Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Difference between revisions

 

 

'''Cam Mitchell:''' ...What?|''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', "200," [[Self-Deprecation|mocking the hell out of itself]]}}

 

* ''[[M*A*S*H|Mash]]'' replaced half its original cast during its run, but averted the trope somewhat by making sure the new characters were differentiated in various ways from their predecessors. B.J. Hunnicutt was a family man while Trapper John was a womanizer, Charles Winchester was a snooty but highly competent [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] to Frank Burns' incompetent [[Jerkass]], and Col. Potter was an old school war veteran and taskmaster while [[McLeaned|Col. Blake]] was oblivious to almost everything.

** This is actually lampshaded [[Incredibly Lame Pun|depres]][[Tear Jerker|singly]] in the episode "Depressing News," when Hawkeye is lamenting to B.J. how the war rolls on even as the people fighting it are killed or replaced (using the surplus tongue depressors that have been shipped to the 4077th as a visual aid):

*** Obviously, the Hawkeye switch was in the "Maudlin" position.

** [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|Radar]] wasn't given a replacement character but instead his duties were handed off to [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Klinger.]]

*** Which you have to admit has a grain of truth to it.

** Not to mention Joe Quincy (Matthew Perry), who was hired to fill a position opened by Ainsley Hayes (Emily Procter), a [[Blonde Republican Sex Kitten|"blonde, leggy Republican."]] Yeah, he was a Republican too. Josh doesn't like that the similarities end there.

'''Donna''' "I mean... he will to other people!" }}

* The TV show ''[[Maverick (TV series)|Maverick]]'' introduced a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] ''before'' the star left, in the form of Bret Maverick's brother, Bart. This was principally done in order to accelerate the show's shooting schedule, since they could shoot a Bret episode and a Bart episode at the same time. Reportedly, the show's writers had no idea whether a given episode would be a Bret episode or a Bart episode when they wrote it. By the show's end there were two other Mavericks in rotation, one of them played by Roger Moore. The most suspiciously similar of them all was Brent Maverick, who was introduced shortly after James Garner (who played Bret Maverick) left the show. Not only was Brent's name just one letter off from Bret's, but he was played by Robert Colbert, who bears a remarkable likeness to Garner. When Colbert discovered the producers' plan for him, he rebelled against them, reportedly begging them to, "Put me in a dress and call me Brenda! ANYTHING but this!"

* ''[[Awkward]]'': The departure of Ernie and Henry resulted in new characters turning up to fill their shoes: Henry (the therapist) is replaced with Dexter (the sage), and Ernie (the douche) with Jermaine (the mega-douche).

* There's a Muppet Web tv show, [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Muppets_Kitchen_with_Cat_Cora The Muppets Kitchen With Cat Cora] that has Cora working with a new muppet, Angelo. Angelo is essentially the Swedish Chef, but with an Italian-a accent and comprehensible English and actually competent. Several people commenting on the series seemed to find Angelo a [[Replacement Scrappy]], since he is pretty much the Swedish Chef but absent his funny/interesting qualities.

'''Angelo''': That's-a the other guy! }}