Congratulations to Tyrion Lannister, Cristina Yang, Walter White, and Damon Salvatore for advancing to round 2. Nothing was even very close this time. Today's polls contain a fun mix of very popular and smaller shows, network and cable, and US vs British productions. It should be interesting to see which characters emerge victorious. Except for one poll which should be a blowout, this may play havoc on people's brackets. Thanks as always for the great TV discussion. If you have something you'd like to address as the TV Talk topic, let me know. Until then, keep the conversation flowing, play nice, and happy voting!
Previous contest results
Polls end - Sunday around 4:30 pm CST
Prediction contest results - Rob F, Dahne, Janna, and Famous 4 It all predicted 100% correctly today so Janna is still in the lead. Congrats to all!
TV Talk Topic - Today it is all about new characters. Thanks Emma for the suggestion. How do you feel when a new major character comes into shows that have been on the air for a long time? Who is your favorite new character in a recurring show from last season or this summer? Who is your least favorite? Has a new character coming on ruined a show for you? Made it better? How do you feel when a new character replaces a character that has been killed off or left the show? How would you prefer shows handle a character leaving? Have you ever watched a show that kept the same character but changed actors? What is the best way to ease a new character into an established show? What was the strangest way a new character was introduced? What was the worst way?
For me it depends on the character but generally it takes me a long time to warm up to a new character on an old show. They have to find a way to fit into the previous dynamic and yet not be there as a plot device, love geometry, or desperate measure to capture ratings. It needs to make sense that the character is currently there and part of the story. For me, the best new character in a recurring show is Trubel on Grimm. That show was getting stale and then she came along and spiced everything up. My least favorite character thrown in will forever be Dawn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She sucked everything up in a desperate attempt for Joss to force Buffy to grown up. It failed miserably. I also think that angels, all angels including Castiel, were a huge mistake on Supernatural. It went from 2 brothers fighting off evil to 2 brothers who called their angel friend to pouf away the bad guy whenever the plot needed it because the writers got themselves into a corner. Sloppy, plot device writing. Add in all the other angels and Supernatural quickly got buried under the weight of its own mythology.
ReplyDeleteAnother major problem is when a character leaves or is killed off and then another character is brought on or made into a bigger character because of it. There are occasionally times when I like the new character better, but generally they push too hard for the new character to take that person's place. It would be far better to let them gain their standing slowly than shoehorn someone in. Again SPN screwed this up by trying to turn Garth into the new Bobby, which was never going to happen. Never. The weirdest transition from one character to another for me was on Sliders where Quinn's brother took on Quinn's consciousness so it was Quinn in another body along with the new character. If it sounds confusing, it was. I think in many ways, Teen Wolf is guilty of bringing on another character to replace one they knew would be leaving as well. They have set Kira up as the new Allison but with none of her better characteristics. In this case the actress wanted to leave, so it wasn't the show runner's fault but I think they could have come up with a better solution. Overall I think that if you plan to kill off a character (and it's not because the actor wants to leave or dies) then you don't replace them with another character that assumes the same role in group dynamics. Chose a distinctly different character or else they will inevitably draw the short straw in comparisons.
For the first time, I have multiple polls that are causing me issues. Two are easy, but I like all the characters in the last two polls.
ReplyDelete1. Lagertha - This Viking warrior can kick serious butt and defend herself. She's so good, her husband invited her on a raid. I like that kind of character. While I liked Kate for the first few seasons of Castle, once it became a Castle/Beckett mashup she lost a lot of her appeal for me.
2. Walker - by default. I don't particularly care for Julia although she is better than most of the main Helix characters, I don't know Norma Bates at all outside of the movie. I do so wish the character representing Helix had been Daniel or Hatake though.
3. This one had me wavering a lot. Barney makes me laugh every time I watch, but I don't watch HIMYM very often. I have seen every episode of Elementary though. While I prefer Moriarty above all on that show, I do love how Watson doesn't put up with Sherlock's junk and she's a smart woman all on her own. Best Watson I have ever seen so she gets my vote.
4. The hardest vote of them all. In the end it came down to the fact that while I love some of the doctors on Doctor Who, I don't love them all including the most recent one. There's only one Finch and I like him a lot. Finch by a screwdriver then.
My votes today went to Lagertha, Norma Bates, Joan Watson and Harold Finch.
ReplyDeleteI think all 4 will probably be knocked out :(
Lagertha and Julia Walker.
ReplyDeleteHarold Finch.
ReplyDeleteI think Norma and Finch both have a chance. The other two, probably not.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that Finch got the nominations to represent Person of Interest. If it had been any other character, I would have voted for The Doctor.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably been the easiest votes for me throughout the competition.
ReplyDelete1) Lagatha - A really kick ass character on Vikings , i love how she isnt just a typical "house wife" that takes care of the children but a strong warrior that goes on raids and into battles with the men.
2) Norma Bates - I love the actress and the character , although she is way to overprotective of her son Norman i believe she always has his best interests at heart though. She doesn't always mix in with the right people (Henry Ford, Deputy shelby) but has shown she is a strong character and if you cross her you will probably live to regret it.
3) Joan Watson - Firstly i love the whole take on Watson as Watson is played typically by a male character (Jude Law , Martin Freeman). I personally prefer the Female Watson more. She has grown over the two seasons and is starting to solve cases on her own and has shown she is taking Sherlocks "training" on board and is becoming a great asset to him and the police.(even though she pretty much is)
4) Harold Finch - Harold Finch makes Person of Interest ,that's all i really need to say as it was the easiest vote of the whole competition for me. The only doctor i ever liked was David Tennant ,when he regenerated i lost interest in the show as personally it went downhill from there.
1. Kate (don't watch Vikings)
ReplyDelete2. None (don't know both)
3. Barney (my favorite on HIMYM, though I do like Joan)
4. Ugh...!!! That's the hardest one yet. I love both characters. Thinking... The Doctor. But Finch is easily one of my favorites, too! Honestly, rooting for both.
Norma Bates and Harold Finch!
ReplyDeleteThoughts On New Characters:
New characters can be tricky businesses. Most of the time I like the idea of them, because it keeps the show fresh and moving forward and can add a new dimension. A current show where I think it works is Person of Interest. Even though I miss Carter, it's one of those things where I felt her death was used in a good way to point out a bigger and more dangerous reality for the POI universe and justified the more extreme behaviors of the newer female leads: Shaw and "Root".
One time where it didn't work for some reason (probably a combination of being competitive with Dunham and because of the spiritual angle) was with Fringe's second season with the introduction of Agent Jessup (who kind of reminds me a little of Shaw, except Religious), but also introduced in season 2 was one of the first of the Lincoln Lees, who I think added something positive to rest of the series!
I Usually don't like recast. Most of the time I think I would prefer a similar character with a different name instead. One I'm not looking forward to is Myrcella Baratheon on GOT. I really liked AR in the few scenes the actress already had. However also looking at GOT they recast Tommen Baratheon this past season for the purpose 'aging him up', which made a lot of sense and the actor felt like a good fit. There is another recast I liked, though, and that was Robin Hood on OUAT. This Robin just feels right opposite Regina, where I think the previous actor wouldn't have. One I'm struggling with currently, is James on True Blood. The new actor is good, I like him, but his disposition and voice are SO different from the previous actor, that I think they would have been better off making this character a new character that just had some commonalities with the current character, especially since it appears he's about to switch love interests anyways....but since I haven't seen to what end James is going towards, it might be a little premature for me to judge why they chose to continue on with the exact same character...
Harold Finc x The Doctor. That one was tough.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you about the angels on SPN. I mean, I didn't mind them so much in seasons 4 and 5 when I felt like they worked with the story. Even though I was sceptic about it at first. But from season 6 and later their constant plots were one of the worst things about the show and honestly as much as I liked some of the characters I just really didn't like anything about their storylines. Sadly, angels on SPN turn out to be one of the things that made me quit the show. Oh and how I miss it terribly. I still consider going back and even watching this last season, that's how badly I miss the Winchesters. Things were so much better when they were 100% focused on the brothers and their stories.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I completely missed the subject at one point. Clearly, I'm still not over it.
I just voted for Barney Stinson. I don't watch the other shows.
ReplyDeleteBarney and Beckett the rest I don't watch.
ReplyDeleteI'm not over it either. We can mourn for Supernatural together. I considered watching season 9 this summer in a marathon viewing mostly because I miss the Winchesters, but I've decided against it. I would rather remember them as they were in seasons 1-3, my heroes.
ReplyDeleteI'd have voted Reese, Carter, Fusco, Shaw, Root or Bear over The Doctor. Had it been the 10th Doctor specifically, I might've only voted Finch over him.
ReplyDeleteLagertha was a great surprise to me. I wasn't expecting a female warrior who is equal to the men in most ways. She definitely is the main draw for me although her husband is a great character as well. I too love the idea of a female Watson, but even more so I like a Watson that has as much to give in her own right as Sherlock does and who doesn't kowtow to him. The idea of her coming in as his sobreity counselor shifted the power dynamic well even in the first season. I also agree that she has been well-developed as a character and I hope that continues to happen this season. As for The Doctor, David Tennant was my favorite as well. I tried to watch the early renditions but they were too cheesy for me. I was fine with Christopher Eccleston but Matt Smith never did anything for me so I dropped it.
ReplyDeleteI just typed a long, long post in reply to this and it's gone!! I'm mad and my brain is too fried to think of it all again. Suffice to say I agree with you on everything and I had an opinion on a lot of characters!
ReplyDeleteCastiel- Mistake. He should have been a one or two shot deal and a spinoff. Instead we have the boys "fixer" and an ever stupid ship.
Ziva- glad she's gone and I like Bishop. I don't love her tho, she's just not as abrasive as Ziva or Kate.
I'm not upset about Carter and I love Root and Shaw on POI.
I do not like Sara, Laurel or Roy on Arrow and I miss Tommy. I loved Nyssa and The Huntress though.
I had more, I just can't think!
Ouch! I might have voted Zoe over The Doctor as a whole. I'd vote Carter, Reese, and Fusco over Eccleston. I'd vote Shaw and Bear over any previous version. I'd vote the grease leaking from an injured original cardboard box Dalek over Root. Probably even the bacteria gunking up the works in that grease.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone and I still watch. I can't not. I don't hate Cas, I just don't like that he's a crutch. I also had a problem with another character on this show but Dahne me ban me from this site if I name him! ;)
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind Eccleston or Smith but no way are they as good as any of the POI characters.
ReplyDeleteMan, you really hate Root. I don't get why you hate her so much.
I told you this season made me hate Sam. Honestly. That hurt. I do believe we will get Sam back though and the brothers too. I hate Jeremy Carver, but wasn't it under Sera's watch that Baby got put under a cover, the amulet was thrown in the trash, Bobby's was burned down etc...like all the little things were just stripped from the fans.
ReplyDeleteHarold, of course. There is no character I would have voted over him. Hopefully, he will have better luck than Ben Linus did in the competition.
ReplyDeleteVoted Joan Watson and Harold Finch today.
ReplyDeleteOnly Laguertha and Harold Finch for me today.
ReplyDeleteI'd have voted for Ben over Finch.
ReplyDeleteCastiel was a major reason I got super extra obsessed with Supernatural during season 4 after being disappointed with season 3 because I fell in love with Supernatural during season 2, when I began watching after seeing "Devil's Trap" and season 3 was not up to par with season 2, which rarely had any "meh" episodes for me. I had several episodes I was quite disappointed with like The Magnificent Seven, Long Distance Call, and Time Is On My Side.
ReplyDeleteI liked the angel arch in seasons 4-5 and agree after that they dragged but at the same time I can't imagine going without Cas now (I can really leave the other angels behind though). Especially with all the brother crap this season. I think my favorite part of this season was one episode where Sam and Cas talked. Their scenes were one of the few I really enjoyed. Which is sad considering how much I loved Supernatural back when the brothers relationship was fun to watch. Didn't need Cas back then to keep me loving the show.
Argh, I hate Garth. Enough said.
More on topic: I really haven't seen any major characters that I cared about being replaced by others in recent years besides Bobby/Garth (argh, hate Garth's guts).
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I'd consider Carter on POI having been replaced by Shaw. I guess she kinda was, but I didn't mind the replacing so much as it took me time to get warmed up to the Shaw character, period. I like her fine now. But I don't like Root.
The most major through my TV history was the change from Prue to Paige on Charmed. Prue was on before I started watching the show, so I didn't even know about her until I saw reruns. So I ended up liking Paige more.
If I'd seen it from the start, it might have changed since I don't like major characters being killed off and replaced. I also don't like actors replacing past actors of the same character, so the switch of characters on Charmed was a much better idea imo, than just replacing the actress.
I only voted for Julia Walker from Helix this round simply because it's the only show here I watch, I know she doesn't stand a chance though! I'm ok with that though because she wasn't anywhere near my favourite character on the show.
ReplyDeleteToday's TV Topic: I seem to be talking about this show in every one of these topics but here I go again; Teen Wolf is definitely guilty of bringing in a lot of new characters, but only because so many actors keep leaving the show (8 have left so far) and I think Jeff (EP) has handled it very well (OUAT is another show that's handled characters leaving or being unavailable very well). I loved the addition of the twins who unfortunately left. The replacement character, Kira, I also really liked, but I didn't like Allison at all in season 3 so I was kind of glad she was gone, I much prefer Kira.
There are only two recasts that come to mind and I preferred them both, Elizabeth Weir from Stargate and Robin Hood from Once Upon a Time.
So far this contest has just been a lot of me not voting for people. I guess I'm learning that I clearly don't watch TV for the same reasons that ya'll do?
ReplyDeleteJust Lagertha today.I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a chance in this poll,but she's one of the most kick ass characters on TV for me.
ReplyDeleteTV Talk Topic: Depends on the character,but I think I've been lucky so far.Some of my favorite characters were introduced into their shows at a later time.Game of Thrones is the prime example for me,but having read the books that's kind of cheating,cause they're not exactly "new" characters for me.
Hook who was introduced during the second season of OUaT is one of my favorite characters right now(probably of all time,as well).
Spartacus always had awesome new characters,as well.
And,even though opinions are divided,I love Castiel on Supernatural.I understand why some people have issues with how he affects the plot and I agree that it's hard to work him into the stories,but I can't imagine SPN without him anymore.I mean,season 4 is by far my favorite season.I was beyond excited when he was introduced.
As far as recasts go,I can go with it.I mean,I undertand there's always a reason fo them and there's nothing anyone can do.I've never disliked a recast so far.For example,I prefer Sean Maguire as Robin on OUaT.I just think he fits better with the whole image of the character.I had no problem with the recast for Naevia on Spartacus,I liked both actresses and as for Spartacus himself,I think Liam McIntyre did an amazing job despite the hard circumstances.
I voted for Beckett/ Castle & Barney, I see Cristina and Damon made it through to the next round yeah
ReplyDeleteGo Go Harold Finch :)
ReplyDeleteRobin on OUAT was barely seen before Sean Maguire got hired for the role, so I didn't even really notice the difference much. I do agree he is better fitting for the role.
ReplyDeleteIs it just you don't watch the same shows or like the same characters? SpoilerTV has a lot of sci-fi/fantasy/action fan readers so that is what tends to end up in the competitions.
ReplyDelete1. Kate Beckett. I've never even heard of Vikings...
ReplyDelete3. This was such a hard choice!! Oo um, oo um, cnsjdnvd.... .Watson..
Kate Beckett never got hooked on Vikings; Barney Stinson; and Harold Finch (though I had to flip a coin)
ReplyDelete1. Lagertha
ReplyDelete2. Julia Walker- I hated her at the beginning, but she won me over by the end.
3. Joan Watson- Though i only watched a handful of episodes, she was the reason i watched for as long as i did.
4. Finch- Another tough one. But which Doctor? Though they all, have some similar personality traits; they also all have, many very different traits.
I would be happy with either of the two, but I would have voted for Harold over Ben. Took me some time to decide, though; those are two really great characters, and completely different at that.
ReplyDeleteAmulet was Kripke. Bobby and Baby was Gamble. Utter canon decimation was Carver
ReplyDeleteGo for Barney!
ReplyDeleteSorry your post got eaten. It's getting frustrating for me too, although mine is mostly a Chrome problem instead of Disqus. I miss Tommy on Arrow too, but I will say that was one of the few character deaths that actually meant something. The characters all changed because of his death - some of the better, some for the worse. I will however throw a gasket if we find out that Tommy really isn't dead. People scoff, but after the Merlyn junk I wouldn't put it past them. I think they need to start treating Laurel like a valuable character in her own right instead of sinking her in order to elevate other characters.
ReplyDeleteWe have completely different taste when it comes to Supernatural. I think season 3 before the writers' strike (so everything before the freaking Ghostfacers) was the best SPN has evr been. I agree the premiere was lacking given how spectacular many of the premieres were, but everything else was golden. I also think season 2 was awesome. Castiel and the angels are the second reason after Carver that I dropped SPN. If we had to have them at all, it should have been the end of them after season 5. Cas was dead. Lucifer and Michael vanquished. They should have been done.
ReplyDeleteMatt Smith was my least favorite Doctor i probably watched one episode with him. I think what put me off him was the fact it just seemed so cheesy , not to mention he just acted like a complete idiot all the time.
ReplyDeleteI really wish they had made Zoe a regular on PoI instead, but then I wouldn't have her on The 100 I guess. She was by far the superior character to me. Shaw slowly kind of grew on me when she wasn't on screen very much. Root may be one of my least favorite characters of all. I never got into Charmed but I do know that it was a big deal. Your Paige story is a lot like my Ziva one. I thought she was the original actress until I saw some episodes from earlier seasons and spent the time wondering who this Kate chick was.
ReplyDeleteAs to the topic, new characters can make or break a season sometimes. I can't help thinking of Supernatural which has basically 2 main characters (maybe 3 or 4 if you count Castiel and Bobby) and a ton of recurring characters. Season 3 for me will always be the season of terrible additions because it was the season of Ruby and Bella who were so annoying. And yet they don't always get it wrong, when they introduced Kevin Tran or Gabriel/Trickster or Charlie they hit gold, these three are fantastic, they make everything better.
ReplyDeleteMy main objection to adding new characters is when their sole purpose is to be a romantic interest because it usually makes for one-dimensional characters. Plus most of the time they end up being just the girlfriend/boyfriend and nothing more, they're irrelevant to the story. Take for example the numerous boyfriends and girlfriends that appeared on One Tree Hill for the main 4 teenagers. They were ok for a few episodes and then the writers scrambled like mad to find them some extra purpose, usually some horrible problem they had to overcome like alcoholism or having an abusive parent.
Castiel was a fantastic idea on Supernatural, season 4 is also one my favorites because of him. He has so many layers and he's changed so much, even though by definition he should not change. And the actor is really great too.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it's this many on Teen Wolf, there is quite the turnover. I love Teen Wolf but sometimes it seems the writers just don't know how to juggle all their characters together, I often find myself going "hey, where were so and so in this episode?".
ReplyDeleteRoot grates on my nerves like no other character right now, which is strange since I like Amy Acker as an actress until she goes into overacting mode with Root. For me Root is the Joe Carroll of Person of Interest. Always smarter than everyone else in the room to an extent that is neither plausible nor entertaining.
ReplyDeleteDoctor Who does need to walk a fine line because it can go overboard on the cheese pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteThe last one is the hardest in round one for me. I'm actually hoping they tie and both move on to round 2.
ReplyDeleteI miss Tommy so bad on Arrow, he was awesome. And he was the first who was really not ok with Oliver being the Hood, I loved the conflict there, it made for a better dynamic than everyone going: "oh you're a masked avenger, yeah that's cool".
ReplyDeleteYep, toughest one of round 1 for me. Sad that one will leave the contest so soon.
ReplyDeleteLagertha is someone you don't want to mess with. She has come into her own right,tough,strong,smart,aside from other attributes.I don't think of Lagertha as being new since they are going on there 3rd seasn .... I like Kate but she doesn't hold a candle to Lagertha,or maybe its a different type of candle.
ReplyDeleteAlso went with Joan and Finch - sorry,i'm to exhausted to talk.i'll be back tomorrow to finish!
I think it will be close but that Finch will ultimately prevail. Whichever wins today will likely win the next round as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Harold, btu it didn't take any thinking for me since Ben was barely there when I quit LOST. So glad I got to experience Michael Emerson in a different role.
ReplyDeleteJulie isn't even in my top 3 from Helix, but she's far better than Alan.
ReplyDeleteI disagree about Teen Wolf. One of my biggest complaints about the show is that they have by far too many characters. When they were able to get rid of 4 last season, I was really excited. Then they go and bring on all these freshmen, one of which we won't be able to get rid of. At this point it feels like we've just gotten version 3.0 of everyone. They don't have enough time to devote to the characters they already have, namely Lydia/Derek/Danny/Coach, so I resent time being spent on this kid with anger issues who is at best Jackson 2.0 and at worst Issac 2.0.
I agree I think there are far too many characters, 2 more die this season too, but only one of them is being called a "major death", whether they were written out or wanted to leave we probably won't find out until after. I have a few theories, one is that Jeff feels there's nothing left for certain characters after so many left and is just cleaning up (such as Danny & Chris Argent). Another is what it always has been, actors leaving, Holland would be my guess since she was closest to Crystal's age and they were best friends. It could also be a combination of the two. I find it hard to believe Jeff would kill off 2 characters after so many people already left unless it was something like that.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Until they can find enough time for the characters that have been with us since season 1, I say murder spree in Beacon Hills with a serial killer that targets freshmen. DoucheDad can die trying to save them as well and give his character a little redemption.
ReplyDeleteIf they keep Liam and kill Argent, I am rioting!
ReplyDeleteSo who are your favorite characters? What shows do you watch? Even if you can't vote, you can always participate in the discussion.
ReplyDeleteI never saw the original Spartacus, but I have seen a couple of the edited episodes on SyFy. I can't imagine having to take over after a beloved actor dies. That had to be hard for everyone. I was really glad when they didn't recast 8 Simple Rules after John Ritter died. It would have been way too jarring for me.
ReplyDeleteCristina is going to have a hard match next time, going against Tyrion. I think Damon is pretty safe though.
ReplyDeleteHa! Glad you were able to choose in the 3rd one.
ReplyDeleteAh the patented coin flip method of choosing. I tend to use that one around round 3 in any big contest.
ReplyDeleteNext round could be: Machine x Samaritan lol
ReplyDeleteI also hated Julia in the beginning as well as everyone else except Doreen, Sergio, and Daniel. Over time Julia and Hatake grew on me. I also like Ana now. They rest not so much. They kept killing off the wrong people.
ReplyDeleteWhen we started the nominations, I debated over the Doctor. Since technically it is the same character played by different actors, I decided that it made sense not to separate them. Most people who nominated him didn't differentiate either.
I am one of the few people who liked Bela for her snark, although she needed to be toned down a few hundred decimals. I never did like Ruby in either incarnation because her entire purpose was to split the brothers up. While I loved Gabriel, I could take or leave Kevin and Charlie wavers between awesome and annoying for the most part for me. I would say that Crowley was the best late season addition for me.
ReplyDeleteI heartily concur about adding a main character simply to be a love interest. It never works. First off it definitely makes that character one-dimensional liek you said. Second, it gets shippers in a tizzy and most don't even give the character a chance. I was one of the few that liked Hannah on Bones and I was hoping they would develop her character away from just interacting with Booth. Instead she was reviled and quickly tossed off.
I agree about the too many characters thing, by Jeff handling it well I meant not calling it quits altogether or letting the show fall apart so much it leads to cancellation. I was worried there for a bit but it seems to be rebounding ratings wise and also quality wise for me.
ReplyDeleteMason is gay so hopefully Danny will come back into it when we see Mason again ( I'm hoping the rumours of Danny not being in this season aren't true), there's still one more new guy we haven't seen yet too :/ Lydia's powers are getting explained this season so I'm looking forward to that, and Derek is getting a normal-ish romantic relationship so we'll have to see that develop, and with lscrosse back we'll see more of Coach :)
Lagertha isn't new but she's on a much smaller show that most people have never heard of. Sadly, barring a major upset, this will be it for her. I hope more people learn about the show and she makes a better showing next year. It's a credit to how awesome she is that she made it into the contest to begin with. Hope you get some sleep.
ReplyDeleteBeckett and Watson, girl power :D
ReplyDeleteIt seems they'll definitely be keeping Liam. It seems too difficult to keep Argent since he doesn't really have much of a connection to anyone anymore :P Not that I think of anyway.
ReplyDeleteI still say he needs to train these kids and become the unofficial leader/strategist of the pack since they don't seem to be able to make Scott capable this season.
ReplyDeleteThe only real character loss has been Allison. All the others were peripheral characters, easy to off in a genre show. The alpha twins could have left after 3A and it wouldn't have been at all surprising. Isaac was largely pointless except for kowtowing to Scott and screwing Allison. Jackson was more important to the story than Isaac, and he could have easly have been killed by Gerard in an effort to make us hate him even more. I'm not sure who the other 3 people you are talking about unless you're including Boyd, Erica and Cora or the villains. While I did not like Boyd's death at all, they only really built up his character in Motel California and then iced him immediately afterward. Before that he was largely moving wallpaper. Neither Erica nor Cora were much more than cannon fodder either. Erica was interesting but no where near irreplaceable. Cora leaving made everything better - less whining. For me only Allison had the potential to be a gamechanger for the show.
ReplyDeleteMason is Danny 2.0 to me and I would rather just have the original. The idea of watching these new characters at lacrosse practice and not Danny just infuriates me. We already had a perfectly serviceable character. Sadly the prospect of Coach is tarnished by the idea that all these indistinguishable new kids will be taking screen time from the characters I actually care about. Put him back in the classroom since the teens are actually going to class these days. Since they appear to have the same classes, maybe he can just move with them. If Derek's main storyline is going to be yet another romance, than all my socks are going to be thrown at the TV. He needs a real mytharc focus and character development. Plus Braeden is way too cool to be sacrificed that way. All Derek's romances turn otu to be evil and/or dead. If they really do try to appease fans with this for Derek, I am goingto loathe Liam even more.
I am hopeful that Lydia will finally get the depth that she's been needing for 3 years. Although they have largely squandered her again so far this season, I do like the idea of her taking an active role and using her brains and banshee powers on the villain of the season. As long as they don't go to shipping, I would love to see her working more with Parrish and I think she and Sherrif and Derek should all get together to strategize and share intel. I also like the hint of a familial connection from The Benefactor episode. I'd love to see her mine information on if the others in her family were banshees as well. It would make a great story. No matter what else though, Lydia has to learn how to control her banshee powers this year. It can't simply be about screaming and finding the dead bodies. They need to give Lydia a focused job within the group instead of being half in and half out.
Norma Bates and The Doctor.
ReplyDeleteThe last poll was so hard, for me it was almost impossible to choose between Finch and the Doctor, both are amazing characters.
Youa ren't alone. It seems like many people had a problem with that one, me included,
ReplyDeleteI like what they're doing with Scott, the way he's trying to connect with Liam on a human level instead of just using the power he has as an alpha, it definitely fits with his character.
ReplyDeleteWhile Allison was much more important to the story it's the twins I'll miss the most. I'm glaf Isaac left and I didn't really care for Erica, Boyd or Cora either. With Jackson I was more annoyed about how he was just suddenly gone, which wasn't the fault of Jeff or the writers at all. Plus if Jackson had stayed we wouldn't have gotten what was a spectacular season last season!
ReplyDeleteAll the new characters appear very teen-y which I know you've said you don't like :P And tbh they don't really fit well with me either. Derek also has this eye-colour thing, I dunno if that will go anywhere and Kate might still want him.
I just remembered too didn't Jeff say that other banshee would come back this season? Meredith I think her name was. People are already shipping Lydia & Parrish :P After that scene with them in the house it was all over my twitter feed. I want someone to tell Parrish about all the supernatural stuff, I think it's too late in the show to keep that secret now!
Kate Beckett of Castle and Barney of HIMYM though I haven't watched much of the show. Need to catch up on season 6 of castle before the new season!
ReplyDeleteOuch - my bracket is looking a little ugly on this side!
ReplyDeleteToday's voting was pretty easy except that last one: Beckett, Norma, Barney and after some deliberation I decided on The Doctor. While Ten is still my favorite, The Doctor is a character that has been around for 50 years - I remember watching the show as a child...just so much history that as much as I love Finch, The Doctor is in a class all his own.
Today's Topic (you're welcome - if I can somehow relate any more of my pet peeves to TV, I'll let you know!): New characters are always scary for me. If presented properly, they can broaden/enhance story lines and improve the chemistry of the cast. The best example I can think of is Ziva. I've watched NCIS almost since the beginning and when Kate was killed, I didn't think I would like any other female agent. When they first introduced Ziva as the half sister to the ass that killed Kate, I thought for sure she was going to thwart Gibbs at every turn. In short, I was all set to hate her...and then she killed her brother in order to save Gibbs. Yep. That was the moment that she became one of my favorite characters ever.
On the flip side, bringing in new characters can also cause story lines to get dropped or character inconsistencies because now there are too many people to write for and not all show runners are capably of keeping the multiple story lines relevant to each other and yet still fully fleshed out individually (ya Carver, I'm talking about you). I have been with Supernatural almost as long as NCIS and last year was a mess. There were too many characters with story lines that were individual that I think were supposed to be connected in "the grand plan" but the connections between them were lost when story lines were dropped for five episodes and then picked up again, seemingly five steps ahead of where it was last left off (all together now SPN fandom - when the f*ck did Gadreel become Sam's friend?). This of course is not the characters fault, but I tend to reject characters when their story line is so disjointed that their appearances feel like a waste of screen time.
As for character exits - well, depends on how much I like the character and if they are a lead or not. There are some shows that if the lead character(s) is/are to be permanently written out for whatever reason, the show just needs to end. Examples: Dean/Sam, Hannibal Lector or Sherlock Holmes. Obviously, no character, no show here. And please, for the love of all that's good and holy do NOT, I repeat, do NOT replace the actor with a new actor just to keep the show going if the reason the character is being written out is because the actor is not renewing their contract. There are many lead characters that have been brought to life by a specific actor in such a way that NO other actor could fill his/her shoes - notable exception: The Doctor (although 10 is still my favorite so far).
Well, that was long winded...until tomorrow then.
Your logic about The Doctor would have swayed me if I'd seen it before flipping my coin. Excellent point.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to remember which primetime show replaced an actor but kept the character. Oh! Yeah. Sliders. I cannot count Sliders because the casting director was obviously stoned with they hired that guy. He could not act his way out of a paper back if we ripped all the sides away for him. There was no way he was going to convince us he was Quinn.
Isn't there another show that tried that? I am blanking on what it could have been. It's never really bothered me as a viewer because I've been watching daytime soaps since I was a teen. They regularly recast parts.
Over the past couple of seasons I tend to watch the MOW episodes and ignore the Angel bits. If it's a full Angel bit episode I FF or read a book or post on spoilerTV or something. But I have stopped reading the spoilerTV Supernatural board. I couldn't enjoy it anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe succinctness of this explanation made me smile. Good one.
ReplyDeleteoh! I feel you! {{{hugs}}} That happened to me just the other night. (And yet I was too stupid to write my post for today in a text editor. I just got lucky.)
ReplyDeleteExcept Cas was brought back like a minute later.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know we have some different tastes. lol
Love your idea of recasting Laurel! Sara never really hooked me. Love Shaw...For me Root was better as an ep guest star but not as a regular. I'm not upset about Carter but loved her character. I think the reason I am not upset about her being gone is how well the episodes that saw her off the canvas worked for me. Liked Ziva...I consider myself getting to know Bishop..so no opinion yet.
ReplyDeleteActually it may be something Disqus could mitigate. If they added an unobtrusive autosave feature then when the browser refreshes the content wouldn't be lost.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with your sentiments about Tommy's death.
Actually agree with your whole post. :-D
I agree having a character with a different personality makes it feel like they're not a replacement. When the characters are alike I wonder why they killed off the other one in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch Doctor Who, the change of doctors would bother me for one and I watched an episode before and couldn't get into it.
ReplyDeleteI like Finch, but also Reese. My 2 favorites, not counting animals (Bear).
Julia Walker, Joan Watson and Harold Finch, all by default.
ReplyDeleteOnly Barney for me :)
ReplyDeleteAgreed about Lagertha. I am hoping that the contest will inspire people to try Vikings and then maybe she will do better next year. I don't watch GoT, but man does it seem like they kill a lot of people off.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't happen often, but occasionally I can be concise.
ReplyDeleteWell I would make that suggestion to Disqus but since it took over a year to get them to disable seeing the thumbs down arrows, I'm not holding my breath. Still that's 3 years earlier than anyone from Google will fix it. Urgh!
ReplyDeleteI didn't really think of Cam but you are right. That was an excellent way to introduce the character. I wasn't a fan at first but as she started to work with different people and as we slowly got to know her, she became part of the team. By not trying to force her down my throat, I was actually able to come to grips with the character faster and like her on my own terms. Like you, I wish more shows would go the natural route instead of pushing it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that looking at what the story needs as a whole instead trying to replace the outgoing character is a far better way to do things. As for Kira, they did her a huge disfavor. She was actually better before Allison died. And yes, I think 98% of the time qualifies as frequently. :-P Far too often I think the formula for replacing a character is to make a checklist and make sure 70% of the new character is the same. Alllison was a kick butt hunter - check for Kira (usually). Allison had skills the pack needed because she could fight - um, let's download fighting skills into Kira so she's instantly ready to go. I mean it worked for the Matrix. (Side note - I cannot adequately explain how much that irks me or how much it shortchanged both Kira and Allison.) Allison is Scott's love - oooh I know, we can get Kira to be that person. Allison is Lydia's best friend - well, Kira's available. Allison was confident, smart, and capable of stringing 2 sentences together - er, um, nah. This is how we'll show people that we're not trying to replace Allison with Kira. Yep. (deep sigh) There's a reason Malia is working far better than Kira this season. On another note, I was surprised by how much more I liked Shaw than I thought I would on PoI, even if I still would have prefered Zoe because she worked so well as a trio.
I love Root and the way Acker plays her. She's creepy but brilliant. I don't really like Carroll but Purefoy is fantastic in the role.
ReplyDeleteCharacters for Stories -
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest issue I have with angels is that their story is not the brothers' story so I simply don't care and I was tired of taking time out to have to deal with them. I like how you put it. This is no Scooby Gang and it functions better without trying to make it. Even Bobby's story revolved around the Winchesters and it didn't feel like they were just trying to meet an episode quota by having him around. He was a plot device several times too. Still he was there to serve the Winchester tale and not to have some other tale off to the side that we have to figure out how to tie together as the season ends.
Dawn was the point when I stopped trusting Joss and given what he did to Buffy in season 6, I felt fully justified. I do agree that it was the most abrupt and bizarre way to introduce a character in the history of forever. Plus we started with the lame Dracula episode that went nowhere fast. It was a fail on all levels for me. I don't think that the acting would have made it more smooth even if it had been better though. Season 5 was very similar to season 7 of SPN when they took away the Impala, Bobby's house, etc. You cannot make that many changes in a character's life and role reversal them into a working stiff and have the audience excited to go with you about it. Like Sera Gamble after him, he went too far. Having Bufy then lost her mind after dying again, was the last straw for me. It wasn't worth trying to hunt down someplace that actually had UPN, since St. Louis only had the WB. (Which was by far a better deal by the way.)
"More like an unliked employee from a branch office of the same company." Ha! That does sum up Root up, although I would also add..."and is coming to audit you while rumors of her psychotically poisoning her co-workers' tea swirl." Crazy for crazy's sake does zilch for me.
And now I think I am done responding to your one post with 32 of my own. Thanks Chrome!
If you think of it like a demon changing their meatsuit on Supernatural then it isn't so disconcerting. Or at least it isn't for me.
ReplyDeleteAll I say is for show that has been around for a long long time like CSI and NCIS when certain lead character are gone......the new character are not as well liked and is unlikely to get respect from majority of the fans.
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree. It bothered me to no end that his beta was able to take Scott out several times last episode and that Scott never thought to roar Liam into submission in the first place. If he had done that, he wouldn't have needed Argent to rescue him and he wouldn't have put everyone else in danger. It was sloppy and made no logical sense to me. Even Derek wasn't that incompetent when Scott first turned and he wasn't an alpha or the one who bit Scott. They cannot build up Liam at the expense of Scott. He's the main character.
ReplyDeleteOut of all of them, the only one I was really intrigued with was Jackson although I thought Erica was fun. With Allison, I felt they missed a great opportunity for her to be trained as the matriarch of the family and instead relegated her to love interest too much. Otherwise I would have felt more when she died. I agree Jackson's sudden disappearance wias abrupt. I wish he had guest starred for the first episode and wrapped things up, but I do like that they haven't forgotten about him and he's mentioned more than most characters that are no longer there.
ReplyDeleteDerek's eye story will probably go somewhere since Jeff seems to have a fetish with his eyes. I hope it means that something has fundamentally changed in him which will take us into season 5. We are supposed to get more banshees and Meredith is supposed to return. I am hoping that Lydia's long lost whomever fills her in on the family history and perhaps gives her the family's heritage How to be a Banshee for Dummies book. Better yet, it would be great if her mom knows about banshees having grown up with it and can help Lydia along the way. Lydia needs a supportive parent as well. I am going with Parrish is evil in some way, because no way someone is that nice in Beacon Hills. He could be a good monster as well I suppose. My take is he's either working the dead pool list or he's on it. I'm hoping I am wrong but it won't surprise me at all if he is. I figure he already knows about the supernatural and is just playing them. No one gets "drawn" to Beacon Hills for good reasons.
I've given up on getting caught up on most shows. Maybe the winter hiatus will be quieter.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked when Ziva killed Ari and especially after going back and watching all the episodes before it in order. That it was done so relatively quickly in her character arc was equally surprising. It was a bold, smart choice that did cement Ziva as part of the team far sooner than she would normally be. Sorry this season of SPN was just as much of a mess as the last one. I still hope that now that Revolution is done, Kripke can come back to rescue it.
ReplyDelete"I tend to reject characters when their story line is so disjointed that their appearances feel like a waste of screen time." Bravo! I hear over and over again that it's not the character's fault that the writers screwed them over but in all reality the character is whatever the writer makes them be. I can be made at the writer but that doesn't change the new canon for the character. I hated Sam's blood addiction storyline but that doesn't mean it goes away (um, unless Carver decides that this too should be sent to his SPN revisionist boot camp). If a writer screws over a character, it's going to affect how I see them period.
I think it should be a given if the title character actor goes, so does the show. How exactly can you have Hannibal without Hannibal? I agree 100% that actors shouldn't be switched out on a whim either. I still have issues with Bewitched. Sometimes shows should just end and when a main character wants out that is usually the time. No need to pull an X-Files and run all good memories into the ground.
Apparently Once Upon a Time and Game of Thrones has done it more than once and recently. I thought it was a things of the past too.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned Sliders as well because that was about the most baffling character turn around I have ever seen. Even now it doesn't make sense. Another example fo Sliders screwing the pooch was when they killed off Arturo to add the hot chick. I knew did grow to like Maggie.
Sara was my favorite new character for a long time until they saddled her with a sister love triangle in present time and started tearing down Laurel to build Sarah up. I didn't even like Laurel and that annoyed me. I actually thought the idea of Fishburne on CSI was weird. Sorry to hear that it didn't pan on but at least you got someone you like now.
ReplyDeleteI think it is hard for people to not see the new person as taking he place of a former favorite whether that is fair to the character or not. It is up to the writing team to turn sentiment around but in the beginning they definitely have to deal with unfavorable comparisons.
ReplyDeleteI consider the Dracula ep of Buffy like the Highlander sequel that never happened. :-) There were episodes and storylines on Buffy that were weak but I never had moments where I considered not watching. I have with Supernatural. Joss Whedon hasn't been perfect but I love that he's willing to try stepping outside the box a little. I loved Dollhouse for that. I was not a perfectly designed show but it wasn't the TV cookie cutter show and IMHO he earned major points for trying to do something different.
ReplyDelete"rumors of her psychotically poisoning her co-workers tea" bwahahahaha
I loved Zoe. But if they'd brought her on as a regular the shoe horning would have been more painful. She is so different that bringing her in for a specific type of case would be more satisfying --- to which I say -- bring her back again. I was in love with Shaw about two minutes after we met her. Aside from being able to kick ass and take names she is *different*.
ReplyDeleteOh! Chrome look what you've done to us!
ReplyDeleteIt's really wonderful that these actors are nice people that TPTB on the show want to work with again but that shouldn't be the sole reason they return. I ranted about that the TVD refused to get rid of Klaus. The lengths they went to to keep that guy around must have cause some pulled muscles.
I took a horror writing class years ago. The first thing we were taught is that any story in that genre (and this applies to any genre that steps outside of the bounds of current every tay reality) HAS to set up it's internal rules and THEY MUST STICK TO THEM. What I don't understand...especially as the communication between the fans and the creative team has become more direct ...is why the creative team thinks the audience doesn't notice.
LOL One of the production teams on All My Children though that, after roughly 35 years there wouldn't be anyone around who would mind if the rewrote cannon and brought in a son she didn't remember giving birth to. The reason was that the character had had an abortion. (At the time the story was a big deal social issue....not too long after they became legal.) They came up with some cockamamie cannon rewrite about how it wasn't actually an abortion. The audience noticed. They weren't happy.
I think what I want most from the writers on my shows is respect. I don't have to agree with or love every story decision that they make but I do want to feel like they respect me as an intelligent viewer.
Only shows of these I watch are Vikings and Doctor Who.
ReplyDeleteKate Beckett
ReplyDeleteNorma Bates
Barney Stinson, even though I think Lucy Liu is excellent as Watson..Stinson has become a legendary character!
Harold Finch
It wasn't Disqus, it was me! I was using my phone and thought I'd saved when I didn't. Ugh. I know better.
ReplyDeleteNorma, Barney and The Doctor for me today.
ReplyDeleteLagertha:She is a pretty strong woman who would do anything to keep her son safe. I think Vikings is a great tv show that is underrrated and it should be more known.
ReplyDeleteBarney Stinson:Suit up,legen...wait for it...dary,etc. Barney is the best character of himym and he's like he would say,awesome.
The Doctor:I'm not a big fan of Doctor Who but I've watched it and I like it.
Hey, Dahne it pains me to admit it, but I do completely agree with you, I'm just happy she made it this far, she was a terrific character, I'm going to really miss her on Grey's I've also got to add I'm loving these polls you're conducting, I know it's a lot of hard work and you're doing a great job, maintaining order, while everyone is discussing there point of views and having fun, keep up the great work!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to casting I firmly believe the plot should drive the characters, not the characters drive the plot. Too many times it is apparent that characters have outlived their usefulness but they continue to be on the show, which is going to be part of today's topic so I'll leave that for then.
ReplyDeleteThat's the first thing I learned in Creative Writing in high school. You'd think if high schoolers could master that concept....oh well. World building is a crucial part of creating story, especially if items in that world are not going to play by real life's standards. If you build the world, you should not its internal logic by heart and violating that logic should be as foreign to you as writing a realistic fiction tale where suddenly cars are talking and fish are walking around. It should be that absurd to you. I agree that I want shows to stop assuming I'm braindead, whether that means sticking to their own rules, not throwing in retcons or plot dcevices when stuck writing, or killing the recapitations of something that happened not 15 minutes ago. I really am not that stupid.
Ha! I see what you did there with Barney. Legen...wait for it....dary!
ReplyDeleteonly Walker and Doctor
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the kind words. I appreciate it. I am having a great time listening to everyone's ideas. I'm glad you are having fun too.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen Dollhouse besides the odd episode so it is another of the shows on my to-watch list.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Zoe should be on a as-needed basis, but I think Shaw should be too.
ReplyDeleteUrgh, it's even harder when you can't blame someone else.
ReplyDeleteNothing!
ReplyDeleteThough Bates Motel seems so interesting to watch.
Wish we got season 3 of Person of Interest in the UK. Can't see it renewed for upcoming season on Channel 5 UK. Harold Finch is awesome. The actor was awesome in The Practice as well.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think it's a matter of an actor disagreeing with something and/or wanting to move on from a show like Mr. Eko on Lost or Carter on POI, but the *rumor behind the True Blood character James' recast is that allegedly Luke Grimes was against playing homosexual character, which the character is currently leaning towards being bi-sexual, but what's weird about that whole thing was that the first spoilers for the current and last season included a character description of a new love interest for Lafayette named "Drake", who on paper sounds rather similar to James. The new actor that plays James is exactly like this Drake character description and is on the verge of being Lafeyette's new love interest with "Drake" nowhere in sight....So it definately seems like they were thinking about making a new character with similar characteristics to James, but changed their mind and just let it be James, unless the idea was to try and subvert the plot change with his love interest this season?!
ReplyDeleteIt's a little sad that almost all the match ups are predictable with the way people here vote.
ReplyDeleteLagertha and Norma. Both great ladies.
ReplyDeleteYou should watch it. It's really good.
ReplyDeleteI actually do watch a lot of sci-fi/fantasy/etc... But, for instance, only The Doctor is relevant to me on this one.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of it is that I rarely find main characters to be the most interesting part of a show (Faith > Buffy), and so even if I'm a fan of a show, i'm often not engaged in the character options. This is far more something I find relevant to dramas... I generally find myself enjoying most of the characters in any comedy I enjoy, whereas the tendency of dramas to rely on internal tension often creates personal trajectories for certain characters that makes me less interested in them.
FI: On the left bracket, there are three characters that I sincerely wanted to win (2 did):
--Hannibal, Sarah Manning, Elijah Mikaelson.
Whereas there are a tonne of characters from shows that I am interested in where I am not particularly interested in the actual character nominated (e.g. Melinda May, Bellamy Blake, Damon Salvatore on the right bracket, etc).
Not a complaint, just the an observation.
:-) Oh, yes, there is always a few deaths per episode. :-) But Vikings have it´s fair share of deaths aswell.
ReplyDeleteLet´s hope we can get more people to watch Vikings. Ragnar is my favorite, but there are too many good male characters, so I didn´t add him to the contest. Lagertha is a close second though, and easily one of the best female characters on tv.
I generally like the writing on NCIS but ZIva's introduction was perfect - she still has her haters but I don't think the writers could have come up with anything better to gain her acceptance so fast by such a large part of the fan base.
ReplyDeleteSadly, bad writing can even turn my affections for a new character I originally liked sour if mishandled in later episodes/seasons. I originally loved Castiel but the last two seasons have made me long for the Castiel of S4/5. I love Misha Collins but this season's angel story line had me throwing socks at my computer when ever it was on. Cavers version of angels is a joke and even Cas' presence annoyed me in several episodes because it seemingly had nothing to do with anything going on with the boys. But, I digress....
My first experience with the actor switch-a-roo was Bewitched as well, then Roseanne. I didn't start watching X-Files until many years after it ended but I heard they jumped the shark a bit at the end (I've only watched the first five seasons).
I vaguely remember Sliders - I may have seen a handful of episodes during its original run...it's in my Netflix queue but I haven't started watching it yet. This bit of news does not entice me to move it up the priority list either. I was thinking of Bewitched and Roseanne when I wrote the above. There are some instances where actor changes for the character make sense (The Doctor, demons/angels on SPN, etc) but even then, I usually still prefer one actor over the other - The 10th Doctor (although I have high hopes for 12), Ruby 1.0 and Meg 2.0 are examples. That being said, if they tried to bring in another actor to portray Crowley when Mark Shepherd's run on SPN ends, there will be hell to pay (no pun intended).
ReplyDeleteSliders was one of my favorite sci fi shows...until they killed off one of the actors and replaced with a hot chick. That's really all that the character hade to recommend her for the first couple of years. I would definitely check it out if you like alternate timelines. I found it very clever until the writers obviously ran out of ideas and brought on a cool on paper, lame of execution bad guy. It's one of the rare shows that was ruined by becoming a serial show and ditching the world of the week.
ReplyDeleteDo yourself a favor and don't go any farther in The X-Files. You've ran the gamut of great seasons. Ah, another sock thrower. Welcome to our club. We often throw socks on Twitter. For me the new character that subsequent writing killed was Sarah from Arrow. She started as such a cool, kick butt character, but then the writers resurrected a love triangle between her, Oliver, and her sister. Seriously folks? Gibbs smack to everyone. They also had her playing the martyr to make her sister look bad. It frustrated me that the fans rushed right into her judgments because they hated Laurel, when Laurel was actually right if not handling it in the most mature manner.
ReplyDeleteThe first couple of seasons of Sliders were great Bubble Gum TV. But when budgets started dropping and they had to deL with cast losses (am i remembering that O'Connel's exit was a contract dispute?)
ReplyDeleteI completely understand that. I often find the secondary characters far more interesting. In fact of the 41 shows I have seen in this competition, I would only choose 15 of the characters to represent their show and even some of them are iffy. For me pre-witch Willow > than all the other characters on Buffy and then Giles.
ReplyDeleteThat is hardly surprising because the same people who nominated characters are the ones that are voting. There are very few major upsets in a NCAA-style contest in round 1. That's because due to the ranking system, the higher ranked characters go up against the lower ranked characters so the highest ranked character meets the lowest ranked character in the first round and it goes from there.
ReplyDeleteThat's a real shame. It has to be frustrating when you have no control over what your stations renew when you know there is more out there. Hopefully you can get the DVDs or something.
ReplyDeleteI think that was the original reason I stopped watching X-Files at S5 - one of my co-workers was a die hard fan and was actually the one who convinced me to give it a try in the first place but recommended I stop at S5. I've thought about picking it up again but haven't for fear that the remaining seasons would tarnish my feelings on the rest of the show. This same reasoning is why I have not watched the last season of HIMYM.
ReplyDeleteOh yea, total sock thrower. I'm going to have to find you on Twitter before the new season starts! I have kittens that are often naughty but quite a bit faster than me so this where the sock throwing originated - the best way to alter a cat's behavior is to startle them when they are actually doing the undesirable behavior. Throwing a balled up pair of socks behind/beside them when they are misbehaving will hopefully startle them enough to make an association between the startle and undesired behavior so they don't keep doing it (and the socks are soft enough that if I inadvertently hit them or it ricochets and hits them, I won't hurt them). Sadly, chucking socks at my computer can not change the behavior of writers who have pissed me off but it does seem to make me feel better :-)
I agree with what was done to Sara (and Felicity) in S2 of Arrow. I am not a Laurel fan (despite that I like KC) but what they did to all three of the female characters last season diminished my enjoyment of all their characters. Can we please have the kick ass Sara, snarky Felicity and strong Laurel back in S3?
Is James Jessica's boyfriend? If yes then....to add credence to your opinion that they should have just made him a new character.....I HAD NO IDEA THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE GUY JESSICA MET LAST SEASON. bwahahaha. The main reason I agree with you here is that the character was, in last season's episodes, a minor-episode or two guest character. I completely dismissed him. The current actor I watched on General Hospital and was sorry to see him written off. So I've just been enjoying his work on True Blood this season.
ReplyDeleteYou reminded me of an aspect to the discussion of New Characters that I'd forgotten. There are some occasions that I think fans forget that this is a business. For the people working on these shows...their job isn't their first priority. They have lives to lead and careers to build... and sometimes their personal problem get them fired (and/or replaced) The Doctor is what it is today because the original actor couldn't continue the job. There were two Darrins on Bewitched because the first actor had back issues that left him incapable of working, Both actors that left Teen Wolf last season did so to tend to their careers.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine quit watching a show because a character was written out after the actor left. She blamed the show and was punishing them. I don't understand that. I understand quitting a show because you don't think the show's response to the situation was executed as well as it could have been. But the attitude that the performers on the shows we love shouldn't be allowed to do what they think is best for them, befuddles me.
Yep it's suppose to be the same guy! LOL!
ReplyDeleteFor me, I think it just felt cheesy to me a bit, the episode I watched.
ReplyDeleteI would have been angry if he'd stayed dead. He could have easily gone back to Heaven the end.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely interesting to watch the conversations. I was just commenting on an observation I made; didn't mean any offense by it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think boycotting a show to make a point about your favorite character leaving makes sense. It's not going to change anything. However I can completely see a fan leaving a show when a favorite character leaves. For some it doesn't matter how the situation is resolved because that character was the main reason for them to watch the show in the first place. For instance if either Stiles or Scott leaves Teen Wolf, I will most likely be out too because the whole foundation of the show for me is their brotherhood. The same thing would have happened had either Jensen or Jared decided that they wanted to quit Supernatural to pursue their careers. I wouldn't begrudge them the move at all. They work really hard and don't get much personal time to be with their families when they are shooting. Still I would have dropped the show in an instant because there is no SPN without Dean AND Sam for me. I think that's a very valed reason to stop watching.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. That is a fair point. It is why I stopped watching Smallville.
ReplyDelete"Sadly, chucking socks at my computer can not change the behavior of writers"
ReplyDeleteBwah! If only it did. I started as a sock thrower because pillows were too bulky and socks help me release my frustration. Now that I watch most of my TV on the computer it's more of a mental sock toss so it doesn't richochet off and hit me of topple something. I've also taken to phsyically doing the Gibbs head smack gesture at characters for the writers.
During the regular TV season I tend to live tweet a lot of shows. If you are watching any of them, I hope you join in. I have a lot of fun with the Teen Wolf and Sleepy Hollow tweeters especially but @BlueStar and I also tweet during Dominion which is fun. I'm hoping to build up my Dominion tweeting community before it ends for the season. There's also always at least one show that I tweet with my Show Ratings and Southgate Media groups. Whichever that one ends up being is an absolute riot because we are all snarky and feed off each other. I don't watch a lot of shows that the people in my "real" life watch (mostly because I abhor the reality TV my co-workers seem to love) so my tweeting friends are my water cooler.
I'm fairly certain that if I ever do watch HIMYM chronologically, I will avoid the last season. Nothing that ticks off fans that much can be good.
Lex Luthor right? He was almost worth suffering through Lana for.
ReplyDeleteOooohhh, I like the psychic Gibbs smack - I will have to use that in the upcoming TV season! My new laptop is pretty and I don't want to risk injuring her!
ReplyDeleteI follow several actors and William Shatner so I see a lot of the live tweeting for many of the shows I watch but since I don't have a TV I can't participate in the live tweet since I don't watch until the next day. However, I am a big fan of snark so I'll probably still follow along anyway - if you see someone named Emma begging for more spoilers, that would be me ;-)
ha! Sorry you won't be able to live tweet with us. I would strongly suggest that you don't look at my tweets until you do then. I tweet about what's going on in the show at that time so I would hate to spoil it for you. I have a friend in Ireland who can't watch until the next day either so she ignores everything I tweet Monday nights and then we talk about the episode after she sees it.
ReplyDeleteApparently it may be shown in 2015. Can't wait to see Camryn Manheim. To me she will always be Ellinor Frut.
ReplyDeleteyup. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt's actually really boring. I dropped it after first season.
ReplyDeleteSeason 1 was exceptional,season 2 was average at best IMO!
ReplyDeleteOh no, I want to be spoiled, hence the stalking STV and actor Twitter feeds. It may be painful to wait until the next day to see the whole thing but it's a good kind of pain!
ReplyDeleteAs long as you're sure, because Teen Wolf's tendency to have a major plot twist every episode only gets bigger as the seasons go on.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I wasn't keeping track of SpoilerTV in the LOST days, except for a bit near the end, but it seemed to me people hated Kate in a similar fashion.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I hadn't thought about it like that, but yes. She does seem to be the Kate of Arrow.
ReplyDeleteKate was my favourite, so I always tried to avoid the comments haha
ReplyDeleteHa! Smart plan. Charlie was my favorite but then they stuck him with the limp dish rag Claire and I was frustrated.
ReplyDeleteOh yea - I'm sure! Not sure that I can watch the current season online anywhere so the spoilers may be the only thing I have until it comes out on DVD!
ReplyDeleteMTV.com puts the episode up online the day after it airs. Not sure if that will help or not.
ReplyDeleteIt does! If I can get caught up before they start taking episodes down I can watch next day!
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo! Cannot wait until you join our Teen Wolf conversation!
ReplyDeleteYes, she was too whiny and fussy. Charlie was nice to her and Aaron, and she was always mad at him!
ReplyDeleteYou know what might be a good idea? A contest only involving shows from the "smaller" challenges. It is just frustrating to see good characters and shows getting snubbed again and again simply because they get less exposure.
ReplyDeleteI look at these contests mostly as a way to get more exposure for these shows. Every time one of them even gets in, if the fans talk it up and stay positive, at least a few people will check it out and grow the fanbase organically so it will do better the next time.
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