I agree too.  Now, if he'd had a SON instead...

....that certainly would have added an interesting twist to the story.

Let's see.... Joel Crothers as Josef DuPre perhaps.... 

Sorry, but IMO the only person for the Ghost of Christmas Present would be Thayer David.

How about Grayson as Christmas past, and Lara as Yet to Come?  And Anthony George as Marley.

Thirdly you have the need for TONS AND TONS of SERVANTS.  Especially with a houseful of guests, the guests would be bringing along THEIR servants, as we see with Josette and Angelique.  NOt to mention that in those days food preparation, housework and the other functions of running the house were done with people power not labor saving devices.

Gosford Park is a very good example of this: A Huge house just crawling with servants, not only the Master's staff but all the servants brought by the guests.  The downstairs kitchens and laundry etc. is a virtual rabbit warren.

While living in that style may have been Joshua's intent when having Collinwood built, sadly, the events of 1795 certainly cast a pall on those dreams, by the end of storyline [spoiler]the only truly "living" Collinses were Joshua, Millicent (mad), and her brother (?) Daniel, IIRC.[/spoiler]

I voted for the Gerringer/Turgeon recast mainly because that is the one I am most familiar with. I have seen very little of the first Burke and haven't seen Betsy at all yet.

Mainly, though, I loved Woodard and it jars so much to suddenly have this person I didn't know suddenly in the role, especially at the end of the character's arc.

[spoiler]It really greatly lessened the impact of his murder.  There was just something in my head that could not reconcile the Woodard that Barn forced Julia to murder and the Woodard chatting with his old friend in the study at Collinwood, saying he knew why she was lingering there (because of her feelings for Barnabas).[/spoiler]

one of the biggest misconceptions about the show is that barnabas was somehow invloved in burke's plane crash.

he wasn't.

Oh, I know he wasn't involved with Burke's death. I just thought it was so oddly random that Barnabas wants Burke out of the way and then voila!

Hmmm, interesting theory.  But who's the WIFE! 

Hahaha!  Well, they take turns.

One character whose fate I would have changed would be Burke's.  First, I would have revealed that Barn had had a hand in Burke's plane going down, then in the tumult of vicki's return from the past and Jeff/Peter, a mysterious stranger would have come back to Collinsport, and Vicki would meet him and see Burke in this man's eyey, before finally revealing himself to BE Burke (recast), the only survivor of the crash, and how he looks different because the plastic surgeon that repaired his face didn't know what he really looked like.....

I'd favor the TNG approach, even though Big Finish seems to be doing that.  I would like to see David as the master of Collinwood, behaving as Roger did (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, you know!).  David's kids and Carolyn's (did she remarry?) kids could be the "focus" the way Vicki, Carolyn, Maggie, et all. were for the original series.  However, the show would need a new hook.  Sadly, since Angelique, Barnabas and Quentin were all immortal, it would be difficult to have the original actors return.  Could they be recast?  Or perhaps find ways of introducing new Witches and vampires and werewolves to the fold.

Perhaps Sam Hall's article in TV Guide after the show went off the air could be a template for what happened and the show could start relatively fresh.

Say, Collinsport as a casino resort.  the Cannery and fleet are facing EPA troubles due to pollution and overfishing.  Environmental protesters picket the cannery and one of them with a secret, a young woman who learns that he is actually David's daughter from a hushed up indiscretion years before.  A series of disasters puts the Collines on the brink of financial ruin, bizarre things, like the sudden inexplicible rotting of the fleet's catch one day, the tide turning red with blood for no reason.  The illigitimate daughter is possessed by the spirit of Angelique returning for revenge.

Just a few things off the top of my head...