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{{trope}}
So, you're shooting a weekly TV series, but one of your actors can't make it that week because of [[Real Life Writes the Plot|illness/rehab/a lengthy film shoot]] and the scripts are already written with a big role for their character? What do you do? Call in a '''Temporary Substitute''', of course!
Similar, but not identical, to a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]], this is where a script has clearly been hastily rewritten to give one character the plot that would have been given to the character who can't make it that
▲Similar, but not identical, to a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]], this is where a script has clearly been hastily rewritten to give one character the plot that would have been given to the character who can't make it that week -- that it may involve someone being [[Not Himself]] for the week is often unavoidable. A [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] is permanent, a Temporary Substitute is (hopefully) temporary; the lines blur, of course, when you're not sure if the original character is going to come back.
{{examples}}
== [[Film]] ==
* In
** The same character also got to be on the other end of this trope. After Jamie Waylett's [[Role
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Frasier]]'' has done this once, in the episode "Head Game." Originally written for Frasier, it was rewritten for Niles due to Kelsey Grammer being in rehab. The opening scene featuring Frasier that explained his absence was filmed many weeks later.
* ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]'' had an entire season of Temporary Substitutes when Bo and Luke went off to race in NASCAR (or, in reality, contract disputes) and their strangely identical cousins turned up instead, hanging around until the other two returned. Toes the line between [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] and Temporary Substitute.
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** To be clear, that was really only invoked in "The Mazarin Stone", as Jeremy Brett was (to put it bluntly) dying. In other episodes, Watson does have more of a role, and even some of Holmes' lines (such as the solitary cyclist) - this was not done for Brett's health, but to even the relationship and make it clear he wasn't the bumbling idiot that popular opinion holds so dear.
* The first five episodes of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'''s ninth season lacked Colonel Carter because Amanda Tapping was nine months pregnant at the time of filming. As a result, all of the "sciency" dialogue was given to a recurring, relatively unimportant, base scientist.
** In the pilot episode of ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', there was going to be a scientist by the name of Dr. Ingram, whose actor backed out late in the game. Reaching back into ''[[SG-1]]'' Recurring Character Land, they found Rodney McKay, called up David Hewlett, and gave him all of Ingram's lines.
* Seen multiple times in the [[Law & Order (franchise)|''Law & Order'' franchise]]:
* Connie Nielsen as Detective Dani Beck replaced Olivia Benson for eight episodes on ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'' while her actress Mariska Hargitay was on maternity leave.▼
** With Jesse L. Martin committed to the filming of ''[[Rent]]'' in 2005, his character Ed Green on ''[[Law
*
▲** Connie Nielsen as Detective Dani Beck replaced Olivia Benson for eight episodes on ''[[Law
** When Kathryn Erbe got pregnant during Season 3 of ''[[Law & Order: Criminal Intent]]'', the character of G. Lynn Bishop was brought in as a replacement. Erbe was still seen in those episodes, but she stayed behind a desk.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'':
** ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S2/E02 The Dalek Invasion of Earth|The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'': Star William Hartnell was injured in an action scene in this story. So in the next episode, the Doctor is knocked out in an injury (played by a double), and his lines (and technical skills) are given to a freedom-fighter character from the story. (Hartnell was back in the next episode).
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** Ditto "The Trouble With Tribbles"; Chekov's instant recognition of quadro-triticale made more sense when the script was written for Sulu, as Sulu had an established background in botany.
** There are a handful of episodes in which Uhura fails to appear at the communications station and a temporary character takes her place.
* The ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'' episode "Gum Drops" was originally going to have Gil Grissom thinking a missing child was still alive. When a death in the family took William Petersen out of town, Nick Stokes became the lead investigator on the case.
** Much like Gum Drops, the episode "Genetic Disorder" originally had Nick as the lead, but had to be hastily rewritten with Greg Sanders as the lead as George Eads was attending the funeral of his father.
* When Lucy Lawless was injured doing a stunt for ''The Tonight Show,'' a single episode of ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' where Xena and Callisto changed bodies became a two-episode-arc with Hudson Leick playing Xena (trapped in Callisto's body).
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* When Jason David Frank took time off to visit his family in Texas, the producers of the New Zealand-filmed ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]'' were forced to first trap his character, Tommy Oliver, in Ranger form, and later, render him invisible for two episodes. Since Tommy is a high school science teacher by this point in the franchise, they also had to grab several Substitute Teachers. To make things significantly more interesting, one of the substitutes was the [[Jekyll and Hyde|human form]] of the [[Big Bad]].
* ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'' had at various times temporary replacements for Carter and Newkirk. Kinchloe was replaced by a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] in the last season.
* ''[[Get Smart]]'' has "Ice Station Siegfried," where Don Adams' Maxwell Smart is replaced by [[Bill Dana]]'s CIA Agent Quigley for an episode.
* With Mary Jo Pehl busy in Los Angeles filming scenes with Leonard Maltin for the ''[[Gorgo]]'' episode of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', she was unable to play the role of Pearl in the ''[[Touch of Satan]]'' episode. Hence, it was explained that Pearl went on vacation and hired a babysitter to watch over Prof. Bobo and the Observer while also informing Mike and the 'Bots about the film they were going to watch.
* When
* In the older ''[[Randall and Hopkirk Deceased]]'' series, there's one episode, "The House on Haunted Hill" in which Jeannie does not appear. Her sister Jenny had appeared in an earlier episode, so the characters mention right at the beginning that Jenny is filling in for Jeannie at the office, and then act exactly as usual for the rest of the episode.
* When JJ Jareau (and her actress AJ Cook) took maternity leave on ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', she picked Jordan Todd (played by actress Meta Golding) to fill in for her.
** An interesting case, this one. Since everyone had lots and lots of prior notice about AJ Cook's leave (her pregnancy storyline started the season before), Todd's role is not just a re-writing of scripts written for JJ: she has her own character, arc, and thematics, all of which are very different from JJ's. At the same time, she fills the same role in the team bureaucracy that JJ does.
* One episode of ''[[Battlestar Galactica
* At the end of the fifth season of ''[[Step by Step]]'', the actor who played Cody was unavailable to shoot the two-part Disney World
** In fact, he returned in "We're in the money" the last but one episode of the show. And his absence was explained during the season six episode "Bonjour Jean-Luc".
** Also, Jason Marsden's character Rich Halke who was a supporting role during the fifth season was promoted to a series regular beginning with season six and replaced Cody as the "Dumb character".
▲* In the third ''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter]]'' film, Goyle is replaced in several scenes by a random Slytherin boy. Apparently, Josh Herdman had suffered an injury and was unavailable when they had to shoot those scenes. Goyle resumed his usual role in all subsequent films and his replacement was never seen again. Fans like to imagine that the unnamed replacement character was Theodore Nott, a Slytherin student in the books who otherwise has never appeared in the movies.
▲** The same character also got to be on the other end of this trope. After Jamie Waylett's [[Role Ending Misdemeanor]], Crabbe was written out of the last movie and his big scene {{spoiler|(a death scene, ironically)}} was given to Goyle instead.
* In the first season of ''[[30 Rock]]'', Jonathan disappeared for two episodes. A character called Matt filled in as Jack's assistant until Jonathan's return.
* On ''[[
* Variation on ''[[Forever Knight]]'': Some of the scripts originally written with Captain Stonetree in season 1 were stashed away and used with Captain Reese in season 3. The two captains even both have the first name "Joe".
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Characters and Casting]]
[[Category:Acting for Two]]
[[Category:
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