# Worst tacked on character or sub-plot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224 "2004-11-17T07:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/21 "2004-11-17T15:18:12Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > Then, when all the regular kids grew up and weren’t cute anymore, they introduced Lisa Bonet’s kid, played by Raven Simone. But isn’t this what The Cosby Show (and others like it) were all about? Parents deal with cute, precocious kids? They’re not tacked on, they’re the point. So when they grow up, new ones _have_ to be added. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/22 "2004-11-17T15:22:50Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > They’re like extras, whereas Italy actually had a few speaking lines. Yes, let’s not forget the incredible military might required to get Italian trains to run on time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/23 "2004-11-17T15:25:11Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > When DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle were “getting too old” on “Full House”, they brought in Joey and his wife’s twin boys, Nicky and Alex. My mistake. It was “Jesse” and his wife Becky, not Joey. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/24 "2004-11-17T15:29:17Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > When DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle were “getting too old” on “Full House”, they brought in Joey and his wife’s twin boys, Nicky and Alex. They did something similar in Little House on the Prairie. Whenever a kid grew up, some young orphan or whatever would be rescued by Michael Landon, and take their place. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/25 "2004-11-17T15:33:06Z")
Short Round \* and \* the bimbo in Indiana Jones Strikes Back at the Temple of Doom. Two annoying useless characters for the price of one. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/26 "2004-11-17T15:37:37Z")
My first thought upon opening this thread was Cousin Oliver being brought on board late in the game on The Brady Bunch. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/27 "2004-11-17T15:37:38Z")
It always annoys me when the brains behind a superhero is in a wheelchair, and they keep making lame-o subplots out of it, as in _Dark Angel_ or _Birds of Prey_. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/28 "2004-11-17T15:43:41Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > It always annoys me when the brains behind a superhero is in a wheelchair, and they keep making lame-o subplots out of it, as in _Dark Angel_ or _Birds of Prey_. Or M.A.N.T.I.S., a Sam Raimi-produced show from the '90s starring Carl Lumbly. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/29 "2004-11-17T15:54:15Z")
> [@FlyingDragonFan](#): > > But isn’t this what The Cosby Show (and others like it) were all about? Parents deal with cute, precocious kids? They’re not tacked on, they’re the point. So when they grow up, new ones _have_ to be added. Sorry. Pumping out superfluous kids just to get mileage out of the show is a _deus ex machina_. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/30 "2004-11-17T15:57:17Z")
It’s annoying enough when it is a minor or even secondary character, but when the tack on is a lead that is just painful. The one that comes to mind for me is Michael Douglas in _A Chorus Line_. Here is a play that ran forever on Broadway and when they decided to make it into a film they have to create a new character and put him in the lead. TV ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/31 "2004-11-17T16:08:55Z")
Seven, on MARRIED WITH CHILDREN. 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/32 "2004-11-17T16:15:02Z")
Bruce Willis’ girlfriend in Pulp Fiction. Her only purpose was to forget the watch and annoy me. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/33 "2004-11-17T16:17:49Z")
Dorie Miller in _Pearl Harbor_. I realize he was a real person and his actions in the actual battle were heroic. But he had absolutely nothing to do with the movie. The story (such as it was) was about a love triangle between two pilots and a nurse. Dorie Miller had nothing to do with any of these people; in fact he barely appeared in any scenes with them - all of his scenes could have literally been cut from the movie without it having any effect on the plot. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/34 "2004-11-17T16:30:06Z")
> [@Chastain86](#): > > I was thumbing through the channels the other day and discovered Raven Simone has her own show now. What’s surprising is that it’s pretty good despite my assumption that she’d be lousy (she’s not and seemed to study hard at the Cosby Comedy School while she was there) and my realization the first time I saw it that they had just repainted the sets from “Saved By the Bell” for it. But it is, in some ways, a continuation of “Saved By the Bell” by being set at Bayside High. What distressed me was that I recognized the sets from “Saved By the Bell.” ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/35 "2004-11-17T16:32:05Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I saw this old POS on AMC (Horror Week). It was all I could do to stop from laughing-every few minutes, you saw “Perry Mason” intoning a few solemn words, while the rubber-suited monster wrecks TOKYO! > How much was Burr paid for his acting role? LOL. He was actually tacked on for the american audience. The original Japanese version doesn’t have him at all. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/36 "2004-11-17T16:54:40Z")
Seven on married with children was the worst character add on. I forget which of the 4 Star Trek TNG movies it was but in one Will and Deanna start dating again, that was really really tacked on. I was a very disappointed star trek fan that day and had trouble writing my weekly fan letter to Gene Roddenberry’s widow. Luckily I pulled through but it was only 12 pages long instead of the usual 15. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/37 "2004-11-17T17:44:19Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > Seven on married with children was the worst character add on. > > I forget which of the 4 Star Trek TNG movies it was but in one Will and Deanna start dating again, that was really really tacked on. I was a very disappointed star trek fan that day and had trouble writing my weekly fan letter to Gene Roddenberry’s widow. Luckily I pulled through but it was only 12 pages long instead of the usual 15. Fifteen pages a week? And you **dare** call yourself a fan? The rest of us send Empress Majel a feature-length script of fanfic twice a week. Rejoin the curve, nimrod! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/38 "2004-11-17T17:48:13Z")
The whole “romantic” subplot (Trip to Yellowstone, etc) from _The Caine Mutiny_ struck me as pretty superfluous to the plot. I never read the source novel, though, so it might have been a bigger deal there. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/39 "2004-11-17T19:49:59Z")
It’s been a long while since I read Caine Mutiny, but I don’t think the romantic subplot was even in the book. And they went to Yosemite, not Yellowstone. (I mention this just to bring up the “firefall” scene – it used to be one of the attractions of Yosemite to dump a truckload of burning embers off a cliff at night, for the amusement of tourists. Things have changed in park management in the past 50 years…) Popping out a new kid to replace the grown ones goes back at least as far as **My Three Sons**. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/40 "2004-11-17T19:50:53Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Dorie Miller in _Pearl Harbor_. I realize he was a real person and his actions in the actual battle were heroic. But he had absolutely nothing to do with the movie. The story (such as it was) was about a love triangle between two pilots and a nurse. Dorie Miller had nothing to do with any of these people; in fact he barely appeared in any scenes with them - all of his scenes could have literally been cut from the movie without it having any effect on the plot. I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. If they had cut out Affleck, Harnet and whatshername, they could have made Miller(Gooding) the central character. Sure, it would have been Men of Honor with a lot of explosions, but that still probably would have been better then what we got. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224.md?page=3)