# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/41 "2004-11-17T20:03:37Z")
Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days. Everybody says that the show started to go downhill when the Fonz “jumped the shark”. Personally I think it got flushed down the toilet when Chuck Cunningham came to stay. Anybody want to start a new Internet catchprase? “Up-Chucked” for any show that completey sucks during it’s final season. (Roseanne, She Spies, ect) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/42 "2004-11-17T20:15:05Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > 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. IIRC, Jonathan Frakes (who played Will Ryker) was the director in that movie, which might explain why they had to do that ridiculous subplot. While it did kinda sorta set up the next movie a bit, it still felt entirely unnecessary. ---
**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, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/43 "2004-11-17T20:29:06Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Bruce Willis’ girlfriend in Pulp Fiction. Her only purpose was to forget the watch and annoy me. Also to ask “Who’s Zed?”, setting up a great line. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/44 "2004-11-17T20:31:12Z")
I never thought that the romantic subplot was tacked on and it made sense within the context of the film as they’re all on a planet that rejuvenates, reinvigorates, and all those other re-words and Deanna and Will (Riker with an “I” not a “Y”, by the way. Nitpicky, I know, but I hate when character names are misspelled.) have this twenty year old friendship based first and foremost on the fact that they love one another and are each other’s soulmates. It was just their own story coming full-circle. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/45 "2004-11-17T20:59:34Z")
May contain partial spoilers if you haven’t seen _The Incredibles_: This is the one that sticks out in my mind because it’s the one I’ve seen most recently. I don’t know what Frozone’s purpose was in _The Incredibles_. He was in the first 15-20 minutes of the movie, and then disappeared until the last 10 minutes. And his power wasn’t even that helpful. He was the token black guy… and that was about it. ---
**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, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/46 "2004-11-17T21:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > If they had cut out Affleck, Harnet and whatshername, they could have made Miller(Gooding) the central character. Her name’s Kate Beckinsale and she was the only reason I watched the movie in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/47 "2004-11-17T21:04:03Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days. Everybody says that the show started to go downhill when the Fonz “jumped the shark”. Personally I think it got flushed down the toilet when Chuck Cunningham came to stay. Anybody want to start a new Internet catchprase? “Up-Chucked” for any show that completey sucks during it’s final season. (Roseanne, She Spies, ect) Are you sure you mean Chuck? Richie and Joanie’s incessant-basketball-bouncing older brother from the _first_ season and never to be mentioned again? ---
**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:** [November 17, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/48 "2004-11-17T21:52:17Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Chuck Cunningham from Happy Days. Everybody says that the show started to go downhill when the Fonz “jumped the shark”. Personally I think it got flushed down the toilet when Chuck Cunningham came to stay. Unless you’re joking, in which case I’ve been whooshed, I think you mean Chachi Arcola. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/49 "2004-11-17T21:58:36Z")
Or perhaps K.C. Cunningham. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/50 "2004-11-17T22:57:01Z")
Maybe Ted McGinley? ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/51 "2004-11-17T23:23:21Z")
> [@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_. . Gotta disagree with one of your examples. Oracle isn’t tacked on in _Birds of Prey_. She’s the core of the team; it wouldn’t exist if she hadn’t recruited Canary and much later Huntress as operatives. Her being in a wheelchair was the result of events that occurred long before the series began and I can’t recall a single “lame subplot” built around her being in a chair. _Dark Angel_, though, I’m with you on that one. The idea that the genius hacker guy had to be disabled, otherwise he wouldn’t have any use for a beautiful young woman with superpowers is dumb beyond belief. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/52 "2004-11-18T00:04:51Z")
Not the worst at all, but certainly the most bizzarre: The Janet Leigh character form the original _Manchurian Candidate_. I mean, what was her whole sub-plot all about? It was fascinating, sure, yet it seemed totally pointless… or was it? ---
**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:** [November 18, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/53 "2004-11-18T03:17:33Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Not the worst at all, but certainly the most bizzarre: The Janet Leigh character form the original _Manchurian Candidate_. I mean, what was her whole sub-plot all about? It was fascinating, sure, yet it seemed totally pointless… or was it? I always assumed that she was another communist spy - one who could keep tabs on Frank Sinatra’s character, and keep him in line until such time that the Manchurian taskmasters needed to “activate” him (much the same way that Angela Lansbury’s character kept her “son” in line.) Anyway, the first character I thought of was Batgirl. But to be honest, as much as she was tacked on, I always liked her. Barbara Gordon was way cool, and that turntable wall, and private motorcycle garage - damn how I wished I could have that in my room! And the way she high-kicked the bad guys, gotta love it! “Ellen” (the sitcom) - while I really appreciated her coming out, I thought she moved into a relationship (with an utterly forgettable character) too soon. I never thought her show was “too gay” for the mainstreaml. In fact, I would have liked her play the field and explore her newfound sexuality a bit more before settling down. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/54 "2004-11-18T07:49:49Z")
Yvonne Craig turned Barbara Gordon/Batgirl into a Green Kangaroo–a role that was tacked on that wound up, thanks to brilliant acting, stealing the show positively. She did it before Judy Bloome even wrote the book on it. How about some other examples of Green Kangaroos? ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/55 "2004-11-18T09:08:09Z")
> [@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_. X-Men? Ironside? Ummm… {running out of examples} Christopher Reeve? ---
**Author:** ![dangergene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dangergene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangergene)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/56 "2004-11-18T10:24:23Z")
> [@Middlecase](#): > > X-Men? Ironside? Ummm… {running out of examples} Christopher Reeve? Doom Patrol ---
**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 18, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/57 "2004-11-18T14:59:29Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Also to ask “Who’s Zed?”, setting up a great line. Yeah I thought of that as I was writing the post, but the bad acting and the rest of her lines more than balance the good line at the end. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/58 "2004-11-18T21:25:22Z")
I guess I’ve gone completely insane. I know I saw at least one Happy Days where some blonde guy had replaced Ritchie. Totally horrible. I thought he was Ritchie’s brother Chuck. Anybody know what I’m talking about? ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/59 "2004-11-18T21:32:49Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Poochie the Dog is the classic satirical version, but almost any child under 13 is by default an annoying tack-on, with the single largest exception being Newt from _Aliens_. I named my cat after her! ---
**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:** [November 18, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224/60 "2004-11-18T21:33:16Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I know I saw at least one Happy Days where some blonde guy had replaced Ritchie. That would explain it. There was a young blonde who moved in with the Cunninghams for the '82 & '83 seasons: cousin K.C., played by Crystal Bernard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-tacked-on-character-or-sub-plot/275224.md?page=4)