10 Best Actor Replacements On TV Shows

10. Jerry Stiller Replaced John Randolph - Seinfeld

It's incredibly easy to forget that this replacement even happened.

In Seinfeld, George Costanza's (Jason Alexander) father Frank was introduced in the late season four episode "The Handicap Spot", where he was portrayed by veteran character actor John Randolph.

But when the decision was made to make Frank a regular character starting with season five, it was also decided that Randolph's more restrained acting style wasn't quite the right fit for the show.

And so, the part was recast with the great Jerry Stiller coming in to play a more larger-than-life, exaggerated version of Frank.

Randolph gives a totally solid performance in his single episode, yet it's also tough to picture him delivering the more outlandish Frank performed by Stiller from that point.

Despite Randolph's tenure lasting just one episode, two years later his scenes in said episode were re-shot with Stiller, to ensure consistency during syndicated TV airings.

Watching the two very different renditions of Frank side-by-side is quite the fascinating, surreal experience. As fine an actor as Randolph was, Stiller made the part his own in ways that Randolph never would've been able to.