Great shows that survived (or didn't survive) major casting changes

[Kaleva]

"Law & Order" and "MASH" come to mind as examples of shows where key characters were replaced but continued on strongly. One could make an argument for "Archie Bunker's Place" which was a continuation of "All in the Family" and the same goes for "Mayberry R.F.D.".

[Chan790]

1. At this point, It'd be a boon if CSI didn't survive.

With the repeat cast turnovers and the increasingly tired plots, it's lost any sense of continuity or cohesiveness. All we need now to really kill this show is for Warrick Brown and Holly Gribbs to return from the dead as a married couple that only speak in show-tune references.

[fishwax]

2. Cheers

Not as many comings and goings as MASH, but losing Diane was a big deal. Coach, too, though that couldn't be helped.

[Kaleva]

3. Only three characters were on that show for its entire run.

So I'd say "Cheers" is a show that survived major cast changes.

[fishwax]

6. I count four, but even so

Sam, Carla, Norm, and Cliff were all in the first episode and were there through the end, if I'm not mistaken. But they added some great characters, with Frasier and Lilith and did a great job with replacements in Woody Boyd and Rebecca.

Fun show. I need to go back and watch some of it again

[Mendocino]

21. Cheers was a favorite of mine.

I watched it from the very first episode . When Diane left, the dynamic changed. I barely ever watched it again. Rebecca to put it mildly, SUCKED!

[Va Lefty]

4. Mary Tyler Moore, NYPD Blue

[kaitcat]

5. I thought Charmed was a great show.

But I thought it was too convenient that they miraculously discovered another Halliwell sister just in time to kill of Shannen Doherty's Prue. Rose McGowan just didn't have it for me.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

20. Actually

if I remember correctly, there was a small piece of setup in the first or second season that established that their mother had had an affair or dalliance with a Whitelighter at one point, so it at least established the possibility of the existence another sister, one who, guess what, had Whitelighter-like abilities!

The show DID survive for 5 more seasons with McGowan. I haven't watched it straight through but have seen all of the eps in seasons 1-2 and most of 3 and then random eps from other seasons. I liked McGowan's Paige character. What happened with Doherty?

[dimbear]

7. There's only one, the immortal "Bewitched." Undeniable top of the line.

Starring Dick "Sergeant York."

[Kaleva]

11. "Bewitched" really stands out...

as an example of a show where a major character is played by two actors and they play that character differently.

[lastlib]

8. Hands-down winner here: Charlie's Angels!

It just didn't work without Farrah....

[gratuitous]

9. News Radio, though again it couldn't be helped

Jon Lovitz tried gamely, but all the air went out of the show after Phil Hartman's murder. You can pick up the DVDs for those seasons real cheap, and they're worth having.

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Agree with you on that.

Hartman made that show.

[ohiosmith]

10. Bonanza

Pernell Roberts

Dan Blocker

David Canary

[Art_from_Ark]

12. "The Avengers" just wasn't the same without Mrs. Peel

"Mrs. King" just couldn't fit Mrs. Peel's tight-fitting.... shoes

[Gidney N Cloyd]

13. Barney Miller--

Wrote out Chano, spun off Fish and lost Yemana when Jack Soo died.

[CBGLuthier]

18. and brought in Arthur Dietrich

one of the greatest mid show run characters to ever be created. Steve Landesberg was a genius.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. MI-5 (Known as "Spooks" in the UK)

That show has killed off so many characters that it could have its own cemetery, and the ones who weren't killed off were disgraced, quit, proved to be moles, given a new identity and sent halfway around the world...you get the idea.

Only one cast member is in all 10 seasons.

Still one of my favorite shows of all time.

[begin_within]

15. The Munsters changed actresses who played Marilyn,

but not everyone noticed - the original and replacement actresses looked so much alike each other!

[Rhiannon12866]

16. Eight Is Enough

When the actress who played the mother died, the show went on without her, and later they acquired a stepmother. I read the book when I was a kid and none of that happened to the family IRL.

[CBGLuthier]

17. The Avengers

The British show The Avengers started as a show about a police surgeon played by Ian Hendry and his assistant Steed played by Patrick McNee. At the end of the first season Hendry left and Steed became the star.

His first few assistants were OK, Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale was good but the show really took off with arrival of Diana Riggs' character Emma Peel.

But even after she left and was replaced by Tara King, played by Linda Thorson, the show was still a lot of fun with some of the classic back mythology of the spy organisation developed including the introduction of the character "Mother" played by Patrick Newell.

The show survived many cast changes and even changes in concept.

[mucifer]

19. I think they replace the youngest Partridge kid

with another kid who didn't even have the same hair color.

That's how I remember it anyway.

[Dr. Strange]

22. Dr. Who

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. Taxi...

When you think of Taxi, you think of all the original characters.
Tho Davito and Loyd were key to the whole thing working so well.