Shows where a secondary character has become more popular than the Star???

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nima_babii

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Oooh kudos to the OP for this thread. V interesting.

Off the top of my head:

Two and A Half Men- meant to be a Charlie Sheen vehicle, but he's routinely upstaged by Berta, Jake and Evelyn

Bones- to me it's all about Hodgins and his sidekicks- Sweets and Zach spring to mind.

Everybody Loves Raymond- has to be the dad for me! He died the day the final episode was shown. Sad.

Desperate Housewives- I always saw this being a Teri Hatcher vehicle but her character is the most annoying and gets upstaged by most of the others!
 
I'm pretty sure Wolfie wasn't in the last few episodes of "Citizen Smith" - though he wasn't dead.

There was the awful "Legacy of Reginald Perrin" which aired long after Lenard Rossiter's death and was set after the character was dead.

The actor who played the titular "Tom Howard" off "Howards way" died before the final series - the character was 'killed off' during it, though iirc his character had been pretty much sidelined over the years anyway.
 
Hey, just wondering what shows in TV history came to a point where a secondary character became more popular than the main Star; or if the show was an ensemble piece, quickly rose to become the unofficial star ahead of the other cast.


Here are examples I can think of

The Simpsons Looking the first two series the focus of the show was definitely on Bart and his shenanigans. Bart was the protagonist. Now I think it's safe to say Homer has now become the central focus of the show, and is also most viewers favourite.

Life On Mars Sam Tyler was the main character, but Gene Hunt fast became the most memorable and talked about thing about the show.

Happy Days Essentially became the Fonzie Show

Entourage Vince is the main character, but Ari Gold is the primary reason to watch the show. Jeremy Piven's energetic performance just blows everyone else off screen

Sex And The City Sorry, never watched this show, but from what I hear SJP was meant to be the main character, but viewers got more interested in what Samantha (Kim Cattrall) was getting up to.

Family Matters Urkel went from a side character to essentially the main character

Star Trek Spock was only intended to be a secondary character....until he became so popular he became a major character (I personally have always preferred Spock to Kirk)

The A Team Although they were an ensemble, as Hannibal was the leader and George Peppard was a big name he was unofficially meant to be the main focus......but Mr T fast became the most popular character on the show (it's well documented Peppard's frustration with this)

Thunderbirds The main focus was on the Tracey family, but many people have much more fondness for the secondary characters like Brains, Parker and Lady Penelope.

Baywatch Another Hasselhoff vehicle until Pamela Anderson went stratospheric, despite having a secondary role (although she was helped by a red bathing suit, lots of slow mo and 2 big....you get the idea)

My Family Never a huge fan of this show, but it seemed pretty clear that Kris Marshall became the favoured character in the programme.....shame about the BT ads.

....Anyone think of any else??
 
Yes that is true. Pacey was more popular but in fact the character that dominated the show was Joey. i believe Katy Holmes was in more episodes than anyone else and particulrly in the final season it was mainly about her and her college experience.
 
Glee - Rachel, Finn and Mr Schue as the leads, but there's a lot of love out there for Sue Slyvester, Britney and Kurt.

I agree with Fraiser, Niles is possibly one of my all time favourite characters.

ER started out as an ensemble cast, but then in the later years it lost it's way and became the Abby Show and Maura almost had to carry the show.
 
Dawsons Creek- I don't think Dawson was that popular it was Pacey who I watched for. And strangely out of the whole cast Dawsons the one that I haven't really seen again since the show ended.
 
Totally agree! David Hyde Pierce has to be one of the best (and least showy actors) to come out of the States! Ever seen him in ... was it O Stone's Nixon? He played, I think, John Dean or Erlichman.
But although for many of us it seems, he was the best in Frasier, I don't necessarily think people saw him as the star?

One cult type prog most of you probably haven't seen called Hex on Sky 1 - the second actress Jemima Rooper - achieved more fame and popularity than the two leads she was with.
 
Minder - Minder was devised for Dennis Waterman after his success in The Sweeney.Initially, George Cole's character, Arthur Daley, was more of a secondary character.But the chemistry between the two characters quickly made itself apparent, and as a result Arthur was brought into the storylines much more.
 
That's very true. He was meant to be Dawson's "sidekick", the devil on his shoulder and a reminder of what such a nice guy Dawson is because Pacey would make all the wrong decisions and do the wrong thing, but Pacey turned out to be more liked than the title character!
 
Northern Exposure.

Rob Morrow, the Jewish New York doctor was the star, but I reckon he was always eclipsed by the laid back, philosophical Chris In The Morning, played by John Corbett.
 
I agree with a couple of the comments above.

In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon is definitely becoming the star of the show.

HIMYM Barney especially, but all the other characters have more dimensions than drippy dull Ted.
 
in the original casting of Dad's Army John Le Mesurier was going to play Mainwaring and Arthur Lowe Sgt Wilson but it was changed shortly before they recorded the first episode in 1968.
 
8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter turned into 8 Simple Rules when John Ritter (the father in the show, and lead character) passed away. They incorporate the death of Ritter's character into the series, and for a while it was about how the family coped with the death before returning to it's sit-com roots. It was quite touching.
 
The Practice (Season 8) - The characters Alan Shore and Tara were introduced and pretty much dominated the season. In the final few episodes Denny Crane was introduced and the spin of Boston Legal was created for them. All of this could have been preplanned though as IIRC the writer knew the series was cancelled.
 
The Grimleys - Gordon Grimley was meant to be the main star, but the bullying PE Teacher (played by Brian Conley) is far more memorable.
 
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