# Can one cast member ruin a TV show for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079 "2016-03-25T01:21:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/121 "2016-07-06T22:33:54Z")
A couple short-run sitcoms from a few years ago: Josh Gad in _1600 Penn_ - Yes, he was a co-creator but he sucked the life out of every scene he was in Josh Gad in _The Comedians_ - Billy Crystal tries his had at being Larry David, but Josh Gad sucked the life out of every scene he was in I’ll limit my comments to his TV shows, but I notice a trend here. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/122 "2016-07-06T23:04:57Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I enjoyed “Six Feet Under” until Brenda came along. I couldn’t stand her and don’t know why. I stopped watching because of that character and actress. At the risk of being whooshed, Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) was in [every episode](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248654/). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/123 "2016-07-07T00:07:19Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > At the risk of being whooshed, Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) was in [every episode](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248654/). Yeah, but she doesn’t appear until the second scene of the first episode. So maybe that first scene just rocked. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/124 "2016-07-07T02:05:29Z")
I walked away from “Two and a Half Men” when Charlie Sheen got himself booted off and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/125 "2016-07-07T02:53:05Z")
> [@DrumBum](#): > > I walked away from “Two and a Half Men” when Charlie Sheen got himself booted off and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher. Oh, another reminder. I never watched “Two and a Half Men” because of Charlie Sheen. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/126 "2016-07-07T17:50:25Z")
Showtime seems to have this problem with a bunch of their shows. Already mentioned that I completely agree with: The sister from **Dexter** Jon Voight from **Ray Donovan** Also: Malin Akerman, **Billions** - she just can’t act, not helped by having to act against Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti Ruth Wilson, **The Affair** - I have no idea how she was nominated for an Emmy; she is terrible. Of course, everyone else is just OK compared to Maura Tierney, who acts circles around everyone. Libby from **Masters of Sex** - just kinda vacant Miranda Otto from the last season of **Homeland** - another weird acting performance - I never figured out what her motivation was supposed to be, even after they spelled it out for me Child actors who are clearly struggling with that acting thing: Carl Gallagher from **Shameless** , but especially Manny from **Modern Family** - ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/127 "2016-07-07T19:21:32Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > I think you are conflating Lori Grimes (Rick’s wife) with Andrea the blonde lawyer, played by Laurie Holden. To be fair, Lori was utterly useless and badly written as well. ---
**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/128 "2016-07-07T21:09:24Z")
I’m amazed that we’re three pages into this thread and no one has mentioned Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What a whining, useless tit. I understand the _point_ of having Dawn in the show - but Miss T brought nothing to the role except her complete believe-ability as a danger-prone, misguided idiot with perfectly shampooed hair. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/129 "2016-07-07T22:26:01Z")
_The Secret Circle_ was a CW show of 2011–2012 which got off to not too bad a start, and showed some potential to develop into a halfway decent show. It was fairly OK until episode 6 when Chris Zylka playing the character Jake showed up and quickly began to dominate the entire show. Unfortunately the guy couldn’t act, onscreen he was boring as hell, and he sucked the life completely out of any scene he was in. The entire plot seemed to fall into banal stupidity. Zylka didn’t just ruin it for me, he ruined it period. Once his character took over, ratings fucking crashed and quickly got it canceled. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/130 "2016-07-07T22:34:13Z")
> [@Grrlbrarian](#): > > I’m amazed that we’re three pages into this thread and no one has mentioned Michelle Trachtenberg as Dawn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What a whining, useless tit. I understand the _point_ of having Dawn in the show - but Miss T brought nothing to the role except her complete believe-ability as a danger-prone, misguided idiot with perfectly shampooed hair. Blech. At first—but she matured in Season 7 at last and began contributing value (once she kicked the drug-magic) to the winning theme of female empowerment that wound up the season and the series. To be fair, in addition to the usual agonies of being a hormonal teenybopper and losing her mother, she had to deal with the metafictional awareness that she was a character artificially shoehorned into the cast and, real girl or not, was nothing more than a glorified (heh) plot device. How well would the sanity of any of us hold up to such a revelation? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/131 "2016-07-07T23:03:54Z")
I stopped watching Blacklist specifically because of Megan Boone. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/132 "2016-07-08T01:01:07Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > I watched an episode and a half of \*The Sopranos \*before giving up entirely because I hated Carmela so much. > [@ftg](#): > > For _The Sopranos_, the key show-ruining-character was Janice. When she was brought back as the replacement for Livia, it fell apart. Tony would have never have put up with Janice’s crap and she would have had a one way visit to the waterfall bridge. Isn’t the entire point of these characters that they are such horrible and annoying people? With Carmela’s wilful refusal to acknowledge the inconvenient truth of what her husband does, her smug piety, she is not an innocent bystander, she is a hypocritical enabler. In some ways she is far worse than Tony himself. Tony may try to rationalize his evil acts, but he does not live in sanctimonious denial of what he is. We are _supposed_ to hate Carmela. Janice’s role is, as you say, to continue the theme of Livia. And the _whole point_ is that Tony lets her get away with outrageously disruptive, selfish and dishonest drama over and over again. If she were anyone else, she’d be dead. But Tony just has a blind spot about family (as do many real people, not just mafia bosses) that means that he just tolerates a ridiculous amount of crap from her, just as he did from his mother. Separately from the effect on Tony, the Janice & Richie Aprile relationship was utterly brilliant. I’d say that the effect these two characters had on you was precisely what was intended, and that they were well written and well acted. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/133 "2016-07-08T01:05:43Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’d say that the effect these two characters had on you was precisely what was intended, and that they were well written and well acted. What, that I’d stop watching the show entirely and will have nothing to do with it? I don’t think that’s what the producers had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/134 "2016-07-08T01:17:25Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > What, that I’d stop watching the show entirely and will have nothing to do with it? I don’t think that’s what the producers had in mind. If _The Sopranos_ was not for you, of course that’s your prerogative. But I don’t agree that the writing or acting of the Carmela or Janice characters are in the same category as (say) Eliza Dushku’s terrible acting putting people off an otherwise potentially great show. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/135 "2016-07-08T02:11:06Z")
Just remembered another show I couldn’t watch because of the horrible characters on it. Seinfeld. I was put off watching the actors because the people they played were so horrible. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/136 "2016-07-08T04:44:09Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > At first—but she matured in Season 7 at last and began contributing value (once she kicked the drug-magic) to the winning theme of female empowerment that wound up the season and the series. I think you’re confusing that with Willow’s magic addiction (and _ **don’t** _ get me started on how stupidly they handled _that.)_ > [@](#): > > To be fair, in addition to the usual agonies of being a hormonal teenybopper and losing her mother, she had to deal with the metafictional awareness that she was a character artificially shoehorned into the cast and, real girl or not, was nothing more than a glorified (heh) plot device. How well would the sanity of any of us hold up to such a revelation? During her initial season, where she found out she wasn’t “real,” the character worked well, and Michelle T did a good job with it. After that whole storyline was over, the writers just didn’t know what to do with her. The same thing happened with the character of Riley - once the Initiative storyline was done, he was in limbo. :smack: It’s part and parcel of how Whedon is so overrated. He’ll sacrifice character development and logic for cheap plot twists. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/137 "2016-07-08T08:56:45Z")
I had a character ruin TWO shows for me: Spike. He killed **Buffy** for me and I stopped watching **Angel** when he switched to that show. More obscure: I loved **John Doe** but _hated_ his perky young sidekick. Apparently everyone did - they wrote the character out of the show early on. I always blamed the writing of the character rather than the actor - until she showed up on **24** during season seven as the president’s estranged daughter. I could totally see why they cast her - she could pass as Cherry Jones’ daughter in real life - but it was just unpleasant to watch her scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/138 "2016-07-08T10:03:27Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > If _The Sopranos_ was not for you, of course that’s your prerogative. But I don’t agree that the writing or acting of the Carmela or Janice characters are in the same category as (say) Eliza Dushku’s terrible acting putting people off an otherwise potentially great show. At what point did I say I didn’t like Edie Falco’s acting? I loved her in _Nurse Jackie_, I just can’t stand people like Carmela. In real life or on television. The difference is, it’s easier to avoid them on television. Which is why we stop watching these shows. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/139 "2016-07-08T15:25:10Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > At the risk of being whooshed, Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) was in [every episode](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248654/). It didn’t quite ruin the show for me, I kept watching, but the character of Brenda’s brother (Billy?) was absolutely insufferable. ‘The Blacklist’ is the inverse of this question: the only reason to watch was for James Spader’s spadering. We joked that this special-investigative-department for the FBI was the most incompetent government unit ever seen. Though I have abandoned the show now. I don’t know if it’s improved. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-one-cast-member-ruin-a-tv-show-for-you/750079/140 "2016-07-08T16:16:28Z")
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