# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/81 "2008-12-05T16:33:59Z")
On **90210** , Kelly Taylor transformed from a materialistic dumb blonde in high school to a holier-than-thou saint by the time she was in college. It was actually quite nauseating. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/82 "2008-12-05T16:57:22Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Besides, Mal likes the old man. He may not think much of the religion part, but Book’s otherwise a sensible person. That, and every group needs a conscience. Book is the only one with a conscience that will stand up to Mal - Kaylee and Wash sure aren’t going to. Zoey is too loyal, and Jayne doesn’t have a conscience. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/83 "2008-12-05T17:03:35Z")
This is so common on soaps that it’s hardly worth a mention. Luke Spencer rapes Laura Baldwin and they end up being a soap super couple. Rachel Davis Matthews Frame went from being super-nasty to town matriarch when she married Mac Cory; Sami Brady went from sweet innocent to total bitch after Allan raped her. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/84 "2008-12-05T17:03:53Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > 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! What could possibly be the reason for the network wanting him in a windbreaker? Leather-Fonzie too scary for primetime? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/85 "2008-12-05T17:18:39Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > What could possibly be the reason for the network wanting him in a windbreaker? Leather-Fonzie too scary for primetime? > > -Joe Leather jacket = gang member. I would have thought leather jacket + motorcycle = even worse gang member, but Marshall convinced the network that decent, law-abiding bikers wore leather jackets for protection, so Fonzie in leather would actually be promoting safe driving. Gary Marshall may have produced formulaic sitcoms, but if I’m ever in negotiations with a network, I want him on my side. ---
**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 5, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/86 "2008-12-05T17:21:51Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > That, and every group needs a conscience. Book is the only one with a conscience that will stand up to Mal - Kaylee and Wash sure aren’t going to. Zoey is too loyal, and Jayne doesn’t have a conscience. > > -Joe Wash would, and Kaylee. I’m still not completely convinced he had much APPARANT (especially at first) reason for being there. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the character. Did Edith Bunker die on \*\*All in the Famly \*\*or **Archie Bunker’s Place**? edit, wiki is my friend, never mind ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/87 "2008-12-05T17:32:09Z")
Mary Connell (Nikki Cox), started in the Las Vegas Pilot as a call girl, then morphed into the sweet girl next door. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/88 "2008-12-05T17:52:56Z")
> [@](#): > > That, and every group needs a conscience. Book is the only one with a conscience that will stand up to Mal - Kaylee and Wash sure aren’t going to. Zoey is too loyal, and Jayne doesn’t have a conscience. The show was cancelled quickly and it’s hard to predict where it might have gone. But I’d speculate that Book’s character was supposed to represent the possibility of redemption. Wash and Kaylee were good people but, as far as we saw, that was their nature. With Book, we saw evidence that he had not always been the moral person he was now. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/89 "2008-12-05T18:00:00Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > Wash would, and Kaylee. See, I don’t think they would. Wash pretty much only protests through Zoey. Kaylee is too afraid of Mal when he’s angry. IMO, of course. -Joe ---
**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 5, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/90 "2008-12-05T18:27:41Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > See, I don’t think they would. Wash pretty much only protests through Zoey. Kaylee is too afraid of Mal when he’s angry. > > IMO, of course. > > -Joe Eh, doesn’t matter. 🙂 I just think, (from Mal’s POV), he would have dropped him off as soon as he could. It’s not that Book was worthless, it’s just that his worth in weight came in time, as the series went on and especially in the movie. It didn’t seem immediately apperent to me. I can see Book’s intentions on staying. Seemed like his past encouraged him too as mentioned. Just MHO too. Regardless of what Wash or Kaylee would do, maybe Mal saw something in Book. He has a good sense of people. I like Jayne got hired in particular. In the end, it doesn’t really matter because it wouldn’t be the same without Book. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/91 "2008-12-05T18:35:38Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Yes, but Giles’ past was hidden from all the characters–& viewers–until Ethan Rayne turned up in _Band Candy_. In [_The Dark Age_](http://inner-moppet.net/eyghon/quotes.html), we got more background. I think you’re getting the timing reversed here. _The Dark Age_ (one of my least favorite episodes, btw, it seems very oddly directed and paced) is second season, _Band Candy_ (which I _love_) is third. I haven’t even seen an episode of Buffy in about three years now. (Not entirely by choice.) That I still remember this is kind of scary. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/92 "2008-12-05T18:44:51Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I think you’re getting the timing reversed here. _The Dark Age_ (one of my least favorite episodes, btw, it seems very oddly directed and paced) is second season, _Band Candy_ (which I _love_) is third. > > I haven’t even seen an episode of Buffy in about three years now. (Not entirely by choice.) That I still remember this is kind of scary. IIRC, the episode where Ethan Rayne shows up is “Halloween”, early in season 2. Also a fun episode because Xander is magically turned into a badass soldier with an assault rifle. Incidentally, if you read the Buffy Season 8 comics, Ethan Rayne turns up again there, as does Faith and a few other oldies and goldies from the show. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/93 "2008-12-05T18:52:44Z")
Pretty sure Edith died during All in the Family. She died between seasons , there was not much talk of her death , they just started a new season and she was gone and Archie talked about her death. I think it was only during the 1st episode of that season where she was talked about much. Jean Stapleton quit the series so that’s why they had Edith die. For Fonzie, the network eventually let up on the leather jacket rule so he could wear the jacket all the time, not just when he was near his bike. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/94 "2008-12-05T19:00:18Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > IIRC, the episode where Ethan Rayne shows up is “Halloween”, early in season 2. Also a fun episode because Xander is magically turned into a badass soldier with an assault rifle. > > Incidentally, if you read the Buffy Season 8 comics, Ethan Rayne turns up again there, as does Faith and a few other oldies and goldies from the show. Hm, but isn’t\* The Dark Age\* the episode where Buffy gets that stupid tattoo? Isn’t that second season? I thought it preceded _Halloween_. Obviously I could look this up. But talking about nerdy details on the SDMB is funner. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/95 "2008-12-05T19:26:45Z")
O J Simpson…oh, you said _characters_ ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/96 "2008-12-05T20:09:03Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Hm, but isn’t\* The Dark Age\* the episode where Buffy gets that stupid tattoo? Isn’t that second season? I thought it preceded _Halloween_. > > Obviously I could look this up. But talking about nerdy details on the SDMB is funner. Yah, she got the tatoo in _The Dark Age_, but Ethan Rayne still turned up earlier in the season to turn her into a Southern Bell (and Xander into a soldier, Larry into a pirate, and Willow into “The Ghost Of Hookers Past” as [Buffyguide.com](http://Buffyguide.com) described it. :D) I don’t recall if the tatoo was taken off or not at the end of Dark Age though. EDIT: I should add, _Halloween_ was Ethan’s big reveal as a new character, with nobody knowing who he was until Giles ran into him. _The Dark Age_ was just him up to further shenanigans. ---
**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 5, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/97 "2008-12-05T20:27:11Z")
I don’t know if this has been mentioned yet (skimmed the last page, but didn’t read every post) but…every single first season cast member on “Melrose Place” changed radically by the time the second season began. Season One - this is a dismal “Twentysomethings Face Big Life Issues” series, and all the regulars are presented as earnest, (supposedly) sympathetic protagonists struggling to make it in the cold, cruel world of LA. It flops miserably. Season Two (and the rest of the series) - Everyone, EVERYONE on the cast becomes a catty, backstabbing, name-calling bitch. (The sole exception is that gay guy who quietly hung out in the background, but never to my knowledge did a single, interesting thing.) They proceed to sleep with, lie to and attempt to blow up every other character in the building. It becomes a cultural touchstone. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/98 "2008-12-05T21:15:02Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Pretty sure Edith died during All in the Family. For Fonzie, the network eventually let up on the leather jacket rule so he could wear the jacket all the time, not just when he was near his bike. Yes, like the time the Fonz… Jumped the Shark! and took the series with him. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/99 "2008-12-05T22:12:27Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I think you’re getting the timing reversed here. _The Dark Age_ (one of my least favorite episodes, btw, it seems very oddly directed and paced) is second season, _Band Candy_ (which I _love_) is third. > > I haven’t even seen an episode of Buffy in about three years now. (Not entirely by choice.) That I still remember this is kind of scary. **Correct**. Ethan first appeared in _Halloween_, at which time we learned that Giles had once been Ripper. Then we heard the full story in _The Dark Age_. Later came _Band Candy_, in which episode Buffy’s Mom “met” Ripper! (And haven’t the fictioneers speculated on what else Ripper & Young Ethan might have gotten up to in the old days.) ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473/100 "2008-12-05T22:34:28Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Pretty sure Edith died during All in the Family. She died between seasons , there was not much talk of her death , they just started a new season and she was gone and Archie talked about her death. I think it was only during the 1st episode of that season where she was talked about much. Jean Stapleton quit the series so that’s why they had Edith die. It was during **Archie Bunker’s Place** , not **All in the Family**. Stapleton was never a regular ABP and had left it altogether by the time of Edith’s off-screen death. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-characters-whose-personalities-drastically-changed-during-series/475473.md?page=6)