History SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute / LiveActionTv

* Leonard Rossiter's final role on UK television was as a supermarket manager in the dreadful sitcom ''Tripper's Day''. After his death, he was replaced by BruceForsyth and the show was renamed ''Slinger's Day''. This was even worse than the original but was somehow renewed for a second (six-episode) season and crossed the Atlantic to become ''Check It Out''.

* Carried out with style by British fantasy show ''{{Hex}}'', where new girl Ella, an experienced witch, shows up at the start of the second season and by the end of the second episode has [[spoiler: [[ItMakesSenseInContext stabbed original lead witch Cassie]] and taken her place as the show's main character.]] She goes on to have an almost identical doomed relationship with [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys demon spawn Malachi]] that Cassie had with demon Azazeal in the first season. To round things off, Malachi is Cassie and Azazeal's [[SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome magically-aged]] son.

* ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' had Sarah Page, who [[spoiler: was killed because her actress couldn't continue acting for the show]], and was replaced by Jess Parker. However, their roles are very different; Sarah was an expert in mythology and ancient cultures, while Jess is a techie and team coordinator.

** The series has also been through three different leading men and two different tough-guy supporting men. Only three cast members have stayed with the show through its entire run.
*** The leading men are a particularly interesting example of this. With the first switch the authors went for a genuine attempt to not make the substitute suspiciously similar, and in fact the character changed the entire tone of the series. When this second leader was in turn switched out they brought in a replacement that was suspiciously similar to leading man number one, up to and including his accent. The tone of the series also switched back, becoming particularly obvious when number two reappeared for one more episode.
***** I hope you just mean they both have accents. Matt's Northern Ireland is not anything like Cutter's Scotland.

* While the original ducklings still appear on ''Series/{{House}}'', their roles as, well, ducklings have been replaced. By Taub, Kutner and Thirteen, who are superficially similar to the original three characters. Their exact personalities don't line up but House admitted that he hired them based on the same dynamic he had with the earlier team. Interestingly enough for the trope, the previous actors didn't leave the show, they just added more cast

* Series 3 of ''Series/BeingHuman'' ended with Mitchell, a vampire who was trying to leave a violent past behind him by refusing to drink blood and befriending a werewolf and a ghost, being KilledOffForReal. Series 4 then introduced Hal... a vampire who was trying to leave a violent past behind him by refusing to drink blood and befriending a werewolf and a ghost.

** Prop example - the Fourth Doctor started using a 'secondary console room' at one point designed to fit the [[GothicHorrorTropes gothic motif]] he was [[CharacterisationMarchesOn swiftly developing]], which had a chapel-like appearance complete with stained-glass windows and gorgeous real wood panelling on everything. (It also had in-story relevence as the secondary console room actually allowed him to control the TARDIS instead of just travel at random like he had been forced to up until that point.) However, the BBC stored the set poorly and the wood warped and cracked, forcing the Doctor to revert to the previous console room set, with a HandWave about him redecorating the secondary console room to look like his previous one. (This also serendipitously coincided with the Doctor's characterisation going in a LighterAndSofter direction.)

* In the Australian teen series ''WickedScience'', the girl in Toby's group, Dina, was replaced by Toby's cousin Sasha in Season 2.

** Doyle himself was a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for Whistler, a character who appeared briefly in flashbacks in ''Buffy'''s second season finale and recruited Angel to the side of good. Both are sarcastic demons (half-demon, in Doyle's case) who work for the PowersThatBe. Doyle was originally intended to ''be'' Whistler, but the actor was unavailable when the show was greenlit, so they reworked him as newcomer Doyle.

** Prop example - the Fourth Doctor started using a 'secondary console room' at one point designed to fit the [[GothicHorrorTropes gothic motif]] he was [[CharacterisationMarchesOn swiftly developing]], which had a chapel-like appearance complete with stained-glass windows and gorgeous real wood panelling on everything. However, the BBC stored the set poorly and the wood warped and cracked, forcing the Doctor to revert to the previous console room set, with a HandWave about him redecorating the secondary console room to look like his previous one. (This also serendipitously coincided with the Doctor's characterisation going in a LighterAndSofter direction.)

** The original plans for Season 7 had Zoe as the Third Doctor's companion; when her actress declined to stay on, they created Liz, a similar HotScientist, to replace her.
*** WordOfGod says the character of Zoe was written out in order to give the show a fresh start when it moved to color, not because the actress declined.

** Prop example - the Fourth Doctor got a new console room at one point intended to fit the [[GothicHorrorTropes gothic motif]] he was [[CharacterisationMarchesOn swiftly developing]], which had a chapel-like appearance complete with stained-glass windows and gorgeous real wood panelling on everything. However, the BBC stored the set poorly and the wood warped and cracked, forcing the Doctor to revert to the previous console room with a HandWave about him redecorating the old console room to look like his previous one. (This also serendipitously coincided with the Doctor's characterisation going in a LighterAndSofter direction.)

* On ''Series/TheThinBlueLine'' Kray was replaced with Boyle for series two. The general opinion is that Boyle was a lot funnier.

* On TwoAndAHalfMen, Clark Duke looks so much like a younger Angus T. Jones that a casual observer might think they are brothers. In fact, in one episode everyone, even Alan, confuses Walden's new intern Barry for Jake.

** The real offenders are the early companions. Susan, Vicki and Dodo, while not identical in personality, all fit a "surrogate grand-daughter" model in their youth, innocence, and relationship with the Doctor (with Dodo noticeably similar in appearance to Susan, though the actress was not cast for this reason alone). From the point that Ian and Barbara were both replaced by Steven, the rest of the sixties saw a stable companion model of a young heroic male and attractive young female as counterparts to the older Hartnell, and the slightly old Troughton. In the main exception of the decade, Polly and Ben were a pair, and quickly were supplemented with Jamie, the new version of the young heroic male.

* ''The Streets of San Francisco'' -- Dan Robbins, for Steve Keller.

** ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' has done this to most of the cast of the shows they visited, using the conceit of {{Alternate Universe}}s. Sometimes these changes are justified (for instance Series/KamenRiderKuuga's actor considers the series an OldShame). However, a good number of actors have returned to play their original characters as well, even if they're also AU incarnations.

* ''Series/TeenWolf'' has become a major offender of this trope in recent seasons, especially with its [[UnfortunateImplications female characters]]. The best example is Cora, who seems to be this for Erica, from being the one seen trapped in the vault with Boyd (when many wondered if Gage Golightly may have made a surprise return) to her relationship with Stiles, which is similarly part snarky, part flirtatious.
** And now, since Adelaide Kane (Cora) left the show, we have a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute [[UpToEleven for the]] SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute with Malia Tate.

* ''Series/TeenWolf'' has become a major offender of this trope in recent seasons, especially with its [[UnfortunateImplications female characters]]. The best example is Cora, who seems to be this for [[spoiler: Erica, from being the one seen trapped in the vault with Boyd (when many wondered if Gage Golightly may have made a surprise return)]] to her relationship with Stiles, which is similarly part snarky, part flirtatious.

* ''[[Series/TeenWolf]]'' has become a major offender of this trope in recent seasons, especially with its [[UnfortunateImplications female characters]]. The best example is Cora, who seems to be this for [[spoiler: Erica, from being the one seen trapped in the vault with Boyd (when many wondered if Gage Golightly may have made a surprise return)]] to her relationship with Stiles, which is similarly part snarky, part flirtatious.

** A certain segment of the fanbase believes that [[EpilepticTrees Arturo was substituted by]] ''his own alternate''.
*** To be fair, the episode that this happens in allows for that interpretation as [[TheProfessor Arturo's]] villainous duplicate tries to replace him so he can escape his own world and just before they slide they are having a classic "which is the real one?" battle, and after the slide the [[TheProfessor Arturo]] who was left behind gives a quiet, "Oh, my God."
*** Series creator TracyTorme has tormented fans by saying that he knows which Arturo made the jump, but will never reveal it.

* David Spade's and James Garner's characters on ''Series/EightSimpleRules''.

* Series/{{Citizen Khan}}'s first series had a red-headed mosque manager named Dave who converted to Islam later in life. In Series 2, he's replaced by a red-headed mosque manager named Dave who converted to Islam later in life. These are distinct characters, not an example of The Other Darrin. One suspects that the writers had Series 2 almost completed when Kris Marshall decided to leave and and only added a few lines introducing Matthew Cottle's version of Dave into Series 2 first episode to avoid having to go back and make more extensive changes.

* While the original ducklings still appear on ''Series/{{House}}'', their roles as, well, ducklings have been replaced. By Taub, Kutner and Thirteen, who are superficially similar to the original three characters. Their exact personalities don't line up but House admitted that he hired them based on the same dynamic he had with the earlier team. Interestingly enough for the trope, the previous actors didn't leave the show, they just added more cast

** Similarly, Abby Lockhart for Carol Hathaway. She was introduced as Carol's OB nurse during her labour, but promptly replaced her in the ER after she left. Not only did she immediately start dating Luka, Carol's ex (and aforementioned Doug Ross replacement), but she was even given the aborted nurse-to-doctor storyline (admittedly with some differences; Carol had always been an RN but decided to study for and take her MCATs just to see if she could pass them. Although scenes were filmed with Carol starting medical school, actress Julianna Margulies was unhappy with the storyline as Carol had always been passionate about nursing and she felt it was out of character for her to switch careers. By contrast, Abby was introduced as a wannabe doc who took nursing shifts to pay for med school. She dropped out not long after her introduction due to lack of funds, but always intended to go back and finish, which she eventually did, becoming a fully-fledged doctor).

* ''Series/{{Everwood}}'', for some extent at least: Linda and Amanda are both facing a tragedy of sorts, both feel uneasy around Nina (foreshadowing, much?) and both have a similar relationship with Andy: the rocky start, people against the affair, having a hard time fitting in Andy's family life, and finally breaking up over something directly related to the aforementioned tragedy. Amy's best friends, Laynie and Hannah (who never appeared simultaneously, although they'd be best friends themselves in ''Grey's Anatomy'', same actresses, different characters), also share some traits: tragedy again (the common denominator for everybody in the show), introverted, both have an older brother (one of them [[spoiler: dies]] and the other [[spoiler: has a strong chance of inheriting Huntington's]]), both are somewhat "dark" and both girls click with Ephram instantly (Laynie actually dates him, Hannah is more a best friend / neighbour / like sibling type). Last but not least, Stephanie is in many ways a short-lived Madison II (college-girl, very different from Ephram, great with Deliah, kind with Amy in spite of her (Amy's) jealousy).

** While we're at it, Spike, the Vampire-fighting-for-good, is curiously similar to Angel. Eventually even the slightly-different motivation, the behaviour-dampening hardware placed in his brain, is written out and he is given a soul just like his counterpart. And yeah, they both date Buffy. Their personalities are not remotely similar, though.

* This happened with Doherty again on ''Series/{{Charmed}}''. When Doherty left she was [[RealLifeWritesThePlot written out of the show]] and her character, Prue, was [[KilledOffForReal killed by a demon]] which left a rather big hole in the show's premise of having three sister witches [[TheChosenOne prophesised]] to be the greatest force of good the world has ever had. WordOfGod says that they decided they needed another young, hot, brunette to fill the role of the third sister, so in steps RoseMcGowan as Paige the [[LongLostRelative unknown fourth Halliwell sister]] given up for adoption and happens to be Half-[[OurAngelsAreDifferent Whitelighter]] as a result of the sister's mother having an affair. (Bonus points for averting an AssPull in that the mother's affair with her Whitelighter was [[ArcWelding already established]].) In-universe the third sister also had to have [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]] as Prue had so Paige was given the power to [[TransportersAndTeleporters teleport herself and other objects via her Whitelighter powers.]]

** The character of Mandy is another example. If the producers couldn't get Mia Kirshner the actress who played her they created another sexy terrorist. Season 4's Nicole is a prime example, because she behaves in EXACTLY the same way as Mandy would, [[spoiler: she has sex with a character to get him on side, then reveals her true colours. Mandy did more or less the same thing in the first episode.]] Which is amusing in itself considering Mandy actually ''did'' return at the very end of the fourth season.

* {{Channel 4}}'s {{Mockumentary}} series ''This is David Lander'' changed its title to ''This is David Harper'' when Creator/StephenFry was replaced by Tony Slattery.

* While the original ducklings still appear on ''Series/{{House}}'', their roles as, well, ducklings have been replaced. By Taub, Kutner and Thirteen, who are superficially similar to the original three characters. Their exact personalities don't line up but House admitted that he hired them based on the same dynamic he had with the earlier team. Interestingly enough for the trope, the previous actors didn't leave the show, they just added more cast members and reorganized the dynamic. For most of seasons 4 and 5 the new characters and Foreman were the team while Chase and Cameron went on to other departments in the hospital.
** Completely averted, character wise. While the dynamic of "Older Guy", "Younger Guy", and "Younger Girl" still existed, the characters filling each slot were completely different. Thirteen, the character suffering most from accusations of the like was actually as completely different from her predecessor as was possible.
** Played weird with Thirteen and Martha Masters. When Thirteen left Masters was brought in, and the trope was deliberately averted in both appearance and personality. When House goes and collects Thirteen on her release from prison, the trope is still averted because she keeps her old appearance and personality. Buy in the first episode after Masters leaves (and Thirteen is re0hired), she shows up with the exact same hair Master had.
* Kellie replacing Kate on ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' after Christa Miller left for a recurring role on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''.
* ''Series/NYPDBlue'' is the master of this trope, having replaced Andy Sipowicz's partner ''three times''. Jimmy Smits replaced David Caruso when the latter decided he was too big to do the show. Rick Schroeder replaced Smits. Mark-Paul Gosselaar replaced Schroeder. Gosselaar and Schroeder are the best examples here, both having similar physical make-ups and similar character personalities.
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' replaced Billy Keikeya with Tory Foster. This is actually the only Battlestar example. Given the improvisational nature of the series' writing it's unclear if Billy would have followed a similar arc to Tory, had Paul Campbell remained on the show.
** Well, at the very least, he ''probably'' wouldn't have slept with Anders and Baltar.
** This trope is played straight or averted, as the lack of similarity between the two characters is noted by Roslin and Adama in Tory's very first appearance.
* In ''TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Carmen is replaced with Angie's niece Veronica Palmero because of creative differences between Carmen's actress, Masiela Lusha, and George Lopez. Veronica is the same as Carmen, only more shallow and with a sadder story.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''
** The character of Laverne was killed off, due to the writers being under the impression the 6th season would be the last. It wasn't. Cue Nurse Shirley, who is ''played by the same actress that played Laverne''! This is lampshaded when JD nicknames her "Laverneagain." The hospital's [[LoggingOntoTheFourthWall fake website]] uses the exact same picture for both nurses' profiles. It's actually a subversion, since what little personality the writers had a chance to give to her dialogue, and a good deal of the acting Aloma Wright did, was meant to create the impression of an anti-Laverne. [[ShoutOut Laverne and Shirley]]?
** For the last season, the main character is JD and Elliot combined (narrator, daydreaming delusions, blonde, crazy, likes horses, bullied by Dr. Cox...) and Denise is also given some more obvious JD traits after he leaves. Denise and Drew sort of become the new Jordan and Dr. Cox.
* According to some, Kochanski was this for Rimmer on ''Series/RedDwarf''. Others thought Kochanski replaced ''Kryten'', while the latter became Rimmer's replacement.
** Also inverted -- Rimmer is killed off in the first episode and replaced by a hologram, portrayed by the same actor. Hologram Rimmer was written out of the story in Series VII after Chris Barrie chose to leave the show. He returned in Series VIII to play the revived original Rimmer.
** Subverted with Pree, who is obviously set up to be a replacement for Holly, only to turn into the MonsterOfTheWeek.
* After the death of Bea Benederet, the mother and hotel manager from ''Series/PetticoatJunction'', June Lockhart was cast as a new town doctor who took up residence in the hotel. Although she was clearly not the girls' mother, and the girls were all well into adulthood by that point, she carried on Benederet's function as motherly advisor, and the town's most sensible resident.
* After season 1 of ''Series/MissionImpossible'', team leader Dan Briggs was replaced by Jim Phelps. After season 3, Rollin Hand was replaced by "The Great Paris." Replacements were seamless, since the characters were constantly playing roles within the show, and were purposely written to show a minimum of personality outside their jobs.
** Jim was actually rather different in personality from Dan, a more friendly and avuncular sort whereas Dan was a hardass with a ruthless streak. Also, Dan sometimes supervised the missions remotely rather than joining them, whereas Jim was always part of the mission team. Jim was also more suited for romantic roles than Dan. However, Paris was an exact replacement for Rollin, with the exact same skill set (disguise, magic, cheating at cards, pickpocketing). In his first season (year 4), he was Rollin by another name, but in season 5, when the show got more character-driven for a time, he developed a distinct, more casual and "hip" personality.
** In addition, TheChick in the FiveManBand started out as Cinnamon, who was replaced by a parade of guest stars in Season 4, Dana in Season 5, and Casey in Seasons 6-7 (with Mimi briefly serving as a TemporarySubstitute). Averted somewhat with Casey, who was not just the femme fatale but also replaced Rollin and Paris as the team's makeup master, since budget cuts required reducing the cast size. The show also attempted to replace Willy with a doctor named Doug, but Willy was SavedByTheFans.
* Averted, kind of, in ''Series/{{Bones}}''. At the start of season 3 we were given recurring character Sweets, a young, clever psychologist. He became a regular with his name added to the opening credits at the end of the season when Zack, the young, clever anthropologist, left the show. Averted in that the characters don't have much more in common and that Sweets is very well-liked. Also averted in that Zach's in-universe role (anthropology student in the lab) is now pointedly rotated between five different guest characters, because everyone agrees that Zach is irreplaceable anyway.
** Sully could be seen as a variation of this trope. Booth had not left the series, but Agent Tim Sullivan was brought in as a replacement boyfriend for Brennan-but he was so much like Booth that the fans dubbed him "Booth Light".
* Seen repeatedly in ''Creator/GeneRoddenberry's EarthFinalConflict'', due to the show's unusually high cast turnover rate. In fact, the only character to last through all 5 seasons was series villain Agent Sandoval.
* ''Creator/GeneRoddenberry's Series/{{Andromeda}}''.
** The character of Tyr, a Nietzschean who could not be trusted was replaced by Rhade, a Nietzchean who could not be trusted. Tyr went on to become a complete wuss when the actor guest-starred in later episodes.
** The character of Doyle in the final season is also somewhat of a replacement for Lexa Doig's Andromeda when her role needed to be reduced due to the actress's pregnancy. Doyle provided a love target and protector for Harper, among other regular Rommie duties.
*** Doig similarly played a replacement doctor in ''Series/StargateSG1'', though her character was less-developed than the one she replaced, [[spoiler:Dr. Frasier,]] and the replacement was not immediate.
*** Doig's husband is also Michael Shanks, whose Daniel was SG-1's original character substituted for with Jonas Quinn.
* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' couldn't get the actress who played Wist back, so they created a second gorgeous blonde [[ToServeMan predator]] with a childlike demeanor in Lyekka.
* ''Series/TheTick'' suffered from a number of poor copies meant to be substitutes when Fox failed to get the rights for any characters besides The Tick and Arthur. But given that it was Fox, no one was really surprised as the show's days were numbered from day one. Though, to give credit where credit is due, Bat Manuel is one of the funniest television characters ever. Even better the actor who played Bat Manuel in the live action version of The Tick played the Mayor in the Franchise/{{Batman}} movie ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.
* Arden replaced Chelsea as the AlphaBitch for seasons two and three of ''NaturallySadie''.
* Ashley's ultimate demise in ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' was particularly predictable because in the two episodes preceding it, they were already gearing up her replacement.
* In ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' series three has a new Minister For Social Affairs -- Nicola Murray replacing Hugh Abbot. Her only points of difference with her predecessor are that she's a woman, and that she's not best friends with her main ministerial advisor. This is entirely justified, as the premise of the show is that all politicians are the same.
* On ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', Gina Bellman's pregnancy required a hasty write-off of Sophie before she started showing, so she was replaced for half a season by Tara Cole (played by Jeri Ryan).
* Carried out with style by British fantasy show ''{{Hex}}'', where new girl Ella, an experienced witch, shows up at the start of the second season and by the end of the second episode has [[spoiler: [[ItMakesSenseInContext stabbed original lead witch Cassie]] and taken her place as the show's main character.]] She goes on to have an almost identical doomed relationship with [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys demon spawn Malachi]] that Cassie had with demon Azazeal in the first season. To round things off, Malachi is Cassie and Azazeal's [[SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome magically-aged]] son.
* ''Series/DropTheDeadDonkey'' replaced Alex, the one sensible person in the Globelink office, with Helen, a virtually identical character, at the end of the second series. Both of them even had one-night stands with Dave (despite Helen being a lesbian).
* Averted in ''Series/MutantX'', which saw Lexa replace Emma at the start of the final season after [[spoiler: Emma's death in the previous finale.]] Counts as an aversion because, rather than the new character being designed to fill [[SuperheroSpeciation the superpowered gap in the team]] the old one had left, telempathic Emma was replaced with light-manipulating Lexa, whose personality, loyalties, and storyline were radically different to Emma's.
* On ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', when Rudy got too old to be the Cute Little Kid, [[CousinOliver a step-granddaughter was written into the cast to fill the role.]] Unlike other examples, Rudy stayed.
** To quote Wyatt Cenac on ''Series/TheDailyShow'': "WHY WOULD YOU THROW RUDY UNDER THE BUS?! SHE'S STILL THE SAME RUDY!!"
* Really head-spinning example from THE PAPER CHASE: When the study group is formed during the pilot episode, one woman is included. In the very second episode, that character's place in the study group, with no explanation, has been taken by another woman, Logan, who remains a major character throughout the series.
* On ''Series/MythBusters'', Kari Byron went on maternity leave, and was replaced by Jessi Combs for a few months. The original Build Team was Kari, Tori, and ''Scotty'' (WrenchWench) who left the show under "personal reasons" and was replaced by the now better known Grant. And there is also Christine, a "Mythtern" before the Build Team came into play, who directly assisted Jamie and Adam and had a certain resemblance to Scotty.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'':
** Emily Prentiss and David Rossi were replacements for Elle Greenaway and Jason Gideon respectively. Both characters were initially hated by many fans, but gained pretty good fanbases the longer they remained on the show.
** The trope is played straight with Prentiss, but not Rossi. WordOfGod from creator Ed Bernero on the "About Face" commentary says they wanted to make him as least like Gideon as possible, so they made him an egotistical wannabe rock star of a profiler who doesn't really "do" teams, and the first thing he does is [[TakeThat shoot a bird]]. Jason Gideon was part ornithologist and part birdwatcher. Many times throughout Creator/MandyPatinkin's run you would hear and see references to his characters' love for birds. A TakeThat indeed!
*** And now, since JJ's departure, there will be another new character joining the team--meet Ashley Seaver , FBI cadet and [[spoiler: based on previews, the daughter of a serial killer]]. Yes, she does look like JJ superficially, but whether is she a good, distinct, well-drawn out character in her own right (despite the physical similarities) or a Scrappy Mary Sue copycat replacement will be determined soon when her first episode airs. Subverted by the fact that the majority of the fanbase disliked Seaver prompting the return of JJ (and Prentiss who left at the end of last season).
** Tough, dark haired multilingual Elle Greenaway leaves after season 2, to be replaced with tough, dark haired, multilingual Emily Prentiss. Emily Prentiss leaves the team at the end of season 7, and is replaced in season 8 with tough, dark-haired, at-least-bilingual (knows ASL) Alex Blake. There seems to be a trend here...
* Speaking of ''Series/{{Profiler}}'', for that show's final season, exit Ally Walker, enter Jamie Luner.
** Exit off-screen nemesis Jack, enter off-screen nemesis Damian Kennasas.
* A few from ''Series/{{Neighbours}}'', though the straightest examples may be Tom Ramsay replacing his brother Max, and Oliver Barnes being hastily written in to replace his brother Will/Sebastian, even taking over his whole character arc.
* In the final season of ''Series/WaitingForGod'', Jane's [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} Scottish]] grandfather, Jamie, came in, after the actor playing [[DirtyOldMan Basil]] died.
* Besides TheOtherDarrin, Roger Davis, ''Series/AliasSmithAndJones'' replaced the character Clementine "Clem" Hale with Georgette "George" Sinclair. Probably a case of the writers recycling scripts already written for the other character.
* The German soap opera ''AllesWasZahlt'' originally dealt with Diana Sommer, who was a plucky blonde delivery girl turned up-and-coming figure skater. In the first episode Diana was sort of hit by a car... which led to the ''MeetCute'' introduction to her boyfriend Julian. After Julian [[spoiler: died]] and the actress playing Diana decided to leave the show, a new character was introduced: the plucky blonde circus performer turn up-and-coming figure skater, Stella. Upon arriving in town her car broke down, which meant she almost got rear-ended by her immediate love interest, Lars. It wouldn't be so bad if Stella and Lars were bearable, but unfortunately, they're not.
* Mrs. Greenlaw for Mrs. Hall on ''Series/AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall''.
* Carla Borrego for Maddie Magellan in ''Series/JonathanCreek''. And then Joey Ross for Carla. All female investigative journalists (of a sort; Carla presents a ''Crimewatch''-style TV show and Joey runs a paranormal website) who march into situations and take charge, leaving Jonathan to fade into the background, and are eternally exasperated with him. The main difference with Joey is that her relationship with Jonathan isn't based on {{UST}}.
* Agent Shaw on ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' seems pretty similar to [[spoiler:Bryce]] from Seasons 1 and 2. They're both romantic rivals to the lead character, they both [[TheMentor mentor]] him on how to be a spy, and they both are super spies.
* When Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'s variety show ''Series/AllThat'' began, Katrina Johnson was easily the youngest-looking cast member and was mostly used to play a variety of little girl characters. In Season 3, with Katrina looking too old to pull off these roles, Amanda Bynes was added to the cast to fill the void. Katrina left the show entirely later in that season.
* ''Series/DesigningWomen'': Charlene was replaced by her sister Carlene, who was about as similar as you can get.
* Oddly played on ''Series/SavedByTheBell''. After losing Jesse and Kelly the producers introduced biker chick Tori who picked up Kelly's role as Zach's love interest. That still left a gap though, so rather than introduce new characters they transferred Jesse's brains and Kelly's popularity to Lisa who overnight leapt from average intelligence and popularity to straight A-student and homecoming queen.
** More so on ''Saved By The Bell: The New Class,'' most blatantly in their first season. The new youngsters were virtual carbon copies of their old-class counterparts: Scott for Zack (even breaking the Fourth Wall in the same way), Weasel for Screech, Tommy D for Slater, Linday for Kelly, and Megan for Lisa and Jessie (due to her being Weasel's unrequited crush, as well as the smart one in the group).
* ''Series/WhiteCollar'' introduced FBI agent Diana Barrigan in the pilot, but when the actress had other commitments, she was replaced without explanation by the character Lauren Cruz. (Who was subsequently re-replaced without explanation by Barrigan in season 2).
** Diana took a job in Washington, DC because it's where her girlfriend was from, and decided to come back to New York. Lauren left with no explanation.
* ''Series/CharliesAngels''. At the end of Season 1 Farrah Fawcett left the series and her character, Jill Munroe was replaced by her kid sister Kris. The show's ratings soared after that.
* Subverted in ''Series/NCISLosAngeles''. Originally the team was to be headed by agent Lara Macy, played by Louise Lombard, but after apparently she didn't test well with audiences in the pilot, she was replaced by Hetty Lange, played by Linda Hunt. They are nothing alike.
* In ''Series/MidsomerMurders'', DCI Barnaby was replaced by... DCI Barnaby (his cousin, who had the same rank and personality, but was played by a different actor). Also, he had already changed his sidekick twice.
* In the second season of ''InTreatment'' Luke and Bess, a couple whose divorce was harming their son, were clearly substitutes for Jake and Amy in the first season. This is because, in the Israeli series the show is based on, the corresponding couple's arc continued into the second season.
* In the {{retool}} of ''Series/SquareOneTV'', Kate Monday was replaced by Pat Tuesday on the ShowWithinAShow ''Mathnet''.
** The Season 2-4 recasting of ''Series/ThreeTwoOneContact'': Miguel=Marc, Robin=Trini, Kathy=Lisa.
* Played with on ''Film/{{Tremors}}: The Series'' when Michael Gross was unavailable for shooting. The female scientist who appeared in the episode was given a personality Suspiciously Similar to Gross's Burt Gummer, a similarity which was Lampshaded by the other characters, although she didn't perform his usual in-universe functions of shooting or blowing up monsters.
* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' had Dreama replace Valerie and Brad replace Libby in season 4.
** Valerie herself replaced Jenny in season 2.
* Annie replaced Fi as the protagonist in the final season of ''Series/SoWeird''. Like Fi, Annie had paranormal encounters which she posted on a website. The "twist" was that she was a [[IdolSinger singer]].
* Averted and played straight by ''Series/TheRedGreenShow''. The marina owner changed from the reasonably-built but lazy Glen Brachston to the overweight and ''lazier'' Dwight Cardiff. However, they averted this with the role of animal control officer: the original one, Garth Harble, loved animals, while replacement Ed Frid was terrified of them.
* On ''Series/HomeImprovement'', Heidi replaced Lisa as the Tool Girl on the ShowWithinAShow ''Tool Time'' in season three. Lisa was a FlatCharacter and Heidi started out as one but she eventually had some CharacterDevelopment.
* ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' had Sarah Page, who [[spoiler: was killed because her actress couldn't continue acting for the show]], and was replaced by Jess Parker. However, their roles are very different; Sarah was an expert in mythology and ancient cultures, while Jess is a techie and team coordinator.
** Sarah in turn replaced Jenny Lewis, who was an alternate-timeline duplicate of Claudia Brown, played by the same actress but with a completely different personality and role, an inversion of the typical Suspiciously Similar Substitute.
** The series has also been through three different leading men and two different tough-guy supporting men. Only three cast members have stayed with the show through its entire run.
*** The leading men are a particularly interesting example of this. With the first switch the authors went for a genuine attempt to not make the substitute suspiciously similar, and in fact the character changed the entire tone of the series. When this second leader was in turn switched out they brought in a replacement that was suspiciously similar to leading man number one, up to and including his accent. The tone of the series also switched back, becoming particularly obvious when number two reappeared for one more episode.
***** I hope you just mean they both have accents. Matt's Northern Ireland is not anything like Cutter's Scotland.
* Creator/EllenDeGeneres seemed to be this when she replaced Music/PaulaAbdul on ''Series/AmericanIdol'' except with zero knowledge of the music industry. She even managed to be less useful than TheScrappy Kara [=DioGuardi=].
* Reviews of ''Series/TheXFactor'''s new judges Kelly Rowland, Tulisa, and Gary Barlow recall up their respective predecessors, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole, and Simon Cowell. Some reviewers even noted that Tulisa even physically resembled Cheryl in terms of looks and personality.
* ''UpstairsDownstairs'' replaced Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard and Lady Marjorie Bellamy, with Georgina, the daughter of a couple killed in the Titanic disaster alongside Lady Marjorie. The changeover wasn't immediate, and demure, idealistic Elizabeth had a very different character to the louche Georgina, but Georgina filled the same role, so it may count. Lady Marjorie's role went through two changes as well, with Hazel and then Virginia Bellamy taking over the position of mistress of the house. Downstairs, after Emily's [[spoiler:suicide]], the show also went through a handful of identikit kitchenmaids before settling on the hapless Ruby.
* On Fox's ''Series/NewGirl,'' the character of "Coach" (Damon Wayans, Jr.) appears only in the pilot. By the time the second episode rolls around, we instead have "Bishop," (Lamorne Morris) another young, handsome, goateed, athletic African-American roommate. The switch is given something of a HandWave, with the explanation that Bishop is the "real" roommate, and that Coach was just subletting while Bishop was off playing pro basketball in a Latvian league. The actual reason for the switch is that Wayans shot the pilot while his ABC show ''Happy Endings'' was on the cancellation bubble, and between the pilot being shot and the show being picked up as a full series, ABC decided to renew ''Happy Endings''...Which did the same for Wayans' contract.
* Leonard Rossiter's final role on UK television was as a supermarket manager in the dreadful sitcom ''Tripper's Day''. After his death, he was replaced by BruceForsyth and the show was renamed ''Slinger's Day''. This was even worse than the original but was somehow renewed for a second (six-episode) season and crossed the Atlantic to become ''Check It Out''.
* Averted in ''Series/TwinPeaks'', when KyleMacLachlan talked the producers out of turning teenage sexpot Audrey Horne into the love interest for his character, Agent Dale Cooper. Instead, they introduced HeatherGraham as Annie ... a formerly suicidal former nun. Definitely not a teenage sexpot.
* Amy Amanda Allen was put on a bus and replaced for ten episodes by Tawnia Baker on ''Series/TheATeam''.
* One episode of ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'' featured Don Ramón's cousin Don Román. Román practically did and suffered like his cousin did in a similar episode.
* ''Series/BeingHuman''
** Mitchell, a reformed vampire with a troubled past who's sworn off blood and lives alongside a werewolf and a ghost, was killed off at the end of Series 3. Series 4 replaces him with Hal... a reformed vampire with a troubled past who's sworn off blood and lives alongside a werewolf and a ghost.
** At the same time, George, the resident werewolf, also left. His role in the house was replaced by another werewolf who had almost nothing in common with George. The reason? Tom, his replacement, had been a recurring character since the start of the third series. Zero new characterization was required.
* Put-upon straight man, oftentimes OnlySaneEmployee, and Leslie's original love interest Mark Brendanawicz leaves ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' at the end of Season 2, the same time put-upon straight man, OnlySaneEmployee, and Leslie's love interest Ben Wyatt joins the cast.
* In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'' when Nathan left, due to actor Robert Sheehan not wanting to continue to Series 3, he is replaced by Rudy, and equally mouthy character who like Nathan has the habit of saying outrageous things for shock value (or perhaps because he just doesn't think before he speaks). Subverted slightly in that Rudy has a literal dual personality; he splits into two different Rudys. The 'other' Rudy is more tactful and caring.
** When unlikely lovers Simon and Alisha left the following year, Finn and Jess stepped in to maintain the sexual tension in Series 4. Tune in to Series 5 to see if [[spoiler:Curtis]] receives an analogue.
* A rather tragic example occurred in the final season of ''Series/NewsRadio'' (and the only example in the whole series- the other character who left was simply PutOnABus and never replaced). Max was brought in to take over the role that had been filled by Phil Hartman as the over-egotistical Bill McNeil. Unfortunately shortly after the completion of season 4, Hartman was the victim of a MurderSuicide by his own wife, and for the final season Jon Lovitz joined the cast in a similar role as Max. Incidentally Lovitz had been a close to Hartman and joined the cast because he wanted to pay homage to his friend.
* ''Series/{{Bedlam}}'' replaces Jed, [[ISeeDeadPeople a man who sees ghosts and works to put them at rest]] and investigating the house's mysteries, with Ellie, a girl who can see ghosts, investigating what happened to Jed.
* The final season of ''Ballykissangel'' introduced the elderly farmer and pub regular Louis Dargan (Mick Lally) after the death of Birdy Sweeney, who played elderly farmer and pub regular Eamon Byrne. Unlike Eamon, however, Louis was never important to the plot and never spoke an intelligible sentence.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}''
** In season 3, many of the original cast (and the one's with the largest, most vocal sub-fandoms) graduated and became recurring characters. In their place is a league of hip, young freshman replacements which suspiciously resemble the first generation of glee clubbers;
** Mary Rose is just like the original Rachel Berry; Heterosexual, caucasian, skinny, pale brunette with a wailing Broadway voice is made the captain and lead singer of the ''New Directions''. She also has a crush on a member of the football team who seems to be completely out of her league and is dating a nasty blonde cheerleader who hates her, which causes ominous {{wangst}} . Not to mention how despite her being unpopular the football player has a strange affinity for her, and how Rachel is the main protagonist season 1-3, whilst Marley is the main protagonist in season 4.
** Kitty Wylde and Quinn Fabray's similarities are even lampshaded in the series; They're both (for at least a brief time) head cheerleaders, both caucasian, heterosexual and blonde with a strange, inconceivable hatred for the main heroine (see above) who has never done anything to them. They are both popular but implied that their "friends" don't ''really'' like them (Quinn's falling out with Santana/Kitty saying she really just wants friends). They're also dating the football player as a obvious RomanticFalseLead, but seem to be using them for popularity at the best of times and get jealous and possessive over them even talking to other females in a purely platonic sense. It isn't helped by the fact that Kitty ''worships'' Quinn and constantly gushes about how she wants to be just like her. Or the fact that Sue dubs Kitty "A young Quinn Fabray, except not pregnant, manically depressed and in/out of a wheelchair", which crossed the DudeNotFunny territory for some viewers with experiences of that nature. They both have high, wispy voices too.
** They don't even try and hide the similarities between Puck and Jake; Both from a broken home in which they didn't know their father, they both play/ed for the football team and have a big reputation as trouble makers and womanizers (To the point where Unique feels it necessary to break into a improv Britney Spears number to prove it). They both have strong, baritone voices and start off dissing the glee club and disputing it, before slowing warming up to the idea of singing and dancing on stage. They both are implied to see themselves as losers and both have a below average IQ and are popular. Oh yeah, and [[spoiler: They're half brother.]] This is later deconstructed when Jake says he doesn't just want to be seen as a failure because his brother was, and that there's more to him than his genes. He's having a tough time it proving, though.
** Unique/Wade is a big fan of both Kurt and Mercedes, so it's a good job the fandom refers to her as their lovechild from the future. When it comes to Unique being like ''Mercedes'', they share body-shape and race, as well as having "Big belter" Whitney-esque voices and their main superlative being "Sassy diva". And being TheLancer to the main heroine of the series (Rachel/Marley). They both campaign for more solos throughout their airtime too, often claiming that their voices are neglected. When it comes to Unique being like ''Kurt'', they have both suffered prejudice and bullying over their sexual orientations (Kurt is gay and Unique is transgendered), as well as auditioning for a big role in the annual Mckinley musical and for some reason or another not getting to do it. They also act as a PetHomosexual to Rachel/Marley. They both show explicit interest in fashion and style, and are quite eloquently spoken for teenagers.
* In ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' KT came in after Nina had left (as Nathalia quit to focus on school work.) Many fans had this reaction at first, considering both of them are from the United States, were raised by a grandparent, and [[spoiler:have a destiny to do with Ancient Egyptian Mythology]]. Some of the ''characters'' even seemed to believe this at first.
* Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman.
** Loren's sister Olive [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappears between seasons without any explanation]]. In her place, his sister-in-law Dorothy (whom he was courting before she ran off with another man, leaving him to marry her sister) came to town, fleeing the abusive husband she had ditched Lauren for, and taking Olive's place as Dr. Quinn's friend and confidant.
** Also, HookerWithAHeartOfGold Emma for Myra, once Myra left the business and married Horace.
* ''Series/{{Community}}''
** The third season introduced an annoying gang of German foosball players led by a man named Juergen. When the group reappeared in Season 4, Juergen was replaced by his [[RememberTheNewGuy previously-unseen]] brother Reinhold, presumably because the creators couldn't get Nick Kroll to reprise his role.
** After ChevyChase left the show, they introduced Professor Buzz Hickey, a GrumpyOldMan who has been at Greendale for a much longer time than the rest of the group, a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, a bit of an outsider and sort of a mentor to Jeff. He even takes Pierce's seat at the study room table.
* As mentioned above, since the [[MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] [[ExiledFromContinuity cannot use]] any ''Film/XMen'' characters or the term "{{mutant}}", ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' uses the generic term "Gifted" to describe people with superhuman abilities.
* ''Series/DocMartin'':
** PC Penhale for PC Mylow.
** Originally Pauline for Elaine, though since Pauline has run for three seasons now she has a rather well developed, unique character.
*** Morwena is very much one for Pauline though.
** Averted with the replacement for Aunt Joan, Martin's Aunt Ruth is a very different person.
** When the anonymous black sheepdog disappears, Joan gets a dog that takes just as much an unwelcome liking to Martin.
* In ''Series/BlueBloods'' Danny Reagan's partner Jackie Curatola [[PutOnABus left the series]] a third of the way into season three due to actress Jennifer Esposito's illness. Danny had two partners that each lasted about five episodes each before finally ending up with Maria Baez as Jackie's permanent replacement. Both characters are Latina detectives from rough backgrounds, and with similar temperaments.
* Similar to the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' example above, ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' consciously gave [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Oliver Queen]] many of [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]]'s traits because they didn't have the television rights to ''Batman'' characters (making the ''Smallville'' universe's Queen both a CompositeCharacter and a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute). He shares his birthplace, M.O. and basic background with the Green Arrow's comic book incarnation, but he's also the primary founder of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague, the world's most well-known [[BadassNormal non-powered superhero]], and Clark Kent's closest ally in the superhero community.
* In ''Series/MonarchOfTheGlen'', the character of Paul Bowman was introduced in Season 4, and subsequently revealed to be the illegitimate half-brother of the main character, Archie [=MacDonald=], Laird of Glenbogle. Two seasons later, Archie gets PutOnABus to New Zealand, Paul Bowman-[=MacDonald=] is made the new laird, and the series carries on as before, including Paul having {{UST}} with Archie's ''wife''. (Although it doesn't go anywhere.)
* In WelcomeBackKotter, as John Travolta--who played Vinnie Barbarino--became a celebrity, he left the show (returning every so often as a "special guest star"). His "replacement" was Steven Shortridge as Beau, a transfer student from New Orleans. Although Beau was as arguably pretty as Vinnie, Beau (as might be expected for a "replacement") never created the stir that Vinnie did.
* After Ian Hendry quit his leading role as Dr. David Keel in Series/TheAvengers after one season, the producers were left with a number of leftover scripts. Rather than retool them, a new character named Dr. Martin King was created for several of them, while others simply had the name "David Keel" crossed out and "Cathy Gale" pencilled in, creating a rare gender-swap substitute and setting Cathy up to become iconic.
* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', particularly in later seasons, seems to run on this trope:
** After William [[spoiler: is killed in World War I]], Season 3 brings us Alfred: tall, fair-haired, awkward, and a potential love interest for Daisy.
** It takes a while to determine who fits this role most closely, but by the end of Series 4, it appears that Charles Blake is turning out to be this regarding [[spoiler: Matthew]]. He and [[spoiler: Mary]] start out with an initially hostile relationship, then share a sweeter moment or two, and by the end of the season wants to marry her. Sound familiar?
** Sarah Bunting has strong opinions, particularly where politics and class are concerned, likes helping people, and is attracted to [[spoiler: Tom]], much like [[spoiler: the late Sybil.]]

* After Ian Hendry quit his leading role as Dr. David Keel in Series/TheAvengers after one season, the producers were left with a number of leftover scripts. Rather than retool them, a new character named Dr. Martin King was created for several of them, while others simply had the name "David Keel" crossed out and "Cathy Gale" pencilled in, creating a rare gender-swap substitute and setting Cathy up to become iconic.