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- MrSketch, on 05/19/2008, -4/+108A TV show is only as good as the characters that occupy it. When a series begins its first season, there's a reason you're being introduced to that specific group of individuals: they're the ones that the show has been built around. They're the ones that determine how the story will unfold. But once that season ends, the entire game changes. Suddenly the studios and writers are worried about audiences losing interest and ratings dropping.
The solution?
New characters.
These characters are different though. They haven't been added to advance the storyline or bring something unique to the show. They've been added for the sole reason of appealing to a much broader audience, and hopefully, to increase the show's ratings in the process. What seems to be lost on the studios though is that they're not increasing anything; all they're doing is losing the original viewers by spiting the show's established fanbase, since more times than not, these new characters just plain suck.
Nikki & Paulo - Lost
Added: Season 3
Thrown in the mix with all the care and subtlety of a kick to the nuts, new castaways Nikki and Paulo were immediately met with an endless amount of face palms and lengthy shoutings of expletives from practically all loyal viewers of the show. This was due largely to the duo being pathetically introduced as if they had been in the background the entire time, and then that hatred was reaffirmed by the two characters contributing absolutely nothing to the series outside of looking like a couple of incredibly good looking and very tanned models. I mean, c'mon, what else could you possibly want from the characters of your favorite TV show? Certainly not an interesting backstory or, say, a justifiable reason for existence. Nah, we want people who look like they should be posing for Abercrombie & Fitch ads.
If that weren't enough, these two new characters also blatantly brought to light something that really should've gone unsaid: that the group we've been following through all these bizarre occurrences is the "popular" group. You know all those other survivors in the background? Yeah, they're just boring losers (a.k.a. "normal" people, like you or me) who sit around while Jack, Locke, Kate and the rest of the cool kids have all sorts of crazy adventures. With this, it almost felt like the writers were breaking the fourth wall, presenting the show's characters as just that: characters. For me, it really detracted from the reality of the show. (And yes, I know I'm complaining about the reality of a show featuring smoke monsters, cursed numbers, and a magical island.)
There was an upside to these two characters though. After the fans complained enough, the writers went ahead and off'd the annoying couple in the most satisfyingly ***** up way imaginable. "Razzle dazzle," bitches!
Stosh “Piz” Piznarski - Veronica Mars
Added: Season 3
After two spectacular seasons of pure crime-solving bliss, Veronica Mars had unfortunately not picked up enough in viewership to crawl out of its ratings slump, and the writers became desperate. So next to a number of other deeply saddening and unnecessary alterations to the show's flawless format, the writers made their worst decision of all: introducing the annoying, unfunny little twerp Piz.
I don't think the inspiration for his character has been officially stated, but I'm pretty I know who they based him off of: these guys. You may know them as the (supposed) comedy duo "Smosh." If you don't, it's likely because you're not a 15-year-old girl who subscribes to every gay and Asian vlogger on YouTube. If that's the case, then you probably also aren't a fan of emo/scene-looking douchebags who try and fail at being funny at every chance they get. And in turn, you're not the intended audience for the third season of Veronica Mars, which not only managed to confound its fans with what might just be the least appropriate character to ever join a show's cast (eventually even getting more screen time than the other much more appealing supporting characters), but even has the gall to make him a central love interest. Goddamn you Piz. You just about ruined Veronica Mars, and I will forever loathe you with every fiber of my being.
Maya & Alejandro - Heroes
Added: Season 2
Hold on now. Another randomly introduced TV duo that contributes nothing to the show outside of becoming increasingly more annoying with every episode they're in? Did we learn nothing from the third season of Lost? Maya & Alejandro may not be as pointless as the additions of Nikki & Paulo, but they're equally as dull and uninteresting.
Here's a summary of literally every episode featuring the two of them...
Oh no, I keep killing people by filling them with tar (or something)! What have I done? I have been cursed with this terrible burden! I am sad now! Thankfully you are here, Alejandro, as you apparently make it stop for some reason.
Yes, that's what I'm here for. Let me hug you while looking deeply concerned.
Hey guys, what's up? I don't have any powers anymore (fun plot progression, right?), but I'm still super evil. Can I join you?
Of course. I don't know who you are, but you seem like a trustworthy guy. Hey Alejandro, he's going to help us!
I don't trust him.
I trust him.
I don't. You can tell because I'm looking really concerned right now. See? When I frown like this I look really concerned. I'm fascinating.
You're wrong about him! I'm mad at you!
Oh by the way guys... *kills Alejandro* Yeah, he was right.
I'm a dumb bitch. Excuse me while I act sad some more.
End season two.
Can't wait for season three!
Zombie Tony - 24
Added: Season 7
Though I was unable to venture beyond the first season of 24 due to my strong opposition to all plot devices amnesia related and that appallingly bad accent by way of an unintentionally comical Dennis Hopper, it was still sad news to hear that series favorite Tony Almeida had been killed in season five, not even so much as getting a silent "ticking clock" at the end in tribute (as is given to all prominent character's deaths). Did this mean there was a possibility he survived? No, he ***** died. Case closed.
Cue season seven, and guess who's back? Tony Almeida. And now he's the villain. Now, he's a goddamn terrorist.
24 has officially run out of ideas.
Dawn Summers - Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Added: Season 5
I'll leave this one up to you guys to decide, since I've only seen a handful of Buffy episodes, thus I may not be the best source on commenting what a blatant excuse for ratings her character is. She first gets introduced as Buffy's little sister, despite Buffy being established as only child, and then the writers basically switched it around saying, "Oh wait, she's not actually her sister, she's actually some mystical hottie, but who cares, we're still going to act like they're siblings." From then on Dawn become the go-to character for getting in the way and causing all sorts of mayhem.
So what do you think? Does she deserve to be on this list? Let loose your thoughts in the comments below.
Oliver Trask - The O.C.
Added: Season 1
(Contributed by Myles McNutt and Angie Han)
It was a story out of a fairy tale: Girl O.D.’s in Tijuana, sees a therapist where she meets an odd-looking boy, girl allows boy to get close enough that he falls in love, boy is obviously crazy, hijinx ensue. Oliver’s disruptive influence introduced three of the show’s worst tropes: The Character who comes in, screws with emotions, and vanishes into thin air, Helpless Damsel in Distress Marissa, and Every Guy Who Encounters Marissa Falls Madly in Love. The end result was a character who became such a running joke that the series itself had Seth raise the concern that Oliver could return at any moment for the purpose of contrivance. Luckily, he never showed up at the door again.
Lauren Reed, Nadia Santos and Rachel Gibson - Alias
Added: Season 3, 4, and 5, respectively.
(Contributed by Myles McNutt)
Three very attractive actresses were added to Alias’ cast in its final three seasons, as the series began devolving from its original quality to something far less interesting. That the hotness: quality ratio would fail so spectacularly is largely because the three characters were either too contrived, too useless, or too bland. In a show where Jennifer Garner epitomized a character who could kick ass and hit the show’s emotional beats, these female characters never went beyond eye candy to contribute anything to the show’s core narrative beyond being part of some of its worst tangents into mediocre storylines. They were designed to tear apart relationships, convolute mythology, or just add a fresh face to pander to the new viewers ABC wanted to court. By the end, all of them fell by the wayside, even if Nadia was somewhat justified by her fantastic final moment with her father.
And then, of course, there are these two classic characters, who have now essentially come to define what happens when the people behind a TV show become desperate for ratings.
Scrappy Doo - Scooby Doo
Added: 1979, ten years after the show's initial debut. Oliver Tyler - The Brady Bunch
Added: Season 5
Wikipedia says... Scrappy-Doo was added to the cast of Scooby-Doo to save the show's ratings, which by 1979 had begun to sink to the point of cancellation threats from ABC. After his addition to the show proved to be a ratings success, Hanna-Barbera restructured the show around Scrappy in 1980. The original format of four teenagers and their dog(s) solving supernatural mysteries for a half-hour was eschewed for simpler, more comedic adventures which involved real supernatural villains. In later years, the presence of Scrappy-Doo has often been criticized as having had a negative impact on the various Scooby-Doo series of the 1980s. Wikipedia says... The producers added Oliver because the producers wanted a younger character to balance out the maturing cast. The "kids" were now all over twelve, and the producers hoped that adding a younger cast member would improve ratings. The addition did not work, and Cousin Oliver proved unpopular with the viewing audience; some fans would later call the addition of Oliver the moment when the series "jumped the shark", or marked its decline. A "Cousin Oliver" now refers to a cute child actor added to the cast of a long-running show, in hopes to boost ratings, or to replace child cast members who have since grown up.
Now it's your turn! If you thought of some worthless character additions of your own that are in need of a mention (or rather, a vitriolic lambasting), drop a line in the comments below and—if they're any good—we'll update the article with your picks.
USER UPDATES!
Worthless TV Characters - Luke Brower
Luke Brower - Growing Pains
Added: Season 7
(Suggested & Contributed by: plimpton777)
Before Critters catapulted him to stardom with critical accolades, Leonardo Di Caprio made watching "Growing Pains" just a little more painful. He was added as some long-lost brother or some orphan they found on the street, or a soldier from the future meant to save the world from Kirk Cameron. Who gives a *****--it sucked.
Also see: Wikipedia
Worthless TV Character Additions - Sam McKinney
Sam McKinney - Diff'rent Strokes
Added: Season 7
(Suggested & Contributed by: decepticrat)
The list left out the red-headed kid, Sam, from different strokes. Him and his guitar-playing, country song singing-ass felt like he was accidentally air-dropped into the middle of a different strokes episode---which constantly vied for the title of 'de-facto urban-displacement comedy of its time' with Gimme a Break---was without a doubt the WORST intentional misdirection a television show ever pulled on its core audience!
Also see: Wikipedia
Worthless TV Character Additions - The Great Gazoo
The Great Gazoo - The Flinstones
Added: Season 6
(Suggested & Contributed by: HCviolence)
Wheres the great Gazoo? He's the original show killer.
Also see: Wikipedia
Worthless TV Character Additions - RC3
Reginald Cornelius III or "RC3"/"RC" - Knight Rider
Added: Season 4
(Suggested & Contributed by: TheCash)
Lets not forget the genius addition of Reginald Cornelius III or "RC3", as some super hip NBC exec decided was a totally jive nickname, to the fourth and final season of Knight Rider. KITT got put back together more then a few times during the shows run, but never quite as "funky fresh'ly" as when RC and his inner city chop shop crew resurrected him in ghetto-tastic montage fashion. I dunno what that was all about, but I remember thinking it was pretty lame even as a 7 year old.
Also see: Wikipedia
Worthless TV Character Additions - Seven
Seven - Married with Children
Added: Season 7
(Suggested & Contributed by: Anonymous)
Married With Children introduced a new character, a young boy named "Seven" who was supposedly adopted by Al and Peggy. He seemed almost an intentional parody of "Cousin Oliver". His character was unceremoniously dropped only a season later.
Also see: Wikipedia
Worthless TV Character Additions - Sticks
Bill "Sticks" Downey - Happy Days
Added: Season 3
(Suggested & Contributed by: Hairy Carrot)
How about Sticks from "Happy Days". In a feeble attempt to show racial diversity from the 1950's (blacks weren't invented yet, were they?) the new drummer for Richie's band almost tore Milwaukee apart. Sticks was a nice "colored" boy who was supposed to hang out with them, and of course, the Fonz went to bat for - muslax27, on 05/19/2008, -2/+74I whole-heartedly agree with Nikki & Paulo...they were useless
- SilenceIsFoo, on 05/19/2008, -3/+60I hated Scrappy Doo, too.
- Volaitle86, on 05/19/2008, -6/+59Mirror! ***** THING SUCKS
- HCviolence, on 05/19/2008, -0/+49Wheres the great Gazoo? He's the original show killer.
- emalen, on 05/19/2008, -3/+41Yep, copy-paste does work.
- UncleHenry, on 05/19/2008, -1/+38RAZZLE DAZZLE BITCH!
Only thing I liked about their addition is seeing them get buried alive. That scene was one of the most twisted of the series. - bixby1, on 05/19/2008, -0/+37DiCraprio on Growing Pains was dumber than a sack of hammers.
- leonidas333, on 05/19/2008, -0/+35You should listen to the extra commentary on this episode of the Simpsons when they introduce the dog character. Its pretty funny comentray on how execs always want to add a new 'funky fresh cool' character to jazz things up. The Simpson the idea came from a exec who wanted to add a cousin to the Simpson family and how this is a common request by execs in most shows.
- Callaway7, on 05/19/2008, -0/+33Ewoks.
- weizilla, on 05/19/2008, -0/+30eko was around for a while... he was a great character
- Jsmuli2, on 05/19/2008, -0/+25Missing that douche from "That 70's Show" who tried, but failed to be Topher Grace's Eric-type-character.
- apothekari, on 05/19/2008, -1/+23DA DA DA TA DA PUPPY POWER!
somebody shoot ***** scrappy doo! - JTJ1210, on 05/19/2008, -0/+21I do admit that the fact that Tony Almeida is coming back for season 7 to be ridiculous, but how does this almost ruin the show when we have yet to see an episode of season 7?
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -1/+22Dugg for Poochie- the original dog from hell.
- sindex, on 05/19/2008, -0/+16Libby had potential in the mental patient/Hurley stalker storyline. Ana Lucia was as useless as she always is in everything she's in. When they killed them off in "Two for the Road," I was convinced Libby would magically pull through. Oh well... can't be right all the time.
- sjbdallas, on 05/19/2008, -2/+18Regarding the Dawn thing on Buffy: I didn't follow the show religiously but I thought Dawn was her sister from an alternate timeline or reality or something. Kind of like Angel's kid that went from birth to mid-teens over a summer break.
And the deal with Rachel on the last season of Alias, wasn't she added because Jenifer Garner was pregnant that season and couldn't do any butt-kicking? - PhoenixAvatar2, on 05/19/2008, -0/+15Maya and Alejandro had potential but the writers did jack ***** with them. It's as if they came up with a great idea for a character but they couldn't figure out anything to have them do so they just had the actors show up to give them something to do until they came up with something for them to do rather then saving the idea for a later season.
And 24's bringing back a dead former friend as the enemy? That's a completely original idea! *coughgoldeneyecough* I had hopes for Season 7, it sounded like they'd realized that they were screwing up, but now I wish that 24 had ended at episode 4 of season 6, only the nuke took out all of LA, not just a warehouse. - djdementia, on 05/19/2008, -0/+14In the official Lost Podcast with the two creative directors/writers on ABC.COM they acknowledged that Nikki & Paulo were intended to be new characters and have at least as much air time as Rose & Bernard if not more.
Due to heavy fan feedback detesting Nikki & Paulo after the first glimpses, they relented to the fans and killed off the characters prematurely.
Honestly I think that most of the Tailies from season two were more worthless then Nikki & Paulo. They were all introduced and all died shortly after (except Bernard). Libby seemed especially pointless. - LimeParrot, on 05/19/2008, -0/+14I think their addition was justified with their awesome demise. That was hilarious episode lol.
- PolarBearCa, on 05/19/2008, -6/+19Dawn on Buffy, Oliver on OC and every bloody additional character thrown into Alias FTL...
Honourable mention to Scrappy Doo for ruining what was left of my childhood. ZOINKS! - decepticrat, on 05/19/2008, -3/+16The list left out the red-headed kid, Sam, from different strokes. Him and his guitar-playing, country song singing-ass felt like he was accidentally air-dropped into the middle of a different strokes episode---which constantly vied for the title of 'de-facto urban-displacement comedy of its time' with Gimme a Break---was without a doubt the WORST intentional misdirection a television show ever pulled on its core audience! The second worst was the addition of the chick and the Spanish dude on the A-Team... ugh.
All in all, a very enjoyable read nonetheless. - ninetimes, on 05/19/2008, -0/+12The author of this article suggests that Dawn was thrown in as Buffy's little sister and retconned in later. That's not really what happened.
She was introduced suddenly as someone pretending to be Buffy's little sister, with the twist that everyone in-universe believed she'd always been around, in spite of the fact that the audience knew she hadn't been.
The point wasn't so much a marketing ploy to appeal to another audience, I don't think. It was more to spur Buffy's character development. They gave her a little sister and then killed of their mother, which forced Buffy to grow up and be more of an adult, instead of continuing to be a self-absorbed teenager. - GalacticRerun, on 05/19/2008, -10/+21Oh man, it's bad enough we (in the UK) get Heroes later than the US, now we get bits ruined by websites revealing things I haven't got to see. This happened with The Sopranos too. Something's gotta change (TV-wise).
And don't tell me to download the show. I shouldn't have to. I want to enjoy it week by week on TV. - NeoCortex, on 05/19/2008, -0/+11Their episode did have Billy D. Williams in it. So it sort of balance out having to put up with them that long into the season.
- keimel, on 05/19/2008, -1/+11Simpsons did it.
- Katana314, on 05/19/2008, -0/+10God dammit. I got here in the space between the site's bandwidth breaking, and someone asking for a mirror.
- TheCash, on 05/19/2008, -1/+10"I'm a dumb bitch. Excuse me while I act sad some more." Brilliant... effing brilliant. I'll toast to that.
Lets not forget the genius addition of Reginald Cornelius III or "RC3", as some super hip NBC exec decided was a totally jive nickname, to the fourth and final season of Knight Rider. KITT got put back together more then a few times during the shows run, but never quite as "funky fresh'ly" as when RC and his inner city chop shop crew resurrected him in ghetto-tastic montage fashion. I dunno what that was all about, but I remember thinking it was pretty lame even as a 7 year old. - metalgel, on 05/19/2008, -1/+10maya and alejandro couldnt be more boring. ill tell you who is also worthless and boring from the start, ali larter and her whole family are uninteresting too. some kind of weird superpower schitzo *yawn*
the characters from alias, 2 of the 3 were useful in progressing the series.rachel was useless but lauren was nice to see conflict with, and nadia added to the storyline but when she had screen time was rather boring.
seven was equally worthless on Married With Children. - inactive, on 05/19/2008, -7/+16Kevin Pereira. I would have rather watched just Kevin Rose than have him share time with Kevin Pereira.
- UncleHenry, on 05/19/2008, -0/+9I agree. I was so hoping they'd cover Libby more. The episode where you saw her in the mental hospital was one of my favorites, and I was wondering about Libby's storyline.
- Kronos6948, on 05/19/2008, -0/+9How about not reading the spoilers?
- imdwalrus, on 05/19/2008, -0/+9The only reason I wish Nikki and Paulo hadn't been killed off as quickly as they were is because Nikki's flashback had a lot of potential.
Nikki was an actress. From what I've read, the plan was to do have Nikki's flashbacks centered around her TV show, and not reveal that the flashbacks were an episode of a TV series until the end of the episode.
That said...given that the writers seemed to be trying to make the characters as unlikable as possible, it's for the best they're dead. - inactive, on 05/19/2008, -3/+12In the case of Heroes season 2, you are better off knowing what "happens" in advance. It was a truly terrible season marked by too many inconsequential and uninteresting characters and a sluggish plot. I kept watching hoping it would improve with no luck. Do yourself a favor and pretend there is no season 2.
The article is spot on about Maya and Alejandro. Their characters reached new levels of irritating. Hearing Maya desperately call out "Alejandro!" every 5 minutes was like nails on a chalkboard. Such an uncomfortable brother sister relationship. Blech. - RealmDown, on 05/19/2008, -0/+8You're right, but the effort was original, and way cool just because of that. Ideas of this sort won't always hit spot on, but I prefer original thinking, and new ideas, to those who regurgitate the same formula. I may not like it all the time, but I sure can *appreciate* it.
Joss genius == I didn't like it [the plot device] as I watched it, but I enjoyed it immensely after I found out what was happening. - MattB123, on 05/19/2008, -0/+8Yeah, that planet (Endor IIRC) was originally supposed to be inhabited by Wookies, but they needed more girls to watch so they invented cute little Ewoks.
- tewcewl, on 05/19/2008, -0/+8No. He's thinking of Josh Meyers. My wife hated him so much that she refused to watch any episode with him in it AKA the last season.
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -0/+8Mirror?
- PolarBearCa, on 05/19/2008, -7/+15Dawn was created as a ridiculously stupid plot device.
She just appeared on the show out of nowhere, with no one acknowledging a change. Then, Buffy found out after a few episodes she was the "Key" to open extra-dimensional portals. Ultimately, Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn, who actually was just a false memory to start with.
That season of Buffy annoyed the crap out of me... and the fact that Dawn remained in the series after that was even worse. When Joss misses, he seems to miss big. - kthoma22, on 05/19/2008, -0/+8puppy power!!!!!
- pilot101, on 05/19/2008, -2/+10I agree on the list on Maya & Alejandro in heroes, seriously they were fracking annoying and were totally useless to the overall story plot, in fact their mere existence in the show was like squashed insects on a perfectly good windshield
- wbeavis, on 05/19/2008, -0/+7Any role played by Ted McGinley. The dude is the kiss of death to a TV show. The man must be cursed.
- Hoogs, on 05/19/2008, -0/+7I always kind of liked that episode. It was a nice break from the norm and the ending sent chills down my spine.
- Soave, on 05/19/2008, -1/+8Raven-Symoné as Olivia on the Cosby Show. Worst character on one of the best shows.
- ghunt, on 05/19/2008, -2/+8Why does it have to be "his black wife"? why can't it be his wife?
- DigitalHippie73, on 05/19/2008, -0/+6I agree completely. I can't for the life of me find what is supposed to be so funny about those guys, but I'm also not under the age of 15 or a girl.
- Scrappy1850, on 05/19/2008, -1/+7i think Rose is hot
- J-0-E, on 05/19/2008, -0/+6I liked Kevin Pereira (not as much as Alex...). It wasn't his fault G4 didn't know what to do with techTV after the merger...
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