I watch daytime soap operas - they recast for every reason under the sun. They recently recast not one but two actresses, who'd been in the show since 2010, much to fan dismay and confusion. Well, one made sense - she drove drunk the wrong way on a major interstate in Southern California.
Also, we SORAS on soaps - which is basically Soap Opera Rapidly Aging Syndrome. They recast a younger actor with a hot older one - so they can do a hot teen storyline.
And I watch Doctor Who - which also recasts on a dime. So I'm used to recasts. It kind of goes with the territory for long running serials...that have been on the air since the 1960s.
That said? It is disruptive and jarring, and even more so for non-soap operas. Prime Time Shows like LOST, I'm not certain it works for?
In soaps, they often recast if they have the wrong actor (but again they do it for just about any reason they can come up with). I have seen prime time shows do it - but usually they will either kill off or write out the character, and bring in a new one. (This happened with a John Ritter sitcom, he died, and they brought in James Garner to play the Grandfather and take over the show.) And I've seen them do it with a lot of police procedurals. Usually doesn't happen with shows that have a lead. But it has - Roseanne is a prime example. They killed off Roseanne (because the actress kept getting herself into all sorts of trouble) and renamed/rebooted the series as The Connors.
Child actors? I've seen all three - in soaps and prime time. What works best is killing off or writing them out, unless the character is central to the plot, then recasting may become necessary. But it is really hard to recast without jarring an audience, particularly with lead characters. Audiences are more willing to handwave minor character recasts, but not lead or major characters, and the longer an actor is with the series the harder it is to recast.
Example? They'd have had to kill off Buffy - in order to do the show without her. And possibly rename the series. Fans still won't accept another actress playing that role. Same with the other characters in that series. Recasts weren't possible. Now, if they were playing a monster under loads of makeup? Not a problem.
LOST - would have been easier to do recasts, because so many characters plus the sci-fi angle. (It's easier to do with fantasy and sci-fi series). But they just killed off characters or threw them off the island. (I listened to and read a chapter from Burn it All Down - which went into depth on what was happening behind the scenes on Lost. That was a toxic show.)
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Also, we SORAS on soaps - which is basically Soap Opera Rapidly Aging Syndrome. They recast a younger actor with a hot older one - so they can do a hot teen storyline.
And I watch Doctor Who - which also recasts on a dime. So I'm used to recasts. It kind of goes with the territory for long running serials...that have been on the air since the 1960s.
That said? It is disruptive and jarring, and even more so for non-soap operas. Prime Time Shows like LOST, I'm not certain it works for?
In soaps, they often recast if they have the wrong actor (but again they do it for just about any reason they can come up with). I have seen prime time shows do it - but usually they will either kill off or write out the character, and bring in a new one. (This happened with a John Ritter sitcom, he died, and they brought in James Garner to play the Grandfather and take over the show.) And I've seen them do it with a lot of police procedurals. Usually doesn't happen with shows that have a lead. But it has - Roseanne is a prime example. They killed off Roseanne (because the actress kept getting herself into all sorts of trouble) and renamed/rebooted the series as The Connors.
Child actors? I've seen all three - in soaps and prime time. What works best is killing off or writing them out, unless the character is central to the plot, then recasting may become necessary.
But it is really hard to recast without jarring an audience, particularly with lead characters. Audiences are more willing to handwave minor character recasts, but not lead or major characters, and the longer an actor is with the series the harder it is to recast.
Example? They'd have had to kill off Buffy - in order to do the show without her. And possibly rename the series. Fans still won't accept another actress playing that role. Same with the other characters in that series. Recasts weren't possible. Now, if they were playing a monster under loads of makeup? Not a problem.
LOST - would have been easier to do recasts, because so many characters plus the sci-fi angle. (It's easier to do with fantasy and sci-fi series). But they just killed off characters or threw them off the island. (I listened to and read a chapter from Burn it All Down - which went into depth on what was happening behind the scenes on Lost. That was a toxic show.)