Johnny Depp left
Richard Greco replaced him

>hey -- what are some tv shows that replaced their stars and
>remained successful afterwards? successful is defined as still
>being successful in ratings and staying on air for 2 or more
>years after the replacement. here are the two that i can think
>of:
>
>- valerie/the hogan family: like, damn, how can you name a
>show AFTER someone....then viciously kill their character off
>in a car accident? that's crazy as hell. show ran for 4
>seasons afterwards on NBC & CBS though.
>
>- 90210: shannon doherty, i guess, wasn't technically the
>*star* -- however, her & her twin brother moving & adjusting
>to beverly hills was the premise of the show. they replaced
>her with tiffani-amber thiessen and ran for 6 more years after
>she left the show.
>
>any other examples? i left off "family matters" b/c it was
>clearly urkel's show by the time jo marie peyton noble, for
>whom the show had been created, left the show.
>
>edit: so i don't mean replacing becky on roseanne or something
>like that (see replies 3 & 4). i mean replacing the STAR of
>the show. the main character. one of the people for whom the
>show was created or was created around.