Why the cast change?
Why did they switch families for the last season? The other family didn't seem nearly as good.
shareWhat do you mean?
shareWhy did they switch families for the last season?
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MovieChat Forums > Hazel (1961) Discussion > Why the cast change?
The show changed networks.
"Beware of the humorless. They won't laugh at your jokes, and you'll end up paying the check."
Maybe Whitney Blake and Don DeFore wanted out.
shareIt was probably a budget issue - newer cast members would be paid less than longtime regulars. And too, when a show starts getting on in years sometimes they change the casts around to try to give it a fresher spin. It usually doesn't work and it certainly didn't work on Hazel although Shirley Booth was always a delight.
shareRepeat: they changed casts because the show changed networks.
"Beware of the humorless. They won't laugh at your jokes, and you'll end up paying the check."
In "Written out of Television", Don DeFore is quoted as saying that he and Whitney Blake were dropped because the producers were trying to cut the show's budget, and it was cheaper to use to new actors than to have to pay the increases specified in his and Blake's contract options.
Try to be less of a jerk. Repeat: try to be less of a jerk.
"Try to be less of a jerk. Repeat: try to be less of a jerk."
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Folks who offer ad hominem attacks in these settings - particularly regarding trivial subjects - really should reconsider before posting. It's bad form and puts rage issues on very public display.
"Beware of the humorless. They won't laugh at your jokes, and you'll end up paying the check."
The network changed, the budget declined, and the old actors were out and newer ones were in. Additionally, while it may indeed be the case that Don DeFore was heard to say [hearsay!] that budget dictated alone the change, this - if anything - was a very small part of the issue, which involved assorted thorny contractual and related issues.
"Beware of those who stew bitterly on the trivial."
Interesting banter...thanks for the info, I had wondered about that myself. But cbakes...you take all this a bit too seriously. Do us a favor and lighten up and try to sound less like a snotty college professor about seriously trivial information.
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But I think I like sounding that way. How else to justify the dollars my parents spent on my college tuition?
shareNo matter what the reasons were, the show had runs it's course anyway. Most of these types of shows get tired after a few years. Shirley was an excellent actress she should have left before the last year with the rest of them and done something dramatic which she was an expert at.
shareAnd, some people just have to be right, no matter how foolish it makes them look, so to save you further embarassment.... "You're right, cbakes, so you win!"
You can stop posting replies to yourself now...
Hey - being right never makes one look foolish, except of course to the fool who was wrong.
Must be a lovely lonely life to zing off intended insults at complete strangers.
"Don't begrudge a fool his day in court; juries need laughs too."
Usually if another network takes over a tv series,sometimes the new network doesn't want to pay the same amount of money to all the stars. If Hazel changed networks probably meant the former network was going to cancel the series and sometimes another network though seldom will pick it up so maybe it was about money and the new network wanting to give the show a change.
shareThey probably also wanted to get away from old men being married to much younger women. They wanted couples more closer in age to attract a wider audience.
shareHere's from the horse's mouth (Don DeFore's son)...
It was budgetary reasons, show changed networks, and my Dad owned 10% of the show by then which added even more to the budgetary pressures.
Ron DeFore
I don't know if you are still on the board, but I love the chemistry between Shirley Booth and your dad. He knew how that play that fine line between gruff employer and guy who loved/appreciated Hazel.
shareYou can repeat: as much as you like, but shows have changed networks numerous times over the years ("Leave It to Beaver," "Father Knows Best," "Taxi") without wholesale cast changes involving stars and main characters. "My Three Sons" lost one son and gained another when they switched from ABC to CBS but that doesn't appear to be related to the network switch. With "Hazel" there may or may not be a relation but it can't be the sole reason.
shareI totally agree. Didn't like the new cast.
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Back in the early Reagan administration, I ran into Mr DeFore at a govt party. Someone at the party brought me over to him and introduced us. I told him I was a big fan of Hazel and asked him this question. As a few have said, the show changed networks and the producers wanted to lower the budget so he and Whitney left. He said before Shirley died she had written a lot of a book talking about her times on Hazel but I do not know if the book ever came out. He did tell me as a Brady Bunch fan something I do not know if true or not. The first episode where Carol and Mike get married, Shirley was originally penciled in to be Carol's mother but the role was re-casted by Sherwood Schwartz.
Thanks for the answer to this question. The Antennae TV network is running episodes of 'Hazel' daily. Today is the first and second episodes of the cast change. The new couple were nice enough, but, Don DeFore and Whitney Blake were fantastic! Class acts. I've read that Don DeFore was a very nice man. To answer your questions about the cast change so nicely and the info about Shirley Booth and 'The Brady Bunch' says a lot.
shareI'm watching these episodes too. Did they explain why George and Dorothy left for Baghdad, and left Harold?
shareYes, they did address the changes in the first show of the last season. Hazel tells her other maid friends and the mailman that Mr. Griffin has sent Mr. Baxter to Iraq, I think Hazel said for either six months or one year. Mrs. Baxter went, too. They didn't want Harold to leave his school so Hazel stayed with him at the uncle's house.
It was so odd to hear about people moving to Bagdhad. Sad to remember it used to be a place of great international commerce.
Thanks for the info --
I had just turned on an episode with the new cast and here all my questions were answered---
I always enjoyed Shirley Booth's work -- I wish her unpublished memoirs would be unearthed & find a publisher.
"The new Baxters reflected a desire for younger demographics. (CBS said that Ms. Blake was not available after NBC's cancellation, although Don DeFore noted that he found out about the change while reading the newspaper." and i agree the new family seemed more animated ala Bewitched, while the originals seemed more traditional, Father knows bestish.
Accept all paths to Godshare
The story was George and Dorothy moved to Saudi Arabia for George's job, leaving Harold in the care of his aunt and uncle. Hazel went with Harold.
shareI've heard the rumor that Whitney Blake (Dorothy Baxter) got wind the 1965-66 season would be the series last, so she refused to renew her contract in retaliation. Of course, that meant the end of Don DeFore (George Baxter) too.
shareAm sure the budget lowering is the ultimate reasoning....but Meredith Baxter writes that her mother, Whitney Blake, was very unhappy on Hazel and felt that Shirley Booth was trying sabotage her role on the series.
Dammit Carol Sue, where is the vodka?!
IMHO the cast change was a disaster. The new young couple had all the appeal of wet cardboard. Don DeFore was a great foil for Booth. Without him the show was flat. Younger ain't always better.
shareThis is the only series I've ever seen that had the two main principle stars replaced. A new series should have been developed with Hazel (renamed slightly), joining a different family. Of course, as such, Harold would not have been retained in the replacement show. Only contract disputes led to such departures as Suzanne Summers ("Three's Company"; fired), and Valarie Harper ("Valerie"); the latter sued to have her show renamed. It was renamed "The Hogan Family"/"The Hogans". Of course, if there were other series in which the principle actors/actresses were replaced, I am not aware of such.
shareOf course the show was named "Hazel" and Shirley Booth was the principal character. The powers to be were apparently hoping that she could essentially carry the show herself. It can be argued that the series was on its last legs regardless as the ratings had substantially declined in the 1964-65 season.
A well known cast change involving an important character occurred in "Bewitched", with Dick Sargent replacing Dick York as the husband Darrin. Of course there they didn't create a new character altogether. The reasoning probably was it would have been too complicated and awkward to create a brand new spouse for Samantha. In the case of "Bewitched" the change was apparently necessary because of York's ongoing health issues. At any rate the show continued for another three seasons with Sargent. According to some sources it could have been renewed further, but purportedly Elizabeth Montgomery didn't want to continue in the role.
It is true that replacing two significant characters at the same time is a radical move and probably did more harm than good. Still, "Hazel" had a solid five year run, and they filmed a lot more episodes per season back then