From Emily in Friends to Che Diaz: the TV characters so bad that they ruined shows | Television

Generally, all it takes to vary your relationship to a TV present is one character. Viewers are all having fun with the One Day-meets-Excessive Constancy vibes of BBC Two’s nostalgic romance Combine Tape. Nonetheless, none of them can stand the cassette-crossed lovers’ spouses. Sure, for each function that turns into a agency viewer favorite, one other is reviled by the present’s fanbase. Lena Dunham’s newest creation, Too A lot, appears to be totally populated by unappealing characters.In the meantime, Peppa Pig devotees are in a porcine pickle over the approaching onscreen arrival of a brand new little sister, child piglet Evie. Cartoon swine devotees concern this gimmicky addition will upset the fragile steadiness of the four-way household unit that has been beloved by preschoolers for 21 years. If the oinking blockbuster ain’t broke, why repair it?The present hate figures gained’t be the final to spoil a profitable programme. We identify and disgrace the unfortunate 13 characters who ruined TV exhibits …Che Diaz (And Simply Like That)Divisive … Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez) in And Simply Like That. {Photograph}: Craig Blankenhorn/© 2023 WarnerMedia Direct, LLC. All Rights ReservedVanity Truthful dubbed the character “divisive”. The New York Occasions known as them “polarising”. Simply two of the euphemisms for being downright terrible. As Miranda’s love curiosity within the Intercourse and the Metropolis sequel, so-called comic Che was a lot maligned as an unsubtle caricature of a non-binary particular person. The character merely made no sense, not to mention as a match for the hitherto heterosexual Miranda. They spoke as if that they had swallowed a gender research textbook. They laughed at their very own non-jokes. They typically jarred with followers. Some really feel equally about Carrie’s rekindled relationship with Aidan, along with his mullet, whispery tones and cringe-inducing cellphone intercourse. Shudder.Bran Stark (Sport of Thrones)Broadly reviled … Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) in Sport of Thrones. {Photograph}: Courtesy of HBOThat noise isn’t dire wolves; it’s howls of protest from followers. The problematically named “Bran the Damaged” spent most of HBO’s fantasy saga on the sidelines – sporting furs, sitting in bushes and making gnomic pronouncements like a creepy schoolkid within the nook of the playground. He even disappeared for a whole season and wasn’t a lot missed. No marvel it was, ahem, “controversial” when this passive fringe determine was abruptly picked as Ruler of the Six Kingdoms. A extensively reviled alternative.Uncle Albert (Solely Fools and Horses)With mega-rated Christmas specials and a dodgy lock-up stuffed with beautiful jubbly catchphrases, the Trotter brothers as soon as dominated the sitcom roost. Snug. Whereas they ducked ’n’ dived round Peckham, Grandad hardly ever left his armchair in Nelson Mandela Home however added a bass notice of world-weary, hat-clad, croaky-voiced craftiness. When the actor Lennard Pearce died in 1984, he was changed by the wackier Uncle Albert – a salty previous sea canine with Captain Birds Eye’s beard and exactly one joke, which was beginning each sentence with “In the course of the struggle … ” The decline started, hastened by Del discovering love with Raquel and Rodders falling for Cassandra. You plonkers.Scrappy-Doo (Scooby-Doo)Unbearable brat … Scrappy-Doo with Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. {Photograph}: PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy“Pet energy! Lemme at ’em, Uncle Scoob! Scrappy dappy Doo!” Pipe down, you unbearable brat. When the Hanna-Barbera cartoon suffered a rankings stoop, producers introduced in Scooby’s rambunctious nephew to hitch the ghost-hunting gang as an uncalled-for comedian foil. The annoying ankle-biter sparked a direct backlash. “Zoinks,” certainly. Scrappy was so hated that The Simpsons mocked him with the rapping, browsing Poochie in cartoon-within-a-cartoon The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Present.Emily Waltham (Buddies)Unfunny moist blanket … Helen Baxendale (proper) with David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston in Buddies. {Photograph}: Landmark Media/AlamyCrowbarring a token British actor into an American present hardly ever works. So it proved when Helen Baxendale earned a big-money switch from Chilly Ft to Buddies. Meant to show the Ross ’n’ Rachel saga right into a love triangle, Emily was an unfunny moist blanket who simply acquired in the way in which. She spent most of her display time storming out of rooms in jealous huffs. Her arrival led to the ropy London episodes, full with cameos from Sarah Ferguson and Richard Branson. Emily’s sole saving grace: the gasp-inducing second when Ross unintentionally stated Rachel’s identify on the altar. Pivot!Nate Shelley (Ted Lasso)Extra ‘Grate’ than ‘Nice’ … Nick Mohammed as Nathan Shelley in Ted Lasso. {Photograph}: APThe Apple TV+ hit is a feelgood sports-com about teamwork, optimism and compassion. Did it really want to show certainly one of its supporting characters into an unconvincing panto villain? Shortly after arriving to handle AFC Richmond, our titular hero noticed the package man’s tactical nous, promoted him to assistant coach and nicknamed him Nate the Nice. How did Nate repay him? By demanding all of the credit score for Richmond’s success, bullying colleagues and mocking his mentor’s panic assaults – earlier than leaving to handle the membership’s arch rival. Nate the Grate, extra like.The Moon household (Frasier)Physiotherapist-cum-housekeeper Daphne Moon could have been lovable, however at any time when her household from again house in Blighty turned up, it was painful to behold. Her brother Simon was a daily customer to Seattle, showing in 9 episodes as a boozy, boorish numpty, however the actor Anthony LaPaglia inexplicably spoke in a ropy cockney accent, somewhat than a extra logical Mancunian one. Much more inexplicably, he gained an Emmy for the function. Equally unhealthy was their battleaxe mom, Gertrude (Millicent Martin).Dana Brody (Homeland)Soapy teenagers … Morgan Saylor as Dana Brody with Timothée Chalamet as Finn Walden in Homeland. {Photograph}: Kent Smith/ShowtimeThe Showtime collection was a tense, knotty espionage thriller in regards to the cat-and-mouse relationship between CIA spook Carrie Mathison and Marine-turned-al-Qaida sleeper agent Sgt Nicholas Brody. Homeland wasn’t an angsty teen cleaning soap. But that is precisely what it changed into throughout scenes involving Brody’s sulking, whining daughter Dana. She no less than met her petulant match within the vice-president’s hit-and-run driver son Finn, performed by a 16-year-old Timothée Chalamet. Marvel what occurred to that man? In different “annoying offspring of TV motion males” information, see Jack Bauer’s daughter Kim from 24 – notably when she acquired trapped in a snare and menaced by a wild cougar. Dammit, Jack!Andy Bernard (The Workplace US)The Workplace: An American Office wasn’t only a uncommon US remake worthy of the British authentic. It grew to become a very nice sitcom in its personal proper. Cracks appeared, nevertheless, when Dunder Mifflin boss Michael Scott departed and preppy gross sales rep Andy Bernard was promoted to regional supervisor. Smug and anger susceptible, he lacked Michael’s bumbling humanity and drained the present of its light appeal. It was like changing David Brent with Finchy.Henrik Sabroe (The Bridge)Good-looking however haunted … Thure Lindhardt as Henrik Sabroe in The Bridge. The primary two collection of the border-straddling Nordic noir had been all-timers, following the unlikely duo of neurodiverse Swedish sleuth Saga Norén and her slobby, sarky Danish counterpart Martin Rohde. When the second run ended with Martin jailed, Saga wanted a brand new sidekick, therefore the arrival of the good-looking however haunted Henrik. The pair quickly entered right into a relationship (eyeroll). With extra concentrate on the detectives’ personal lives, the crime drama misplaced its approach. Again to Sarah Lund’s jumpers, then.Elsbeth Tascioni (The Good Spouse)Kooky … Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni in The Good Spouse.Recurring character Elsbeth was a Chicago defence lawyer for whom phrases reminiscent of “quirky” and “kooky” may need been invented. All “I’m so random!” pronouncements and primary-coloured outfits, she was a tryhard irritant who someway grew to become a fan favorite. Amid the high-class authorized drama, it felt as if she had wandered in from a tonally totally different, inferior present. Which she then acquired, touchdown her personal spin-off, the Ronseal-titled Elsbeth. There’s no accounting for style.Cousin Oliver (The Brady Bunch)Spawned a syndrome … Cousin Oliver (Robbie Rist) in The Brady Bunch.The disastrous introduction of this beforehand unmentioned Brady member of the family coined the US phrases “Cousin Oliver syndrome” and “add-a-kid” – shorthand for a failed bid to spice up flagging rankings with a supposedly cute baby. This blond, bespectacled satan spawn is among the many most hated characters in sitcom historical past. Six episodes after Oliver’s arrival, ABC axed the present. A decade later got here one other instance: Sam, the bowl-cut greatest good friend of Gary Coleman’s Arnold, who joined the Diff’lease Strokes forged for its last two collection. It’d take diff’lease strokes to maneuver the world, however Sam may do one.The Man in Black (Misplaced)Out to confuse … Titus Welliver as The Man in Black, AKA John Locke, in Misplaced. {Photograph}: PRThe pointless polar bear. The hatch. The Others. The Dharma Initiative. The enormous foot statue, Jack’s tattoos. Flashbacks, flash-forwards and sideways flashes. There have been many factors at which the aircraft crash drama disappeared up its personal rear propeller however the clincher got here when a middle-aged man in black grew to become the personification of evil. He had beforehand appeared because the Smoke Monster, then was in a position to inhabit the useless. He turned out to be the villainous twin of the mysterious Jacob, white-clad protector of “The Coronary heart of the Island”. All clear? Thought not.