Random Regrettable Characters Who Nearly Ruined Good TV Shows (15 items)

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  (#1) Emily Waltham

  Everyone always knew that Ross and Rachel were going to wind up together in the end. All Emily did was put a major delay in the inevitable. Emily prohibits Ross from seeing Rachel after he blurts out Rachel's name during their wedding ceremony (oops), which only made her more unlikeable.

  Yes, of course, she is right. If they want their relationship to work, Ross should probably avoid someone else he is still clearly in love with. But come on! Emily nearly broke up the whole gang.
• 

  (#2) Hannah Horvath

  • Girls

  Hannah is supposed to represent the feminist movement, a symbol of strength for women everywhere, but for many, she was just "a prototypical millennial." Some even believed her actions were a reflection of actress and show creator Lena Dunham, who was has received her share of public criticism.

  Hannah's best friends are also pretty much the same way. Somehow the lack of any true foil for Hannah worked on Girls. 
• 

  (#3) Piper Chapman

  • Orange Is the New Black

  This is Piper's story to tell, so what do we do when the main character of a drama is also the least interesting? Orange Is the New Black is filled with three-dimensional, well-written characters. Initially, Piper is our protagonist; however, it quickly becomes clear that she is totally self-absorbed and toxic to everyone in her life.

  Thankfully, the writers and creator Jenji Kohan realized this rather quickly and began to really focus on the many other interesting inmates at Litchfield Penitentiary.
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  (#4) Dana Brody

  • Homeland

  Dana Brody is another TV character that the internet could not stop hating. In fact, entire sites were dedicated to listing all the reasons why her character is one of the worst in television history. Here's the thing, Homeland is a very serious drama about terrorism. The beginning seasons are focused on Dana's father, Nicholas Brody, and his relationship with CIA operative Carrie Mathison.

  It isn't a drama about teen angst, which came pouring out of Dana. Her character always seemed to take away from the show instead of adding to it. Every time she appeared onscreen, Dana was just a major annoying hindrance to getting to what was really important on Homeland.
• 

  (#5) Scrappy Doo

  “Scrappy Dappy Doo!” After 10 seasons, Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby-Doo was beginning to drop in the ratings. As with many TV shows, the writers opted to bring in a fresh new character to spice things up. Scrappy-Doo, Scooby’s nephew, came on board in 1979. The pint-sized Great Dane was everything that his scaredy-cat uncle was not.

  The initial backlash was immense; Scrappy was seen by many Scooby fans as annoying and superfluous. However, despite the criticism, the ratings went up and Scrappy remained an important part of Scooby's team.
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  (#6) Pete Campbell

  • Mad Men

  Pete Campbell is a classic weasel. He literally had everything: a beautiful and kind wife, a great job, and a healthy child. But he blew it because that's what weasels do. Pete earns a junior partnership at SC&P because he's really good at his job as an account man. But none of his co-workers seem to like him, and it's a surprise that no one at the firm, other than Layne, ever punched Campbell in his very punchable face.

  Pete is arrogant, cruel, and not above crossing moral boundaries to land an account or move up the corporate ladder (he is the one who pushed Joan into sleeping with Herb Rennet in order to land the Jaguar account.) After Pete tries to blackmail Don Draper, Don rejects his attempt and perhaps describes Campbell best: "I thought about what you said, and then I thought about you and what a deep lack of character you have."
• 

  (#7) Skyler White

  • Breaking Bad

  The internet hate machine became so intense towards Skyler White that the actress who portrayed her, Anna Gunn, felt the need to write an op-ed piece in the New York Times, which addressed the double-standard toward female characters:

  As an actress, I realize that viewers are entitled to have whatever feelings they want about the characters they watch. But as a human being, I’m concerned that so many people react to Skyler with such venom... Because Skyler didn’t conform to a comfortable ideal of the archetypical female, she had become a kind of Rorschach test for society, a measure of our attitudes toward gender.

  Skyler did not become universally hated on Breaking Bad until she found out that her cancer-stricken husband was not only making and selling drugs, but also becoming a ruthless kingpin in the process. She had understandable moral objections to her husband's new trade, but some argued that Walter, despite the fact that he was putting the family in danger, was the show's "hero," so anything or anyone who got in his way essentially became the bad guy.
• 

  (#8) Samuel "Screech" Powers

  • Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Saved by the Bell

  The utopian existence that was Bayside High was more believable than Screech being BFFs with all the cool kids. But, in the early seasons, Screech was often treated as just another member of the gang rather than simple comic relief, and his character had some surprising moments of humanity.

  However, later on, the show used Screech more and more for cheap laughs - a schtick that got old fast.
• 

  (#9) Hazel Wassername, '30 Rock'

  Hazel Wassername did not show up on 30 Rock until Season 6, and thankfully she did not last long enough to totally ruin the usually hilarious sitcom. Hazel has a torrid obsession with Liz Lemon that is more uncomfortable to watch than it is funny.

  Lemon says it best - and it's a wonder why Tiny Fey didn't listen to her own character. She tells Hazel point blank that she is just a weird page and she already has one of those. #KennethForever.
• 

  (#10) Maggie Pierce, 'Grey's Anatomy'

  In a show filled with characters prone to giving drawn-out monologues on every feeling they've had since the fifth grade, Maggie Pierce may be the most nails-on-a-chalkboard irritating. Thankfully, most of Grey's characters eventually become endearing (we're looking at you, April Kepner). However, Maggie may never cross over to likable.

  She found her real father, Dr. Webber (he didn't know), at Seattle Grace, but refuses to let him into her life. She denied Meredith the opportunity to move on from Derek because of her unrequited school-girl crush on Dr. Riggs. Then, when her poor mother had terminal cancer, her mom knew that she could not tell her daughter about it until the very end, because she realized that even though Maggie is a cardiothoracic surgeon, she's still really immature.
• 

  (#11) Ted Mosby

  • How I Met Your Mother

  Like Piper Chapman, this is Ted's tale to tell. It's hard to dislike the main character and still enjoy a show. Thankfully, HIMYM's supporting cast picks up the slack. It takes the storyteller nine seasons to finally answer the question, who is the mother? The answer turns out to be a waste of time.

  Also, should Ted really be telling his children all about his youthful escapades?
• 

  (#12) Ezra Fitz

  • Pretty Little Liars

  Ezra is a grown man and a teacher. He is supposed to be a role model for kids. Instead, Mr. Fitz carries on an inappropriate affair with Aria, even though she's only 16 years old, and he is her English teacher.

  What's worse is that the writers at Pretty Little Liars treated this pairing as some kind of epic romance for the ages, instead of disturbingly inappropriate. The characters even eventually get married.
• 

  (#13) Betty Draper

  • Mad Men

  Betty and Don's daughter Sally just as easily could have made this list, but since she's just a kid, she gets a little slack. When the show began, there were times when it was easy to sympathize with Betty, a woman scorned by her cheating husband. But eventually the real Betty was exposed - including her immature actions, fixation on old-fashioned values, and refusal to accept her own unhappiness - and she became seriously unlikable. 

  After Betty and Don's divorce, Betty's storylines became tiresome, and ultimately just slowed down the otherwise brilliant drama. 
• 

  (#14) Negan, 'The Walking Dead'

  Should a villain as cruel and heartless as Negan really be smiling so much? Jeffrey Dean Morgan goes way, way, over the top in portraying TWD's most vile villain. With all the dramatic lean-backs, ear to ear grins, and loud pontifications, Negan's ramblings became tiresome and ineffective somewhere around the mid-point of Season 7.

  Audiences seemed to agree; the show's ratings hit a 5-year low with Season 7's finale.
• 

  (#15) Erlich Bachman

  • Silicon Valley

  Some fans thought Erlich was a totally unnecessary character on HBO's Silicon Valley. You can claim he does more harm to Pied Piper as a business than good. He is lazy and irritating. Gilfoyle and Dinesh are both pretty cruel to each other, but their barbs are funny, whereas some don't feel the same about comedian T.J. Miller, who played Bachman.

  Miller left Silicon Valley after four seasons, and many felt that season five was better without him.

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