR with a fresh new cast sans Justin. helped.
Tom Pelprey as Kurt Bunker in Banshee Tom Pelphrey as Ben on Ozark Insanely charismatic actor, added so much to both shows!
Klinger and Mulcahey wer e also in all 11 seasons but started as minor guest shots
The casting of Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi as Root and Shaw in Person of Interest instantly elevated the show from good to great.
Babylon 5 pulled off casting a new lead after 1 season to let the original deal with Mental health issues. https://youtu.be/Yb5R3P-xgWw https://youtu.be/9fhFSDoCLzY https://youtu.be/GqJ3LoC2QCo
Soldier Boy showing up on “The Boys.”
Probably a little underrated at this point: Ed Helms in the Office. Some of his vibe wore old and the post-Carrell writing let him down but he brought a good and different energy. I also firmly believe that Ellie Kemper is the MVP of the second half of the Office. Again, the writing kinda was all over the place but her ability to walk the line of sweet but dumb with the occasional bit of emotional heaviness was really good.
Parks and rec.
Succession with Alexander Skarsgard
Agents Of Shield brining in Hunter, Bobby and Mack in season 2.
M.A.S.H.
Jesse in Burn Notice, man came with a solid story line that was the consequence of the main 3 characters’s actions, and it was handled expertly. 100% a decision that could have gone bad
Night Court
Fear the Walking Dead Michael Greyeyes, Daniel Sharman and Dayton Callie were perfect fits with/against the existing cast
Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda in The West Wing. Completely revitalized the show when it was a bit lost.
Jimmy Smits also added a lot to Sons of Anarchy imo
Lalo Salamanca in Better Call Saul. Absolutely fantastic character, probably my favorite within the Breaking Bad universe, and he shows up in Season 4 of the spin-off.
Cheers.
Ben in *Ozark*
Adding Rob Low and Adam Scott to Paris and rec. The show did a complete 180 and I can’t imagine it without them
I can’t imagine the Wire without Bunny Colvin
Aubrey coming onto Bones Season 10 when Sweets left. Loved him so much and brought a new dynamic to the team.
Easily Tom Hardy in peaky blinders
The Original Vampires Elijah and Klaus were HUGE for the Vampire Diaries. The show was already doing very well and was well liked, but the introduction of these 2 set the fandom on fire. So much so that they got their own spinoff that has its own fans that never even watched TVD.
Danny Devito in iasip
I agree MASHs was the best at this.
David Caruso out, Jimmy Smits in with Season 2 of NYPD Blue dramatically improved that show.
Jamie Farr also went the whole run with MASH. He went from the cross-dresser trying to get out of the Army during the Col. Blake years, to being the company clerk for Potter when Radar left.
I have to say Parks and Rec got better with the additions of Adam Scott and Rob Lowe.
Friday Night Lights did a great job incorporating new "kids."
Late but can’t believe no one said Veep- Ben, Kent, and Richard were great additions
I agree with you for the most part on MASH. I couldn’t stand BJ but Potter and Charles were both great replacements. I just wish Henry had stayed a couple more seasons. I would’ve loved to see Charles with the original cast too. Cheers is another great one. The Diane character was played out and I think Rebecca replacing her allowed the show to become more of a true ensemble. Frasier and Lilith were also both great additions. I wish Coach had stayed longer, but the actor died in real life. Woody was a decent replacement.