Can Shows Succeed After Firing Their Leads?

Entertainment Weekly is breaking the news that after a long salary negotiation process with the stars of One Tree Hill, The CW has decided to fire leads Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton. Since that's basically 100% of the people I can name on that show off the top of my head (I want to say there's a "Sophia Bush" on it too -- or is that a drag queen I saw perform in the Castro once?), it begs the question: can shows still survive after they've let their biggest stars go? Let's check out the history:

The Facts of Life

When Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae) came aboard to be housemother to a number of girls at Eastland School, she probably had no idea that nearly all those girls (including Molly Ringwald) would be fired after the first season. After focusing on the core cast of Blair, Tootie, Natalie and Jo, the show thrived until Rae herself left the show in the eighth season premiere -- then, despite the addition of Cloris Leachman, Facts of Life was canceled the next season.

Valerie

In perhaps the most notorious case of network ruthlessness, NBC decided that instead of upping star Valerie Harper's salary, it would kill her off the sitcom that had been named after her for two seasons. After Sandy Duncan was brought in to fill the void, and the show was eventually retitled The Hogan Family, it continued to run from 1987 to 1991.

Beverly Hills, 90210

The original 90210 holds the distinction of being merely the first show to fire Shannen Doherty -- later, she would be booted off of Charmed, Scare Tactics, and the barely-aired Love Inc. The first two did fine without her -- the others, not so much.

NYPD Blue

How did the series deal with the loss of incipient diva David Caruso? By adding Jimmy Smits, and promoting the considerably more loyal Dennis Franz to undisputed show lead. Franz's pretty-boy partners would come and go, but he remained its anchor until the show's twelfth and final season.

The Practice

Seven seasons into its run, lower ratings and climbing budgets forced David E. Kelley to fire almost the entire cast, including leads Dylan McDermott, Kelli Williams, and Lara Flynn Boyle. After Kelley added James Spader and produced an eighth season that felt almost like another show, he spun Spader off into Boston Legal and closed the doors on The Practice.

In conclusion, One Tree Hill is fairly old anyway (especially by CW standards) and though the move may dent its ratings somewhat, it's still solid enough for the network to keep on its schedule until literally every show it airs is a nighttime soap for young adults. Though I must admit, I would be totally down to see Chad Michael Murray replaced by Sandy Duncan.