I have written before about my loathing of re-makes. Almost always, they are never as good as their predecessor, and are clearly a studio’s way of cashing in on established material for a quick buck. Was there even an attempt to make 2006's Poseidon a unique or special film, or did the people behind it simply hope the name alone would ensure it made back it’s money?
Like re-makes, the casting of any project has its own form of copying. There are cast additions, but then there is the tired and true (and always a FAIL) method of cast replacements. Of course no movie or television show can totally control the actions of it’s actors. Many for good reasons (Victoria Principal) and many for bad reasons, (Katherine Heigl) decide it is time to leave a project. In movies, this often works better than on television. There are often years between one movie and its sequel. Given that most major motion pictures today are less focused on story and character, and more on action and special effects (the Bourne series) moving actors in and out of roles can be almost seamless. Also helps when tight fitting costume and mask are involved (Batman).
On television however, cast changes are a different story. Viewers invest heavily in shows, characters and plot lines and moving actors in and out of roles is harder to transition smoothly. Viewers have been forced to get used to it on daytime soaps, but on night time they can be unforgiving. Despite her years of movie success, Donna Reed was crucified for daring to put on the slippers of Miss Ellie. After David Caruso left NYPD Blue, the actors who replaced him generally lasted just one two seasons, even the good ones. Poor Randy ( Josh Myers) didn’t stand a shot of replacing Eric as the show simply wanted to squeeze just one more season (pay-off) out of That 70's Show.
I look around the television landscape at certain shows with large casts and they don’t have nearly the magic they did when they premiered. Grey’s Anatomy for example is not nearly what it once was. There are familiar faces, but they are outnumbered by new faces and characters that the shows audience has wisely known better than to invest in. Grey’s, like many other shows failed by not seeing the distinction between addition, and replacement. Adding new characters to shows is a great thing, but only if it is done to add storyline to an already strong existing character. Grey’s knew this once. When Callie was first introduced, she was not brought to replace anyone, she was brought on as a cool character to infuse the storyline for George. Overtime, she became a strong character in her own right, able to survive when George left and be the stimulus for other additions, like Arizona, a character brought in to enhance her storyline. Most of the other new characters on Grey’s were not additions, they were attempts to replace what no longer is, and that never works.
Earth Sciences and Geological Science describe replacement as process of gradual substitution of mineral matter for the original organic matter. Glee is the midst of failing horribly at this process. Not that they didn’t tried hard. They just spent a year doing gradual substitution, phasing out many of the original cast members over a season or two so that most would not care once they finally belted their last note. For the most part it worked. When the announcement came this week that Harry Shum Jr, Dianna Agron, Amber Riley, Heather Morris and Mark Salling (along with the already phased out Jayma Mays), it was greeted with a bit of ‘who cares’. This was well planned and calculated on the part of the Glee team, having just spent 20 plus episodes with giving most of these actors, little or nothing to do. Now, most fans can truthfully say these characters won’t be missed, as they have already ceased to be important to story.
I will miss them though, I have been missing them for about a year now. I am one of those viewers who fell hook line and sinker for Ryan Murphy’s pilot and first season of Glee. That season that told everyone you did not have to be popular, white, slim and conform to society’s norms to be a star. Isn’t a bit odd then, that most of the new regulars on the show are hot, white, skinny and popular. I loved the cast as a whole, especially Mercedes, Mike, Quinn and Santana. I also liked Rachel and Kurt, but less and less as the seasons went by and the writers shoved them down our throats at the expense of others. Admittedly I did not watch all of last season, but did the vocally gifted Amber Riley even get one song to herself? I don’t remember one. The new cast image (bottom of the page) Lea Michelle tweeted out this week speaks to me more about loss than gain. Matthew Morrison was even left out, as he was for chunks of last season.
There are exceptions however, Murphy obviously loves Alex Newell, and he is an interesting character, but I wish he had been made an addition, not a replacement. The writers even wrote a mean (yet wildly hilarious) line about his being the new Mercedes, in an episode last season. Blake Jenner and Jacob Artist are hot, but I like little gravy with my meat. Neither has shown to be master thespians and I miss the magic that the original group had together in seasons 1 and 2
Glee has shown us they know how to add and not replace. Chord Overstreet was a great addition and even last year they added Dean Geyer. Dean was not replacing anyone, simply adding new dimensions into the relationship between Rachel and Finn. Glee as I loved it is gone; there is no real going back. The new cast holds little interest for me and the old cast who have remained still circle in the similar patterns they always have. Even after Rachel Graduated and Tina got one episode to shine, she returned swiftly to sing back up for the new cute white girl.
Thankfully there are the DVD’s, especially the Juke Box special feature, which lets us return to the magic, and the music of those early years. Glee is still a young show, and saying early years sounds sort of silly in a way. Turning the show upside down, so early in it’s run however, showed desperation in the writers. They turned it around far too fast. The changes they made last year, claiming to keep it fresh were changes most shows do in year 7 or 8. They pre-ejaculated too many of the good stuff, far too early.
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