Breathed intended to include Opus in Outland from the start. I remember reading an interview with him, as Bloom County was winding down, where he said the only two characters who would make the transition were Ronald-Ann and Opus. I don’t have a cite for this, but the final strips of Bloom County involve Ronald-Ann trying to convince Opus to join her in Outland.
Wait! No! The writers had everything meticulously planned out before the first episode even aired. I’m sure of it.
I don’t see that as minor characters taking over I see that as a sequel.
You’re right, you’re right. How could I have thought such a thing?
Han Solo
Just noticed my elderly mother watching a Gunsmoke rerun. Which has another example: Festus. James Arness always got the star billing, but Ken Curtis’ performance as his quirky deputy is what most people remember about the series.
Eddie Haskell !!
Does a franchise being handed on count?
Colin Dexter’s book series ended with the death of Inspector Morse.
But the television adaptions promoted Sergeant Lewis to inspector, and provided him with a new sergeant character, Hathaway.
At the end of those series, Lewis retired and Hathaway left the force. But they are both back, and fans are expecting, in the future, a re-retirement for Lewis, and a promotion and a new sergeant for Hathaway.
Lindsey Davis stepped back from M. Didius Falco after twenty books, and her lead mystery-solving ancient Roman is now Falco’s adopted daughter, Flavia Albia. Only two books so far, so can’t tell whether it will be as successful as the Morse/Lewis/Hathaway sequence.
Sometimes I remember this show called The New Adventures of Tigger and his adorable friend Pooh Bear.
In The Heat of The Night was supposed to be a vehicle for Sidney Poitier starring as the main character Virgil Tibbs.
Rod Steiger stole that movie as Police Chief Bill Gillespie, winning the Best Actor Oscar.
Charles Schuz noticed a dish of peppermint patty candy and thought “Peppermint Patty would be a good name for a comic strip character.” He created a minor character with the name “before someone else used it.”
He later admitted “She could carry another comic strip on her own.”
But…he’s a main character.
Tim Conway on The Carole Burnett Show.
Speaking of “wacky neighbors,” how about Laverne & Shirley’s Lenny & Squiggy?
Wil Wheaton was supposed to be a “one-shot” on Big Bang Theory. The next day, the Internet was ablaze with references to “Evil Wil Wheaton.”
This. Frodo, Aragorn, Sam, Pippin, and Merry aren’t minor characters in The Hobbit; they’re not characters at all. Hell, only Aragorn had even been born yet. And while I’m far, far too lazy to verify this, I suspect that percentage-wise, Gandalf appears more in Hobbit than in LotR.
I know, I know – after “Prometheus,” how could we ever doubt Lindelof’s ability to pre-plot? 
And is pretty consistently placed second place to Luke in the narrative throughout the series. It’s not Han who fights Vader and the Emperor. Hell, it’s not even Han who pilots the Falcon and destroys the Death Star.
oh gawd… I’m glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read this.
All I can think of is the poor little Siamese elephants who go “'FNORGN”.
Just lost it here. FNORGN
Hell, Taggart ran from 1983 to 2011 even though Mark MacManus, who played the eponymous Glaswegian detective, went to the Big Barlinnie in the Sky in 1994. Where, no doubt, some bampot was banjoin’ the chippies.
I agree with Exapno. I was a big fan of the show back in the day and remember reading an interview with Steven Bochco; my recollection is he said that both characters were supposed to die.