Life is about living with the choices you make, but there’s always a voice asking you how things would have turned out if you’d taken a different turn along the way. Well a lot of breakout TV shows were supposed to go in a different direction as well, but they changed things up and that’s why they became the successful chart-toppers they are today. Here are some of those shows.

1. Jesse Pinkman was supposed to die in the first season of Breaking Bad

Vince Gilligan the creator of the show, intended for Jesse Pinkman to be killed at the end of the first season. He wanted Jesse to die in a botched drug deal, as a plot device to plague Walt with guilt.

AMC

2. Marvel originally didn’t want to cast Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man.

Marvel didn’t want to cast him due to his chequered past with drug and alcohol abuse, as well as multiple arrests. However, director Jon Favreau insisted that Downey was the man for the job, and he convinced the studio to cast him. The rest is history. 

Pajiba

3. Tiffani Thiessen was almost cast as Rachel Green in Friends.

In 2018, the actress revealed that she was almost cast as the iconic Rachel, but was considered a little too young compared to the rest of the cast. Imagine missing out on such a massive role!

People

4. Costanza in Seinfeld could’ve been played by Chris Rock or Danny DeVito.

Jason Alexander, who played George Costanza in the iconic show, got the part after a highly contested casting process involving the likes of Steve Buscemi. In fact, both Chris Rock and Danny DeVito were offered the part before Alexander and turned it down.

NY Daily

5. Supernatural was originally supposed to be about one reporter investigating urban legends.

This was series creator Eric Kripke’s initial pitch when he wanted to make the show. He also considered making it an anthology series. However, when Warner Brothers turned down these ideas, he came up with story of 2 brothers fighting demons.

Digital Spy

6. There was supposed to be a spin-off of The Office based solely on Dwight’s character.

Rainn Wilson’s iconic Dwight Schrute, idiosyncrasies and all, was supposed to have his own show called The Farm, and it would be centered around him running Shrute Farms along with his equally weird family. However, the pilot episode was received badly by viewers and the whole plan was scrapped.

Screencrush

7. Firefly was originally supposed to have seven seasons.

This space opera was cancelled before the first season even ended, but over the years its garnered a massive cult following that even led to the creation of a movie. However, the original plan was for the show to have seven whole seasons – imagine that!

The Verge

8. In the show Lost, Jack was supposed to die in the very first episode. 

Matthew Fox’s Jack was the central character of the show, with everyone else kind of revolving around him. Oddly enough, he was actually supposed to die halfway through the first episode – being eaten up by a monster. That plan didn’t come to pass, however.

Cinemablend

9. That 70s Show was almost called Teenage Wasteland.

Yeah, that’s actually a great name for the show, and extremely fitting considering it’s an iconic song by The Who. Unfortunately, the network didn’t get permission from the band to use the name, and so they had to go with That 70s Show.

US Magazine

10. Victoria could have been the mother in How I Met Your Mother.

The creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays had the original ending planned and filmed by the time of season two. However, they also had a backup plan, and when the show was almost canned after season 8, they were going to reveal Victoria as the mother. However, season 9 got greenlit, and the original ending remained.

Looper

It’s possible that in an alternate timeline, all these things actually happened! Who knows?