10 Best Actor Replacements On TV Shows

Cheers was forced to make a sad pivot when Nicholas Colasanto, who played fan favourite bartender Coach Ernie Pantusso, passed away following production of the sitcom's third season.

Rather than recast Coach, the show's creators had him die from unexplained causes within the series itself, and in the season four premiere his replacement was ushered in - Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson).

Woody was introduced as Coach's pen pal - as in, they literally traded pens through the mail - and quickly filled the open bartender role.

As contrived as it might seem in theory, Woody slotted quite effortlessly into the ensemble cast, in large part due to Woody Harrelson's infectiously charming performance.

And while the two characters had some obvious similarities, Woody was also different enough to not feel like a mere young imitation.

Even to this very day there's still no clear fan consensus on which is the superior character, which is perhaps the finest compliment you could give the creators, for finding a pitch-perfect substitute who didn't just erase Coach from memory.