# TV characters whose personalities drastically changed during series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473 "2008-12-03T06:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [December 3, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/41 "2008-12-03T16:44:34Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Edith Bunker, in the first six episodes of All in the Family, was bitter, querulous, and especially impatient with her husband. After that trial run, she very abruptly changed into the iconic Edith: cheerful, naive, patient, and unfailingly devoted to Archie. Hmm I don’t recall this at all. Edith would almost always be like the 2nd part above, from day one, until you pushed her a bit too far, and then got to see her assertive side. [First six episodes, not _seasons_. You may have been right-I’ll have to get lucky and catch an early rerun to be sure] ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/42 "2008-12-03T16:46:53Z")
Everyone in Married With Children. Kelly suffered the Boy Meets World/Roseanne disease where she went from slutty airhead to “surprised she can flush a toilet” level of stupid. Peg was a lazy mom that didn’t cook a lot to someone that couldn’t boil water and was actively a bad mother (I can’t think of examples because I haven’t seen the show in years I just remember thinking damn that’s cold to do to the kids). Al went from regular pathetic loser to super nasty never washes himself, disgusting guy. I think of this show whenever I see a character start to become a caricature of himself, a la Sheldon. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/43 "2008-12-03T18:13:02Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Hmm I don’t recall this at all. Edith would almost always be like the 2nd part above, from day one, until you pushed her a bit too far, and then got to see her assertive side. > > [First six episodes, not _seasons_. You may have been right-I’ll have to get lucky and catch an early rerun to be sure] Yes, I am sure of this. In the very first episode, Archie and Edith come home from church earlier than expected, and Edith fairly sneers, “Mr. Religion (Archie) didn’t see eye-to-eye with the minister.” Her tone is really nasty, and not just in comparison to the classic Edith. Later, she makes a similar comment about the brunch Gloria planned, which leaves one wondering just who pissed in her cheerios. It’s unpleasant, but more importantly, it’s nowhere near as funny. Anyway, yes, I meant the first six episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/44 "2008-12-03T18:24:47Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > In the pilot Jerry mentions Kramer hasn’t been out of the building in ten years (he also has a dog that disappears after the pilot). > > He mentions going places in the subsequent episodes, but isn’t actually seen outside the building until the 10th episode, The Apartment. Elaine underwent a similar radical transformation, but I thought the writers’ explanation for the change was interesting. In her first season (she wasn’t even in the pilot), she was cute, sweet, charming, fun…everything that all of Jerry’s other friends _weren’t_. It didn’t make sense that a woman with so much going for her would hang out with such a bunch of losers. The writers hit on the idea that she only hung around them because she had basically alienated everyone else around her by being a total bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/45 "2008-12-03T18:27:00Z")
Homer Simpson. Goes from being rather clueless but well-intentioned to outright stupid and selfish. I don’t think I agree that Al Swearengen changed much over the seasons. I think we viewers come to understand him, and the reasons for his actions, better and better as the show progressed, but he himself remains pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/46 "2008-12-03T18:52:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Saving grace? Emotional core? Conscience? Conscience. The FangGang doesn’t get saved, and by the fourth season–and certainly in the 5th–Fred is clearly the emotional core. Every other main character likes her more than they like any other character. Well, except for Connor. He hates everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/47 "2008-12-03T18:57:57Z")
PC George Dixon, went from dead in the movie _The Blue Lamp_ to alive in the TV series _Dixon Of Dock Green_. That’s quite a change. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/48 "2008-12-03T19:21:00Z")
There’s also Lois Lane from _Adventures of Superman_ back in the '50s, but that had a lot to do with the change in actress, I’m told. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/49 "2008-12-03T19:21:19Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > I never understood why Book was allowed to hang around, I know he was meant to be wise and give advice. They also hinted that he had a sketchy past, but he was just another mouth to feed. Book has that “hey, Alliance people, I’m special so treat me nice” card which enables Mal & company to sneak around places they shouldn’t be. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/50 "2008-12-03T19:24:47Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Book has that “hey, Alliance people, I’m special so treat me nice” card which enables Mal & company to sneak around places they shouldn’t be. Besides, Mal likes the old man. He may not think much of the religion part, but Book’s otherwise a sensible person. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/51 "2008-12-03T19:31:02Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Besides, Mal likes the old man. He may not think much of the religion part, but Book’s otherwise a sensible person. Too bad they didn’t have time to develop the characters fully. “Serenity” was PRETTY good pay off for a show that had a handful of episodes. The deaths were heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/52 "2008-12-03T19:35:48Z")
Jack Bauer was once your everyday bad ass that would save Los Angeles every few years. Then he became a heroin addict. The recovery took a while but he went back to his good ole self only to be captured by the chinese. Now he’s, most likely, a PTSDed everyday bad ass. ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/53 "2008-12-03T20:32:25Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Then he showed up on the first season of Angel. (Yes, I’m going to count two TV series! Try & stop me.) Fired from the Watchers, he’s presenting himself as a Rogue Demon Hunter & is still pretty much ineffectual. Still funny, though. However, he does have that Watcher education in matters arcane, so the team lets him stick around. What’s a rogue demon? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/54 "2008-12-03T20:38:28Z")
At one point I hardly even recognized Darrin Stephens in “Bewitched”. …I know. LAME! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/55 "2008-12-03T20:40:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Ralph Malph on _Happy Days_ was originally a tough guy in the first few episodes before they established Fonzie as the tough guy and Ralph as the class clown. Yah bastahd !! Beat me to it, from another p.o.v. !! Arthur Fonzarelli was the kid from the other side of the tracks in the pilot. Good friends with Ritchie. He’s accused of cheating on an exam and is expelled, and Ritchie knows he didn’t cheat and will stand up for him. In a heart-wrenching speech that takes place at the very close of that pilot episode, Arthur decides not to stay in school at all. The camera cranes up slowly through the trees… and Arthur gets onto his motorcycle and rides away from Ritchie. ( Side-note: Fonzie was not wearing a black leather jacket in the pilot. He wore a tan zip-up windbreaker. Not nearly as tough. ) Didn’t remember that Ralph was the original tough guy. What I was gonna post was that Fonzie- once the pilot was out of the way- had a very tough streak that softened once the character became huge. Originally, Sylvester Stallone was approached by Garry Marshall to play Arthur Fonzarelli but at the time, Stallone was busy pushing a treatment and script about a down-on-his-luck boxer and wasn’t game to do t.v. See, Stallone appeared along with Winkler, Perry King and Paul Mace in [The Lord’s of Flatbush](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071772/). One leatherjacket-clad tough was as good as another. Stallone declined, they went after Henry Winkler. And got him. Apparently, according to IMDB, Winkler based Fonzie on [Stallone’s performance](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071772/trivia). Perry King became the King of mini-series, and Paul Mace didn’t act after 1979. He died in a road accident in 1983. E.T.A. It’s kinda weird how much of an impact that movie had on me when I saw it. Sort of a coarser “Diner”, no? Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/56 "2008-12-03T20:41:54Z")
I recently saw an early Desperate Housewives, where Carlos’s mom comes to town because he thinks Gaby is cheating on him. He is the crime boss and has a lot more of a Spanish accent then. A few years in the suburbs made him into a soft pretty-much-non-accented guy? Not a huge change, but a very obvious difference. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/57 "2008-12-03T20:46:20Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > Homer Simpson. Goes from being rather clueless but well-intentioned to outright stupid and selfish. Yeah. This wasn’t overnight, but I remember an early one at Mr. Burns’s company picnic where he’s trying to get the family to behave themselves and everyone else is acting badly. Also, Marge gets drunk and makes an ass of herself. Yes. Marge. Then Homer’s game for them to be a happy family, go into therapy with Dr. Monroe. It’s really out there when you watch anything past maybe season 2 or 3. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/58 "2008-12-03T20:48:12Z")
The CSI Vegas pilot was very different from the way the series continued. The newbie CSI trainee Holly has various practical jokes played on her (and even the later deadly serious + nerdy Gil Grissom joins in :smack:). Jim Brass is an angry Supervisor, who doesn’t want to be there (his ‘irritant’ role was taken over by Conrad Ecklie from the day shift) After a short while, they realised that an innovative approach showing dedicated scientists at work would make the show no. 1. Thank goodness! ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/59 "2008-12-03T20:52:01Z")
oops, missed the Homer conversation… must think of another example in 5 mins. Ummm, Cartman!! I think he was totally different after drinking Kenny’s soul. Even after he was extracted. I just don’t think Cartman was ever the same, you know? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/60 "2008-12-03T20:56:57Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > ( Side-note: Fonzie was not wearing a black leather jacket in the pilot. He wore a tan zip-up windbreaker. Not nearly as tough. ) And wore a windbreaker until Garry Marshall made a deal with the network that Fonzie wouldn’t be shown in his leather jacket unless the motorcycle was in the same scene. Which lead to the cycle being in virtually every Fonzie scene! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473.md?page=4)