Temporary Substitute: Difference between revisions

 

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.

 

* ''[[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.

* 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.

* On ''[[Myth Busters]]'', Kari Byron went on maternity leave, and was replaced by Jessi Combs for a few months.

* 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".