12 TV Roles Recast Before the Series Premiered That Made the Replacement Famous

Picture Frasier’s radio station with Lisa Kudrow answering the phones. Or Captain Janeway played by someone other than Kate Mulgrew. Or the Hulk standing over seven feet tall and not quite looking the part.

All three nearly happened. Behind many TV favorites is a quiet swap that audiences never saw: a pilot reshot, an actor let go, a replacement who walked in and made the role their own.

The twelve recasts below all happened before a single viewer saw the series premiere. Some were about chemistry, some about scheduling, and one involved a creator replacing himself. The most surprising ones are still ahead.

#12 – Roz Doyle on Frasier

Before Peri Gilpin ever sat behind the microphone, Lisa Kudrow was cast as Roz, and it didn’t last.

Roz was written as a sharp, no-nonsense radio producer. Kudrow’s take wasn’t the fit the producers wanted, so Gilpin took over before the show premiered in 1993.

Gilpin kept the role for all 11 seasons. Her Roz became the grounded, wisecracking counterweight to Frasier’s pretension.

Kudrow’s exit worked out fine for her too. She went on to play Phoebe on Friends, which debuted a year later.

Next up: a sci-fi captain who lasted only a few days.

#11 – Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager

Genevieve Bujold was originally cast as the captain, then left the production after only a few days of filming.

The departure was reportedly tied to the demands of weekly television. That left a brand-new network with a flagship series and no lead.

Kate Mulgrew stepped in, and Voyager premiered in January 1995. She would command the ship for seven seasons and became the franchise’s first female lead captain.

The next one involves a creator who cast himself, then stepped aside.

#10 – Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show

The show’s creator, Carl Reiner, originally wrote the lead for himself.

His pilot, Head of the Family, didn’t win over CBS. When the idea was reworked, Reiner stepped out of the lead, and Dick Van Dyke took over as Rob Petrie.

The series premiered in 1961 and ran five seasons. Van Dyke became a sitcom star and won multiple Emmys for the role.

Quick Compare

• Version one: Head of the Family put Reiner in the lead, and CBS didn’t bite.
• Version two: The Dick Van Dyke Show put Van Dyke in the lead, and it premiered on October 3, 1961.
• The payoff: The reworked show lasted 158 episodes.

Reiner didn’t vanish. He played the blustery TV host Alan Brady, a part that gave him a memorable comic presence of his own.

#9 – Jenna Maroney on 30 Rock

Rachel Dratch was originally cast as Jenna, the self-obsessed TV star, but she never played the role on screen.

The part went to Jane Krakowski before the show premiered in 2006. Krakowski gave Jenna the diva swagger that ran through seven seasons and earned her multiple Emmy nominations.

Dratch stayed with the show in smaller roles, so the change wasn’t a clean break. It shifted the show’s balance toward Jenna as a polished, over-the-top star.

Next, a pilot version of a sitcom character who looks nothing like the one you know.

#8 – Penny on The Big Bang Theory

The woman across the hall wasn’t always named Penny. In the unaired pilot, she was Katie.

Amanda Walsh played Katie as a tougher, harder-edged neighbor. The creators reworked the character into the friendly girl next door and brought in Kaley Cuoco before the series premiered in 2007.

Fast Facts

• Original character: Katie, played by Walsh in the unaired pilot.
• Replacement: Penny, played by Cuoco.
• Premiere date: September 24, 2007.
• Total run: 12 seasons and 279 episodes.

Cuoco’s warm comic timing became central to the show’s success. The Big Bang Theory ran 12 seasons, and Cuoco has since earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

#7 – Willow Rosenberg on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Willow’s first on-screen appearance wasn’t played by Alyson Hannigan.

Riff Regan played her in the short presentation made to pitch the series. When Buffy went into production, Hannigan was cast instead.

The series premiered in 1997. Over seven seasons, Hannigan turned Willow from a shy sidekick into a powerful witch, one of television’s most talked-about character arcs.

One more recast came down to a scheduling clash.

#6 – Sookie St. James on Gilmore Girls

Alex Borstein was originally in line to play Sookie, but a scheduling conflict got in the way.

She was tied to MADtv, and the role went to Melissa McCarthy before the series premiered in 2000.

McCarthy’s physical comedy and warmth made the klutzy chef a fan favorite. She later earned an Oscar nomination for Bridesmaids.

Borstein made it back to Stars Hollow anyway, in a smaller part. She later won Emmys for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

#5 – Danny Tanner on Full House

The dad you remember from the opening credits wasn’t in the first pilot.

John Posey shot the pilot as Danny Tanner while Bob Saget was tied up with the CBS Morning Program. Once that obligation ended, Saget took over before the show premiered in 1987.

Posey’s version of the pilot never aired. It later surfaced as a DVD extra, so fans can see what almost was.

The next recast involved a fantasy epic with a very different first draft.

#4 – Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones

The Mother of Dragons was originally played by Tamzin Merchant.

She filmed the role in the original pilot, which was never aired. When the pilot was reworked, Emilia Clarke was cast and the Daenerys scenes were reshot before the 2011 premiere.

Worth Knowing

• Daenerys wasn’t the only change. Michelle Fairley replaced Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn Stark when the pilot was redone.
• The series premiered on HBO on April 17, 2011.
• It ran eight seasons and 73 episodes, with Clarke in the role throughout.

Clarke’s performance carried the character across eight seasons and brought her multiple Emmy nominations and global fame.

Merchant moved on to period drama, including The Tudors. Her pilot footage still circulates among curious fans.

#3 – Dee Reynolds on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The show that became one of TV’s longest-running comedies began as a home-camcorder pilot.

Jordan Reid played Dee in that original, low-budget pilot. After FX came aboard, Kaitlin Olson took over the role before the series premiered in 2005.

Olson’s wild, chaotic energy helped define the gang’s dysfunctional dynamic for more than 15 seasons. She later married series creator Rob McElhenney, in 2008.

Now for the two biggest names on the list.

#2 – Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek

The first captain of the Enterprise wasn’t Kirk. He was Christopher Pike.

Jeffrey Hunter played Pike in the original pilot, “The Cage.” NBC passed, then ordered a second pilot with William Shatner as a new captain named James T. Kirk.

At a Glance

• Pilot one: “The Cage,” with Hunter as Captain Pike.
• Pilot two: “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” with Shatner as Captain Kirk.
• Series premiere: September 8, 1966, on NBC.
• Run: three seasons and 79 episodes.

That change came before the 1966 premiere. Shatner’s intense, larger-than-life performance made Kirk a pop-culture legend across three seasons and many films.

Hunter’s Pike footage wasn’t wasted. It was reused in the later two-part episode “The Menagerie.”

#1 – The Hulk on The Incredible Hulk

The first actor cast as the Hulk was Richard Kiel, the towering actor later known as Jaws.

Kiel’s height was striking, but the producers wanted a more muscular look. They replaced him with Lou Ferrigno, a former Mr. Universe champion, early in production, before the series premiered in 1978.

With Bill Bixby as Bruce Banner, Ferrigno’s physique created the green giant fans remember. The series ran five seasons and became a pop-culture touchstone.

Kiel’s career didn’t suffer. He went on to play the steel-toothed villain Jaws in Moonraker, a role that became just as iconic.

The Bottom Line

Every one of these shows could have been a different show. A different face, a different tone, a different pilot, and the characters we quote and mimic might never have existed.

Sometimes the replacement fixed a chemistry problem. Sometimes a scheduling conflict simply opened the door. Either way, the audience never saw the near-miss, and that’s the strange magic of television.

Which recast surprises you most?