These are my thoughts about Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen, which I read about on this website: http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=647600 This is a risky move for a show. Off the top of my head, I can only think of a couple of times where a central character being replaced on an established show has worked.
The best examples I can think of are Cheers and M*A*S*H. In both of these shows, the characters that were replaced helped expand their show in a different direction. For Cheers, the lovable Coach character was replaced by the lovable Woody Boyd and the whiny Diane Chambers was replaced by the sometimes whiny Rebecca Howe. On MASH, Trapper was replaced by BJ, Henry Blake was replaced by Sherman T. Potter, and Frank Burns was replaced by Charles Winchester.
I would argue that the seasons of these two shows were better than the seasons with the former characters. I especially used to think that about MASH. My recollection of the early MASH episodes were that it was just a lot of slapstick. I didn't really care for the one-dimensional character that Alan Alda created in Hawkeye Pierce. His character complained about the war and then got drunk. Time has given me a different perspective. I've grown to have a deeper appreciation of the earlier episodes. The one titled "Yankee Doodle Doctor," about a documentary film being made about the 4077th has a most serious ending with Hawkeye Pierce looking directly in the camera and talking about the hell that is war.
With Cheers, I remember being apprehensive about Woody Boyd replacing Coach. Coach had a lot of funny line and a lot of comic timing. However, some of the lines from Woody Boyd are tremendously funny> I offer his comments about the Hanover Hangover Cure in "It's Lonely at the Top" as evidence. The subplots of Rebecca Howe and Robin Concord as well as Woody and Kelly gave the show a deeper dimension. The addition of Frasier and Lilith Crane also served the same purpose. Yet throughout Cheers, regular characters Norm, Cliff, Sam, and Carla all gave the show enough of a grounding in the past to satisfy fans that had been with the show since day one. That is my belief.
So now, Ashton Kutcher replaces Charlie Sheen. It is unclear to me how this will be written into the show. If the writers were smart, they would send Charlie away to a foreign country or on a long trip so that he could reprise his role for at least the series finale.
The only show I can think of, off the top of my head, that really did not work after a main character was gone is the John Ritter sitcom "8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter." After his death, the show added David Spade and James Garner as members of the family and tried to repackage the show as a bland sitcom. The renaming of the show to "8 Simple Rules" also deflated the original premise of the show, which was John Ritter's Paul character going through the pains of watching his daughters and son grow up and make their own choices. I personally think the show should have had a single final episode that wrapped up the series after Ritter's death. I do not agree with the decision - and I didn't agree with it at the time - of repackaging the same characters. Ritter was too central a character to undermine his legacy.
That said, I would state the same about Kutcher replacing Sheen. The show *is* Sheen, his ego, his poor decisions, and his comic interaction with his "brother." There is a lot for Kutcher to step into. If the writers take the show in a direction that is not about Alan and Jake living with Charlie, then I wish them a lot of luck and hope for the best. I personally do not think the show can be salvaged by Kutcher. Fans are not going to buy into his role. That's my prediction and I know it sounds evil to say that without even seeing or learning how Kutcher is going to be used. The additional loss of the Rose character is a double-whammy, for me, because her quips made the show.
As for Charlie Sheen, I find his rants funny and sad at the same time. I hope he gets whatever help he needs, if indeed he does need help. I also hope he finds a way to channel his comedic timing into another avenue, whether it is another sitcom or a movie that utilizes his talents. Personally, I vote for sitcom. I didn't really have any desire to see him in any of the movies he has been in like "Hot Shots" or ... I think that's the only one I'm aware of off-hand. He was fantastic in "The Outsiders" - I guess I could mention that movie.
In conclusion, I hope Ashton Kutcher doesn't ruin the show. I hope the writers create a character for him that is likeable and able to interact with the other characters. I also hope that the writers have the foresight to not make Charlie "dead" on the show or else they would have to bring him 'back to life' like Frisco Jones was brought back to life on "General Hospital." Remember that storyline?
No comments:
Post a Comment