Some actors own a role so much that any attempt to take it from them completely ruins the character. In some cases, it can totally sink the show. These TV shows and movies took big chances recasting roles, and one way or another, all of them paid the price for it.
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00:00:00Some actors own a role so much that any attempt to take it from them completely ruins the
00:00:05character.
00:00:06In some cases, it can totally sink the show.
00:00:09These TV shows and movies took big chances recasting roles, and one way or another, all
00:00:13of them paid the price for it.
00:00:16Steve Carell was a well-known comic force from The Daily Show and Anchorman, before
00:00:20he got his biggest break with the small-screen comedy series The Office.
00:00:24The show was an American adaptation of the Ricky Gervais BBC sitcom of the same name
00:00:29and became wildly popular with audiences.
00:00:32Carell's film career started to take off shortly thereafter, with starring roles in movies
00:00:36like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine, and Crazy Stupid Love, elevating him to household
00:00:40name status.
00:00:41So, in 2013, when Carell's contract with The Office was up, he opted to walk away from
00:00:46the series even though it was still a critical and ratings hit for NBC.
00:00:50The awkward, lovelorn Michael Scott finally found love with HR director Holly, and they
00:00:55moved away to Colorado.
00:00:57But Dunder Mifflin still needed a boss, and that came in the form of oily, unsettling
00:01:02Robert California, CEO of its parent company, Sabre.
00:01:06Well, I will not be blackmailed by some ineffectual, privileged, effete, soft-a** debutante."
00:01:13And it was all downhill from there.
00:01:15The show's critical favor and viewership numbers took a nosedive, and the series finally came
00:01:19to a close after two Carell-free seasons.
00:01:23After seven seasons of riding on a high — ratings-wise, at least — two of That's 70 Shows' main stars
00:01:29decided to step away from the series.
00:01:31Topher Grace decided to leave the show in order to more fiercely pursue his blossoming
00:01:35film career, and was written out of the eighth season altogether.
00:01:38Meanwhile, Ashton Kutcher decided his time in the bell-bottoms was done, too, but did
00:01:43appear for a few of season eight's early episodes.
00:01:46To replace two very big holes in the cast, producers hired MADtv veteran Josh Myers.
00:01:51This character, Randy, joins Hyde's record store, Grooves, and has a brief relationship
00:01:56with Donna.
00:01:57But Randy didn't have much time to mesh with the ensemble, because the decimated cast led
00:02:01to diminished popularity for the show, and it was ultimately canned at the end of the
00:02:05season.
00:02:06"...you have the right to remain BORN!"
00:02:11Even though Community never had a huge audience during its five-year run on NBC, it was still
00:02:16a critically acclaimed comedy with a passionate cult following.
00:02:19Five seasons was ultimately NBC's limit, but internet giant Yahoo! stepped in and renewed
00:02:24Community for a sixth season, intending to position the comedy as a premiere offering
00:02:29on its streaming service, Yahoo!
00:02:31Screen.
00:02:32Original regulars Joe McHale, Jillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Ken Jeong, and Alison Brie followed
00:02:37the series to Yahoo!, but the show had already been losing cast members left and right, and
00:02:42kept losing them as it transitioned to streaming.
00:02:44Chevy Chase, Donald Glover, and Yvette Nicole Brown were not part of the regular cast of
00:02:48Community's sixth season.
00:02:50New actors were added, including Keith David and Paget Brewster, but it just didn't work
00:02:55out, and there was no seventh season of Community on Yahoo!
00:02:58Screen.
00:02:59Or anywhere.
00:03:00Not enough people tuned in, and the show didn't generate as much advertising revenue as Yahoo!
00:03:05had hoped.
00:03:06The revenue was so small that it effectively led to the complete shutdown of Yahoo!
00:03:10Screen.
00:03:11Show may be canceled and moved to the internet where it turns out tens of millions were watching
00:03:14the whole time.
00:03:15May not matter.
00:03:16Fake commercial may end with disclaimer gag which may descend into vain Chuck Lorre-esque
00:03:18rant by narcissistic creator.
00:03:19The Prisoner of Azkaban might still be a favorite among some Harry Potter fans, thanks to the
00:03:24arrival of Sirius Black and that wild, whomping willow.
00:03:28But the fact remains that it's the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise, and for many, the
00:03:32subdued enthusiasm seems to stem from the unfortunate arrival of a new Hogwarts headmaster
00:03:38in the film.
00:03:39Richard Harris' take on Albus Dumbledore in the first two movies had become definitive
00:03:43for Potter fans, so when the actor died after a battle with Hodgkin's disease, the filmmakers
00:03:48had to turn to another actor to step into the beloved professor's cloak.
00:03:52Michael Gambon seemed like a fine choice to conjure up for the franchise, but his performance
00:03:56in his first run as Dumbledore was stunted by the fact that he'd never read the books.
00:04:01Rather than resuming Harris' spellbindingly calm and wise demeanor, Gambon delivered a
00:04:06much more stern and aggressive version of the character for his first few outings.
00:04:11Harrick, you put your name in the cup of the fire!
00:04:13No, sir!
00:04:14Did you ask one of the older students to do it for you?
00:04:16No, sir!
00:04:17You're absolutely sure?
00:04:19Gambon would later summon up the same sort of chill pill that saved the role from being
00:04:23ruined for children across the globe.
00:04:25But these moments of mismatching between the beloved book character and the screen interpretation
00:04:29still cost the movies many house points in the eyes of the true Potter fanatics.
00:04:35Few actors perfectly embody their comic book counterparts quite like the cast of Marvel
00:04:39Cinematic Universe's Phase One.
00:04:41Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, and Samuel L. Jackson
00:04:47as Nick Fury were certainly inspired, as was Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, aka the Incredible
00:04:53Hulk.
00:04:54Appearing as the angry green giant in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, Norton's portrayal of
00:04:59the runaway scientist felt ripped from the original Marvel comics themselves.
00:05:04Not only was Norton able to deftly balance Bruce's struggles with mental health and his
00:05:08desire for impossible intimacy, but his Hulk was also fierce, powerful, and best embodied
00:05:14the character's rage.
00:05:15But then Norton exited the MCU, never to return.
00:05:18In 2014, he told The Hollywood Reporter,
00:05:21"...my feeling was that I experimented and experienced what I wanted to.
00:05:25I really, really enjoyed it.
00:05:27And yet, I looked at the balance of time and life that one spends not only making those
00:05:31sorts of films, but then especially putting them out, and the obligations that rightly
00:05:36come with that."
00:05:37Though for 2012's grand team-up feature The Avengers, Marvel recast Mark Ruffalo as Bruce
00:05:43Banner.
00:05:44"...That's my secret, Captain.
00:05:49I'm always angry."
00:05:50Ruffalo has played the reluctant hero ever since, but unfortunately, his more comedic
00:05:54take on the character feels too far removed from Norton's intricately complex dive into
00:05:59Bruce Banner's psyche.
00:06:01In this case, at least, it seems like the MCU opted for style over substance.
00:06:06Another error in Judgment from the Batman universe occurred when Michael Keaton handed
00:06:10over the keys for Wayne Manor to Val Kilmer.
00:06:13Keaton had portrayed the role in 1989's Batman and its sequel Batman Returns, but he refused
00:06:18to reprise the role in a third film after reading the screenplay.
00:06:21When pressed for details, Keaton later said that the script he was shown sucked, and that
00:06:25it was just awful, pointing the blame for his departure squarely at the writers.
00:06:29Val Kilmer clearly didn't share Keaton's opinion.
00:06:32The Tombstone star accepted the role and went into the film knowing he'd have to contend
00:06:36with a wide cast of wacky villains, as well as a new director.
00:06:40Joel Schumacher ultimately shouldered a lot of the blame for the badness of Batman Forever,
00:06:44though his leading man didn't escape criticism.
00:06:46"...What am I?"
00:06:49"...Please!
00:06:50You're as blind as a bat!"
00:06:54He was quickly replaced with George Clooney in Batman & Robin.
00:06:58The good news for Kilmer is that Clooney's turn as the Dark Knight wasn't any more love
00:07:02than his own, and soon everyone forgot about Kilmer's turn in the Batmobile.
00:07:06"...Forget it, take it off.
00:07:09It's Val Kilmer."
00:07:12"...Oh, you're an actor."
00:07:15Billy Dee Williams played a pre-disfigured version of Harvey Dent in Tim Burton's 1989
00:07:20Batman.
00:07:21Dent's appearance was no doubt meant to tease the character's on-screen future as Two-Face,
00:07:26a turn he finally made in Batman Forever.
00:07:29But in that film, it wasn't Williams facing off against the Dark Knight, but Tommy Lee
00:07:33Jones, but many forget that Williams' Dent and Jones' Two-Face are meant to be one and
00:07:38the same.
00:07:39"...Very few people are both a summer and a winter, but you pull it off nicely."
00:07:48Of course, there's a clear difference between the two iterations of the character.
00:07:52Appearance aside, Williams' Dent is a charismatic leader, hoping to use his status to change
00:07:56the hearts and minds of voters.
00:07:58On the contrary, Jones' Two-Face isn't much more than a maniacal sidekick to Jim Carrey's
00:08:03over-the-top Riddler, which only makes Batman Forever feel all the more outlandish.
00:08:08Roger Ebert may have once deemed Forever better than Batman Returns, but the movie's strange
00:08:13tone and misuse of Tommy Lee Jones make it a controversial Bat-flick to this day.
00:08:18In 2021, DC Comics published a comic continuation to Batman and Batman Returns that follows
00:08:24the Michael Keaton incarnation of the Dark Knight.
00:08:26Written by Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm, the series revives Williams' version of Harvey
00:08:31Dent and chronicles the character's troubled turn into Two-Face, thus establishing the
00:08:36events of Forever as an alternate timeline.
00:08:39Live-action Bruce Wayans tend to find a new love interest in each installment of the Batman
00:08:43franchise.
00:08:44From Kim Basinger's Vicki Vale to Nicole Kidman's Dr. Chase Meridian, the Dark Knight certainly
00:08:49gets around.
00:08:50Following Christopher Nolan's visionary take on the character's origins, a new Bat-love
00:08:54was born.
00:08:55In 2005's Batman Begins, Katie Holmes played Bruce Wayne's childhood friend-turned-love
00:09:01interest Rachel Dawes.
00:09:03At the end of the film, Rachel tells Bruce that they can only be together when Gotham
00:09:07City no longer needs Batman, setting up an intriguing arc for the two characters.
00:09:12However, Holmes quit Nolan's Batman sequel in favor of the buddy comedy Mad Money.
00:09:17She was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight.
00:09:20No doubt Gyllenhaal delivers an excellent performance, and she certainly fits the tone
00:09:24of the sequel, but it's hard to believe that this Rachel is the same character as Holmes.
00:09:29Not only is Gyllenhaal's Rachel more cavalier than her Begins counterpart, but she doesn't
00:09:33seem as personally invested in Bruce as she did before.
00:09:36Sure, some of that is due to plot reasons, namely her romance with Harvey Dent, but it
00:09:41also may be that Gyllenhaal simply didn't have the same chemistry with Christian Bale
00:09:45as her predecessor.
00:09:47When Suits hit airwaves in 2011, critics had positive but somewhat mixed reviews on the
00:09:52premise, which turned the tired legal drama format on its head with the introduction of
00:09:57Mike Ross, a wannabe lawyer without a degree, and Harvey Spector, the hotshot attorney who
00:10:03mentored him.
00:10:04Shot in Toronto, the series wound up being a massive hit for the network and was considered
00:10:09the last of its Blue Skies era.
00:10:11Hey, you ready for this?
00:10:13Yeah, I am.
00:10:15However, that all ended in 2017, when Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle, who played Mike
00:10:21Ross and his love interest Rachel Zane, respectively, announced they were leaving the show after
00:10:26seven seasons.
00:10:28At that point, another original series star, Gina Torres, also exited, leaving the cast
00:10:33down three members.
00:10:35As a result, the show brought on Dulé Hill and Katherine Heigl, while upping Amanda
00:10:39Shull from recurring to full-time status in Season 8.
00:10:43However, the new mix of characters didn't resonate as well as the old-school ones, and
00:10:48the show wrapped for good in Season 9.
00:10:51Now this is a story all about how the casting on Fresh Prince got turned upside down.
00:10:56Fans everywhere are familiar with the behind-the-scenes strife that went down between Will Smith and
00:11:00original Aunt Viv actress Janet Hubert, who played the role for three notable seasons
00:11:05before refusing to renew her contract under what she considered to be a bad deal.
00:11:10As a result, she exited the show, and she was replaced by Daphne Maxwell-Reed, an actor
00:11:15who was originally considered for the role but refused to audition because a TV show
00:11:19starring a young rapper didn't sound like her thing.
00:11:22There are a lot of sick, demented perverts out there.
00:11:26Greetings, all!
00:11:29Although The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air went on for three more seasons with the new Aunt
00:11:32Viv, there was no replacing Hubert's comedic timing.
00:11:36Later, when Smith got the game back together for the 2020 reunion, he and Hubert sat down
00:11:41for the first time to finally iron things out.
00:11:44The result was the two Aunt Vivs meeting for the very first time, as many fans wondered
00:11:49what the show could have been had Hubert stayed on after all.
00:11:53It's no secret that the children on Tim Allen's Last Man Standing changed pretty drastically
00:11:58over the show's run.
00:11:59Amanda Fuller joined the project in Season 2 as Kristen Baxter, replacing Alexandra
00:12:04Crosney, who originated the role.
00:12:07Then there's the fact that four different actors have played the part of Kristen's son,
00:12:11Boyd, as the character has aged over the years.
00:12:14But it was Molly Ephraim's exit from the series following Season 6 that really threw Last
00:12:18Man Standing fans for a loop.
00:12:21As middle child Mandy, Ephraim had her share of meaty storylines that made her a show fixture.
00:12:26But when ABC canceled Last Man Standing in 2017 and Fox revived it for a seventh-season
00:12:32run, Ephraim didn't go with it.
00:12:34She'd signed up for new projects and was unable to return.
00:12:38Molly McCook was cast in her place, and although the series lasted three seasons on Fox before
00:12:42its cancellation in 2021, the character was just never the same.
00:12:48From 1998 to 2007, Kevin James and Leah Remini starred on the popular CBS sitcom King of
00:12:54Queens.
00:12:55James would go on to star in a string of movies like Grown Ups and Paul Blart's Mall Cop,
00:12:59but in 2016 he returned to the weekly CBS sitcom grind with Kevin Can Wait.
00:13:04James portrayed Kevin Gable, a family man who has to delay retiring from his police job
00:13:08due to family and money issues.
00:13:10Playing opposite James was Erin Hayes as Kevin's wife Donna Gable.
00:13:13At least, that's how it was for the first season.
00:13:15Kevin Can Wait producers revamped the show for Season 2.
00:13:18They killed off Donna Gable and fired Hayes.
00:13:20James explained the decision to the New York Daily News by saying,
00:13:23"...we were literally just running out of ideas."
00:13:25They also brought in a new face, who was really a familiar face.
00:13:29Surprisingly, Leah Remini joined Kevin Can Wait as Kevin's business partner, Vanessa.
00:13:33However, the nostalgic rebooting couldn't overcome the weird behind-the-scenes shake-up,
00:13:38and ratings actually dropped in Season 2.
00:13:40After the conclusion of the sitcom's second ill-fated season, CBS didn't wait to cancel
00:13:44Kevin.
00:13:46Step by Step was an ABC sitcom about Carol and Frank Lambert, two single parents who
00:13:50bring their families together.
00:13:52In addition to all their kids, Frank's nephew Cody lived in a van outside the house.
00:13:56Cody was the good-natured, air-headed California dude, basically a sitcom version of Ted from
00:14:00Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
00:14:02"...and I'm Ted Theodore Logan!"
00:14:05Affable and enthusiastic acting by Sacha Mitchell made the character a fan favorite, but in
00:14:101995, when Mitchell was arrested for spousal assault, he was convicted later that year,
00:14:15and sentenced to three years of probation and spousal abuse counseling.
00:14:19Mitchell wound up behind bars for violating his parole, and reportedly attacked his wife
00:14:23again.
00:14:24At the beginning of the sixth season of Step by Step, Cody was gone, replaced by Jean-Luc,
00:14:28a heavily-accented hairdresser colleague of Carol's.
00:14:31Playing Jean-Luc was Bronson Pinchot, best known for playing the excitable, heavily-accented
00:14:35bulky on Perfect Strangers and the excitable, heavily-accented Serge in Beverly Hills Cop.
00:14:40The new cast addition didn't work, and ABC canceled Step by Step at the end of the season.
00:14:45The show then moved to CBS for a final year, without Pinchot.
00:14:50In the original X-Men films, team leader Scott Summers was played by James Marsden.
00:14:55Though he was written a bit too much like a jealous boyfriend at times, Marsden did
00:14:58a decent job bringing this Marvel hero to life, especially when it came to his dynamic
00:15:03with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.
00:15:04But by the time X-Men The Last Stand came around, the actor had decided to star in Superman
00:15:10Returns, forcing Cyclops' untimely demise.
00:15:13Thankfully, once Wolverine fixed the timeline in X-Men Days of Future Past, Scott was resurrected,
00:15:19giving us a new hope for his future.
00:15:21And then he was recast.
00:15:23X-Men Apocalypse, the direct sequel to First Class and Days of Future Past, introduced
00:15:27audiences to a younger Scott Summers, one who has yet to grow into the hero embodied
00:15:33by Marsden in the original trilogy.
00:15:35Played by Ty Sheridan, Cyclops is no longer the field leader of the X-Men, nor does he
00:15:39have much agency in a movie that mostly centers on Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique.
00:15:45Despite Sheridan's struggle to bring Cyclops to life in Apocalypse and its sequel, Dark
00:15:49Phoenix, James Marsden supported his successor, citing the young actor's role in Mudd as a
00:15:54particular accomplishment.
00:15:56In 2015, he told HitFix,
00:15:58"...I think he's a wonderfully talented actor.
00:16:00I think he's a perfect fit."
00:16:02Many planned Superman projects failed to come to fruition in the years after 1987's resoundingly
00:16:08terrible Superman IV, The Quest for Peace.
00:16:11Nearly 20 years later, The Man of Steel returned to the big screen for 2006's Superman Returns.
00:16:17Director Bryan Singer's take on DC's prized property proved to be a solid enough platform
00:16:22to take the franchise forward, though the vast budget meant that the movie wasn't a
00:16:26financial success.
00:16:27That said, Brandon Routh's turn as the Man of Steel drew praise from many, with Newsweek
00:16:33in particular gushing over Routh for the way in which the newcomer effortlessly lays claim
00:16:38to the iconic role.
00:16:39The outlet even favorably compared him to Christopher Reeve.
00:16:42Although DC intended to produce a sequel to Superman Returns, every year that passed made
00:16:47it less likely to happen.
00:16:49Despite Routh making it quite clear that he wanted to don the red cape again, the studio
00:16:53opted to reboot the franchise with Man of Steel, a Zack Snyder reboot fronted by Henry
00:16:59Cavill.
00:17:00Trouble is, Snyder's film took the aspect of Superman Returns that people didn't like
00:17:04— the morose, humorless tone — and amplified it.
00:17:08Cavill's downbeat portrayal of the titular hero has been criticized for being too brooding
00:17:13and too dark, leading to a Superman film that's practically devoid of joy.
00:17:17Halle Berry taking over Michelle Pfeiffer's role in Catwoman is perhaps the most infamous
00:17:21example of recasting going terribly wrong.
00:17:24DC's leather-clad heroine has appeared in numerous Batman adaptations over the years,
00:17:29but Pfeiffer's psychotically sexy performance in Tim Burton's Batman Returns remains the
00:17:34cat's meow.
00:17:35I don't know about you, Miss Kitty, but I feel so much yummier."
00:17:42The actress initially intended to reprise the role in the solo spinoff, but after years
00:17:46of development woes, her patience reached its limit and she decided to concentrate on
00:17:51other commitments.
00:17:52After a rigorous recruiting process, Berry was ultimately chosen to climb into the catsuit.
00:17:57And what a mess it all was.
00:17:59The film was a complete disaster, bombing hard at the box office while cleaning up at
00:18:03the Razzie's.
00:18:04Berry took her worst actress win in good humor, and even turned up to accept her award in
00:18:08person.
00:18:10For its first six seasons, The X-Files was a huge hit for Fox and made its on-screen
00:18:14pair of paranormal investigators international stars.
00:18:18But prior to the start of the series' seventh season, David Duchovny sued the network, claiming
00:18:23that it had sold rights to reruns of the show at a discount to its own affiliates and cheated
00:18:28the stars out of profits.
00:18:29While the lawsuit was eventually settled, it was filed right when Duchovny was negotiating
00:18:34working on future seasons of the show, and neither he nor Fox were keen to continue working
00:18:38together.
00:18:39So, a deal was reached.
00:18:41Duchovny's character, Fox Mulder, would mysteriously disappear at the end of season 7, and would
00:18:46only appear in a handful of episodes in season 8.
00:18:49But Gillian Anderson's agent Scully still needed someone to work with in his absence,
00:18:53so producers auditioned dozens of actors and eventually settled on Robert Patrick to come
00:18:58in as FBI agent John Doggett.
00:19:00Another actress was also hired in case Anderson decided to leave the show after her contract
00:19:05ended, too.
00:19:06It didn't matter much, though, because without Duchovny in his regular role, viewers tuned
00:19:09out.
00:19:10You saved me.
00:19:12As difficult and as frustrating as it's been sometimes, your g----- damn strict rationalism
00:19:16and science would save me a thousand times over.
00:19:19This comedy about medical interns desperately trying to figure out what they were doing
00:19:23as they worked in a hospital was a critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated hit over its first
00:19:28few seasons on NBC.
00:19:29The network dropped the show after seven seasons, only to see ABC pick it up.
00:19:34The show's writers and cast prepared a true series finale at the end of the year, only
00:19:39for ABC to unexpectedly renew the series again for season 9.
00:19:43But star Zach Braff, the focus of the show as young Dr. John Dorian, was ready to move
00:19:48on to other things.
00:19:50Onward!
00:19:51Yee-haw!
00:19:52Oh, good God.
00:19:56So the show was retooled and rebooted, no longer taking place at a teaching hospital,
00:20:00but at a medical school.
00:20:02Dr. Cox and Dr. Turk were now teachers instead of active surgeons.
00:20:06I'm just back to teach some classes.
00:20:09Replacing Braff as the center of the show and narrator was Dr. Lucy Bennett, but the
00:20:13big changes were too much to take, and the ninth season of Scrubs was also its last.
00:20:19This ABC sitcom was forced to reformat after the unexpected death of its star.
00:20:24Eight Simple Rules was built around TV legend John Ritter, who starred as a cranky suburban
00:20:29dad desperately trying to rein in his wild teenage children.
00:20:32Filming had just begun on the second season of the series when Ritter fell ill on the
00:20:37set and sought medical treatment.
00:20:39He died later that day of a heart defect that had never been diagnosed.
00:20:42ABC announced that the show would go on, and it did, with some necessary changes.
00:20:47No longer a show about a cranky dad, it became one about a family trying to pick up the pieces
00:20:53after the death of its patriarch.
00:20:55Two new stars joined the cast to fill the void left by Ritter, cousin CJ and grandpa
00:21:00Jim.
00:21:01But without Ritter, the show only lasted another season before being shelved for good.
00:21:05Actor-musician Steve Burns beat out roughly 1,000 other actors in 1996 for the only human
00:21:11role on Blue's Clues, Nickelodeon's interactive, animation-live-action hybrid show for preschoolers.
00:21:18Burns played the striped-shirted host and owner of the cartoon dog named Blue.
00:21:22He'd talk directly to the young viewers at home, urging them to help solve each episode's
00:21:26riddle or mystery by yelling things at their screens.
00:21:29In 2002, after about 100 episodes, Burns decided it was time to leave the series.
00:21:35He wanted to take on other roles, as well as perform music.
00:21:38Nickelodeon hired actor Donovan Patton to be the new host of Blue's Clues, playing Steve's
00:21:43younger brother, Joe.
00:21:44So as not to traumatize or confuse the show's very young viewers, Steve carefully explained
00:21:49that he was leaving for college, and Joe would be looking after Blue.
00:21:54Patton as Joe proved to be the gentle and affable host Blue's Clues needed, but he just
00:22:00couldn't replace someone so closely associated with the role to an army of toddlers.
00:22:04After around 50 episodes with Patton as Joe, Blue's Clues was canceled.
00:22:09Today, Back to the Future stands as a timeless classic that continues to delight audiences
00:22:14of all ages.
00:22:15Crispin Glover played the role of Marty's father, George, in arguably his most iconic
00:22:20role.
00:22:21From cowardly creep to confident ladies' man, George undergoes the most significant transformation
00:22:26in the trilogy, both on and off camera.
00:22:29In fact, some might not even realize that Glover didn't return for Back to the Future
00:22:33Part 2, in which he was replaced by Jeffrey Weissman, wearing Glover-inspired prosthetics.
00:22:39Despite having fully recast Jennifer Parker for the sequels, the filmmakers opted to hide
00:22:44their new George McFly via prosthetics and clever filmmaking techniques that made it
00:22:48nearly impossible to spot the fake.
00:22:51Originally, co-writer and co-producer Bob Gale claimed that Glover quit due to a pay
00:22:56dispute, but Glover himself has denied this on a number of occasions.
00:23:00Instead, he says, he was removed from the burgeoning franchise after voicing his distaste
00:23:05for the ending of the original movie, which he believed implied that the McFly's happiness
00:23:10was dependent on material wealth.
00:23:12Whoa, this is heavy.
00:23:14For Part 2, the filmmakers spliced footage of Glover's performance from the first film,
00:23:19added new material with Weissman, and killed off George McFly in the alternate 1985 to
00:23:25keep audiences from discovering the truth.
00:23:27It worked well enough, but upon re-watch, it's clear how hard director Robert Zemeckis
00:23:32tried to hide the fact that Glover wasn't involved.
00:23:35Perhaps unsurprisingly, Glover was less than thrilled about his face being used without
00:23:39his permission.
00:23:40Years later, he told The A.V. Club,
00:23:42"...they thought that was funny.
00:23:43They knew that they could basically torment me, either financially or by... what ultimately
00:23:49was an illegal thing to do.
00:23:50I'm sure they laughed and joked about it."
00:23:53Hugo Weaving's absence was sorely felt in The Matrix Resurrections.
00:23:57That's not to say that Jonathan Groff, who replaced Weaving as the villainous program
00:24:01known as Smith, is not a talented actor.
00:24:04Sadly, he had huge shoes to fill.
00:24:06Even in Reloaded and Revolutions, Weaving shines brightest among the cast, while Ian
00:24:11Bliss tackles an inspired impersonation when the character takes over a human host.
00:24:16But the fourth time was not the charm.
00:24:19Mr. Anderson!
00:24:24Considering Weaving's iconic turn as Smith, a new version of the character needed to feel
00:24:28either identical or significantly different from the original in order to work.
00:24:32Unfortunately, Groff's portrayal in Resurrections is neither.
00:24:35Deemed an algorithm of unoriginality by The Guardian, the fourth Matrix movie failed to
00:24:40recapture what made the relationship between Neo and Smith so special.
00:24:44And that's due at least in part to Weaving's absence.
00:24:48Weaving wasn't the only actor replaced in The Matrix Resurrections.
00:24:51Lawrence Fishburne played Morpheus in all three installments of the original trilogy,
00:24:55as well as the in-canon Matrix Online video game, which chronicled the character's death.
00:25:00Because of his work in The Matrix, Fishburne has become a Hollywood staple.
00:25:03He even reunited with former co-star Keanu Reeves on multiple occasions in the John Wick
00:25:08series.
00:25:09At last.
00:25:11Rather than keep Morpheus in the grave, The Matrix Resurrections resurrects the character,
00:25:15now played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
00:25:20At last.
00:25:22I wasn't too sure about the callback, but, you know, it's just…
00:25:27Much like Agent Smith's recasting, Abdul-Mateen makes a valiant attempt to bring Morpheus
00:25:32back to life.
00:25:33This Morpheus isn't the original, but rather a program meant to help Neo achieve his destiny,
00:25:38which makes this red pill a little easier to swallow.
00:25:41Nevertheless, the lack of Fishburne no doubt contributed to the critical and commercial
00:25:46failures of Resurrections.
00:25:47The 30 Matrix sequel has proved that it's nearly impossible to recapture what made the
00:25:51original great, but at least the first two follow-ups retained most of their original
00:25:56casts.
00:25:58Compared to the first two James Cameron films, it's understandable why most folks disliked
00:26:02Terminator 3, Rise of the Machines.
00:26:04The movie tries a bit too hard with the jokes, and aside from John Connor's compelling character
00:26:09arc, it doesn't really break any new ground.
00:26:11Still, one of the strongest aspects of T3 is the budding romance between John and a
00:26:16young Kate Brewster, who learns all about Skynet, Terminators, and Judgment Day just
00:26:22a day or so before it occurs.
00:26:23The end of the world is today, three hours from now.
00:26:30Two hours and 53 minutes.
00:26:32So when the movie ends and John and Kate are trapped underground, we're left to wonder,
00:26:36what's next?
00:26:37Half a decade later, Terminator Salvation replaced Nick Stahl's John Connor with Christian
00:26:42Bale and Claire Dane's Kate Brewster with Bryce Dallas Howard.
00:26:46Compared to Danes, Howard's portrayal is fairly one-note, though to be fair, she hasn't given
00:26:50half as much to do as her predecessor.
00:26:52Salvation barely even centers around John Connor, let alone Kate, so it's no surprise
00:26:57that Howard had little to work with.
00:26:59In a 2009 interview with CinemaBlend, the actor shared,
00:27:02"...the way that my character best serviced the film was being kind of an emotional sounding
00:27:07board for John Connor."
00:27:09Following in the footsteps of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise
00:27:13was never going to be easy for any actress.
00:27:16Salvation gave a performance so layered and compelling that even the most talented performers
00:27:19have struggled to do the character justice.
00:27:22The first to give it a shot was Lena Headey, who was cast in the role in the short-lived
00:27:25TV series Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
00:27:29Fox canceled the show after two seasons, citing its high cost as a reason.
00:27:33But Headey's Game of Thrones colleague Emilia Clarke was willing to give it another go on
00:27:37the silver screen for Terminator Genisys.
00:27:40The film was a box office dud, and was heavily criticized for using the old time travel chestnut
00:27:45to rewrite the beginning of the Terminator story to suit the filmmakers' purposes.
00:27:49The main problem wasn't the infuriatingly muddled timeline, though.
00:27:54It was the casting.
00:27:55As much as TV lovers might dig Clarke's portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones,
00:28:00the film crowd was decidedly not wowed by her run as Sarah Connor, where her line deliveries
00:28:06packed a lot less punch than the original.
00:28:08"...Come with me if you want to live!"
00:28:13Pass
00:28:14One of the few things that Terminator Genisys did well was recreate the opening sequence
00:28:19from the original James Cameron movie.
00:28:21From the de-aged Arnold Schwarzenegger to the rebuilt sets, the 1984 sequence is an
00:28:25exquisite duplication that totally holds up to the original.
00:28:29Of course, Genisys diverges from there, with the biggest change being the lack of 80s action
00:28:34icon Michael Biehn.
00:28:35"...Come with me if you want to live!"
00:28:38While Emilia Clarke sort of resembles Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor, Jai Courtney looks
00:28:43absolutely nothing like the Kyle Reese we're used to.
00:28:46To its credit, 2009's Terminator Salvation featured a younger version of the character,
00:28:51one that still embodied the Kyle we all know and love.
00:28:54"...Come with me if you want to live!"
00:28:57But Courtney, who lacks a certain kind of charisma, doesn't translate well at all.
00:29:02Unfortunately, Genisys was already a mess and a half to begin with, and a planned series
00:29:07of movies was quickly canceled after the movie faced an increasingly negative reception.
00:29:12Unsurprisingly, Kyle Reese hasn't appeared in a Terminator movie since.
00:29:16Have you heard the one about the two Beckys?
00:29:18When Roseanne kicked off its first iteration back in 1988, it was actor Lisey Gorenson
00:29:23who originated the role of Becky, the eldest child to Dan and Roseanne.
00:29:28Fast forward to Season 5, though, and Gorenson had enrolled in college, and as a result,
00:29:33she was only available to film part-time, usually for a phone conversation.
00:29:38The following year, producers wanted Becky back in a more permanent role, so they recast
00:29:42her with Sarah Chalk.
00:29:44That was fine, but things got complicated when Gorenson briefly returned in Season 8
00:29:49after finishing school.
00:29:51The following year, Chalk was back in the role, and the two Beckys became a running
00:29:55thing that frustrated some viewers.
00:29:57To their relief, both actors were asked back for the Roseanne revival in 2018, but only
00:30:02Gorenson returned to play Becky.
00:30:04Producers hired Chalk to instead play a character named Andrea, who asked Becky to be her surrogate
00:30:09in a clever wink to the whole situation.
00:30:12For five and a half seasons, Nashville fans followed Connie Britton's superstar character,
00:30:17Raina James, as she balanced motherhood singing and reconnecting with her one true love, Deacon
00:30:23Claiborne.
00:30:24But that all came crashing down when Britton shocked fans and exited the series in 2017
00:30:30with a devastating storyline that left her family all alone.
00:30:34It turned out Britton was ready for a change, but she was having a hard time of letting
00:30:37go of the people she worked with.
00:30:40So when C&T revived Nashville for a fifth season after ABC axed it at the end of its
00:30:44run in 2016, Britton decided it was finally time to move on.
00:30:49After the fictional singer's death, there were plenty of other characters to root for,
00:30:53and the show may have ultimately survived.
00:30:55But then the writers introduced Kaitlyn Doubleday as Jessie Kane, a new love interest for Deacon,
00:31:01and loyal fans were definitely not happy.
00:31:03The series took a bit of a dive, and Season 6 ultimately wound up being the last.
00:31:09Today, Beverly Hills 90210 is also known as TV's most famous zip code.
00:31:14But before the show earned that status, its original cast had to win over primetime fans
00:31:19with its older actors and soapy storylines.
00:31:22Enter Jason Priestley and Shannon Doherty as the famous Walsh twins, Brandon and Brenda.
00:31:27From the start, fans were into their chemistry with the show's other original cast members.
00:31:32But behind the scenes, it was a different story.
00:31:35Reports of on-set tension between Doherty and the rest of the cast — specifically
00:31:39Jenny Garth — surfaced, and in 1994, Doherty was axed from the show for good.
00:31:45That year, she was replaced by Tiffany Thiessen, who had her own fan base from her days as
00:31:49Kelly on Saved by the Bell.
00:31:51But not all fans were into the new character, Valerie Malone, a family friend of the Walshes.
00:31:56It was clear Val was meant to replace Brenda, but Saved by the Bell fans weren't sure how
00:32:01to receive this new adult version of the actor.
00:32:03Meanwhile, the character had her moments, but she was no Brenda, and the tone of the
00:32:07series changed with her casting.
00:32:09She stayed on for most of the rest of the series.
00:32:12But to this day, you can ask any 90210 fan which character they relate to most, and you
00:32:18probably won't find many Valerie stans out there.
00:32:22Throughout its eight-season run, House had a history of replacing characters to switch
00:32:26up the storyline and keep things fresh.
00:32:28But Season 7 is when the casting situation really got out of control.
00:32:32That year, Olivia Wilde took a leave of absence from her fan-favorite gig as Thirteen to film
00:32:38Cowboys & Aliens, while original actor Lisa Edelstein announced her departure as Dr. Lisa
00:32:43Cuddy.
00:32:44Considering the shakeups, it seemed pretty clear to longtime fans that the series was
00:32:48nearing its expiration date.
00:32:50To try and inject new life into the show, producers hired Odette Annable and Charlene
00:32:55Yee to play the latest fellows alongside Amber Tamblyn, but the new crew never quite lived
00:33:01up to the original cast.
00:33:02And as Season 8 was in progress, Fox announced that it would also be the show's last.
00:33:071981's The Clash of the Titans attempted to give Greek mythology the Star Wars treatment,
00:33:13taking the story of Perseus and turning it into a sprawling epic.
00:33:17Director Desmond Davis went with Harry Hamlin in the role of Perseus, a son of Zeus who
00:33:21in legend beheads the Gorgon Medusa in order to save his beloved Princess Andromeda from
00:33:26a giant kraken.
00:33:27Hamlin remains active in the industry, though he's still arguably best remembered for his
00:33:32turn as Perseus.
00:33:33The same cannot be said for Sam Worthington, best known as the star of James Cameron's
00:33:38budding Avatar franchise.
00:33:40Director Louis Leterrier entrusted the Australian with the lead role in his 2010 remake, though
00:33:45his choice was called into question when the negative reviews started to pour in.
00:33:48Worthington's earned his share of acclaim over the years, but the Titans remake is one
00:33:53release he most likely wouldn't mind leaving off his resume.
00:33:56Quick Flix's Simon Murato questioned how Worthington had ever managed to become a Hollywood actor
00:34:02after watching his performance as Perseus, in which he does nothing but glare.
00:34:06His battle speeches are neither rousing nor particularly intelligible.
00:34:11The first RoboCop stars Peter Weller as the titular cyborg.
00:34:15He roams a dystopian, crime-ridden version of Detroit, mercilessly dealing with lawbreakers.
00:34:20Weller reprised the role in RoboCop 2, but turned down the chance to play him again in
00:34:24a third movie.
00:34:25Producers needed a replacement, and their hearts were apparently set on a little-known
00:34:29actor named Robert John Burke.
00:34:31In a 2015 interview, Burke said,
00:34:33"'In God's Great Earth,' they thought I was the only actor who could do it.
00:34:37I don't know why.
00:34:38I think physically I poked like Peter Weller, and I had also had extensive karate training,
00:34:43pantomime training, and body training, and I fit the suit."
00:34:46Unsurprisingly, handing the lead role over to the relatively inexperienced Burke just
00:34:50because he kind of resembled Weller didn't work out very well.
00:34:54He may have looked like him in the suit, but as The New York Times said in its review of
00:34:57the box office bomb,
00:34:58"...Burke is lacking his forerunner's tongue-in-cheek glint of authoritarian machismo."
00:35:03"'You have the right to an attorney?'
00:35:05"'What is this?'
00:35:06No!"
00:35:08From his delivery to the way he moved, Burke just wasn't as convincing as RoboCop.
00:35:12As Empire noted, he appeared to be a lot less comfortable with the hardware.
00:35:18Despite its name, 1984's Friday the 13th Part 4 The Final Chapter was far from the last
00:35:23installment in this long-running horror franchise.
00:35:26In fact, eight more films have been made since the so-called final chapter, though the one
00:35:30that directly followed it marked a major drop-off in quality.
00:35:34Part 4 has been described as
00:35:35"...one of the last really excellent horror romps that focus on character, dynamic, and
00:35:40family."
00:35:41As John Vasquez of Cinema Crazed praised Corey Feldman for his standout performance as young
00:35:46Tommy Jarvis, Feldman went on to make a name for himself in The Goonies, Stand By Me, and
00:35:50The Lost Boys, though before he did, he reprised his Friday the 13th role in 1985's Part 5
00:35:56A New Beginning.
00:35:57Unfortunately, he only appeared in the prologue, and a time jump meant he was replaced by the
00:36:02painfully dull John Shepard.
00:36:04Teenage Tommy was static compared to his younger self, though Shepard shouldn't shoulder the
00:36:09blame entirely.
00:36:10Some blamed what they called the ham-fisted directing of David Steinman, while James Kendrick
00:36:15of Q Network argued that
00:36:16"...the gory antics are so restrained by the insistence of the MPAA rating system that
00:36:21the film feels like it was edited with one of Jason's bloody rusty weapons."
00:36:26Some movies should never be remade.
00:36:28We don't need another Citizen Kane, Casablanca, or Vertigo, for example, and we certainly
00:36:33didn't need another Psycho.
00:36:35What's worse is that director Gus Van Sant chose to remake the film nearly shot for shot.
00:36:40Even copying some of Alfred Hitchcock's signature camera movements.
00:36:43It's unsettling to be sure, but maybe that was the point.
00:36:46In any case, Anthony Perkins, who gave a straight-up iconic performance in the 1960 original, can't
00:36:52be easily overshadowed.
00:36:54So when Vince Vaughn was cast as Norman Bates in the remake, folks were understandably skeptical.
00:37:00Given Vaughn's usual filmography, his casting in Psycho made for something of a strange
00:37:04choice.
00:37:05As Roger Ebert wrote,
00:37:06He isn't odd enough.
00:37:08Norman's early dialogue often ends in a nervous laugh.
00:37:11Vaughn's laugh doesn't seem involuntary.
00:37:14When all is said and done, Vaughn's Norman is still a psycho, but he's a strange and
00:37:18unlayered one at best, and not nearly as frightening as Perkins' original.
00:37:22Like the rest of Van Sant's Psycho remake, Vaughn's performance proves the folly in trying
00:37:26to reinvent the wheel.
00:37:28When director Ridley Scott signed on to direct the Silence of the Lambs sequel, he did so
00:37:33without his Clarice Starling in place.
00:37:35Tony Hopkins had already negotiated a return to the role of Hannibal Lecter, but Jodie
00:37:39Foster didn't share his enthusiasm for the second chapter in the serial killer's story,
00:37:44despite winning an Oscar for the role in the first film.
00:37:47She later told Total Film,
00:37:48The official reason I didn't do Hannibal is I was doing another movie, Flora Plum.
00:37:53So I get to say, in a nice, dignified way, that I wasn't available when that movie was
00:37:58being shot.
00:37:59But Clarice meant so much to Lambs director Jonathan Demme and I, there was no way that
00:38:03either of us could really trample on her.
00:38:06Now that's really interesting, Clarice.
00:38:09I'm really pressed for time.
00:38:12Several big-name actresses were considered to take her place, and the part ultimately
00:38:16went to Julianne Moore.
00:38:17While both Scott and Hopkins were happy with the choice, audiences weren't as convinced.
00:38:22Moore was inevitably compared to Foster and couldn't measure up to her predecessor's screen
00:38:26savvy nor rekindle the creepy connection Clarice had shared with Hopkins in the first film.
00:38:32Jodie Foster offered her own diplomatic but shady take on the film, saying simply,
00:38:36I saw Hannibal.
00:38:37I won't comment.
00:38:38Sleepy Hollow
00:38:39Sleepy Hollow, Fox's supernatural police drama, was always a little bit different than other
00:38:42cop shows.
00:38:43For starters, one of its main characters was Ichabod Crane, from Washington Irving's short
00:38:47story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, who comes back to life in the present day after having
00:38:52died 200 years or so prior.
00:38:54Crane then helps fight supernatural menaces alongside police lieutenant Abby Mills.
00:38:58After three seasons, Sleepy Hollow settled into its role as a quirky police procedural,
00:39:03and then it did the unthinkable.
00:39:04Abby died, and actress Nicole Beharie left the series.
00:39:08Despite a steep loss of viewers from season one to season three, Sleepy Hollow returned
00:39:12for a fourth season without Abby.
00:39:14Ichabod was now partnered with a Homeland Security agent named Diana Thomas.
00:39:18The cast's reboots didn't do Sleepy Hollow any favors, though.
00:39:21The show fell even further in the ratings and was soon canceled.
00:39:25For the Fox Television adaptation of Lethal Weapon, Crane Crawford took over for Mel Gibson
00:39:29as loose cannon Martin Riggs.
00:39:31And if on-set reports published by Variety are any indication, Crawford was even harder
00:39:35to control than his character.
00:39:37In an episode he directed, a special effects explosion went awry, sending a piece of debris
00:39:41at co-star Damon Wayans.
00:39:43When Wayans complained, Crawford referred to his co-star as a crybaby.
00:39:48Another time, he reportedly screamed and swore at a group of children who wandered near.
00:39:51On yet another occasion, he reportedly proved so hard to work with that a director walked
00:39:56off the set in the middle of a shoot.
00:39:58In May 2018, after two seasons, producers eliminated what they thought was the root
00:40:02cause of the show's problems and fired Crawford.
00:40:04They rushed to find somebody to replace him, and quickly hired Sean William Scott to play
00:40:08Wesley Cole, a new partner for Detective Roger Murtaugh.
00:40:12Scott couldn't save the show, however.
00:40:13All that tension didn't totally dissipate, with Wayans announcing that he planned to
00:40:17leave the series in the middle of the season.
00:40:19Producers decided to wash their hands of the whole thing in May 2019 and cancelled
00:40:23Lethal Weapon.
00:40:25NewsRadio, NBC's critically acclaimed but low-watched comedy, had no plans to replace
00:40:29one of its characters and best-known star, but tragedy forced the producers' hand.
00:40:34Between the show's fourth and fifth season, star Phil Hartman was shot to death by his
00:40:38troubled wife.
00:40:39It was a horrific crime, and a devastating loss for the show.
00:40:42But in order to complete enough episodes to sell the show into syndication, NewsRadio
00:40:46was picked up for another season anyway.
00:40:48In the season premiere, it was explained that Hartman's character, pompous radio newsreader
00:40:52Bill McNeil, died of a sudden heart attack.
00:40:55Replacing him at the newsreader's desk was a new character, Max Lewis.
00:40:59Weird, insecure, and wholly unqualified for the position, Max was portrayed by Hartman's
00:41:03friend and Saturday Night Live co-star Jon Lovitz.
00:41:06While Lovitz is a great comic actor, he just couldn't overcome the sadness looming over
00:41:11NewsRadio.
00:41:12Lovitz's first season would be the show's last.
00:41:14Michael J. Fox returned to regular series television for the first time since the end
00:41:18of Family Ties with Spin City.
00:41:20On the ABC sitcom, he played Mike Flaherty, a wheeler-dealer for a New York City deputy
00:41:24mayor.
00:41:25Two years later, Fox announced that he'd been battling Parkinson's disease and left the
00:41:30show to spend more time raising funds for research on the disease.
00:41:34Replacing him as deputy mayor was a guy named Charlie Crawford, portrayed by Charlie Sheen.
00:41:39With Fox out, the show became more of a romantic comedy surrounding Sheen and Heather Locklear's
00:41:44characters, but viewership tanked shortly after their replacement, so ABC cut the cord
00:41:49on Spin City.
00:41:50I guess you guys aren't ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it."
00:41:56Major League was a surprise grand slam for Paramount Pictures and produced two increasingly
00:42:01terrible sequels.
00:42:02And while Charlie Sheen's Wild Thing came back for a second round at the mound in Major
00:42:06League II, there was another standout actor from the first film who refused to run the
00:42:10bases of this franchise again.
00:42:12Wesley Snipes, whose charming swagger as the speedy base thief was a home run in the
00:42:16first movie, had no interest in returning to the dugout for the second movie.
00:42:20At the time, he was well on his way to becoming a Hollywood MVP in his own right, thanks to
00:42:25movies like White Men Can't Jump and Demolition Man, so he pretty much priced himself out
00:42:29of the second movie.
00:42:30With the Cleveland Indians down a man on their roster, the filmmakers turned to relative
00:42:34newcomer Omar Epps to sub in as a pinch runner for the project.
00:42:38Unfortunately, Epps didn't have a strong background in comedy, and his performance
00:42:42was the cinematic equivalent of a foul ball.
00:42:44I read some of your reviews, man.
00:42:46One guy said Willie Mays Hayes couldn't play dead.
00:42:50Just a bit outside
00:42:52There was plenty of controversy surrounding the making of the animated movie Scoob, a
00:42:57reboot feature meant to kickstart a new theatrical Scooby-Doo franchise.
00:43:01Between unceremoniously canceled sequels and the film's failed attempt to launch a cinematic
00:43:05universe, the biggest problem with Scoob was its casting.
00:43:09Despite retaining Frank Welker as the iconic voice of Scooby-Doo, the rest of the Mystery
00:43:13Inc. gang was scrapped for this installment, including Matthew Lillard's Shaggy Rogers.
00:43:19Lillard gained widespread acclaim when he played Shaggy in the two live-action Scooby-Doo
00:43:23movies in the early 2000s.
00:43:25He went on to take over vocal duties from Casey Kasem for subsequent animated movies
00:43:30and television productions.
00:43:31To this day, Lillard still plays Shaggy as faithfully as ever, but he missed out on the
00:43:362020 return to the big screen.
00:43:38After the film's cast was revealed, Lillard took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to write,
00:43:43"'Well, this sucks.
00:43:44What a crappy way to find out.
00:43:46Thanks, Hollywood.'"
00:43:47Of course, Lillard wasn't the only one replaced in the new movie, nor was he the only one
00:43:51disappointed by the news, but given his many years playing Shaggy, it was tough news nonetheless.
00:43:57And it didn't help that Will Forte's Shaggy just sounded like a higher-pitched Will Forte
00:44:01rather than Shaggy.
00:44:03Thankfully, Lillard has since resumed voicing Shaggy in all other Scooby-Doo projects.
00:44:08Can you believe that there have been no fewer than six Home Alone movies?
00:44:12Obviously, the first two, directed by Chris Columbus and starring Macaulay Culkin, are
00:44:17the best by far.
00:44:18Over the years, Home Alone and Lost in New York have become Christmas classics, while
00:44:22the other less inventive sequels simply rode the franchise's coattails.
00:44:26You guys give up, or you thirsty for more?"
00:44:30But though most of the sequels feature a new protagonist in the place of young Kevin, the
00:44:34direct-to-video Home Alone 4 opted to resurrect the original lead, albeit without Culkin's
00:44:40involvement.
00:44:41The fourth film takes place seemingly a few years after Lost in New York, with the McAllister
00:44:45family in complete disarray, and not just because they've all been recast, too.
00:44:50Here, Kevin is played by Mike Weinberg, who isn't nearly as charismatic or lovable as
00:44:55Culkin, though he does look younger.
00:44:56In fact, if the character's name had been changed, you'd have no clue that this was
00:45:00supposed to be the same kid.
00:45:02No doubt, Culkin was looked over because Home Alone 4 was released 12 years after the original,
00:45:07but that's no excuse.
00:45:08As the Radio Times Review says, you have to wonder why they bothered.
00:45:12Not only was Home Alone 4 destined to be a trainwreck after a poor third installment,
00:45:16but trying to capitalize on the McAllister family without utilizing any returning faces
00:45:21turned out to be nothing short of a disaster.
00:45:23Let's chalk it all up to real Kevin's bad dream.
00:45:27After the commercial success of the 1994 live-action adaptation of The Flintstones, a sequel was
00:45:33certainly on the cards at Universal Pictures.
00:45:36So when another live-action Flintstones, titled The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, showed
00:45:41up in theaters six years later, nobody was particularly surprised.
00:45:45The first film had been panned by critics, but the second?
00:45:48Well, that was a real disaster.
00:45:50Yabba-dabba-doo!
00:45:53For starters, Viva Rock Vegas is a prequel rather than a sequel, and the movie recasts
00:45:59its comedic leads.
00:46:00The original movie starred John Goodman as Fred, Rick Moranis as Barney, Elizabeth Perkins
00:46:05as Wilma, and Rosie O'Donnell as Betty.
00:46:08Viva Rock Vegas starred Mark Addy as Fred, Stephen Baldwin as Barney, Kristen Johnson
00:46:14as Wilma, and Jane Krakowski as Betty.
00:46:17To say that any of these actors are untalented on their own would be untrue, but that doesn't
00:46:21mean they were the right folks for the job.
00:46:24While The Flintstones was no masterpiece itself, the lack of comedic timing, uninspired jokes,
00:46:29and lackluster cast of the sequel hardly set it up for success.
00:46:33As Roger Ebert wrote,
00:46:34"...minute by weary minute, the movie wins its weary way toward its joyless conclusion."
00:46:40No wonder a third live-action Flintstones is never materialized.
00:46:44The 90s marked a moment of resurgence for Disney's animated film collection, with films
00:46:48like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King offering a new generation of children some
00:46:52cartoon movies to sing along to.
00:46:54One of Disney's most beloved films of the era was Aladdin, an Oscar-winning take on
00:46:59the Arabic folktale about the street thief who sheds his rags and won the heart of a
00:47:03princess.
00:47:04Aladdin was packed full of great musical numbers, but the main reason it became such a smash
00:47:08was the input of the late Robin Williams as the Genie.
00:47:11"...it's all part and parcel of the whole Genie gig."
00:47:13"'Phenomenal cosmic power!'
00:47:17"'Eeny, meeny, miny, moe!'
00:47:19The actor confirmed that he wouldn't be lending his voice to the direct-to-video sequel The
00:47:23Return of Jafar after an alleged row with Disney over its marketing tactics, so the
00:47:27search for a new Genie began.
00:47:29Dan Castellaneta, the legendary voice of Homer Simpson, was ultimately chosen to voice the
00:47:34big blue guy, but the Simpsons star just couldn't measure up to Williams' frenetic performance.
00:47:39The quality of the animation didn't help matters, but Castellaneta lacked the unpredictability
00:47:44that Williams brought to the Genie, essentially doing a watered-down impression of his predecessor.
00:47:50"'Don't!'
00:47:51Delta Burke had not been happy on the set of Designing Women for years.
00:47:54She even claimed that a producer routinely screamed at cast members and told them they
00:47:58were expendable and criticized Burke when she gained weight.
00:48:01"'Are you serious?'
00:48:03CBS grew so tired of Burke publicly trashing the show's producers and the network and the
00:48:08press that they fired her from the show, and co-star Jean Smart followed her out the
00:48:12door shortly thereafter.
00:48:13"'Every time I look over at the sofa, I kind of miss seeing her.'"
00:48:18That meant that Designing Women had lost half its main cast, but the show was still a ratings
00:48:22draw, so the network brought in some replacements.
00:48:24"'I know that all of our nerves are a little bit jangly because of this silly old money
00:48:28situation, but you know what we got to do?
00:48:32We got to look for the light.'"
00:48:33Julia Duffy arrived as Suzanne's cousin, and Jan Hooks came in as Carlene, Charlene's sister.
00:48:39Despite ratings on par with previous years, CBS fired Duffy after her sole season on the
00:48:44series and replaced her with Judith Ivey as a rich Texan widow named B.J.
00:48:49Poteet.
00:48:50It didn't do much good, because CBS moved the show to Friday nights, where it slipped
00:48:54into ratings oblivion and then cancellation.
00:48:57"'And that is the night the lights went out in Georgia.'"
00:49:04Chemistry is particularly important when casting a family sitcom, so fans were a little concerned
00:49:10when Julia Butters left American Housewife as the youngest Otto child ahead of its fifth
00:49:14season premiere.
00:49:15Butters brought a notable charm to the character of Anna-Kat Otto, so much so that when Quentin
00:49:21Tarantino saw her on his screen, he cast her as Sirius Young actress Trudy in Once Upon
00:49:26a Time in Hollywood.
00:49:28That gig wound up being a game-changer for the young actor, because all kinds of subsequent
00:49:32offers came in, and she left the ABC series to pursue them.
00:49:37In turn, American Housewife snatched up Gisele Eisenberg, fresh from her four-season run
00:49:42on the CBS sitcom Life in Pieces.
00:49:45While Eisenberg is undeniably talented, it's been hard for fans to adapt to the change
00:49:49following the show's return in 2020.
00:49:52Yeah, kids change."
00:49:55All the witty meta-jokes in the world won't convince viewers to keep watching.
00:50:00The Season 5 finale ended up being a series finale.
00:50:04ABC canceled American Housewife in 2021.
00:50:08After the first season of The Facts of Life, the number of main characters was cut from
00:50:12ten to just five — Eastland boarding school housemother Mrs. Garrett and four female students.
00:50:17After those four graduated in the fourth season, Mrs. Garrett opened a gourmet shop and hired
00:50:21her former students, and after Season 7, Mrs. Garrett herself, Charlotte Rae, left
00:50:26the show.
00:50:27She thought it was time to move on, later telling Entertainment Weekly that the show
00:50:30could continue on without her, but producers loved the show's dynamic of a wise, older
00:50:34woman doling out advice to young women.
00:50:37So they created the role of Mrs. Garrett's sister, Beverly Ann.
00:50:40However, the replacement didn't quite work, and by the ninth season, The Facts of Life
00:50:44was unceremoniously canceled.
00:50:46Halloween Town was one of the most beloved Disney Channel features to hit TV screens.
00:50:52In fact, it was so popular with 90s kids that two sequels were made in the years following,
00:50:56but then a darker installment came, following Marnie Piper into her college years.
00:51:01Only this time, she wasn't played by the lovable Kimberly J. Brown, as Sarah Paxton instead
00:51:07stepped into the role.
00:51:08Return to Halloween Town was kind of a mess.
00:51:11Though the majority of the original cast returned, Paxton was the odd one out, playing an older
00:51:15Marnie to whom viewers didn't recognize or relate.
00:51:19Strangely, some House of Mouse witchcraft must have been afoot, since there are two
00:51:23conflicting accounts of why Brown was recast in the first place.
00:51:26In 2010, Brown told October31st.org,
00:51:29"...I wanted to do the fourth one and was fully available for the shoot.
00:51:33Disney decided not to use me for the fourth one.
00:51:36I don't know why.
00:51:37I was definitely disappointed not to do it."
00:51:39But producer Sherri Singer had a different story.
00:51:42In 2017, she told E! Online,
00:51:44"...it was not something we wanted to do.
00:51:46We couldn't make the deal work.
00:51:48That was why, and we didn't want to not do it."
00:51:51The Mummy was a surprise smash for Universal, hosting global receipts of $415 million and
00:51:56landing on the top ten highest-grossing films of 1999.
00:52:00It launched Brendan Fraser's career as a Hollywood action hero, and introduced the world to a
00:52:04stunning new leading lady in Rachel Weisz.
00:52:07The pair made a compelling on-screen couple, and reprised their roles in The Mummy Returns,
00:52:11which managed to bring in a nice haul from the box office as well.
00:52:14By the time the third film came around, Weisz was suffering from some serious mummy fatigue,
00:52:20and stepped aside.
00:52:21Weisz was rumored to call the script for The Mummy 3 crap, so the studio turned to Maria
00:52:25Bello to fill in for the role.
00:52:27"...that should give us a good advantage."
00:52:29Unfortunately for Bello, her turn in the role was criticized for lacking the charm of the
00:52:33original, and the film failed to recoup its production costs in the domestic box office.
00:52:38"...Why am I laughing?"
00:52:41Tom Cruise brought the vampire Lestat de l'Encore to life in the film adaptation of
00:52:47Anne Rice's novel, Interview with the Vampire.
00:52:49Cruise's memorable performance opposite Brad Pitt and a young Kirsten Dunst is certainly
00:52:54a highlight of the film, but did you know there was a sequel?
00:52:57Cruise didn't reprise his vampiric role, however, which is probably why many people haven't
00:53:01heard of it.
00:53:02Instead, Stuart Townsend took over for 2002's Queen of the Damned.
00:53:07Also based on an Anne Rice novel, Queen of the Damned was a complete and utter failure.
00:53:11Not only did the movie tank at the box office, but Rice wasn't particularly thrilled with
00:53:16it either, and no other movies based on The Vampire Chronicles have been released since.
00:53:21While Townsend may have better resembled the character from the novel in terms of physicality,
00:53:26he didn't have the same sort of gravitas that Cruise brought to the role.
00:53:29FilmThreat's review of the movie read,
00:53:31"...Tom Cruise had the good sense to stay away from reprising his role of Lestat in
00:53:36this film, and audiences should demand this film be buried, never to see the light of
00:53:40day again."
00:53:41While the Mortal Kombat video games and animated movies have done particularly well over the
00:53:46years, translating such a stylized world into live-action can prove difficult.
00:53:51So when director Paul W.S.
00:53:53Anderson released his vision in 1995, fans were surprisingly happy with the results.
00:53:58The film starred Christopher Lambert as Raiden, along with an ensemble cast that did a decent
00:54:03job at bringing these characters to life.
00:54:05Unfortunately, he didn't return in the sequel.
00:54:08Years later, Lambert revealed that he didn't like the script for Mortal Kombat Annihilation,
00:54:13and who can blame him?
00:54:14Taking over as Raiden was James Remar, who wasn't exactly notable in the role.
00:54:19Although IGN later admitted that Remar played the part well, the outlet couldn't get past
00:54:23how bad the rest of the movie was, saying,
00:54:26"...hilariously awful match shots, cheap costumes, obvious sets, and some of the worst CG ever
00:54:32put in a mainstream release fill nearly every scene of this movie."
00:54:36No doubt, Mortal Kombat Annihilation is a total trainwreck.
00:54:40And even though James Remar did his best to make his part memorable, it only reminds us
00:54:45of how terrible the rest of the movie is.
00:54:48There are five films based on Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books, but only one actor has played
00:54:53the protagonist twice.
00:54:54Eyebrows were raised when Alec Baldwin was given the boot after he successfully debuted
00:54:59Ryan onscreen in The Hunt for Red October.
00:55:01Baldwin later implied that the studio had gone behind his back and entered into negotiations
00:55:05with Ford to take the role of Ryan.
00:55:07"...well that was a guess, but it seemed logical."
00:55:10Even so, Ford's performance in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger became definitive
00:55:15for the character.
00:55:16Eight years later, another actor stepped in to bring a much younger version of Jack Ryan
00:55:20to the big screen.
00:55:21This time, it was Ben Affleck, who stepped in for the sum of all fears.
00:55:25His performance in the role was met with disdain, however, and the Jack Ryan franchise never
00:55:29really recovered after that, despite an attempt to reboot it with Chris Pine in the lead role
00:55:34more than a decade later.
00:55:36It seems like networks have been trying to recreate the soapy primetime success of Desperate
00:55:40Housewives ever since that show went off the air in 2012.
00:55:44ABC thought it came close with the 2013 entry, Mistresses, which failed to earn critical
00:55:50praise but still snagged a second-season renewal following its steamy first-season summer run.
00:55:56Fans continued to bake in the hotness of it all the following summer, but when the show
00:56:00was renewed for a third season, ABC revealed it was moving production from Los Angeles
00:56:05to Vancouver.
00:56:06That was bad news for star Alyssa Milano, who couldn't be that far from her family.
00:56:11Milano stepped away as a result, and the show recruited Jennifer Esposito to fill that void
00:56:16with her Calista Reigns character.
00:56:18That lasted one season, and then Esposito also left the series in order to pursue other
00:56:23projects.
00:56:24Surprisingly, the show was renewed for one more season, but without Milano, fans just
00:56:29didn't seem that into it, and the series was axed for good after a very dramatic season
00:56:34four finale.
00:56:36When the sixth season of this comedy kicked off in 1969, viewers were left twitching harder
00:56:40than Samantha in her magical nose when Emmy nominee Dick York was suddenly gone as Darren
00:56:46Stevens.
00:56:47The only person left in his place was Dick Sargent, and fans' speculation as to what
00:56:51happened kicked into overdrive.
00:56:53As it turned out, York had previously injured his back pretty badly while shooting a movie,
00:56:58and the pain led him down a dark path of prescription pills.
00:57:01Eventually, he realized he had to leave the show, and his career never really recovered.
00:57:06As for Sargent, he stayed in the role until the series finale in 1972.
00:57:11Many fans felt the series wasn't the same, though, and it's worth noting that although
00:57:15Sargent won a Most Irreplaceable Replacement TV Land Award in 2006, he was never nominated
00:57:21for an Emmy Award like his predecessor.
00:57:24An ensemble drama with a culturally diverse cast set in an often-surreal rural Alaska,
00:57:29Northern Exposure was radically different from most other shows on television.
00:57:33Rob Morrow starred as Dr. Joel Feichman, a snobby New York City doctor who heads north
00:57:37to service the tiny town of Sicily.
00:57:39Northern Exposure was a big hit, reaching the Top 20 in the ratings and earning four
00:57:44straight Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and winning the prize in 1992.
00:57:49But Feichman's desire to leave Alaska never faded, and Morrow wanted to bounce, too.
00:57:53Halfway through the show's sixth season, Morrow fled Northern Exposure, reportedly to pursue
00:57:58new acting challenges and a movie career.
00:58:00Replacing him was a new physician, Dr. Philip Capra, portrayed by Paul Provenza, a respected
00:58:05stand-up comedian who had little acting experience apart from his work on sitcoms.
00:58:09That inexperience seems to have showed.
00:58:11After just half a season with Provenza at the helm, the network canceled Northern Exposure.
00:58:16Roger Moore and Sean Connery each made seven appearances as James Bond, though many 007
00:58:22fans will tell you that Connery is the only Bond.
00:58:24A CBS News poll concluded that 51 percent of Americans chose Connery as their favorite
00:58:30Bond, with Pierce Brosnan coming in a distant second.
00:58:33George Lazenby, the man who replaced Connery in the role for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret
00:58:39Service, received just one percent of the vote, which tells you everything you need
00:58:43to know about the gulf between these two actors.
00:58:46While critical opinion toward the film itself has softened over time, Lazenby's performance
00:58:50is still a bone of contention, inevitably compared to those delivered by Connery in
00:58:55the franchise's five previous entries.
00:58:58The Chicago Reader said that,
00:58:59"...George Lazenby has so much reserve as James Bond that he makes Sean Connery seem
00:59:05almost frenetic by comparison."
00:59:07Reviews in the UK were just as critical of the leading man's turn as the British Secret
00:59:11Service agent, with London-based outlet Time Out calling him a stunning non-entity, fronting
00:59:17a film with no redeeming features.
00:59:20Veteran film critic Mark Kermode summed up 2015's The Transporter Refueled with a single
00:59:26question,
00:59:27What exactly is the point of a Transporter movie without Jason Statham?
00:59:30When it was revealed that Ed Scrin was to replace Statham as Special Forces op-turned
00:59:35private driver Frank Martin in the fourth Transporter film, questions were raised about
00:59:39the former's ability to carry the franchise forward.
00:59:42Though the Transporter films didn't exactly change the action movie landscape, they benefited
00:59:47from Statham's presence, athletic prowess, and combat skills.
00:59:50His replacement lacked that experience, and it showed.
00:59:53Scrin began taking classes in various martial arts disciplines as he prepared for both The
00:59:57Transporter Refueled and his role as Ajax in Deadpool, but even he acknowledged that
01:00:02he was way behind many of his peers in that department.
01:00:05He told the BBC,
01:00:06I'm very respectful and realize I'm not going to be able to do things meant for 10 or 20
01:00:11years of training.
01:00:12The action in The Transporter Refueled was ultimately limited by the new star's fledgling
01:00:16abilities.
01:00:17Ed Scrin's one and only outing as Frank Martin was a commercial and critical flop that left
01:00:22the Luc Besson-produced franchise dead in the water.
01:00:26Rooney Mara took the role of androgynous computer hacker Lizbeth Salander, starring opposite
01:00:30Daniel Craig in 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
01:00:34When the 2018 sequel The Girl in the Spider's Web was announced, fans of David Fincher's
01:00:39critically acclaimed first film were a little disappointed that both Mara and Craig had
01:00:43been recast, and so was Mara.
01:00:46She told Yahoo,
01:00:47I was hopeful to come back, but they decided to do a different thing.
01:00:50It was always a character I wanted to revisit, but that's not what happened.
01:00:54Savere Gudnason replaced Daniel Craig, while Claire Foy stepped into the pale, pierced skin
01:00:58of Salander.
01:00:59Unfortunately, she didn't look comfortable in it.
01:01:01At the time, she was receiving acclaim for her turn as the young Queen Elizabeth II in
01:01:06The Crown, but Foy couldn't pull off Salander's cold eccentricities with the same poise as
01:01:10her predecessor.
01:01:11Critics were by and large unimpressed with her version of the goth hacker, with many
01:01:15questioning why she was chosen for the part.
01:01:17The Observer's Wendy Ide said,
01:01:19Much as I admire her, Foy is miscast here.
01:01:22She's just too empathetic for a role that requires an almost reptilian lack of emotion.
01:01:27Andy Weir's senior film critic David Ehrlich called her both terrible and terribly miscast.
01:01:33Nobody took over Keanu Reeves' role as Officer Jack Traven from the 90s action classic Speed,
01:01:39but The Lost Boys legend Jason Patrick replaced him as the male lead for its sequel, Speed
01:01:442 Cruise Control.
01:01:45Reeves instead chose to pursue other action roles, which eventually led to the likes of
01:01:50Constantine and John Wick.
01:01:52But with Reeves out for the count and Patrick stepping in as Officer Alex Shaw, Speed 2
01:01:58could only end in a wreck.
01:01:59And wreck it did.
01:02:01Many cited Patrick's performance in the screenplay as some of the film's biggest issues.
01:02:05Time magazine's review said,
01:02:06He's stalwart and athletic, but fundamentally uninteresting.
01:02:10Others, including original Speed star Sandra Bullock, wished they could forget about Cruise
01:02:14Control entirely.
01:02:16Interestingly, Reeves is apparently open to returning as Jack Traven one day, while promoting
01:02:21John Wick Chapter 4, Reeves told Access Hollywood that a great story and a great script would
01:02:27convince him to come back for Speed 3.
01:02:29Dallas had its fair share of character replacements during its run from 1978 to 1991, as any show
01:02:36that airs for 14 seasons inevitably does.
01:02:40But one that still stands out with fans to this day is the role of Miss Ellie Ewing.
01:02:45Barbara Bell Geddes originated the part and played it right up until 1984.
01:02:50When she left in order to have a quadruple bypass heart surgery.
01:02:54At the time, she was replaced by Donna Reed, and fans were not into it.
01:02:58In fact, fans were so not into it that six months later, when Bell Geddes had recovered,
01:03:03she was asked back onto the show.
01:03:05Reed didn't go down without a fight, though.
01:03:07She tried to sue and halt production.
01:03:10In the end, the judge didn't agree with her and the series carried on.
01:03:14Bell Geddes continued playing Miss Ewing for the remainder of the series, bringing life
01:03:18to the character for over 300 episodes.
01:03:22The high school sitcom Head of the Class debuted on ABC in 1986.
01:03:26It explored the relationships between a divert group of highly advanced Manhattan students
01:03:30and their history teacher, Charlie Moore, played by Howard Hessman.
01:03:33A big part of why Head of the Class worked is that it was ensemble-focused.
01:03:37The various kids had personal and academic problems, and Mr. Moore helped them sort things
01:03:41out.
01:03:42Hessman portrayed Moore with understatement and subtlety, letting his younger co-stars
01:03:46take center stage.
01:03:47However, the actor hated Head of the Class.
01:03:49In 1989, he told a reporter that he thought the show didn't have much worth.
01:03:53He said,
01:03:54"'We're not doing the show that I was led to believe I'd do, and it's difficult for
01:03:57me to get off that.'"
01:03:58Unsurprisingly, Hessman left the show in 1990.
01:04:01In his place was Scottish comedian Billy Connolly as a teacher named Billy McGregor.
01:04:05All of a sudden, a show about high school kids' problems was a show about wacky Mr.
01:04:09McGregor.
01:04:10ABC seemed to realize that, too.
01:04:12In 1991, the network canceled Head of the Class and quickly ordered up a new show called
01:04:17Billy.
01:04:18Connolly continued to play McGregor, who was now living as a boarder in a California single
01:04:21mother's house.
01:04:231988's Big is often cited as Tom Hanks' breakout movie, but he actually announced himself as
01:04:28a potential star some four years earlier in Ron Howard's fantasy rom-com, Splash.
01:04:34Hanks plays Alan Bower, a young man who returns to the spot of what he believes was a near-death
01:04:39hallucination to discover that the woman he saw in the water the day he almost drowned
01:04:43is indeed real.
01:04:44Alan falls for mermaid Madison and ditches his life on land to live under the sea with
01:04:48her in a goofy yet undeniably feel-good ending.
01:04:51It's a beloved movie, though the same cannot be said about the obscure, made-for-TV sequel
01:04:56Splash 2.
01:04:57Helmed by writer, director, and actor Greg Antonacci, the highly forgettable and completely
01:05:02unnecessary Splash 2 brought Alan and Madison back to dry land, totally ignoring the fact
01:05:07that the government wanted to lock her up in a lab in the previous installment.
01:05:11Todd Waring took over as Alan Bower, but despite his best efforts, he lacked the everyman charm
01:05:16and comedic timing that was abundant in Hanks.
01:05:19FilmFad said in its review of the sequel,
01:05:21"...the less said about the actors replacing Tom Hanks and John Candy, the better."
01:05:26National Lampoon's Van Wilder isn't going to be preserved in the Library of Congress
01:05:30National Film Registry any time soon.
01:05:33Yet for all of its failings, fans of a certain age remember this movie fondly.
01:05:37This was a time when frat humor was at its peak, and sitting down to watch a comedy usually
01:05:41meant turning your brain off for 90 minutes.
01:05:44Van Wilder might not have been the most cerebral comedy of all time, but Ryan Reynolds still
01:05:49delivered as the fast-talking cool guy who threw the best parties and was a softie underneath
01:05:53all those crazy antics.
01:05:55After the Cal Penn-led sequel was destroyed by critics, the producers decided their next
01:06:00move was a prequel featuring a younger version of Van Wilder.
01:06:04So they brought in Mean Girls' Jonathan Bennett for Van Wilder Freshman Year, which was a
01:06:09terrible mistake.
01:06:10"...I have never seen such a sorry display in all my life."
01:06:14The actor couldn't come close to the charisma of his predecessor, and produced a feature-length
01:06:19failed impression effort as a result.
01:06:21Sometimes, movies reference the fact that a certain actor has been recast.
01:06:25"...Hey, buddy.
01:06:26Didn't expect to see you here."
01:06:29"...Look, it's me.
01:06:30I'm here.
01:06:31Deal with it.
01:06:32Let's move on."
01:06:34Additionally, a movie even takes pains to explain the change in actor.
01:06:37It could have been a dream, plastic surgery, or some other strange off-screen development.
01:06:42And every now and again, they just straight-up admit they couldn't afford the real deal.
01:06:46That was the case with George of the Jungle, too.
01:06:48In the first movie, George was played by the ever-talented Brendan Fraser.
01:06:52But for Disney's directed video sequel, Christopher Showerman took over the titular role, and
01:06:57the filmmakers weren't shy about admitting it.
01:07:00"...Me knew George.
01:07:01Studio too cheap to pay Brendan Fraser."
01:07:03Of course, George isn't the only character recast in the sequel.
01:07:07Julie Benz replaced Leslie Mann as Ursula Stanhope as well.
01:07:11Strangely, Thomas Hayden Church reprised his role as Lyle Vandegroot from the first film,
01:07:17even though his presence couldn't save this one.
01:07:19If the directed video budget didn't give it away, George of the Jungle 2 is full of bad
01:07:24CGI, a retread of the film's first plot, and of course, absolutely no Brendan Fraser in
01:07:29sight.
01:07:30In a review from DVD Verdict, Showerman was described as a non-entity who only serves
01:07:36as an imitation of Brendan Fraser's interpretation of George.