The Fresh Beat Band - Where for art thou, Marina?

It is a sad day here in the Fabulous Farmhouse.  Moo, Toots and I just sat down to watch a show we all love, Nick Jr.'s 

"The Fresh Beat Band" only to discover that our favorite character was no longer on the show!  Gasp!  I hate it when they do that!  The girl on the far right in the blue and purple dress is Marina, our FAVORITE by far.  Well today we saw that she had been swapped out with someone else.  They gave the new girl the same dress, same haircut and called her Marina, but it was so obvious she was NOT Marina that Moo's first comment was "Why are they calling that girl Marina?  Where is the real Marina?".  There was no explanation as to why they switched actresses on the show or on their website.  Somewhere on the internet I read that actress number one was getting married and looking at other job possibilities.  While my kids and I will miss her terribly, I know I can't expect people to stay on one show forever or that these shows will last until my kids outgrow them.  But I really think these T.V. execs don't have kids of their own.  They seem to think that nobody will notice such a huge change.  If one actor leaves the show they should come up with a reason for his character to leave, then replace him with a new and different character on the show.  That way kids have an explanation and some idea of what the heck is going on.  They should have said that Marina is moving away for whatever reason.  It's sad, they have a show about her leaving.  Then the next show, some other girl moves in and the other characters meet her and now she's their friend and on the show in Marina's spot.  Simple, explains everything and helps kids realize that not everything is permanent but that one friend leaving could mean a chance for a new friend.  I mean really, you think the average 4 or 5 year old is fooled by a dress?  Oh, she's wearing Mom's pants so she must be my Mom!  Pa-leeeze!

Heavy post, I know.  I only tackle the hard topics here.  By the way, we made a craft today after all the T.V. drama.  I'll post about it later tonight after the girls are in bed.  Hopefully.