Wow, far more responses than I had expected, thanks everybody. And I’ll respond to people more fully later, got very limited time now.
So has Hermes, but the way I see it, if they can run entire episodes without even a mention of your character, you’re not major, and thus minor. Perhaps there is a middle ground?
Maybe it’ll be helpful to define characters a la musical’s definitions. There are “leads” whose character arc propels the action and secondary characters who prop up the
“leads”. The secondary characters are given entire scenes or songs in the musical but their function is to prop up the leads. In Futurama, we have the employees of Planet Express:
The Professor - usually the main storyline driver so a “lead”
Leela - the love interest so, a “lead”
Fry - obviously a “lead”. He’s the protagonist and we follow his life.
Bender - when The Professor doesn’t drive the story, he does.
Amy - the show can exist without her so she’s secondary. Think Ado Annie
Zoidberg - the show can exist without him so he’s secondary. Comic relief. Totally Ali Hakim
Hermes - the show can exist without him so he’s secondary. Comic relief.
I’m pretty sure Hermes, Amy, and Zoidberg didn’t appear in the first episode, at least. I distinctly remember the Professer introducing Fry, Leela and Bender to them in the second episode.
The robot characters are my favorite minor characters.
Hedonism Bot, The Robot Devil, and Calculon are all great.
Sweet Zombie Jesus! I love he Hyperchicken!
“Your honor, I move that I be disbarred for that there in-competence.”
I, too, love Calculon, primarily for his subtle, nuanced ACTING TALENT!
–Cliffy