5 TV Roles That Were Recast

It’s nothing new that TV shows often recast minor and major roles with the hope that audiences will either adjust or not notice (if the role is small enough).

Some roles were defined by the second actor to play them, which could be argued with the five TV characters listed below.

Question is: did you notice when the recast happened? Don’t worry, we won’t know if you’re lying.

1. Morty Seinfeld from “Seinfeld”

Barney Martin is an immortal figure on “Seinfeld” since he brought an untold level of crankiness and hilarity to the show as Jerry’s father, Morty. But Martin was actually a replacement for Phil Bruns after only 1 episode. Martin went on to play Morty Seinfeld for some 20 episodes, including “The Finale.”

2. Helene Beesly (Pam’s mom) from “The Office”

Here is a “blink and you’ll miss it” character change from an early episode of “The Office” – originally Pam Beesly’s mom, Helene was played by Shannon Cochran. She was later played by Linda Purl, when she had a tryst with Michael Scott during Pam and Jim’s wedding. Leading to one of the show’s best lines: “You know what, I’m going to start dating her even harder!”

3. Meg from “Family Guy”

We all know and love Mila Kunis as Meg on “Family Guy” but she wasn’t always the voice of the Griffin family’s hapless daughter. During the first season of “Family Guy,” Meg was voiced by Lacey Chabert (who is known for playing Gretchen Wieners in “Mean Girls”). You go Glen Coco! Oops, we mean, you go Mila Kunis!

4. Carol from “Friends”

“The One with the Sonogram at the End” is a favorite for “Friends” fans, since it introduced us to Monica and Ross’ overbearing parents, had Phoebe finding Rachel’s engagement ring in a lasagna and the first mention of “ugly naked guy.” It also featured Anita Barone as Carol Willick, Ross’ ex-wife and lesbian partner of Susan. Barone left the show after only one episode and was replaced by Jane Sibbett for the rest of the series.

5. The Three-Eyed Raven from “Game of Thrones”

Say what you will about the “Game of Thrones” ending – but that show always had some good casting choices…it also had to recast a bunch of side characters like the Lannister children, Dickon Tarley and even Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane, with real-life strongman Hafthor Bjornsson defining the role (pictured above). The best recast, however, was the late, great Max Von Sydow who replaced Struan Rodger as the mysterious Three-Eyed Raven. Von Sydow was so good in the role, that he received a Primetime Emmy nomination for best guest actor.