Wowsers. What a difference a day can make.
Just a day after attending the audience run through on FOX's comedy pilot Action News (now being renamed with the less on-the-nose title of Back to You), I was shocked to learn that not one, but two actors had been replaced in the days leading up to Friday's scheduled taping of the Action News/Back to You pilot. (The series itself already has a 13-episode commitment on FOX for the fall.)
Paul Campbell (of Battlestar Galactica and Nobody's Watching) and Aimee Garcia (George Lopez), who played station news director Nate and weatherwoman Montana respectively, are both off the series and are being replaced by Josh Gad and Ayda Field.
Gad (21) will replace Paul Campbell as the young corporate news director; Field (Studio 60), who also appears in the untitled Gabe Sachs/Jeff Judah comedy pilot at ABC this season, will replace Aimee Garcia as the former child beauty pageant winner turned meteorologist.
Both Gad and Field will serve as guest stars in the pilot and could be later bumped to regulars on the series.
While I'm shocked that a recast would happen so quickly after a full run-through (and a day before shooting), stranger things have happened. I'll be curious to see how Gad and Field fare in the roles and whether Campbell manages to pop up on another project before pilot season ends. It would be tragic if nobody really was watching this talented actor.
But Patricia Heaton's still on it, right? Damn...I'm still out.
That's so sad! I was really looking forward to seeing Campbell in this show. I think he's a really talented actor and this seemed like the perfect fit.
I have tickets to go see the taping of the pilot tomorrow night, but without Campbell I'm not sure I want to go anymore, he was really a big draw.
Now it's a tough decision.
Patricia Heaton's still on? Then I'm in!!!!!
Hey ally....is this what YOU do in the way of talent? At least Patty has some!
I was at the run-through also, and felt that Paul Campbell was "off" compared to the rest of the cast. His timing was off. I felt uneasy watching him. He didn't seem comfortable or confident. All the other male actors were great. You could really see their talent. I told someone who works on the show what I thought, and they mentioned that others felt the same about Campbell and Garcia. Later that day, I learned that both parts were being recast. Ouch! I watched Campbell on "Nobody's Watching" and was surprised to see how much more comfortable his performances were in those clips.
Anon,
I definitely felt Garcia's timing felt off and she didn't seem to be a perfect fit for the role of Montana.
As for Campbell, I felt any sort of awkwardness was more the pressure of a "live" performance rather than the edited fluity of something like "Nobody's Watching." I do think that Campbell, based on the pilot (and subsequent websiodes) of Nobody's Watching has great comedic timing and, for whatever reason, it wasn't coming through on the set.
Sadly, I don't think he'll land anything else this pilot season, due to the lateness of the recasting.
Jace,
I'm sure in time, Campbell would've done well in the show. He obviously has talent for comedy. It just had to come through that day, and it didn't. That's too bad.
I heard the taping went well, and the replacement actor/actress got much better responses from the audience this time through.
You know what is so annoying, you hear all these great things about this pilot script and how funny it is. And everyone on here is talking about it and how much the liked it. Yet trying to obtain a copy is like trying to find water in space, no dice. It is like being at the dinner table and everyone saying how good the wine is but your too young to drink so you are our of luck. Share the water and pass the wine, let those of us who do not have hollywood connections have a chance to read this amazing script, besides the more people who read such a good script are the more that will want to watch the new show and make it a hit.