I think you can have different people driven by sincere intentions arrive at different, even opposite, decisions. That's why I hesitate to say one is right or wrong...just different. Odds are, especially in today's world of instant and worldwide feedback, that you will have people being quite vocal in their criticisms (which are rather easy to make when one isn't actually facing the heartache in real life) no matter what you decide--so you do what you deem best at the time.
I know the weekend repeats weren't edited; perhaps it was a case of not feeling those episodes were widely viewed enough (given not all affiliates run the weekend edition) and/or viewers were believed to be accustomed enough to them being previous season runs so as to not be as confusing. Again, agree or disagree with the logic, I don't think it calls into question the sincerity of their beliefs about the primary episodes.
And yes, technology might well allow you to edit in a replacement emcee, but I think the level of awkwardness in the resulting appearance would be exponentially higher than that of an off-camera voice. As viewers with a higher-than-average tendency to (over) analyze such things, we may also over estimate the overall importance to the majority of viewers. Some may not notice at all. Some may be vaguely aware of something being different, and some may notice but not have particularly strong feelings about it.
