TV characters that ruined shows

Cousin Oliver-The Brady Bunch

Ricky Stevens-The Partridge Family

Chachi-Happy Days

Che Diaz and Bobby Lee’s stupid character-And Just Like That

Elon Musk.

Megan on Mad Men, it became The Megan Show.

I’ll take Cousin Oliver a thousand times over Ricky Stevens.

The perfect example of the saying, “Children should be seen and not heard.” I’m going into sugar shock after watching this video.

Dr. Leo Markus, by Harry Connick Jr. on Will & Grace

Dawn - Buffy

Poochie

Terrible replacement for Joseph Kearns.

Ethel Mertz

Griffin on party of five

2nd place - Daphne.

Sonny Corinthos, General Hospital.

Albert (and wagonloads of additional orphans each season), in Little House on the Prairie.

Ani, the new student on Season 3 of 13 Reasons Why.

(The girl who narrates the events of Season 3 in the form of a conversation with Alex Standall's dad, the Deputy Sheriff--in case you don't know who I mean.)

I think she ruined the show for a lot of people.

Joe Gerard, Rhoda's husband (David Groh), on Rhoda.

She got married too soon in the series, resulting in boring story lines, when the show could have been about Rhoda dating.

Not a character (it was a sketch comedy/variety show) but I think the addition of Tim Conway ruined the Carol Burnett Show.

Counterpoint to r14:

David Groh was hot as fuck.

But agreed, the marriage was rushed (though the wedding episode is an absolute classic), and it would’ve been better to see Rhoda dating and her mother judging.

R16 Yeah well I figured that someone would counter with how hot they thought David Groh was! (I never thought so, still don't.) I thought he was homely.

At the time practically everyone seemed to say the marriage was a bad idea for the series. I forget the wedding episode but I'll take your word for it!

King Galen of Moldavia. He is just one of many symptoms for Dynasty's problems that season. But man they dragged his story line for months without actual development or payoff. His scene were the main reason for skipping entire Dynasty episodes.

Quinn Cummings' character on Family.

(Annie)

Abby Stone on the reboot of Night Court. The show was bad on it's own already, but I didn't buy Melissa Rauch's portrayal of a judge for one minute. She was really the first and major problem of the show.

Agree with R3. Megan was on the show way too long. In reality, Megan and Don’s marriage would have lasted maybe 6 months to a year but I think they were together 5 years in the show. It was too much.

Not to mention most of the actors in the show had Old Hollywood good looks and then here comes Megan with her giant teeth…

Lil Ricky

Negan on The Walking Dead

Susan (Heidi Swedberg), George's girlfriend on Seinfeld--until they killed her off.

Scrappy Doo

Froy, on Teen Wolf.

Mitch Vogel on Bonanza

[quote]here comes Megan with her giant teeth…

Pardon me, you meant teefs.

That fat, hunch-backed, not funny, Kayla character in Hacks. Each time she appears, the momentum of the show grinds to a halt, and she really ruined the most recent season. Megan Stalter is really a bad actress, and now it seems she’s stinking up that new show by Lens Dunham.

Jeb Prewitt on Black Sheep Squadron.

Also Pappy's Lambs.

Jack's husband on the "Will & Grace" reboot

The Walking Dead turned for the worse with the arrival of Negan. I realize it was part of the original story but he came across like a dystopian psychopathic Fonzie. They also killed off so many good characters but never the annoying Eugene,

The older Lacey Chabert on party of five. The new Neve Campbell she was not. A brilliant child actor turned into a bland teenager.

That dreadful Mae Turner on Call The Midwife.

I wouldn’t say he ruined the show but by the time Allie married Bob, “Kate & Allie” had pretty much run its course.

Another vote for Megan in Mad Men. The entire story arc sucked. She obviously fucked someone for that amount screen time and almost brought a great series to an early end.

I thought Megan was fine in the beginning. I mean, she was annoying but so was Betty, and Megan was *exactly* the kind of woman Don would chase after once he was divorced from Betty.

But her arc went on way too long. She should have been out by the end of season 5. I think? Instead, she was a dead weight all the way through mid season 7 when she was finally sent away.

Andy on Family Ties. Show was never the same when they saddled the lesbian wife with another child.

I know it may be unpopular, but Mike Hannigan (Paul Rudd) on Friends. I wanted her to get back together with David who went to Minsk, and came back for her. Mike was boring and rich, conformist. I don't see the Phoebe of the first 2 seasons ever liking Mike.

It doesn't really qualify, but back in the 70s, I stopped watching The Carol Burnett Show once they made Tim Conway a regular. I never thought the guy was funny, and for me, he ruined practically every sketch he was in.

R41 He was OK in small doses but I agree, more Tim was not necessarily a good thing.

Luke's daughter April on Gilmore Girls. That she existed it all is annoying but making her some weird Rory clone added to the irritation.

The Great Gazoo on The Flintstones.

Speaking of random daughters - she didn't quite ruin the show but the daughter that Tom Scavo discovered he had was an annoying and unnecessary complication. And she disappeared without a trace.

(on Desperate Housewives, oops)

Connor on Angel. Far worse and damaging than Dawn on Buffy.

He wrecked Cordelia’s great character and nearly sank the entire show. The final season went to great lengths to (nearly) erase his existence in order to right the ship.

I don’t blame Vincent Kartheiser, however. I blame Joss Whedon.

I agree, R40. They should have brought David back. Phoebe's relationship with Mike was so forced and he was blah.

Recasting Becky Connor just didn't work on the original Roseanne, and in retrospect, it's surprising that such a critically acclaimed show lauded for its realism would have done such a move. The family dynamic was just off.

Sarah Chalke is a first-rate actress and comedienne, but Lecy brought such realism to Becky that it would have impossible for anyone to step into that role after she left. They should have just created a new character for Sarah Chalke to play, a relative of the Connors perhaps.

And Sheila MacRae was no Audrey Meadows as the new Alice on The Honeymooners, either.

Grace on Will & Grace

R51 Haha!

Hmmm let me think

Festus on Gunsmoke

Dead Edith.

Bobby Ewing when he emerged from the shower. The beginning of the end for Dallas. You could also argue that the BBG recast with Donna Reed added to the downfall. The family dynamic was off with prissy Donna.

Teddy on Bob’s Burgers

Gene on Bob's Burgers. He's such a lowbrow and irritating character. Just dead weight.

Angelica Nero on Dallas. The sad thing is, the Dream Season storylines were all pretty good...except for the silly Dynasty rip-off plot with Angelica. I agree with R56 that Bobby should have stayed dead.

Andy on The Facts of Life...well...or George...or Beverly Ann....or Pippa...

Agree, R6, that Dawn was a terrible addition to Buffy but the actress was a spectacular character addition as Georgina Sparks to Gossip Girl. So that kind of balanced that out, haha. Speaking of, I absolutely loathed when the character of Charlie was added to the Gossip Girl cast. Every single storyline of hers was atrociously dull and she had the most nasally, whiny acting style.

Miranda

Lisa Rinna as Taylor on the original Melrose Place.

I'm one of the few people who didn't hate Dawn. I thought the reveal of her non-human background was clever and she didn't overshadow the main cast. I would feel differently if they gave her a ton of screen time and tried to turn it into The Dawn Show. She was less annoying than Tara.

Stephanie in All in the Family

All the new characters introduced into 227 to make up for Jackee leaving

Keith, Thelma’s husband, on Good Times

R49. Good to see you, Lecy.

Bronson Pinchot’s character on Step-by-Step

Seven on Married…With Children

Carlene Dobber and BJ Poteet on Designing Women

Hazel Wassername on 30 Rock

Olivia on The Cosby Show

Georgette on The Mary Tyler Show

Sophia on Golden Girls

Chandler on Friends

Amy Farrah Fowler. After her appearance it became a road show "Friends"

Joey on Gimme A Break...and then his brother!

Steve Urkel

Marla Gibbs in The Jeffersons, the cliche of the lazy sassy black housekeeper.

R4, for the longest time I thought he was the son of Barbara Hershey who went by the name Barbara Seagull during part of the 70s.

Cricket Blair on Young and the Restless.

Ryan Lavery and Babe and Krystal Carey. ALL MY CHILDREN

Fake Jan, Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

Serena Southerlyn, lezbo.

When Love Boat replaced the beloved cruise director Julie McCoy with her younger ‘sister’ Judy McCoy over an alleged coke habit. Poor Lauren Tewes.

As an anecdote when I was at university in the late 80s, I had a friend named Rick who we called “Julie” after her because he was in constant “cruise” mode. He was the kind of guy who could pick up someone on the street with a few glances then pop somewhere for a quickie. He died in a car accident not long after we graduated. RIP Julie.

Cindy Snow.

Greg Sumner - Knots Landing

Sonja - Mama's Family

Leah Ayres as Marcia - The Bradys

Lady Gaga - American Horror Story

Ashley Johnson - Growing Pains

Dodie

Another vote for Che Diaz..it was insufferable. Greg Sumner altered KL way too much. The new family that replaced ma and pa ingalls. The Fallon swap on Dynasty.

Nora Lewin (Dianne Wiest) on Law & Order

Betty Draper (January Jones) on Mad Men

Janice Soprano (Aida Turturro) on The Sopranos

Skyler White (Anna Gunn) on Breaking Bad

Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) on Breaking Bad

Neelix on Star Trek Voyager. Stupid fucking alien with no redeeming storylines.

R14 actually, David Groh's departure ruined the show.

Joe was written out by the creators, because they suddenly decided they wanted Rhoda to be "single and independent." (This was the 1970s, the height of the women's liberation movement.) However, that boneheaded decision immensely backfired.

RHODA was a Top 10 show in Season 1 and Season 2 -- the wedding episode drew a record-breaking 52 million viewers and became a pop culture phenomenon -- but when they divorced in Season 3, the ratings plummeted and never recovered. Ultimately, CBS cancelled the series midway through Season 5.

- Season 1: #6

- Season 2: #7

- Season 3: #33

- Season 4: #21

- Season 5: #95

MORAL OF THE STORY: Do not force onto your audience what they never asked for. Something that Hollywood has never learned, it seems.

Freddy Funkhouser (Vince Vaughn) in Curn Your Enthusiasm

R85 Well it could be argued that if they hadn't added Joe, they wouldn't have had to get rid of him.

The only reason they didn't put Dawn on that list is that it would be disrespectful to do so within months of Michelle Trachtenberg's death.

They never “added” Joe. The wedding was in the first couple of episodes, their relationship was the premise of the show.

R89 yes, David Groh was a RHODA main cast member from the get-go and received second billing.

Rhoda met Joe in the very first episode, which was aptly titled "Joe."

Their wedding was a two-parter in episodes 8 & 9.

Forgot to add that the two-parter wedding episodes were aired on the same night (1-hour block).

Flipper's love interest on Flipper.

R89 R90 Semantics. I felt his character ruined the show.

R47, didn't Joss do that whole thing just to humiliate Charisma Carpenter? It certainly felt that way.

R94, I have read that. He was supposedly furious that she’d gotten pregnant.

What’s infuriating is that they’d managed to create a believable and meaningful story arc for Cordelia’s character, from her original as a superficial mean girl to an increasingly selfless, empathetic heroine. And then Whedon trashed it all. The most infuriating thing in the span of both the Angel and Buffy series.

At least in season 5, they brought back Charisma Carpenter for a final sendoff, which was terrific, but Cordelia deserved far better. So did we.

R95, agreed. She really deserved better.

OP should spark a new thread with a related but seldom-asked question:

"Name some TV characters that SAVED a sinking show."

R97 Your wish is my command

Elizabeth Keen on The Blacklist. Many of the show's fans despised her character and only stuck with the series because of James Spader's intriguing performances as Reddington.

I usually don't get that emotionally involved with shows, but I developed an unreasonable visceral hate for Liz Keen. Since she was one of the top two main characters, you couldn't ignore her presence.

The writers and showrunner should have done a better job of character development. The actor Megan Boone did nothing to elevate the material.

Yeah, Daphne Moon's family (particularly her excruciatingly annoying mother) on "Frasier" was the pits.

The tomboy biker chick Tori in the final season of "Saved by the Bell" replacing both Kelly and Jessi.

[quote] Flipper's love interest on Flipper.

You could tell she was faking every one of her orgasms. I felt humiliated.

Another vote for Megan from Mad Men. She didnt ruin the show as a whole, but definitely the 5th season when they were fixated on her and her and Don's marriage. I also don't agree that she is the same as Betty, Betty was a million times a deeper, more compelling character, everything Megan wasn't.

Did Ted McGinley SAVE or KILL Married With Children when he joined the cast as Marcy's new bimbo of a husband?

Around the time of his arrival, the show became much more overtly trashy, with a hooting audience and constant cheap sex jokes. But the ratings held.

R104 I would say save.

He joined in Season 5 and the show continued for another 5 seasons (10 total).

R104 you can really tell the difference between the 2 types of MWC fans by asking who was better, Steve or Jefferson. The more discerning, intelligent people will say Steve, because during its first seasons, MWC was pretty biting, smart, and acerbic below all the "lowbrow"stuff. Thats why instead of Jefferson being a sidekick that went along with anything Al did, they allowed Steve to be the exact opposite of all (with maybe more similarities he might care to admit) which led to a more sophisticated humor. With Jefferson, especially in the latter years, the show was essentially a cartoon for adults.

I wouldnt say Jefferson ruined the show though. I liked him in the first couple of seasons. It was the dumb ass cartoonish writing that ruined it.

Axl's girlfriend on "The Middle"

Leo on "Will & Grace"

Little Ricky on "I Love Lucy"

Dylan (Max Thieriot's character) on Bates Motel.

R95, I've recently been rewatching Angel for the first time since the 2000s. At the time, I was bewildered by the show's treatment of Cordelia from season four onwards, and at the way Fred morphed into a blatant Mary Sue. Now that I know Joss had beef with Charisma and quite possibly had an affair with Amy Acker, those later seasons make much more sense.

R109, unpopular opinion, but I think Joss Whedon's idea of "girl power" has aged terribly and Buffy is no exception. I think Angel is better than Buffy, but it's pretty rough from Connor onwards.

Megan on Mad Men. UGH

And that girl with the oxygen tank R108. Total filler characters. We just wanted to see the twisted relationship between Norman and Mother.

The girl greaser, "Scout" on the TV series version of The Outsiders (1990). Pretty much a forgotten show, maybe no one will remember it here. But I don't think they needed to tamper with the original group of characters from the book/movie.

It didn’t sink the show, but it never made any sense as to why they brought Pamela Adlon on The Facts of Life. Her character was just kind of there for a couple of episodes then wasn’t mentioned again.

Plus it seemed like the character was supposed to be infatuated with Jo (she clearly despised Blair almost out of jealousy ). There was a lot of lesbian subtext in that season.

Carly Tenney on As the World Turns Around Carly Tenney

I didn't really understand why the Howard Sprague character was on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD. I never got interested in him as a character.

[quote]It didn’t sink the show, but it never made any sense as to why they brought Pamela Adlon on The Facts of Life. Her character was just kind of there for a couple of episodes then wasn’t mentioned again.

She was in 12 episodes of Season 5 (was even listed in the opening credits with the main cast) and then her character inexplicably went MIA three episodes before the season ended.

So weird.

[quote] lesbian subtext

I don't know what you mean. I'm straight.

[quote] I don't know what you mean. I'm straight.

Me too, sister!

The new mom on Fresh Prince. Nothing personal but she just couldn't replace Janet Hubert.

Who was Fonz's girlfriend on Happy Days? Pinky Duscatero or something? She made the show "jump the shark" before he actually jumped over some sharks.

Roz Kelly is as the actress who played Pinky and Suzi Quatro played her sister Leather Tuscadero.

Leather is the one I'm thinking of! Thanks r122.

I loved the show "Veep" but I could not stand that guy Jonah, the White House aide. His scenes gave me a headache. The same goes for the black guy with glasses (forgot his name) - his character was a dumb waste of time.

Supernatural fan who could not stand the addition of Jack, the annoying hybrid angel added in the last few seasons. He was used too many times to "magic" the Winchesters out of situations when Cas was sidelined.

Sex and the City's Big started out as "the next Donald Trump" which aged like milk, and somehow devolved into one of the dullest, most inexplicably desirable love interests in TV history.

What did Carrie even see in him? He was a smug asshole in a suit.

I think Carrie was impressed by his wealth and his swaggering 1980s macho energy, r125. That character had extremely traditional taste in men.

Linda Lavin on Mid-Century Modern. Only because I think there would have been a season 2 if she was still around.

I've just never warmed to Meryl Streep's daughter Louisa Jacobson on "The Gilded Age" as the main character, Marian. She's been unable to give the character any personality other than being nice and prissy. Cynthia Nixon's character is also nice and prissy, but she makes her very endearing and funny. But Jacobson seems to have been chosen only because she's pretty (in an incredibly WASPy way) and because of who her mother is.

The Streeplette!

Kristin Alfonso on Falcon Crest. The show was already taking on water at this point but she punched a new hole in the stern.

[quote]At least in season 5, they brought back Charisma Carpenter for a final sendoff, which was terrific, but Cordelia deserved far better. So did we.

R95, The worst part was, she didn't know she wasn't going to be in Season 5 until she read a press release. Then when they asked her to return, she only agreed to do it if they promised not to kill her off.

Then when they got her on set, in her trailer, they gave her the script and she discovered she was going to be killed off.

Speaking of Joss, my friends and I have referred to Summer Glau as a show killer for years. It doesn't matter who she plays when they bring her on, she will make sure the show ends.

Yes R99. For a main character she is extremely unlikeable.

Bobby and Bruce on Chips Joey Lawrence on Gimme A Break Coy and Vance on Dukes Of Hazard Mack McKenzie on Knots Landing

I’m watching Mad Men for the first time and I…actually like Megan? I’m only on Season 5, so maybe she’ll get worse. But I was expecting to hate her

R134 I never understood the Megan hate, particularly when the show spent years featuring the leaden “acting” “talents” of January Jones.