From Emily Waltham inFriendsto Deangelo Vickers inThe Office, some TV characters were so poorly written that they completely ruined their shows. There are many cases wherea new character was introduced to a show and actually made it better. Frank Reynolds turnedIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphiafrom aSeinfeldknockoff into its own deranged beast. Marty Funkhouser and Leon Black each brought a whole new energy toCurb Your Enthusiasmthat made the show even funnier. Ben Wyatt and Chris Traeger proved to be the missing ingredients to makeParks and Recreationan all-time classic sitcom.
But it’s not always the case that a new addition to the ensemble makes a show better. Sometimes, the new character doesn’t fit the vibe of the show, likeRandy inThat ‘70s Show, or they can be outright annoying, like Daphne’s mother inFrasier. In some cases, the writing of a fan-favorite character who was around from the beginning can take a nosedive and turn them into the biggest problem with the show, likeGame of Thronessomehow managed to do with Tyrion. These characters were so bad that they were a detriment to the shows they were in.
8Tom Yates
House Of Cards
Tom Yates was a pretty pointless character when he was introduced in the third season ofHouse of Cards. He contributed nothing of value to the plot and he had an interminably boring personality, but the writers kept pushing him as a significant member of the cast. If he was removed entirely, the show would barely change (except that it would be a lot more entertaining).
His biggest storyline was being hired to write a book on Frank’s America Works program, but that ended up going nowhere. That should’ve been the point when the team decided to just write him off the show and move on to more interesting characters. But instead, the writers resorted to turning Tom into Claire’s Frank-approved lover.
7Emily Waltham
Friends
Audiences get very attached to the “will they or won’t they?” couples in their favorite sitcoms, so when the writers introduce a third character and turn it into a love triangle, they’d better be likable enough to justify their existence. Karen Filippelli fromThe Officeis a great example of that. She was a good person, fun to be around, and a near-perfect match for Jim; the only problem was that she just wasn’t Pam.Friendscompletely failed to pull off a similar love triangle when it introduced Emily Waltham.
After a whirlwind romance, Ross and Emily decided to get married. Although she was set up for a major role,Emily was abruptly written off the show, because the writers realized she was just dead weight. She wasn’t just unfunny; she was actively sucking the comedy out of the show. The moment that Ross accidentally says Rachel’s name at the altar is one ofFriends’ most iconic moments, but the character herself was a wet blanket.
6Deangelo Vickers
The Office
AfterSteve Carell leftThe Officein season 7, the producers brought in Will Ferrell as a temporary replacement. Deangelo Vickers would take Michael Scott’s job as regional manager for a couple of episodes before being written out to make way for a permanent new series lead. The character of Deangelo himself wasn’t too bad — Ferrell is always hilarious, and he was an unpredictable wildcard, which was fun for a brief stint — but his time on the show made it clear right away thatThe Officewouldn’t work nearly as well without Carell. It set up two very disappointing seasons.
5Tek Knight
The Boys
Throughout its run,The Boyshas introduced darkly comedic parodies of plenty of iconic superheroes. Homelander is a sociopathic version of Superman, The Deep is a sexual deviant version of Aquaman, and Webweaver is a body-horror version of Spider-Man. But the show’s Batman parody, Tek Knight, took things too far. He’s basically Zed fromPulp Fiction, with the Gimp as his Robin.The Boysused Tek Knight’s creepy S&M dungeon to play his sexual abuse of Hughie for laughs —creator Eric Kripke even said he found it “hilarious”— and the whole thing was completely misjudged.
4Gertrude Moon
Frasier
Daphne was one ofFrasier’s most lovable characters— a dedicated friend, a tireless caregiver, and a kooky psychic — but whenever anyone from her family showed up, it was painful to watch. Her boorish brothers were particularly grating, but they were at least confined to brief cameo appearances. Daphne’s mother, Gertrude Moon, came to live with Niles and Daphne for a while, and it’s the toughest part of the series to rewatch. She’s rude, selfish, duplicitous, domineering, and emotionally manipulative, and the worst part is that she’s not funny in the slightest, so there’s nothing to redeem those negative qualities.
3Walden Schmidt
Two And A Half Men
AfterCharlie Sheen was fired fromTwo and a Half Men, the network decided to keep the show going with a new lead. So, Ashton Kutcher was cast to play Walden Schmidt, an adorkable tech billionaire who buys Charlie’s beach house and inexplicably allows Alan and Jake to keep living there. When Walden took over as the new protagonist,Two and a Half Menbecame a very different show — and it was a much, much worse show.
When Charlie was around,Two and a Half Menwas a raunchy but sweet show about a carefree bachelor slowly evolving into a loving family man as he reconnected with his estranged brother and nephew. But when Walden took over, it just became a mediocre sitcom about an immature man-child with so much money that he never has to grow up or learn from his mistakes. It had baffling storylines, like Charlie’s ghost haunting Alan in the guise of Kathy Bates, and disturbing storylines, like Walden posing as an average joe and moving in with a woman under an alias.
2Randy Pearson
That ’70s Show
Randy Pearson was introduced in the eighth and final season ofThat ‘70s Show. He was hired by Hyde to help him run the record store and he became a key love interest for Donna. The concept behind the character was essentially to take traits of Eric and Kelso and cram them into the same person, but without any of the charms or quirks or flaws that made those guys so compelling. Kelso was a lovable, well-meaning, superficial buffoon, while Eric was awkward and neurotic yet endearing.
But Randy was portrayed as cool, handsome, and smart; he was written to be too perfect, so he was hard to relate to. Plus, the character himself didn’t live up to how the writers had everyone reacting to him. He would turn heads whenever he entered a room and everyone gushed about how amazing he was, but he wasn’t charismatic enough to warrant that.
1Tyrion Lannister
Game Of Thrones
In the first fourseasons ofGame of Thrones, Tyrion Lannister was one of the show’s wittiest, most well-rounded, and most lovable characters. But as soon as the writers ran out of George R.R. Martin literary material to adapt, all the character’s cunning and charisma went out the window. He became the Hand of the Queen to Daenerys, but he gave her terrible advice. He spent all his time getting drunk and cracking tired jokes at other people’s expense. The calculated genius from the first four seasons was nowhere to be seen in the final four.
