IIRC, people had very low expectations for Chad Duell when he was announced as Drew Garrett's replacement on GH, but once he appeared onscreen, fans accepted him.
Some AMC examples:
- I want to say Nick Benedict as Phil on AMC is a good example for this thread, but I'm not sure if Richard Hatch's Phil was popular or if we just view him as popular because he's the only Phil we have any footage of today (and a good bit of it, relatively speaking). Considering he survived the initial recasting spree the show had in its first year, I'd say he was popular. There were many more examples of recasts who took on roles after original cast members who didn't quite make their mark (Richard Van Vleet as Chuck, Judith Barcroft as Anne, Peter White as Linc, etc).
- Vasili Bogazianos as Benny Sago. Larry Fleischman had originated the role and played it for several years, including a fling with young Brooke English. I believe Benny was written out for much of 1979 before VB brought the character back the following year.
- Christina Bennett Lind as Bianca. I remember the general consensus being that if Eden wasn't going to commit to sticking around long-term, then CBL was a more-than-decent recast. There were people who actually preferred her to Eden.
- Lee Meriwether as Ruth. Considering Mary Fickett was officially retired due to health reasons and they weren't doing much with Ruth anyway, LM was perfectly fine and acceptable as a recast. I think it helped that they mostly leaned away from the character's real history and relationships because it just wasn't going to hit the same with someone else in the role.
Sometimes I wonder how big the audience overlap was between Mart Hulswit's heyday as GL's Ed vs. Peter Simon's. I know it was a pretty quick turnaround in 1981, but by the time PS returned in 1986, GL was extremely different from the show it was during MH's run. I also imagine Robert Gentry's Ed was popular in the late 60s.
Still on GL, I figure Jone Allison's Meta was a pretty big draw on radio in the early 50s and brought the character to TV, and then Ellen Demming took over as Meta moved from being the show's young heroine to supporting character.
Love of Life had three popular actresses in the role of Vanessa back-to-back-to-back with Peggy McCay, Bonnie Bartlett, and Audrey Peters, plus a popular Meg with Jean McBride in 50s and then a hugely popular recast with Tudi Wiggins in the 70s.
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All My Shadows ·
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