20 TV Shows That Replaced a Star

Steve Carell: 5 seasons (2005-11)
James Spader: 1 season (2011)

Spader’s ultra-confident salesman-turned-CEO Robert California wasn’t meant to replace Carell’s Michael Scott but he did step in as the show’s big-name big personality, with less successful results.

Charlie Sheen: 8 seasons (2003-11)
Ashton Kutcher: 1 season (2011)

It always seemed that both Sheen and his freewheeling character Charlie Harper could sidle out of any mess but turned out that wasn’t true for either of them. With Sheen out, Harper met an apparently messy demise when he was said to have been hit by a train in France. In came Ashton Kutcher’s eccentric (and well-endowed) millionaire Walden Schmidt to play the life-of-the-party role.

David Caruso: 1 season (1993-94)
Jimmy Smits: 4 seasons (1994-98)

Caruso left after multiple contract disputes, so his cop John Kelly was transferred. Andy Sipowicz’s new partner was Bobby Simone. The bond between Dennis Franz’s Sipowicz and Jimmy Smits’ Simone was much stronger — more buddy-buddy, even father-son — and viewers responded with affection for the pair and increased ratings. —Ken Tucker

Farrah Fawcett: 1 season (1976-77)
Cheryl Ladd: 4 seasons (1977-81)

The original trio at the series’ center became instant sensations, finishing their first season as the No. 5 show in the country and making an icon of the gorgeous blonde playing sporty Angel Jill Munroe. When Fawcett abruptly left the series, however, Ladd swooped in as Jill’s kid sister, Kris, in a surprisingly seamless transition that kept the Angels on the top of the ratings charts. —Jennifer Armstrong

Michael J. Fox: 4 seasons (1996-2000)
Charlie Sheen: 2 seasons (2000-02)

After telling the cast and crew the previous year that he had Parkinson’s disease, Fox decided during the fourth season of the ABC comedy to ”retire” and focus on his family. Sheen then had the unenviable task of replacing the beloved actor, but the Major League star had enough comedy chops and appeal (yep, you read that right) to keep the show going for another two seasons. —Lynette Rice

Bob Barker: 35 seasons (1972-2007)
Drew Carey: 4 seasons…and counting (2007-present)

After hosting the longest-running daytime game show for 35 years, Barker broke the hearts of millions of female fans by handing over the duties of saying ”And the actual retail price is…” to comedian Carey. No one will ever replace Barker, though Carey’s done an admirable job of keeping the lights on at Price. (Did I say that no one will ever replace Barker?) —LR

Jerry Orbach: 12 seasons (1992-2004)
Dennis Farina: 2 seasons (2004-06)

While Law & Order famously soldiered on despite regular cast turnover, when Orbach left the series, the long-running cops-and-lawyers show never quite felt the same. Orbach’s acerbic, wisecracking character, Det. Lennie Briscoe (who retired from the NYPD), was simply too identified with the Law & Order brand. It didn’t help, either, that Orbach passed away from cancer later that year. Poor Farina — who stepped in as the flashier Det. Joe Fontana — never really stood a chance. The show shed nearly five million viewers, and Farina left after two seasons. —Adam B. Vary

Valerie Harper: 2 seasons (1986-87)
Sandy Duncan: 4 seasons (1987-91)

When Valerie star Harper demanded a salary increase and more creative control, NBC responded by killing her character in an offscreen car crash, introducing Valerie’s sister-in-law (Duncan) as a new female lead, and changing the show’s title to Valerie’s Family — then, later, to The Hogan Family. The swap worked, at least temporarily; after season 5, the sitcom switched networks and died quietly the following summer. —Hillary Busis

Shannen Doherty: 4 seasons (1990-94)
Tiffani Thiessen: 6 seasons (1994-2000)

Oh Shannen, if only you’d listened! After four seasons, Doherty left the original 90210 to be replaced by someone who was better at keeping the drama on screen. In 1994, Thiessen’s Valerie Malone breathed new life (and bitchitude) into the series, which stayed on the air for another six years. —Maggie Pehanick

Kathie Lee Gifford: 12 years (1988-2000)
Kelly Ripa: 10 years…and counting (2001-present)

After 12 years of small talk with Reeeeeg, Gifford (who’d been vilified for allegations that the factory that made her clothing line was a sweatshop and for oversharing about her kids) announced she was leaving to spend more time with her family. The peppy Ripa took over and injected new life into the show. —Jessica Shaw

Phil Hartman: 4 seasons (1995-98)
Jon Lovitz: 1 season (1998-99)

NewsRadio was a great ensemble comedy, but Hartman’s egotistical news anchor Bill McNeal was unquestionably the center of the show. In the wake of the star’s untimely death, the producers brought in Hartman’s old Groundlings colleague (and fellow SNL performer) Lovitz as the new anchor. Lovitz was actually pretty funny, but the low-rated show only lasted one season post-Hartman. —Darren Franich

George Clooney: 5 seasons (1994-99)
Goran Visnjic: 9 seasons (1999-2008)

When Doug Ross left Chicago General for the Northwest, his longtime love Carol Hathaway wasn’t the only thing left behind — there were also millions of heartbroken (mostly female) viewers. So what did the producers do when their classically handsome, emotionally damaged hunky doctor left? Well, they hired a classically handsome, emotionally damaged hunky doctor, of course. Ratings slid steadily after Clooney’s departure and hit a low point during its 14th season (which, it should be noted, was still an average of about 9 million). —Sandra Gonzalez

Meredith Vieira: 9 seasons (1997-2006)
Rosie O’Donnell: 1 season (2006-07)
Whoopi Goldberg: 4 seasons…and counting (2007-present)

The combination of from-day-one co-hosts Barbara Walters and Joy Behar has helped The View, despite two big recasts of its moderator, to remain stable. The fact is that even if Goldberg decides to move on, The View will continue — this is a show that’s very smartly built around a concept (ladies gabbing about Hot Topics!) and not one singular personality. —Tanner Stransky

Craig Kilborn: 2 1/2 years (1996-98)
Jon Stewart: 12 years…and counting (1999-present)

During Kilborn’s fun and respectable hosting tenure, the show found smarmy comedy in human interest stories; under the shrewd, absurdist direction of Stewart, the focus shifted to news and politics. The result? Higher ratings and oodles of acclaim. In case you’re counting, The Daily Show has won eight consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Program. —Dan Snierson

David Duchovny: 7 seasons as series regular (1993-2000); 2 seasons recurring (2000-01)
Robert Patrick: 2 seasons (2000-02)

When it went off the air after nine seasons in 2002, The X-Files was considered the longest-running sci-fi show in broadcast TV history — but at a cost. Once Duchovny left the show as a full-time cast member in 2000 (explanation: His character was abducted by aliens), producers rejiggered the series, partnering costar Gillian Anderson with an FBI agent played by Patrick. For the show’s final season, Annabeth Gish came on full-time as a potential replacement for Anderson. But viewers were disinterested in the new characters, and by the time both Duchovny and Anderson were reunited for the series finale, fans were hopelessly confused by the show’s mythology. The X-Files has since been held up as an example of how not to finish a serialized drama. —James Hibberd

John Ritter: 1 season plus three episodes (2002-03)
Katey Sagal: 3 seasons (2002-05)

Ritter’s character, overprotective dad and newspaper columnist Paul Hennessy, collapsed at the supermarket and died off screen. Sagal, who played his wife, Cate, took on a more central role afterwards, with James Garner joining the show as her surly father. Despite some powerfully dramatic episodes dealing with Paul’s death, the show never fully recovered, in the ratings or creatively. —JA

Shelley Long: 5 seasons (1982-87)
Kirstie Alley: 6 seasons (1987-93)

Long was the first member of the heralded cast to win an Emmy, but after five seasons of playing the overeducated barmaid, Diane, she left the hit series to focus on a burgeoning movie career and her family. The writers sent Diane away to write her novel, stranding Sam (Ted Danson) on their wedding day. Alley’s Rebecca arrived the next season, determined to run the bar after a rattled Sam had sold it. Though she initially seemed cold and aloof, she proved hopelessly insecure and corruptible. Before long, she was one of the Cheers gang, to her character’s detriment and our weekly delight. Cheers remained a top 5 show for the next five seasons, and Alley eventually grabbed her own Emmy. —Jeff Labrecque

Delta Burke: 5 seasons (1986-91)
Julia Duffy: 1 season (1991-92)

Burke was canned from Designing Women for throwing tantrums or gaining weight — depending on whom you believe (how quaint in the Era Sheen-icus?) — and replaced by Duffy of Newhart fame. Bad move, y’all. Whereas Burke’s Suzanne was lovably loony, Duffy’s Allison was a shrew who alienated the remaining characters — and viewers. Duffy’s contract wasn’t renewed after her first season. —Henry Goldblatt

Shannen Doherty: 3 seasons (1998-2001)
Rose McGowan: 5 seasons (2001-06)

How could the Power of Three soldier on without Doherty’s Prue, killed by a demonic hitman? With a crafty, long-lost sister plotline, that’s how. And thanks to McGowan’s spellbinding Paige, Aaron Spelling’s supernatural series found new energy, unleashing a comedic spin that was a welcome change from Prue’s melodrama. Quite simply, McGowan’s addition helped Charmed become — how else could we say it? — officially charming. —Kate Ward

Rob Lowe: 4 seasons (1999-2003)
Josh Malina: 4 seasons (2002-06)

While Malina’s Will Bailey was written as an awkward guy with some built-in friction with other characters when he took over Sam Seaborn’s (Lowe) position as deputy communications director, it only served to emphasize the many differences between the two characters. But since the show had such a massively talented ensemble cast to share the screen time, which was the reason Lowe cited for leaving (though it was reportedly more about the money), the weight of its success or failure really didn’t fall on Malina. —Abby West