Fastest 180 Degree Personality Change Of A TV Character?

Cafe Society
1

I first started watching The Office just about a year or so back, after reading about the show on SDMB. I jumped in and was able to (for the most part) enjoy the show, even though I had not watched from the start.

A few months back, a local station started running The Office re-runs after the late news, so I have now seen many early episodes that I had originally missed.

I noticed how the character of Andy Bernard was at first a real weirdo; a rude, arrogant asshole, who was disliked by all his co-workers. He was not a sympathetic character at all.

Somewhere, seemingly overnight, he became a nice guy, goofy but with a good heart, part of the office “in crowd” and a quirky but popular one of the ol’ gang…

This was basically a 180 degree personality change, in the space of only one or two episodes. There was no real background on why he would behave so differently overnight, and none of the other characters seemed to notice that instead of the office prick he was suddenly one of the office’s most popular.

Now for me, I don’t think on a show such as The Office that this is too much of a problem, as the show has no pretense of realism that I can see (others are free to disagree with my opinion). In other shows, this would really put me off, as people rarely wake up one day and have the total opposite personality that they have had for all of their previous life.

On MASH, both the characters of Margaret (Hot Lips) Houlihan and Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester started out as unsymapthetic and unlikable, but over the course of several seasons, they eventually (and gradually) became “good guys” and were generally written to be viewed as sympathetic. It was a natural progression, and was handled with skill by the writers (the writers of MASH did a great job with character development in general).

Any other notable examples of a personality overhaul on your favorite shows?

What are some of the best and worst examples you can recall?

(As I write this, it came to me that on Fraiser, the character of Niles was initially written to be an unpleasant, fussy and stiff SOB, and of course that changed eventually, though he stayed fussy to the end)

2

It’s been a while, but didn’t Andy basically change after he punched a hole in the wall and was sent off to anger management for a few weeks? I seem to remember that after he came back, he was much happier and cheerful. It was still a huge change, but if this is the case, at least they tried to address it in some way.

3

Spike on BtVS. Originally a total killer, he became, as time passed, a sympathetic character and eventually a Hero. Credit James Marsters. His total joy in playing Spike made Joss and the public want more of him. By the end, on Angel, he was the most interesting character on the show.

4

But most of that wasn’t very quick. It basically took like half of season 5 for him to go from “yeah, I’ll give you info or punch a demon for money because I want to do violence and can’t hurt people” to “I (claim to) love Buffy and will legitimately fight with you.”

And even then at several points in season 6 he wasn’t 100% “Rah rah I’m a Scooby!”

5

There are probably plenty of examples that involve pilot to first “real” episode changes, since pilots are usually still feeling things out, and sometimes even written by totally different people than the “actual” series. Do those count for this thread?

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I just thought that this would be a fun thread for anyone who wants to join in, so please feel free to post anything that you feel is relevant…
:slight_smile:
ETA— I must have missed the episode about Andy going to anger management classes, so I suppose my whole OP is kind of based on a mistaken premise.

7

Spoiler for anyone who has yet to see Twin Peaks:

I’m gonna have to go with Lealand Palmer/Bob.

8

Probably not what you are looking for but Pro-Wrestling Characters can change from heel to hero in a matter of minutes, and vice versa.

9

Evil universe episodes count?

10

Bayliss in Homicide changed his personality like someone changes his clothes at least a few times through the series. Though there was the constant factor that he was just “lost”.

11

Screech on Saved By The Bell went from over achieving straight A nerd to stupid (or was it the other way around).

12

JD on “Scrubs” went from being reflective and serious to childlike, obnoxious and effeminate, while somehow retaining his wise internal monologue.

On the same show, Dr. Kelso went from being a hard-assed force of evil to a lovable old horndog who’s suddenly incongruously hip (that “old people swearing or using youthful slang is funny” cliche). This mostly happened because he was forced out as chief of medicine and decided to hang around the hospital Starbucks clone, but he had been gradually softened up before that.

I think a lot of times comedy characters change because the writers run out of funny ways to explore their inherent qualities, and then just turn them into mouthpieces for spewing tired gags and killing time with wackiness.

13

I think Lt. Brass on CSI did this. Rewatch the first season and he was an absolutely PRICK at first. It was almost like they made a conscious decision to change his roll from hard ass supervisor, to more cooperative colleague.

14

Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse is literally filled with these but as for people who weren’t programmed to have a different personality we have Boyd. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it but Boyd does a 180 in the space of a single episode and the hints that he was headed this way were very, very subtle.

I’d nominate Alpha too except he has about 40 active personalities so it’s possible he’s just letting a good one dominate his evil ones.

Adelle went from slobbering drunk to take-charge ice queen bitch in a single episode as well.

On Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cameron went from being a fairly normal gal to being straight-up robotic over two episodes.

15

Some would say they were non-existant. As we get further and further from the airdate of Dollhouse’s final episodes, they really were kind of lame.

Like Andy’s anger management, this was explained in-universe as Cameron reverting to her natural Terminator tendencies after the mission she was extensively programmed for was completed.

16

On “Star Trek TOS” Spock quickly went from being a non emotional alien who would kill easily if “logic dictated” to abhorring violence because “logic dictated”. In the second pilot “Where No Man has gone before” he is quick to suggest Kirk’s friend Mitchell be killed early before his telekinetic powers become too strong. In “Mantrap” he is astounded when the Salt Monster posing as McCoy suggests all the creature wants is salt to survive.

17

Radar was originally set up to be the wheeling and dealing office clerk, in the first episode he’s disassembling a jeep so he can mail it back to himself in the States. He pretty quickly did a 180 to be the weird man-child he was for the rest of the series. Almost the exact opposite of his original character and not any explanation for the change.

Probably true of a lot of series that characters in the first couple episodes are disjointed from who they end up being, as writers change gears when they realize something won’t work.

18

Well, mileage may vary of course but I thought everything one ever needed to know about Boyd was spelled out clearly in 2x04 “Belonging”. He not only figures out what Topher is up to (before Topher does really) he also shows up fully equipped with all the materials needed to make a senior Rossum VIP disappear.

I don’t remember this being mentioned on-screen. I think it would have worked a lot better if Cameron kept her flirty high school girl persona for a while and John, not sure whether he should be creeped out or aroused by it told her to shut it off.

19

George on Seinfeld was actually a sharp, womanizing advisor to the clueness, naive Jerry for the first few episodes.

20

It’s already been mentioned that Andy went to anger management (after he flipped out over the cellphone prank Jim played on him), but I also think you’re overstating the change in the character’s personality. He was always rather goofy and liked to sing. After therapy he remained arrogant and kept bragging about how he went to Cornell. He’s also not that popular with the rest of the office, although he gained a lot of sympathy as people realized how badly Angela was treating him. Even before it came out that she was cheating on him, it was clear that she was very cold and demanding and everyone but Dwight disliked Angela to begin with.