Kara Kovalchik
Why Carlton has two moms: 5 TV Switches we weren’t supposed to notice
by Kara Kovalchik - January 10, 2008 - 10:52 AM

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Having more than one actor portray the same character happens more often than you’d think on many popular TV series. The reason behind the switcheroo is not always explained to the viewing public, which means of course that we automatically assume the actor asked for a raise. But that’s not always the case.

1. Yo, Janet, smell ya later!

Vivian & Vivian

Janet Hubert-Whitten portrayed Will Smith’s Aunt Vivian on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1990 until 1993. Her real-life pregnancy wasn’t an issue, as it was written into the script. So why was she replaced by Daphne Reid for the series’ last three seasons? The official explanation at the time was that she’d gained 60 pounds and had become “hormonally difficult,” but in a revealing interview in Jet magazine, Will Smith stated, “I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel-Air Show. She said once, ‘I’ve been in the business for 10 years and this snotty-nosed punk comes along and gets a show.’”

2. Poor Durwood… er, Darrin

Darrin & Darrin

An even more famous example of the old actor switcheroo is Dick York, the original (and to many fans, the definitive) Darrin on Bewitched. York started his professional acting career in 1943 and found steady work both on TV and in films. While filming They Came to Cordoba with Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth in 1959,

a mishap aboard a railroad handcar caused York to tear most of the muscles in the right side of his back, an injury that would plague him the rest of his life.

During his tenure on Bewitched, the pain became increasingly worse, despite the studio doctors loading him up with painkillers. Eventually, he was only able to stand upright for 30 minutes at a time, so he retired his role to Dick Sargent.

More switches after the jump.

3. “They say she’s the same, but she isn’t the same…”

Becky & Becky

The role of eldest daughter Becky on Roseanne was something of a revolving door. Alicia “Lecy” Goranson played Becky from 1988 until 1992, when she graduated from high school and enrolled at Vassar College. At first, she was able to make occasional cameo appearances on the show, so the writers developed the Becky-elopes-with-Mark storyline to explain her absence. But soon her studies took priority, and Sarah Chalke was hired as Becky #2. By 1997, Goranson was again able to schedule some Roseanne time, temporarily bumping Chalke out of the role. Personal circumstances forced her to miss a few episodes, leaving Chalke to pinch-hit for her occasionally.

The show’s producers never tried to conceal the actress switch and actually poked fun at it in several episodes.

4. Who shot my career in the neck?

Ellie & Ellie

Barbara Bel Geddes originated the role of Southfork matriarch Miss Ellie on Dallas. She exuded a quiet strength that enabled her to stand up to J.R. while also nurturing Jock and letting him think that he ran the ranch. In 1984, Bel Geddes took a break from the show for heart bypass surgery, and during her post-operative recovery she decided that she’d worked long enough and it was time to retire. Donna Reed was brought in as the new Miss Ellie, but Dallas fans openly expressed their displeasure with Reed’s glamour versus Bel Geddes’ earth mother persona. More to the point, Larry Hagman disliked her. So when the show’s ratings dipped, he made a personal appeal to Bel Geddes to return to the series. Reed was dismissed despite having signed a three-year contract.

5. A pair of Partridges

Chris & Chris

Jeremy Gelbwaks was originally cast as the youngest son, Chris, on The Partridge Family. Of course, the best lines on PF went to Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, and Danny Bonaduce. The youngest kids were pretty much just there to fill out the family band and occasionally look cute during close-ups. Gelbwaks left after the first season; the official party line was that his father’s job had transferred the family out of state. However, Danny Bonaduce has since revealed that

Jeremy had been something of a terror on-set, known for pranks such as kicking his fellow actors viciously in the shins just before the director yelled “Action!”

He was replaced by blond, blue-eyed Brian Forster, who looked nothing like his predecessor. Nevertheless, producers reported only receiving one fan letter questioning the change.As always, now is the time to weigh in with your opinion – real Becky or fake Becky? York or Sargent? Do you even remember the first Chris Partridge? Enquiring flossy minds want to know!


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Comments (38)

  1. I love this post, Kara. That Partridge Family story had me laughing out loud.

    posted by Mangesh on 1-10-2008 at 10:57 am

  2. Dick Sargent, Dick York; Sargent York? Sounds erie to me.

    posted by Mike on 1-10-2008 at 11:09 am

  3. I hated Fake Becky at the time. In retrospect, the Real Becky was a horrible actress, but she originated the character. Thankfully Sarah Chalke has gone on to bigger and better things.

    If only they had replaced the kid who played D.J. with a real actor. Alas, that’s another topic.

    posted by hifidigitalboy on 1-10-2008 at 11:14 am

  4. I think Jeremy was on the cover of the first Partridge Family album (the one will all the square on it, much like their bus). I think the album may still be at my mom’s…..

    posted by Audrey on 1-10-2008 at 11:26 am

  5. I hate to admit I used to watch Full House, but cut me a break, everyone did then….

    Remember when Jessy and Becky had the twins, they were infants who were neither crawling nor talking, come back from summer hiatus and they were 3 years old?

    posted by Witty Nickname on 1-10-2008 at 11:50 am

  6. Sarah Chalke has a good sense of humor about it. I’ve seen her refer to herself as “second Becky” in Scrubs commentary and the like.

    posted by Sara on 1-10-2008 at 12:01 pm

  7. Speaking of Full House, did anyone ever notice that Uncle Jesse’s last name in the first season was Cochrane and was later changed to Katsopolis (sp?)? Apparenlty, they wanted him more “Greek”. Opa!

    posted by Marika on 1-10-2008 at 12:02 pm

  8. I never liked the 2nd Chris on PF. Not sure why.

    posted by John on 1-10-2008 at 1:40 pm

  9. Partridge Family was my first foray into pop culture fandom. Only fan club I ever wanted to join as a kid. I had forgotten all about it until now, thanks. The Chris switch was devastating.

    posted by Maci on 1-10-2008 at 2:15 pm

  10. Heck yeah, I remember the ‘first Chris’…I remember him being gone and wondering what happened…there was no internets in those days…

    Sarah Chalke seems to have the last laugh – isn’t she still working on tv? Where’s the ‘first Becky’ now?

    And, this has nothing to do with anything, but weren’t BOTH Darrins gay in real life? Awesome…

    posted by donner on 1-10-2008 at 3:00 pm

  11. I like Dick York better on Bewitched just because I thought his reactions were funnier. Got to meet Dick Sargent
    when I worked near Universal Studios in CA and he was really a nice guy though.

    posted by Sheldon Siegel on 1-10-2008 at 3:04 pm

  12. I always liked how Roseanne poked fun at the switch. The 2 I remember most:
    -End of Chalke’s first episode, during credits, everone is sitting around watching bewitched talking about how much better 1st darren was, and she just says “I dunno… I like the 2nd one better” or something to that effect.
    -1st Becky comes back for the first time and Roseanne just yells “where have you been” and her response was in her room or something like that… I just always like when shows poke fun at themselves

    posted by Will on 1-10-2008 at 3:13 pm

  13. highfidigitalboy – The DJ from Roseanne that everyone remembers was actually the second to play the role. If you ever see the pilot, it’s a different kid. Just like father Mulchahy (sp?) on M*A*S*H.

    posted by Dusty on 1-10-2008 at 3:38 pm

  14. Dusty, I don’t understand the M*A*S*H reference as far as changing Father Mulcahy from the pilot to the show. Everyone was replaced for the show except Radar. (and I bet none of them are very happy about it either.)

    posted by Owen on 1-10-2008 at 4:32 pm

  15. Along the lines of what a few have said, on TFPoBA, a show which constantly broke the “fourth wall”, they made a joke about the baby growing up 4 or so years between seasons, and the replacement of Aunt Viv the season before. The show had a knack of never taking itself too seriously.

    Dear God, why isn’t there anything good on TV at 4am? Am I doomed to watch Fresh Prince reruns for eternity?

    posted by jake on 1-10-2008 at 7:10 pm

  16. I’m still chuckling about Jeremy “Shinbuster” Gelbwaks. No wonder they pointed him in the direction of Albuquerque…

    posted by Joe Maz on 1-10-2008 at 8:56 pm

  17. Owen: Dusty, I don’t understand the M*A*S*H reference as far as changing Father Mulcahy from the pilot to the show. Everyone was replaced for the show except Radar. (and I bet none of them are very happy about it either.)

    In the very first TV episode of M*A*S*H, George Morgan played Father Mulcahy, and was then replaced by William Christopher.

    A few other TV sitcom characters played by more than one actor include:

    Harriet (Family Matters)
    John Boy (Waltons)
    Quinn (Sliders)
    Laurie (That ’70s Show)
    Colleen (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman)
    Lionel (Jeffersons)
    Cagney (Cagney & Lacey)
    Fallon (Dynasty)
    Stephen Carrington (Dynasty)
    Quentin (Grace Under Fire)
    Mr. French (Family Affair)
    Mr. Wilson (Dennis The Menace)
    Marilyn (Munsters)
    Riddler (Batman)
    Mr. Freeze (Batman)
    Catwoman (Batman)
    Nancy Drew (Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Hour)
    Lois (Adventures of Superman)
    Jimmy Olsen (Lois & Clark)
    Morty Seinfeld (Seinfeld)
    Ginger (Gilligan’s Island – similar to the M*A*S*H swicth above)

    posted by gmsc on 1-10-2008 at 10:21 pm

  18. in response to donner’s comment – only dick sargent was gay. dick york was happily married until he died. according to wikipedia:

    In his posthumously-published memoir, The Seesaw Girl and Me, he describes the struggle to break his addiction and to come to grips with the loss of his career. The book is in large part a love letter to his wife, Joan, the seesaw girl of the title, who stuck with him through the hard times.

    posted by tpal on 1-11-2008 at 1:31 pm

  19. I am not proud of it, but I became addicted to Passions for a few years in high school/ college. It was a rough time for me, having to deal with horrible acting, slow-dragging plot arcs, and the very odd and unexplained witch ‘n’ midget scenes. One thing that amazed me was that, in the 4 or so years I watched it, or randomly turned it on since then, I have seen almost all of the major characters played by different people. Out of maybe 10 major characters, I think only 2 or 3 were played by the same people from the beginning of the series to the end. I wondered if so few people watched the show that they wouldn’t care/notice if the actors had changed, or if they honestly thought people wouldn’t notice.

    posted by Molly W. on 1-11-2008 at 2:37 pm

  20. Sarah Chalke stinks. She stank on Roseanne and she stinks even more on Scrubs. What idiot producer thought it would be a good idea to create a MAIN character that was extremely unpleasant (Elliot) and then cast a less-than-attractive actress in that role? If she’s going to be annoying, she should at least be pretty (you know, like… um, most starlets)

    That’s like using a spoonful of ipecac to make the medicine go down…

    posted by Vitajex on 1-11-2008 at 5:23 pm

  21. That is very funny about the PF shinkicker!

    hifidig – Real Becky did have a role in Boys Don’t Cry. Fake Becky was on the big screen in Momma’s Boy but I think Real Becky gets the nod in the movie dept.

    What about the Star Wars prequels? What really bugs me about this one is that it seemed like the casting switch of the part of Anakin between the first and second prequels was ON PURPOSE. I still don’t get it. It seemed a little creepy to me that Natalie Portman became romantic with someone she first met when he was a little boy, and she was a young woman.

    Oh yeah, and the extrication of Valerie Harper from her own show (in the 80′s w/Jason Bateman) … and her subsequent replacement (Sandy Duncan!!! Yuk! Foul!) was a painful high school memory.

    posted by dannyboy on 1-11-2008 at 5:26 pm

  22. I remember quite a few soap opera switches involving plastic surgery or an accident to switch around the characters. Bo from Days of our Lives was switched for a guy who looked nothing like the original, and if I remember correctly (it’s been more than a decade since I watched) switched back. Evil twin anyone?

    posted by Yonit on 1-13-2008 at 9:07 am

  23. I loved it when Jazz, during the first episode with the new Aunt Viv, walks into the kitchen and says to her “Mrs. Banks, since you had that baby, there’s something different about you.” And Will sorta glances over at the camera a few times. Classic Jazz. Original Vivian was much better IMO.

    posted by Peter on 1-18-2008 at 1:33 am

  24. sliders and the waltons were sitcoms?

    posted by daniel whitman on 2-20-2008 at 5:57 pm

  25. On “Any Day Now” they changed the actresses who played Renee and ME as girls in the flashbacks.

    On “Sisters” they changed the actress who played Charlie. Those two looked as alike as the two Chris Partridges.

    posted by Amy W. on 9-20-2008 at 6:08 am

  26. On Law & Order: SVU, two different actresses have played Elliott’s daughter Kathleen–Holiday Segal and Allison Siko. The girls have a similar look but are by no means dead ringers. Fortunately the character appears so infrequently that the change wasn’t too jarring.

    posted by Leah on 11-12-2008 at 4:49 pm

  27. There were 2 characters on Friends that were played by different actresses. In the first episode to feature Ross’s ex wife, Carol was played by Anita Barone. After that, Jane Sibbett took over the role. Jennifer Grey guest starred as Mindy, Rachel’s former best friend. When Rachel wore her \Princess Bubble Yum\ dress to Baryy and Mindy’s wedding at the end of season 2, Mindy was played by Jana Marie Hupp.

    posted by Craig on 10-9-2009 at 11:41 am

  28. I worked with Janet Hubert on an off-Broadway play a few years ago. She told us all that she left Fresh Prince because they wouldn’t give her enough screen time, so the rumors are true. Eventually, she had to be replaced from the off-Broadway show, due to failure to show up. However, she did give all the crew nice Christmas ornaments before she got canned, and every year I proudly display my “Original Aunt Viv” angel.

    posted by Noelle on 10-16-2009 at 5:17 am

  29. what about the landlords from 3′s a company?

    posted by Em on 10-16-2009 at 8:23 am

  30. Em, the difference there is that the 2nd landlord (Ralph Furley) was a completely different character than the 1st (Stanley Roper). They had the same job, but weren’t the same character.

    posted by Sandy Wood on 10-16-2009 at 8:49 am

  31. Another stark difference between the two Chris Partridges is that Chris 2 would occasionally hit a cymbal when he was fake drumming. Chris 1′s cymbals never moved.

    I’m both proud and ashamed that I know that.

    TBV

    posted by TBV on 10-16-2009 at 9:14 am

  32. This wasn’t a switch, but when Jake Burbage left Grounded for Life’s 5th season I was totally confused.They never even explained it.
    Despite being a college student, I’m still a huge fan of Arthur and think its hilarious/sad whenever the voice for a character changes because it’s pretty obvious. At one time, the Brain’s voice was really high-pitched and annoying, but they might have switched it back by this point.

    posted by Olivia on 10-16-2009 at 9:48 am

  33. Nothing to add except:

    reCaptcha: $1.6-mil donuts– I hope they’re as delicious as the price would indicate.

    posted by Geoff on 10-16-2009 at 10:22 am

  34. dannyboy-

    They didn’t replace Valerie Harper on “Valerie’s Family” with Sandy Duncan. They killed Valerie’s character off when the producers decided to focus the show on Jason Bateman’s character, because he became something of a teen idol. Harper said “It’s him or me” and the producers chose him. Sandy Duncan’s character was the boys aunt, IIRC.

    posted by Anthony on 10-16-2009 at 12:53 pm

  35. My personal favorite switch was on the Munsters with Beverly Owens. She had just gotten married and was making more than her husband, and asked to be released from her contract. The producers said no, so suddenly she was ‘sick’ and remained so, until the part was recast with Pat Priest. Not that I think you should make less than your husband, but the idea of doing that for love is cool.

    posted by Wendy on 10-17-2009 at 10:35 pm

  36. The little sister on Boy Meets World did a switch.
    Morgan I think?
    She was gone for a season or two, and then suddenly a new, older actress came down the stairs and said “man, i was grounded for a lonnnnggg time” or something to that effect.
    I vividly remember it, despite being like 9 at the time.

    posted by steph on 10-28-2009 at 1:35 pm

  37. I always thought the first Becky suited the part better. Sarah Chalke didn’t pull off the lower, middle-class look like the first Becky did to me and she wasn’t as funny. I find it interesting that she’s done so well on another comedy since she didn’t seem to have much comedic timing when she was on Rosanne. Also, despite the selfish reasons she got canned, I loved the first Aunt Viv. I couldn’t stand Daphne Reid in the role. She just never fit the character to me.

    posted by trish on 5-19-2010 at 5:27 pm

  38. They incorporated the two Beckies into the opening credits at one point. For each of the characters they had morphs of photos from they were young to when they were older and for Becky they actually used pictures of both actresses. It was funny. The Becky switches were my favorite because they actually acknowledged them in the show.

    posted by Bart on 12-10-2010 at 5:32 pm

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