The superb Stephen Greif left the role of Travis in Blake's 7 at the end of the 1st season, to be replaced by Brian Croucher, who was terrible in the role.
The superb Stephen Greif left the role of Travis in Blake's 7 at the end of the 1st season, to be replaced by Brian Croucher, who was terrible in the role.
With Season 2 we got cramped sets, and 70s gawdy colours which gave everything a plastic, cheap and tacky look to my mind, more in line with those other British greats that fell on tackier times: the Carry Ons and the Hammer horrors.
Even worse... it looked and "felt" like The Return Of The Saint. Odd how quickly a general air of flat stylistic crapness descended on action/adventure TV shows in the second half of the 70s.
I think the rot began earlier with The Persuaders, to be honest. Completely bloody unwatchable today. Others may disagree.
The superb Stephen Greif left the role of Travis in Blake's 7 at the end of the 1st season, to be replaced by Brian Croucher, who was terrible in the role.
No he wasn't. He was just different.
Different as in a really, really bad actor you mean?
Wasn't Miss Ellie played by a different actress in later episodes of Dallas?
That was Donna Reed! She replaced Barbara Bel Geddes for one season. Then Bel Geddes wanted to return, so Reed got fired.
I remember an interview in which Reed said she was given harsh overhead lighting ("monster lighting") that made her look terrible, and when she went to the cinematographer and asked if she could please have a key light, he said something like, "I'm doing what they told me to do."
Apparently when Bel Geddes wanted to come back, the show set about making Reed less appealing to the audience. Very cutthroat.
I heard that whenever Hagman threatened to quit over money they dangled Robert Culp in front of him. Hagman got smart and stayed put because Culp would have been great in that part too.
The superb Stephen Greif left the role of Travis in Blake's 7 at the end of the 1st season, to be replaced by Brian Croucher, who was terrible in the role.
No he wasn't. He was just different.
Different as in a really, really bad actor you mean?
Not at all. He played it more it more as a nutcase hard-man in a particularly British/London way that might be lost to some. Greif was more of a traditional hiss-boo villain... and yes, he did it wonderfully.
I heard that whenever Hagman threatened to quit over money they dangled Robert Culp in front of him. Hagman got smart and stayed put because Culp would have been great in that part too.
Pretty much untrue. The one time he walked, during the Who Shot JR thing, they trotted out a few names to take over the role. Culp was one of them. But Hagman gambled that CBS and Lorimar knew that NOBODY else would have done as well in the role. He was right. So were they. And they paid him handsomely. They more than got their money's worth. Culp was a fine actor, but Hagman WAS J.R. Ewing.
Mission: Impossible: Stephen Hill was dismissed after season one when his relgiious beliefs caused scheduling problems on the set. So Dan Briggs was replaced by Jim Phelps.
Buck Rogers: Tim O'Connor was the third lead as Dr. Huer and was replaced by Thom Christopher as Hawk in season 2.
Roy Scheider was replaced by Michael Ironside in the third season of SeaQuest.
Earth: Final Conflict: Kevin Kilner's Boone was replaced by Robert Leeshock's Liam Kincaid who was also later replaced by Jayne Heitmeyer's Renee Palmer in season 5. Boy did that show go from great to shit quickly.
I heard that whenever Hagman threatened to quit over money they dangled Robert Culp in front of him. Hagman got smart and stayed put because Culp would have been great in that part too.
Pretty much untrue. The one time he walked, during the Who Shot JR thing, they trotted out a few names to take over the role. Culp was one of them. But Hagman gambled that CBS and Lorimar knew that NOBODY else would have done as well in the role. He was right. So were they. And they paid him handsomely. They more than got their money's worth. Culp was a fine actor, but Hagman WAS J.R. Ewing.
Ok, thanks for the alternative story. I dare say we'll never know the real truth of it... frankly we don't need to. Life's short.
Yeah, while Hagman WAS JR, his character from Jeannie was slightly omnipresent in my consciousness.... no problem with it though. Hero or villain, Hagman was always fun.
