# Fastest 180 Degree Personality Change Of A TV Character? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884 "2010-04-04T03:39:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/61 "2010-04-07T21:40:49Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > also, i’ve railed against Kevin’s steady retardation on the Office with much regularity. his WSOP (world series of poker) bracelet, his band (scrantonicity II), and his fiance stacy were supposed to signal that he’s got a full life outside of the office, and his drudging was an effect of the soul crushing cubicle life. Now, his gambling has turned him into a degenerate, his band a joke, and his fiance left him. also, he’s quick to eat out of the garbage, soak his feet in an ice machine, and scream at breasts to see lactation. oh yeah. he was mistaken for legally retarded. why? none of those jokes were half as funny as the reveal that he was a WSOP winner. Yep. The guy who posted about how only stupid characters are funny is dead wrong, IMO. Stupid characters are _stupid funny_. Smart characters are smart funny. There’s a place for both, but given the choice, I’d take the latter 99% of the time. IOW, I’d take season 2 Jim over season 5 Michael any day of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/62 "2010-04-07T23:05:03Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > Yep. The guy who posted about how only stupid characters are funny is dead wrong, IMO. Stupid characters are _stupid funny_. Smart characters are smart funny. There’s a place for both, but given the choice, I’d take the latter 99% of the time. Which one is easier to write, though? For that matter, which one has the lowest-common-denominator appeal among the audience? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/63 "2010-04-08T04:16:47Z")
> [@](#): > > On Happy Days, Chuck Cunningham very suddenly transformed from an assertive older brother to being strangely vacant most of the time . . . But this makes sense for those (few) of us who watched the spin-off. But in our family we argue a lot about whether, if Gavan O’Herlihy had told Garry Marshall he’d rather stay with Happy Days, Fonz would’ve stepped into the Older Brother role. I actually got to ask Henry Winkler that! He owns a place in Madison, WI that he bought for his daughter going to school here, and he’s hung out at my coffee shop nearby. He said that maybe Fonzie would’ve stayed more the rebel. And stayed more irresponsible, less of a role model. “And not jumped any sharks?” asked I. All I got was a scowl and an _“Ayyyyyy…”_ ---
**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:** [April 8, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/64 "2010-04-08T04:51:22Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > 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. But the return of the old Radar when Potter shows up and he tells him to F off because he’s sunning himself ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/65 "2010-04-08T10:45:54Z")
It wasn’t so fast, but the Archie Bunker of **Archie Bunker’s Place** was a whole lot more accepting and involved with minorities (niece, housekeeper, partner) than the Archie at the beginning of **All in the Family**. a whole lot ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/66 "2010-04-08T11:58:32Z")
Pretty much the entire cast of _Heroes_ seem to act like they’ve got those Krusty doll Good/Evil switches on their backs, and they all get their settings changed at least once a season. Character consistency has not really been a priority for the show. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/67 "2010-04-08T12:57:35Z")
Janet in “Three’s Company” seems more bubbly and fun loving, but eventually becomes a lot “stricter” and humourless. My brother and his buddies used to use “curly haired Janet” and “straight haired Janet” as short hand for a roommate who had her bitchy moments. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/68 "2010-04-09T11:26:46Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > 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. This is really stretching the bounds of what I laughingly call my memory, but I believe that in the original movie _MASH_, Radar sold tickets to the hole in the nurses’ shower tent. He certainly was not the innocent that he became in the show. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/69 "2010-04-09T18:32:48Z")
A lot of people claim Picard changed when he went from TV to movies. The only time that I would say he acted out of character was in Insurrection when he let Ru’afo die. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884/70 "2010-04-09T20:14:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Fastest ever: In the **Star Trek** episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, Kirk spends the entire time fighting Apollo. He refuses to accept that he is really a god and refuses to accept anything about him. > > But after he leaves, he immediately says they probably should have humored Apollo a little bit. That’s pushing it. It was McCoy who said, “I wish we didn’t have to do that,” and Kirk showed some sympathy to that viewpoint. There was regret, yes, but at no time did Kirk really second-guess his decisions in that episode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastest-180-degree-personality-change-of-a-tv-character/534884.md?page=3)