8/4/04: Many of us have probably been involved in a conversation involving TV sitcoms at one time or another.

With a little help from my good friends JumpTheShark.com and The Internet Movie Database, I was able to research sitcoms that did just that! "Did just what?" you ask. To that I reply, "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you."

What I forgot to tell you is that many sitcoms replace their characters with the same character, except that the "new" character walks, talks, looks, and probably smells differently. They try to sneak this one past us, hoping that we will not notice. Hardly ever do we, the viewers, notice such change. Did anyone notice when Laura from Family Matters replaced Jodie Sweetin on Full House? No! But only because such a change never happened. Below is a table showing how it did not happen:

Laura Winslow is all smiles, knowing she will have Carl Winslow for a father.

LAURA WINSLOW DID NOT REPLACE STEPHANIE TANNER ON FULL HOUSE.

Stephanie Tanner is in shock, because she realizes she will continue having Danny Tanner as a father.

One change that really did occur was the substitution of JudyAnn Elder for Jo Marie Payton. Does anyone care? No. Does anyone know who JudyAnn Elder is? No. Except for Laura Winslow. Laura Winslow knows JudyAnn Elder as her mother during half of the 1998 season of Family Matters. Jo Marie Payton heard that Laura was planning on leaving for Full House, so she decided to leave, too. But then Laura Winslow stayed, and it was too late for Jo Marie Payton. She was eaten by an alligator on the way to San Fransisco. She could have never filled Danny Tanner's shoes anyway. Not to mention the fact that Full House had already been off the air for quite some time when Ms. Payton attempted to make the switch from the Winslow household to the Tanner household, a move that required her to travel from Chicago to San Fransisco. Her efforts were all for naught!

"Urkel Made Me Do It!"- An alligator eats Jo Marie Payton.

By the way, other TV character changes include a new Vivian on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, a new Mr. Wilson on the 1960's version of Dennis the Menace, and, staying true to the theme for the day (that being something about a show called Family Matters), we'll note that the original Judy lasted for one episode, and the second Judy lasted four years, then was randomly gone. Oh, Richie, the one kid from the same show, was played by a new actor at one point too. And they thought we wouldn't notice. Seriously. I'm insulted.

<|==GO BACK NOW! THIS SUCKS!