On Taxi, soft-spoken, naive Latka Gravas developed an alter ego–cheesy smooth-talker Vic Ferrari–in later seasons.
At first Dino (The Flintstones) could talk. Then he became just a pet.
That’s a good one. Although, I think the entire purpose of his character was to change in some way or another. He’s one of the few characters who’s with the series from the very beginning and he was basically a tabula rasa for the writers to play with, being completely different from the other interns and all.
Most of the other changes mentioned in the thread, as I see it, have come to pass by the writers realizing that some changes simply work better.
Married with Children–Marcy Rhodes was a sweet, lovable, doormat who always stood by her man Steve. Until he left her.
She then became a nasty, loud mouthed bitch who was the perfect foil for Al, friend to Peg, and later keeper of Jefferson.
That’s another one I never bought. People don’t change THAT drastically in 20
years-from a wisecracking smartass to a by-the-book stodgy stalwart? Has
probably happened somewhere I’d guess but really-the Trapper character on
Gelbart’s MASH and the one on “Trapper John MD” arguably came from two
different universes (indeed the latter was apparently based on the movie not the
show-still don’t buy the transformation tho).
Ummm, yeah, I agree.
On Friends, Ross went from a successful anthropoligist, witty and quick, to a whiny, needy insecure boob. I don’t know if that was supposed to be a natural progression from his three failed marriages affecting his self-confidence, but damn, it was annoying. Holiday Armadillo? :smack:
Nellie on Little House on the Prairie went from a scheming little girl to a scheming young woman, until she fell in love and got married, then everything was sunlight and roses with Laura.
I think the Ferengi were doomed from the gate. They were short, funny looking, and obviously less evolved socially than the Federation (females wearing clothes! The horror!) but at least on DS9 I think the race was explored more fully and not just a cariacture. The Borg were a much more impressive enemy.
Apart from the obvious change of regenerating into a completely new physical form & personality traits, the Doctor also changed drastically in temprament during the first season of the show. In the debut serial, ‘companion’ characters Ian & Barbara are clearly the dominant heroes of the show and the Doctor is a mysterious and not very nice entity, with some malevolent behvavior:
-He takes off in the TARDIS with Ian & Barbara inside, even though he knows he probably won’t ever be able to return them to where they came from.
-At one point, while the Doctor, companions & a wounded fellow are fleeing some marauding cavemen. Worried that the wounded man is slowing them down, the Doctor grabs a rock with the intent of killing the man - because Ian & Barbara refuse to just leave him behind.
-In the first ‘Dalek’ serial, Ian & Barbara are adamant that they should not explore what they believe is a ruined, abandoned city. The Doctor delliberately sabotages his TARDIS and lies to his fellow travellers in order to cajole them into exploring the city.
Side note: David on Roseanne was originally a character named Kevin.
All the characters on that show changed for the worse. After they win the lotto they are hardly recognizable as themselves any more. That is an example of a whole show that veered wildly off course. Too bad since the show was really good in the beginning. John Goodman’s character is the only one that remains true even a little, although in the early episodes you would never think he would cheat on Roseanne. And the last episode is the most extreme example of changing characters in the way Roseanne “resolves” all the issues and reveals that none of the characters are actually at all like we thought, she changed everything for the sake of her story. Becky is actually with David, Mark with Darlene, Jackie is gay, etc. Horrible.
On Roseanne, I thought Mark’s evolution from bad boy to doofus fit with the natural progression of a person growing up. Mark was never intellectually gifted, but by the end of the show he had been holding down his garage job and supporting Becky for while. One of my favorite Roseanne moments was when she got on Becky for whining that Mark never spent any time with her because he was working so she could go to school, then said she was pissed because “you’re making me defend Mark.”
The character of Logan on **Veronica Mars ** has gone from a complete asshole in the first year (anyone remember “Bumfights”?) to Veronica’s boyfriend and the man who just saved Roni from the Hearst College rapist in tonight’s episode.
The Doctor has changed from selfish, irascible old git {William Hartnell} to slyly bumbling tramp {Patrick Troughton} to swashbuckling Edwardian dandy {Jon Pertwee} to manically grinning bohemian scruff {Tom Baker} to Boy’s Own Paper clean-cut cricketer {Peter Davison} to obnoxious fat dickhead {Colin Baker} to harassed college professor {Sylvester McCoy} to angry Northern bloke {Christopher Eccleston} to…some other guy. And counting.
You’re forgetting the oddly joyful and slightly addled number eight. But I can’t decide if the TV movie ever actually happened.
I remember this change. I loved the smart Eric. It was a great character. What they put that guy through on tv should be considered forced suicide.
Forgot to add my reply to The New and Improved Superman’s post.
I had no idea the Doctor was originally like that. I own the Earthshock DVD, and the commentary notes that the Doctor (at least the fifth one) was reluctant to use guns, relying rather on his wits or his sonic screwdriver. It’s quite the revelation to learn that the Doctor was originally a ruthless tool.
Her character arc is somewhat plausible, given all she goes through over there, and I think it is a good change overall. Charles went through a somewhat similar arc as well (From abused dignitary to the Swamp’s perfect live-in foil for the two lifers.), although I don’t think he was ever as flat as Hotlips (as opposed to Margaret) was. The counter-point is Ferret-Face, who never evolved as a character.
The bad change was how Hawk became Alan Alda and MASH* became Alan Alda as Alan Alda being Alan Alda Alan Alda John Malkovich. The ensemble was lost and things became way too progressive for an Army hospital in the 1950s. (Interestingly, they quietly removed the most obvious anachronism, Spearchucker, very early in the show’s run when they realized that there were no, zip, zero, nada “Negro” surgeons in the white man’s Army hospital units circa Korean War era.)
Regarding the Dueling Beckies in Roseanne…
What was the deal with that?
-Joe
Lecy Goranson went off to Vassar.
I thought Cat made the most substantial change. He lost most of his actual cat-like qualities and went from being oblivious to anything but his own pleasure to being a cooperative team member and pilot of Starbug.
Which led to one of my favorite *Roseanne *lines of all time. During an argument with Becky in the first episode Sarah Chalke was playing the role, Roseanne exclaims, “Watch it, young lady. You can be replaced!” 
But I have to admit, Sarah Chalke never sold me as Becky. She was way too pretty and Hollywood for that family. I love her on Scrubs, but Lecy Goranson will always be the “real” Becky. And she did come back. I had stopped watching the show by that point, but I think she just retook the role with no ado and no explanation.