Pavel Chekov
That was pretty much a one-off (or two-off) novelty episode, but the first example I thought of was the addition of Johnathan Winters (“Mearth”) to Mork and Mindy.
And let’s not forget the addition of little Oliver to the cast of The Brady Bunch.
Lots of good examples on Buffy: Tara, Oz, Spike, Anya. (And I know I’m in the minority, but I’ll say Dawn and Riley, too.)
On DS9, Ezri was OK, (not great), but there are some other great ones: Kai Winn, Weyoun, Martok.
Methos and Amanda on Highlander: The Series.
Not sure if this counts, but Iron Chef Morimoto on Iron Chef.
IIRC Tony Shaloub’s Italian taxi driver character on Wings was added after the first season. Great actor, funny character.
Lilith! What a woman! pitter-pat, pitter-pat
I just mentioned Barney Miller on another thread, so I’ll mention Arthur Dietrich here.
Who of course wouldn’t have existed on the show had they not introduced Frasier Crane to the cast 2 seasons into Cheers run.
I gotta say the #1 addition would be Amanda (Heather Locklear) on Melrose Place.
[sub]Yes, I’m a 35 year old man and proud of it. :)[/sub]
Carl (Will Sasso) on Less Than Perfect, and to a lesser extent Jeb (Patrick Warbuton). These characters changed the dynamic of the show and kept it fresh without seeming forced.
As for DS9 minor characters, I would add Sloan. He was not only an interesting characer, his presense signaled a Section 31 episode which were usually pretty good. Compare that to Vic Fontain who usually meant it was another stupid holodeck episode.
I’d second Chiana on Farscape.
I’ll add the Cigarette Smoking Man on X-files, Woody and Frasier on Cheers, and Potter on MASH.
I had pretty much lost interest in “The Practice” until they added James Spader’s character, Alan Shore. While I’m not entirely satisfied with the show’s evolution into “Boston Legal,” at least it isn’t the tedious bore that “The Practice” became in its latter years.
Finn (Ice-T) and Dr. Huang (BD Wong) on Law & Order: SVU.
I could have sworn the CSM was on the first X-files episode.
Whoa, whoa! George Michael is on Arrested Development?! “I Want Your Sex” George Michael? Dude! I knew I should’ve been watching that show.
Nah, I think George Michael is just on Arrested.
What’s white and slides down a public restroom wall?
[spoiler]George Michael’s latest release.*
HA HA HA HA HA HA
What a maroon!
I never watched The Practice, but I enjoy the hell out of Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane! (William Shatner) on Boston Legal, and I know they were late additions to The Practice cast.
I also loved Chloe O’Brien (Mary Lynn Rajksub) when she was added to 24, and I hope her character isn’t gone forever after being forced to quit CTU earlier this season.
Three Words:
Steven Q. Urkel.
Yes, he did, and it was well deserved.
And Tomlin’s Debra Fiderer has been a very enjoyable addition to “The West Wing.” Ainsley Hayes was also a great addition, I wish she’d stuck around. I’m not so thrilled with any of the additions this season, though I suppose that a candidate like Jimmy Smits’s Matt Santos might improve voter turnout were he real.
Oh, and to clarify: George-Michael Bluth (it’s hyphenated) is a character on Arrested Development, played by the talented young http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0148418/]Michael Cera.