I didn’t tune into the BBT right away, and the first episode I saw was the Physics Bowl one, where Sheldon is more of an ass than usual, and Leslie Winkle says that he told her she should give up academics to make babies. I wasn’t aware of his special rivalry with Leslie, and assumed he generally was a sexist jerk, so I really hated him at first.
Of course, now I love him as much as everyone else does.
Amy seemed like a one-joke character, and I was kinda surprised when she popped up again, and even more surprised when she became a regular, but I have loved her development. I don’t know if it’s good writing or just luck, but I see her going through all the developmental stages of a child and teenager through the seasons to go from practically an emotionless robot to a normal (albeit, still slightly naive in social matters) adult. By the time she and Sheldon had sex, Amy had finally become about 18 emotionally, so it was appropriate. I liked that.
Does anyone else see this? She sort of parallel plays like a toddler in the beginning, then she’s a needy elementary schooler, “getting” it for the first time that other people have their own inner lives, and she’s trying to be part of them, then she’s an awkward tween, then a young teen, and finally and older teen, and now she’s a young adult?
She’s hated by most but for me it was Brenda on Six Feet Under. She is seriously flawed but Nate becomes such a douche lord she turns out to be the better half in the relationship. I give Brenda credit for recognizing she is dysfunctional but keeps trying to make things work with Nate and life in general. If you do hate her, you have to admit she pays for it in spades thanks to Nate (and her ultimate fate still stuck with psycho-Billy). Her parents also really screwed her in regards to her brother and generally being selfish and horrible people.
From STNG. Hated Q in his first appearance, became my favorite guest. Same thing with Troi. Agree with Donna Noble on Dr. Who. Hated her, then she became my favorite. Funny thing is that rewatching her first appearance, I now like her.
For Hotlips, you have to accept her (inaccurate) version of events for her evolution to make sense…but it made for a better character, so that’s ok.
In the first…oh…5 seasons or so, she was a slut (she was literally trying to boink her way to a promotion), a snitch and a harridan. Then she has the episode where she blows up at the nurses saying “Did one of you EVER offer me a cup of coffee or ask me to join you for drinks after work?” and the correct answer is “No, because you’re a treacherous bitch and the few times we saw someone reach out to you, you ratted on them.” Instead, you have to assume that what Margaret said is true–she was only mean because they isolated her–for her growth to work. Which simply isn’t what we saw on screen
All that said, non-bitch Margaret is such a better character than Hotlips that I’m willing to forgive the retcon.
And Winchester was always better/funnier than Frank. Frank seemed mildly retarded…he honestly didn’t understand what was going on most of the time. The attacks on him seemed like kicking a puppy. And after the one of with the home movie of his wedding, it just became painful to watch. Charles could fight back.
Wesley Wyndham-Price was never a villain–but a very bad Watcher. At first, he was a pompous & cowardly git who did real damage in his mishandling of Faith. (Although she was never easy to handle.) By the Battle With Mayor Snake, he’d shown a bit of spirit–although he remained incompetent.
Wesley’s character arc in Angel was a thing of beauty. He lost that pomposity & gained in competence. Some very rough experiences turned him into a tragic hero–and a badass. Yes, he made some bad decisions–but he wasn’t the only one.
Barbara on Gotham. I’m still not sure if it’s the way the part was intentionally written, as in we were meant to find here annoying and unsympathetic. If so, the actress did a bang up job because I truly wanted her to come to an unsavory end. Since she’s come back as a psycho I really enjoy her. Now if they would just get rid of Lee.
That would have been my pick. I wouldn’t try to defend everything he ever said or did but he developed into a rounded character and a lot of his actions became better explained (if not excused) in the context of his family, Trudy and Trudy’s family. He was never a “good guy” even in the rare episodes that he bonded with Don, Peggy, etc but I thought the character deserved some sympathy/empathy.
Andy Sipowicz from NYPD Blue. Racist, foul mouthed, abusive, shot while with a hooker in the pilot episode, but was heart of show and final episode celebrated him being put in charge.
Didn’t like any of the characters on Friends except Phoebe at first, and then only because it was a carry over of her twin sister from Mad About You. Rachel began to grow on me pretty damn quickly, and as one dimensional as Joey was he provided some of the best comedy moments.
Didn’t like BBT at all to start with, but I didn’t give it a chance either. Sheldon and Penny make it all worth while for me.
HIMYM also didn’t appeal to me much either but Barney, Lily surprised me as their characters developed, Robin turned out to be more talented than I expected, and Marshall had a few moments also. I think there was some other guy on the show but he really seemed unnecessary the whole time.
Louie DePalma from Taxi…no, he never 100% redeems himself from his jerkish and scuzzy tendencies throughout the show’s run. BUT he does have his moments of showing he has it in himself to not be such a bad person. I used to think TV Guide was nuts for choosing Louie for their #1 all-time best television character ten-fifteen years ago…but after watching Taxi for the first time since my teens a couple of years ago, I actually got around to understanding TV Guide’s choice. Apart from maybe, MAYBE Archie Bunker and one or two others, does anyone make the viewer run the full gamut of emotions like Louie did/does? Characters that can burn your grits one moment, and then make you laugh or even actually make you feel pity for them the next are certainly not dime a dozen.
Dr. Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was annoying in the first couple seasons as he was always tongue-dragging over Jadzia, but he got better.
I had exactly the opposite reaction. As a baddie, Spike was great - dangerous, funny, easy to relate to. As a reluctant member of the Scooby Gang he was whiny and useless. I didn’t like him longing for Buffy and thought their whole relationship fell flat. Until the very end, but even then it was kind of meh.
Wesley is the exact opposite story arc. I don’t mind him being a weak Watcher but he was a weak character. After a few seasons of Angel he was a legit badass that I enjoyed watching.
On Downton Abbey, Thomas Barrow is at first the evil gay footman. But he seems motivated by the Lady Macbeth-like O’Brian. Soon after she departs, he starts easing off on the evil plotting business and by the end of the series he’s actually likable.
Frasier Crane on Cheers! Did not care for the character at all, mainly because I viewed him as an interloper who didn’t belong in the bar and had no business coming between Sam and Diane. I was very surprised when he was still there after Diane left him standing at the altar.
Of course, my opinion has changed radically since then. FWIW, I thought Cliffie was a dumb character the first few times I saw him, too. Obviously, it took me a while to get the joke!
The difference between Frank Burns and Charles Winchester I think is down to the way the producers changed the show into an ensemble piece. Frank - and early Margaret - were paper-thin puppets, whose only purpose was to serve as foils to Hawkeye and Trapper John. Frank, unfortunately for Larry Linville, was simply too shallowly villainous to ever develop; but Charles came along when the writers were bringing in more interesting, rounded characters (like Sherman Potter and BJ Hunnicut), and even fleshing out minor characters (like Klinger). It’s why I much preferred later MASH* to the earlier seasons.
Lindsey on Angel. He started as a mid level attorney at W and H and simply quit halfway through. Then he came back as a “big bad” for a few episodes, but he never really seemed evil to me. The show was full of truly evil people and things. Angel could have saved him if Joss let him, but Joss didn’t. What a waste.
Come to think of it, I was never happy that Col. Gallagher (Paul Burke) replaced Gen. Savage (Robert Lansing) on Twelve O’Clock High, either. For me, Frank Savage was THE EIGHTH AIR FORCE!
