"If it weren't for that guy..."

C

core966

New member
Have you ever watched a show and thought to yourself, "If it wasn't for that character, this show would be perfect"? Has the presence of one annoying, inappropriate, unfunny or uninteresting character ruined your viewing experience of what would otherwise be an enjoyable program? This thread is voicing our grievances.

I'll start. For me, the show in question is Cookie Jar's Johnny Test, and the character who drags the show down for me is the title character, Johnny himself.

I know JT has a lot of haters, but I for one don't mind the general overview of the show, and many of its' characters I actually enjoy or am at least mildly amused by, such as the Test Twins, Dukey the dog, Howard (Hugh) and Lila Test, The General, Mr. Black and Mr. White, even Eugene/Bling-Bling Boy and Gil have their moments, but whenever Johnny's on the screen, I cringe. It's not that he's a really detestable (yeah, I had to say it) character, but I find him very annoying, average and painfully generic; he's the embodiment of the vanilla "kids rule!" kid hero encountered so often in shows of this nature, and done 10 times better in other shows, I might add, not to mention Johnny' at times can be so hard-headed, stuborn and ignorant that I just want to give a swift kick in the county seat.

Even the characters directly connected to Johnny are shopworn cliches: Bumper, the requisite bully character who hates the main protagonist for no articulated reason other than "he's a bully", and Sissy, the requisite "I love you/I hate you girl" who generally treats the hero like the floor of a blind man's urinal but actually harbors a secret crush on him which may be mutual. Bleh. (Though in Sissy's defense, she's not nearly as cringe-worthy as the nails-on-a-blackboard annoying Helga Pataki on Hey, Arnold!)

It's hard to get into a show when the main character is the character that you enjoy least of all. IMPO, Johnny Test would be a much more tolerable program if it didn't have the irritating Johnny at the helm, or at the very least they could somehow reconstruct him into a more dynamic, smarter, more interesting character. But that's my 2 cents.

Has this syndrome affected anyone else? Voice your opinions here. But please, remeber to explain your choices and state why you feel these particular characters drag down the show for you. Let's not let this thread degenerate into a "I hate so-and-so character/show!" rant thread or a list thread with no discussion behind it.

Who, in your opinion, are the albatrosses hanging around the the neck of an otherwise stellar program? Discuss.
 
Indeed, it is hard to enjoy a show when the main title character is the one that you tolerate the least. For me, that show is (or was, since it's over now) Lloyd In Space. I liked the world that Lloyd inhabited, and I liked (or at least could tolerate) most of the shows' supporting cast (except for Brittany and Megan, but they could have been worked on), but I always thought that Lloyd himself was the worst part of his own show. I could never stand to watch any of the scenes with Lloyd in them. Paul & Joe basically dressed Charlie Brown in a space alien costume and replaced Chuck's likability with grating annoyance. If Paul & Joe would have just remade the character or replaced him with a protagonist who wasn't such a whiny sad-sack loser, Lloyd in Space might have been quite good.
 
I'm feeling much the same way about Coop in Kid vs. Kat. He was pretty appealing in the early episodes, but he's kinda mean and cocky now.

And of course Cosmo in FOP. If he'd return to his original characterization, he'd be fine - an asset to the show, in fact. As it is he's a major liability.
 
Mandy, in the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. It would have been one thing if she'd gotten some comeuppance every once and awhile, but she just went on being a horrible brat with no consequences (or, in some cases, even rewarded for it).
 
I'm with you on that one, for the most part. It kind of surprises me how often the biggest jerk in the cast is the most popular character and/or the one who gets away with the most.
 
Flapjack. You've got this great world, full of bizarre characters... and then you've got this irritating, hyperactive little troll with a voice like barbed, red-hot needles in your ears in the middle of everything.
 
Ahsoka Tano from 'Clone Wars'.

While I overall enjoy the show regardless, I think Ahsoka is a blight on the series. She's the embodiment of the stereotypical 'tough kid/girl who's smarter than everyone else and everyone loves her and she can do no wrong even when she does wrong' trope.

The episode where she endangers a crew and Admiral Yularen is the one I hate and love the most: love, because she FINALLY gets comeuppance for being a snot-nosed brat and hate, because she ends up being everyone's darling in the end anyhow (and her veritable emo*tears/whining wake the Admiral up from his brief coma).

I know they're trying to appeal to kids (and girls especially, since Padme was helpless window dressing in the prequels and there's virtually NO prominent female characters in all 6 movies, Padme and Leia aside), but come on... I just feel her presence just drags the show down, especially when she gets on one of her 'I'm right and you're wrong, Skyguy' tangents. Someone, activate Order 66, please!

... Yeah, I've been meaning to vent this for a while. Especially since I get into fights with my dad (who likes Ahsoka) about it all the time.

Otherwise? I love the series, especially the episodes where she either has little screentime or just doesn't show up, period.
 
Let me disagree for a second here Mr.Silverstar Johnny is generic for a reason he moves the plot along all the plots take place because Jimmy is attempting to get something he wants. And who would do all the testing if he wasn't there Dukey no(though he could if they wanted him to technically) because he's the voice of reason and there is no voice of reason needed without a cocky hero. He also has a very sincere nature and cares about his siters deeply.
 
#1. Ring-Ring (Pucca): Easily the worst part of the show. Why do most TV shows nowadays (where a female is the main character) always have some narcissistic rich girl whose sole purpose is to make the life of the main character (and sometimes everyone else) miserable!? It also doesn't help that she appears rather frequently

#2. Bonnie (Kim Possible): See above

#3. Chris Thorndyke (Sonic X): I really enjoy Sonic X, but I think it would be 10x better if it didn't focus and Chris and the humans so much. It might as well be called "The Chris and Sonic Show".
 
Let me disagree with your disagreement.

I'm fully aware of what purpose Johnny serves on the show, and I have no problem with that; but it would be possible for him to remain the central character without being so vanilla bland and annoying. Other shows, like Chowder, have a main protagonist who manages to be funny, interesting and engaging without falling into tired old stereotypes or being cocky, so that's not a requirement. I'm not debating Johnny's role on the show, I just think his character could be handled better.

Anyway, it's pointless to debate one's personal opinion, because it's just that: opinion. You're entitled to disagree, of course, but trying to convince me otherwise isn't going to work, because that's how I feel. It's not carved in stone that you have to like every character on a show.
 
I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but Elmyra. I love Tiny Toons. Don't get me wrong. But any time an episode revolved around her it annoyed me. Also...let's everyone say it at the same time...SCRAPPY-DOO!!!
 
No complaints there.

Elmyra is a character who is good for small doses and short gags. I never cared for any episode centered around her, as I felt she was very irritating otherwise.
 
Ed, Edd n Eddy-Kankers. They annoy the hell out of me. Even more so than Kevin or Sarah. They always have to ruine the Ed's schemes some how. They can never have a good ending cuz of them.

Kim Possible-Rufus. That's right, can't stand the rodant. He always has to be the one to the rescue, it got old fast for me :yawn:

Ben 10-Gwen. She annoyed me. Some times Ben didn't even do any thing to her and she'd still do things to him UGH.

Scooby-Doo Where Are You?-Fred and Scrappy-Doo. Fred with his annoying tricks to get Shaggy and Scooby into being bait, always having to get his ways. He some times didn't even thank them :mad: Scrappy, I think I don't have to explaine this one :p

Family Guy-New Brain. Guy gives opinions on every thing these days and no one can have there own. I miss old Brain. New Jackass Peter.

I've prob got more but these are what I can think of for now.
 
I actually like Mandy... well OLD Mandy.

Mandy in the earlier seasons just seemed more like a spunky tough girl who was bossy and aggressive. This Mandy's bitterness only amounted to say childish fights with Billy, like the time they had to share a room together?

Then the Mandy in the last seasons was just plain "I HATE EVERYTHING" supposed epitome of evil, emotionless to the point of being stoic and two-dimensional, basically killing her character. I think Boogey Adventure at least had shown she had emotions, but after that it seems like that concept was thrown out the window.


THANK YOU.
 
No one's mentioned Naruto from Naruto.

I find him EXTREMELY annoying, hyperactive, and immature IMO. I might enjoy the show if he were gone.

Peter- Family Guy- Honestly I find pretty much all of the characters annoying, but he really stands out.
 
I'm going with Chris Thorndyke from Sonic X. He was really annoying for the most part, and the fact that he had more screen time than Sonic and his friends really didn't go over that well for me. I thought that I was watching something else really.
 
Antione (Sonic SatAM) -- Even as a kid watching this for the first time, I thought this guy got WAY too much screentime. He was, for all intensive purposes, useless. He was cowardly, had no real special skills, was a general annoyance, and despite knowing this...and even joking about it at times, the group always brought him along for important missions. He was basically forced comic relief.

Now, as he was, he wouldn't have been so bad in small doses, but all that screentime could've went to someone more useful & interesting like Bunnie.
 
Back
Top