drop view even with dependencies?

Is there a way to drop a VIEW in postgres without
the need to drop all the dependencies?

VIEW 3   |
VIEW 2   |
VIEW 1

In my case, VIEW 3 depends on VIEW 2, and VIEW 2 depends
on VIEW 1.

Is there a way to drop VIEW 3 without dropping VIEW 1 and 2?
I tried CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW but replace will only work
if they have the same number of fields.

Also with tables, can I drop a table even if there are multiple views
that depend on it?

It's such a pain in the neck to have to drop all the dependencies and
recreate them all over again. Any help would greatly appreciated.
I am using Postgres 7.3.2