How Do You Replace Your Leading Man, Anyway?

Sunday, March 13th, 2011 at 9:30am
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How Do You Replace Your Leading Man, Anyway?  

With everything that’s happened over the last few weeks, I wouldn’t thought I’d be saying this, but Charlie Sheen raises a good point: How do you replace an actor on a television show?

Sheen, as everyone knows by now, has been fired from Two and a Half Men, and the common consensus is that the show will return next year with another actor replacing him. But, for once, Sheen brings up a good point:

Do you have [co-creator/executive producer] Chuck [Lorre], that silly sad troll, talk in the camera and say, ‘Here’s what happened,’ and then Rob Lowe comes out? Or do they just do it, without explaining it, and hope no one notices?

Historically, of course, television shows have tended towards the latter of those two options – Hello, Darren 1 and Darren 2 from Bewitched! – with a tendency in more recent years to drop in snarky asides in dialogue to acknowledge the difference (“I feel like a new man today!” or “Something’s different about you. Have you changed your hair?” to suggest just two options; I know, I know – I could work in network television), as if having cake and eating it is somehow anything other than just annoying. It’s an odd choice, as if ignoring the issue somehow makes it not matter, but one that’s occasionally necessary: How many people could imagine an episode of a sitcom where the producer comes out and says “So, Actor X wanted a payrise and we didn’t want to give it to him. Welcome Actor Y to our show!” to applause and laughter?

That said, the Sheen situation isn’t something that Men can really avoid without looking as if it’s patronizing its viewers. Some way or another, it has to be addressed. Should Lorre (or Jon Cryer, the poor other lead of the show who’s pretty much been screwed by recent events?) open the still-hypothetical next season with a humble “You know what happened, and so here’s the deal” introduction to Sheen’s replacement? Should Charlie, Sheen’s character on the show, be written out entirely and replaced by an all-new character, allowing the show to actually deal with the loss in story (It would make the introduction of a new actor easier, but it’d be a dangerous move, altering the concept behind the show and the dynamic between the characters)? Is there any good way for the show to deal with this situation?

There are many reasons for CBS and Warner Bros. to try to keep Two and a Half Men alive for another season – not least of all the money to be made from another year of what was television’s most popular show, or the contracts that exist requiring another season – but the more I try to imagine what it means to lose one of the leads, and in such a public way, the more I become convinced that it’s a no-win situation for everyone involved. What’s the best way to replace an actor in a television show? In this case, maybe the answer is, you don’t.

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  • Dave Miller-Lad

    Have it that Charlie has gotten into trangenderism and have the replacement actor in DRAG. Thus, 2 and a half men.

  • Eightrak

    I hope they kill him off like in that Valerie show. ‘You can’t kill you lead character!’ Guess what? They did.

  • Alejandromg1995

    To be a comic book based website, you forgot a simlar case in a Superhero show: SUPERBOY. John Haynes Newton was fired after the first season, due to low ratings and some minor violations to the good behavior clause in his contract. The, Ilya Salkind hired Gerard Christopher as the new lead and the show ran for another 3 seasons (And could be more, if they did’nt lose the tv rigths) and it’ got better with every new season.

  • Red

    Actually it’s been reported that Sheen had a “Micheal J Fox” clause in his contract saying he gets paid even if they replace him.

  • Harpo

    I think the idea of recasting him every episode is hilarious – make it like a season-long “audition” for a replacement. Just say “Screw it! Let’s try whatever we feel like”, similiar to what Drew Carey did during his last season. But what do I know, all my favorite shows get cancelled…

  • R.

    Replacing Charlie Sheen is more trouble than it’s worth in the long run.

    Better to cancel the show now than to have it jump the shark with Sheen’s replacement.

  • JMC

    I’d watch that in a heartbeat but the Shat is already commited to Sh#t My Dad Says. What’s James Spader doing? He could be the older, recently discovered half-brother!

  • JMC

    The Office is a different matter, as it was always preordained (from the UK version) that the main character would eventually trip himself up and be forced out/ leave the Paper company. Hopefully they will let the series end soon after and not do a desperate Scrubs scenario.

  • Azaatar

    I think if they are to replace Charlie the best person that comes to my mind is Vince Vaghn. In so many ways they are alike. I would say he would be th elong lost brother of Alan and Charlie from the days of their mother going around from one man to another experimenting. He could be the 3rd son to Evelyn and only Charlie knew of him and had his will made out to him and that the secret had died with Charlie cuz his plane crashed in the show while going to France with Rose. This way it would ba joke that alchol and woman didnt kill him like they alwasy say it would in the show. And Vince Vaghn would be able to use his own way to create his own chracter asid from being Charlie Harper

  • Azaatar

    I love ur idea and as a huge fan it will work, however can John Stamos be able to play the character of Charlie Harper on the show to a Tee? with the sarcasim, jokes, and smooth talk. I guess will wait and see. But that aside I love ur idea

  • Anonymous

    I personally like an idea I saw somebody bring up on another site… open up with Charlie’s funeral. Explain that one of the girls he scorned came back and got some revenge. Then have it revealed that Charlie had a will and left absolutely everything to Jake while Alan gets nothing. So it is now Jake’s house and Alan is living in it. Have Judith and Herb divorce and Herb needs a place to live so he moves in with Jake and Alan. Meanwhile you have Judith’s new boyfriend be whoever actor they get to replace Charlie and then make Jake, Herb and Alan’s resentment towards him more of a focal point. Then you have Jake with all the money becoming a womanizer and following in the footsteps of his late uncle. It could actually breathe a little new life into a show, that while still funny, wasn’t doing much different plot wise over the course of the past few years

  • Sigerson

    Hartnell didn’t… exactly quit. It’s more complicated. He was… legendarily hard to work with, (he could be a prima donna, and a bigot, but he was right in suspecting the producers were trying to undermine him) and the early years of Doctor Who were actively filled with very much this kind a drama.

    Hartnell knew full well it was the part of a lifetime and cared about it madly, but as time went on, the real problem was his health. By year 3 they experimented with several stories that involved minimizing his part in different ways, (Q-like superbeings, mind transplants, etc.) but around this time he was diagnosed with a form of arteriosclerosis that increasingly affected his memory. He left because he was having to get written out of episodes on 24 hours notice, and only did a handful of other acting jobs. Doctor Who has had a lot of cast changes, and more than a couple were firings, (Pertwee essentially quit by asking for a pay raise he knew he wouldn’t get, Colin Baker was fired, largely because the head of programming was sleeping with his ex-wife) but the mechanism to replace cast was in place.

    Two other shows as other examples. In the 70s, when Peter Falk was the highest paid actor on TV there was a real attempt to justify getting other actors in to play the part. Have Falk do 2 or 3 a year and have the rest played by other actors. (Bing Crosby and Orson Welles were suggested. It… didn’t happen. Stars get their pay raises sometimes.)
    And then there’s the backbone of the Scottish economy, Taggart. A cop show that’s genuinely been running since 1983. Despite the fact that the actor playing Taggart died in 1994, and the show promoted other cops to fill the lead role. Despite this the show is still called Taggart, after a character who has been dead 17 years.

  • BKM

    Turning the show into a spinoff of itself like “All in the Family” did in becoming “Archie Bunker’s Place” may work.

  • Kilburna

    I think Matt Leblanc is the only one that could really replace Charlie without loosing viewers.

  • http://tpbtavern.blogspot.com/ Farson89

    Charlie Sheen IS Two and a Half Men, he’s the lead and the primary reason most of the audience tunes in, with him gone the show won’t last. It might be able to drag itself along for another season, two if it’s very lucky, but then it’ll die.

  • Cwcomics

    Great idea. You can not have another actor playing Charlie Harper it just won’t work. Adding a kid who is Charlie Harper’s offspring might work. The problem is Alan Harper is a leach living rent free at his brother’s place. Also Alan’s character is a loser. Even if his life is golden he will do something stupid and he’s back in the toilet again. You could have Jake come in some money and have things work out for him as it did for his Uncle Charlie.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Russell-Burlingame/28406407 Russell Burlingame

    While I think he’s the central character by virtue of his fame, I disagree tht he’s not replaceable, actually for the same reason you cite. All “Charlie” has to do is be a drunk, self-indulgent cad. Alan could wake up one day with another drunk, self-indulgent cad sleeping in Charlie’s bed, who has for whatever reason taken possession of the house and its inhabitants, and the dynamic wouldn’t be appreciably changed. It’s not as though the brothers had anything remotely resembling a real relationship.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Russell-Burlingame/28406407 Russell Burlingame

    It’s an interesting dynamic that’s kind of unique to television; after all, if this were a stage show that played five times a week and was the same story as opposed to a continuing narrative, would anyone think twice about a new actor being subbed in? If the show’s making too much money for the loss of an actor to be the last word, then that’s what would happen.

  • Anonymous

    Many of these suggestions were based on actual events, you know.

  • Anonymous

    A full reboot would be best in my opinion: replace EVERYBODY and start over. They could even get a young kid again! And recycle scripts!

    However, more likely they’ll just put Estevez’s- err, I mean Sheen’s- character on a bus and replace him with a new one.

  • LeftyFJB

    And I liked how they handled the switch between Beckys. In the closing tag of the show, the Conner family was debating Darrens. The consensus was that the first Darren was better. The lone supporter for the second Darren was Sarah Chalke.

  • Murray

    All this talk of replacement actors and nary a mention of Donna Reed’s ill-fated stint as Miss Ellie on Dallas? Forget Darren – that was a way bigger deal as Dallas was still a top rated show at the time and it didn’t work at all. Heck, it was so bad and so different, that on her IMDB summary it doesn’t even show that Barbara Bel Geddes left for a year!

    I think that’s a lot more in line with what would happen on Two and Half Men if they cut out Sheen. Viewers will get a year of something they just hate and then CBS either cancels or grovels to get Sheen back. Larry Hagman threatened to leave Dallas if they didn’t get rid of Donna Reed – would Jon Cryer do any less if the replacement Sheen is a disaster? No Sheen and no Cryer – see ya #1 show ad revenue.

  • http://atocom.blogspot.com Atomic Kommie Comics

    On CSI, the guy who left, William Petersen, is one of the producers.
    He wanted a break from weekly television and the chance to go back to live theatre, where he’s had several well-reviewed shows, and is still collecting a paycheck, as a producer, from CSI.

  • Reid76

    Maybe because more people are aware of Bewitched than Sparticus. Fail, Terry, Fail.

  • Summer

    Isn’t that a little too Cousin Oliver, though?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    Wouldn’t that be some shit? The Doctor would be disappointed.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    Sorry, I retract my statement about Hartnell quitting. I was unaware of the circumstances behind it and (incorrectly) assumed that he left because he didn’t want to do it anymore. Either way, the point still stands. They had to make it up, right then, on how to replace him. They were lucky it was a sci-fi show where it was perfectly believable that something could alter his appearance.

  • Charlie’s Fan

    I agree, Charlie is th eonly reason that I watch Two and a half men. He’s what makes the show funny.

  • a. non. amous

    try as you might, when things like this happen on a highly rated show, things tend to go downhill from the point of actors being fired/replaced. in the 80′s,it happened on the ‘dukes of hazzard’, when john schneider and tom wopat were replaced as luke and bo (respectively) by byron cherry and christopher mayer as coy and vance (respectively) after a contract holdout by tom and john for more pay. ratings dipped until they returned, and many fan letters written in demanding their return. the same happened when james best as sheriff roscoe p. coltrane also had a contract dispute, and they tried to replace him, but w/john and the others backing him up, james returned quickly w/better pay and working conditions.

  • Imaginet1

    I have a solution: Alan wake up a morning and discover that all the seasons of the show was a dream and we met is real brother ;-)

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QKN5MHOI6VUFOYCTV5REK7M7A4 Jacob

    And how exactly would you handle Jake?

  • 2000filmfan

    Thanks for the assist. Giving scandal prone actors attention for acting badly only encourages more bad behavior. Look how long it took for David Caruso to get another long-term job and TV series. I think we stopped seeing Shelley Long and Shannon Doherty almost all together. Actors who don’t need jobs should not have them — let’s let them rest in peace and move on.

  • JimMacQ

    Sure is. Name the new kid Oliver and run with it.

  • Lesimpson1950

    on the george burns and gracie allen show george burns announced at the beginning of one of the shows the the actor that played their next door neighbor was being replaced by fred clark. I really dont remember if he stated the reason. I know its not the same as with two and a half men, but the point is george burns thought that he should let the viewers know what happened

  • 2000filmfan

    That’s all I could remember when I first posted. Yet I agree, I was talking about when actor Gary Dourdan left the show. Yet many shows have a much greater record of replacing characters with new actors playing new characters than CSI. ER seems to be one of the greatest examples.

    Yet here’s are some others from recent and past TV. As with the previous list, some of these actors died instead of quit or staged an unprofessional contract renegotiation:

    NYPD Blue: David Caruso’s character (John Kelly) replaced with Jimmy Smits’ character (Bobby Simone)
    Law & Order: Jerry Orbach character (Det. Lennie Briscoe) replaced with Dennis Farina’ (Det. Joe Fontana)
    X-Files:David Duchovny’s character (Fox Mulder) replaced with Robert Patrick’s (John Doggett)
    Designing Women: Delta Burke’s Suzanne Sugarbaker replaced with Julia Duffy’s Allison Sugarbaker

    All found at
    http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20472600,00.html

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