[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 13 2004, 05:21 AM\']Roger told me around late November that the decision was made to audition a few other folks before a permanent replacement would be named.[/quote]
I have a theory about this, and it comes from the story of the casting of Adam West as Batman back in 1966. According to William Dozier, executive producer (and narrator) of the series, he had decided on casting West in the role, but he went ahead and did a screen test with Lyle Waggoner anyway. Why?
"I knew from my experience with the networks that you have to give them a choice. You can't just say, 'This is the guy.' You say, 'Here are two guys. We like them both, but we like one much better than the other. We want you to see both.' ... But if you didn't give them another choice, they'd say, 'Can't you test someone else, too?' So, that's the way their heads work and always have ... ."
Thus, my theory is that the TPIR producers had already settled on either Randy or Burton last fall, but either CBS forced them to audition all these other guys or they just decided to do so on their own, knowing how the network suits think.