15 Shows that Replaced Actors and Hoped We Wouldn’t Notice

7. Dallas

The iconic role of Miss Ellie on Dallas was originally played by Barbara Bel Geddes, but in 1984 she took a break for bypass heart surgery. She decided not to return during recovery and Donna Reed was hired to take on the role. However, no one seemed happy with that casting switcharoo. Eventually her contract was revoked and Barbara was brought back.

8. Arrested Development

Arrested Development had it planned from the beginning that they would be swapping out actresses to play the character of Ann Veal, George Michael’s Christian girlfriend. They actually wanted her to be forgettable. The role started out being played by Alessandra Torresani, and eventually Mae Whitman took over.

9. The Partridge Family

The youngest brother Chris in The Partridge Family was originally played by Jeremy Gelbwaks, but supposedly he was a bit of a pain. After the first season they replaced him with a very different looking Brian Forster, and yet at the time they only received a single fan letter asking about the swap.