I remember watching the first few episodes of Twin Peaks and one character I did NOT like at first was Audrey Horne. She was a brat who wanted daddy's attention so bad. Ugh. Then, as I watched more episodes, she became one of my favorite characters and I loved her with Agent Cooper. The chemistry between them was insane. Wish the two of them had gotten together, but thanks to Lara Flynn Boyle, that was nixed real quick. Pfftt.

You know who usually gets me liking them at first, then turns into giant d-bags? Most of the men from The Bachelor. I liked the one with the British accent at first, then he turned into a total creep. Same with Bachelor Bob.

Which characters did you hate first, then come to love/like later and vice versa?

I really disliked Cordelia Chase when she first showed up on Buffy - I was like, "Really? The stereotypical popular queen who is indescribably rude to everyone?" But man, I grew to love her, especially on (everything except S4 Faux!Cordy parts) Angel.

I also hated Darla on Buffy, such that I was dreading her showing up on Angel, but she was so much more compelling and interesting.

Pete Campbell on Mad Men. In season one, the only way I could describe the character was slimey. From the way he treated Trudy, to the obsession with Don Draper's background while still being obsequious, the whole package was just wrong. Somewhere along the line he seems to have changed into a pretty likeable character. I can't really put my finger on when or how it happened. Doing the charleston was probably what sealed it for me - gotta love a man who can dance.

I didn't like Elliot Reid the first few episodes of Scrubs, because she struck me as cold, uptight, and self absorbed, like a grating combination of Tracy Flick and Ally McBeal. But halfway in S1 and beyond, I grew to love her (well, the character declined in quality after S5, but so did everyone and everything else on Scrubs). Sarah Chalke really brought a lot of depth and humor to the character, and I'll admit I often see a lot of myself in Elliot (though she's much cooler). Sure, Elliot can be neurotic, crazy and needy, but she's also intelligent, loyal, and for her neuroses, has a lot of fortitude.

Similarly, I loved Dr. Cox for ages, but eventually grew to loathe him. I realized that he wasn't a gruff, wise mentor: he was a cruel, petty, insecure, hypocritical bully who deserves to be taken down a dozen pegs.

My biggest attitide change was probably towards Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars. It's not that I hated him in the beginning - I thought he was a fun villain character, in fact - but I found him completely unattractive. I remember reading Couch Baron's recaps of the show and whenever he mentioned Logan's huge fan following I was all: 'Really? What the hell do they see in him?!' And then the Logan/Veronica kiss happened and I was suddenly melting in front of the TV. Jason Dohring is one of my favourite TV boyfriends ever since.

Chloe O'Brien might be the winner of this thread. She just made me insane when she first showed up on 24. I wanted her dead at the bottom of a staircase by the end of the season. But she steadily got cooler and when she nonchalantly reached over to taser a guy who was hitting on her, she won me over for good.

I'll put up with a lot from 24 but when/if they kill Chloe, I'm done.

Amy Gardner over on West Wing owns this thread for me. I couldn't stand her in S3 because I thought that she was a disastrous romantic partner for Josh and I couldn't see much to her beyond that. Then in S4, she wasn't Josh's girlfriend and she was doing a whole bunch of things and I was able to evaluate her as a character and not merely Josh's Romantic Interest. I started to really like this character that I detested. Seeing Amy with new appreciative eyes, I rewatched S3 and saw the Josh/Amy romance in a different way. I saw it as an interesting relationship with two admirable, but neurotic and emotionally stunted individuals instead of "Amy is mean to my love, Josh Lyman." By the end of S7, one of the reasons why I was sad that the show never showed the Santos administration is because I wanted to see how Amy would reconcile being a West Wing staffer. (Even though I doubt we'd get to see it much because of MLP's Weeds gig.)

I've been watching S2 of Big Brother online, and my feelings for Kent were like a rollercoaster. When it started, I hated Kent. On the very first night in the house, he lectured Bunky on how homosexuality is a perversion and that gay people are weirdo freaks, not realizing that Bunky was gay. Poor Bunky had to stand there and nod his head like he agreed with Kent because he didn't want to out himself on the first day. I couldn't wait for Kent to get evicted. Then Kent learned the truth about Bunky and they formed this great friendship. I thought, this is awesome. This just goes to show you that most homophobia is rooted in fear and ignorance. Anyone can change, they just need to be exposed to different people with different lifestyles and learn that people are different, but that's okay. Then in his exit interview, Kent said that while he liked Bunky and Bunky was invited to his house for dinner, he still believed that homosexuality was a perversion and that he didn't want it in his house. Which I guess means that Bunky was allowed to come to dinner, but Bunky's husband would have to wait in the car. He also made all these comments about how he was the only real person, as opposed to all the women in the house with tatoos who cuss like sailors. He didn't have any problem with the men cussing. Just the women, because according to Kent, if you are a woman who doesn't fit into the small box he uses to define gender, then you're not a real person. Fuck you, you homophobic, misogynistic creep. I'm glad you lost.

In the hate-became-love category, in the parlance of the forums, Donna Noble owns this thread.

When we first met her as the titluar Runaway Bride, she's...well, a shrew. An immature shrieking harridan, not concerned with the world-shattering events that have happened around her, and only concerned with herself. Ask almost any fan of Doctor Who after seeing her in just that one appearance, and they'll all have said they were glad to see the back of her at the end of the episode. Not a good Companion, and good riddance.

Then came New Series 4. Donna's return. But it's a year after her first encounter with the Doctor. And she's changed. She's grown up (and about time since she was around 30 when we first met her.) She's been looking into strange events on Earth, seeking the Doctor, but finding the unusual and majestic that exists here. She'd jumped. And then she found the Doctor again. And away they went. And on their travels, Donna kept growing. She wasn't Rose, nor rebound Martha. She was something we hadn't seen in the reboot...the Doctor's friend.

And eventually, his equal. The Doctor-Donna. She'd absorbed the Doctor's mind and reached his level. But it couldn't last. A human brain can't contain the mind of a Time Lord. She'd burn out. So, despite her protests, the Doctor did what he had to do to save Donna's life. He blocked it all away, reverting her to the woman we first met.

And we wept.

When Cam showed up on Bones, I didn't like her at all. It seemed ridiculous they would throw in a character with more power than Brennan purely to control Brennan, and then they had her sleeping with Booth. I don't like characters who are added purely for drama's sake, and she had no other characteristics to her. She was uninteresting and yet filled a lot of time.

But slowly, I came around. She gave up on trying to run the lab and is now amused at her own station as a mother hen who essentially herds cats. She doesn't throw in her streetwise stuff anymore (which I think was supposed to counterbalance Brennan's book smarts, but was just irritating instead), and she's a good comedic foil. She's managed to have a pretty good relationship with all the parties in the lab and isn't resentful of anyone's abilities. She's not catty with other women, yet she stands her ground.

If she left the show tomorrow, I'd be sad. Only a little, because she's still not important, but she finally has found her place and she does counterbalance the squints.

Completely agreed about Cam on Bones. Once they stopped trying to make her an actual rival for Brennan (both in the lab and for Booth's affections) she became quite a likable character.

Not exactly a "character," but I've come around to loving Ryan Seacrest. I think it may be Jacob's recaps. And I've gone the opposite way on Simon, but that's another thread.

When Mandy Patinkin left Criminal Minds and it was announced that Joe Mantegna would join the cast, I was looking forward to it because I wasn't a fan of the character of Gideon and I've really enjoyed JM in everything I'd seen him in. Then Rossi debuted. He came across as a egomaniacal jerkface and I loathed him. The character softened after the cliched "case that has haunted him for years" was solved. Now he's a charming egomaniacal jerkface and I quite like him.

Yes, Criminal Minds owns this thread for me. At first I didn't like Reid at all because he just seemed too wangsty!Sue to me. But I have really warmed up to him (though I still don't share the extreme Reid adoration that some have). I was bored by Hotch and disliked him, by now he's one of my faves. I really disliked and resisted both Prentiss and Rossi when they were introduced, but by now I think that both live up, if not surpass their predecessors.

I started watching the show loving Gideon and only Gideon and watching only for him (and no, I hadn't been a concious Mandy Patinkin fan before CM), but now upson rewatch a lot of the "shine" is off in retrospect.

Cam on Bones is another really good example. Nothing impresses me more than shows that do a good job of introducing new character late in the game and doing it well.

marxfan, totally agree with you about Elliot and Cox, but I would also add JD. I didn't care for Elliot at first either, but I think she showed tremendous growth until they regressed her so that she ended up with JD. Cox, whom at first I thought was funny, just ended up being a total douchebag who was cruel to everyone he met. JD also was at first charming until I realized how childish and petty he was. I think he actually went through negative growth -- the JD at the end of "Scrubs" was less mature, less capable than he was at the start of the show.

I would also include Hawkeye Pierce in my "loved, then hated" list. In the beginning, it was "yeah, Hawkeye, stand up against the evils of war," but by the end of "M*A*S*H," it was "shut the fuck up, you pompous, hypocritical gasbag."

Carla from "Cheers" is also on my list. Again, at first her sarcastic comments were funny, but over the years, I realized how mean and petty they were, and that she wasn't likable at all. She was little more than a skank, pumping out babies with different baby daddies. I was sorry that in the final episode, Diana didn't haul off and punch Carla in the face for all the years of abuse Diana suffered at Carla's hands.

I agree about JD completely. And I still think the plotline of giving him a kid was a horrible idea.

For me, the best case of hating someone and then loving them is Andy Bernard on The Office. The first season he was on he was so obnoxious. He was an annoying suck up, a character who seemed a combination of the worst qualities of Michael, Dwight and Jim all rolled up into a slimy pain in the ass of a character that the show didn't need. And then over time his character began to change. And I don't if it was the Angela/Dwight situation or what, but to me Andy changed into the most sympathetic character in the office, someone with faults sure, but so endearing too. He just wants friends, but in a less crazy and obnoxious way. I loved him bonding with Oscar and I think he's very cute with Erin. I love anytime he sings/plays an instrument/dances too. Last season with my favorite character not in it much (yes I'm probably the only person who still loves Toby), Andy and his goofiness was definitely the highlight. He went from my least favorite character to one of my favorites.

On the other side, of loving than hating characters, both of the Gilmore Girls own it for me. When I first started watching the show, I thought Lorelai and Rory were so fun and quirky. Then as each year passed, I started hating them more and more. Rory had her new baby voice and everything always went her way and Lorelai became more and more selfish and her need to be the center of attention all the time was very unappealing. It got to the point where I liked everyone the show but the two main characters. That's not good.

Shannon and Sawyer on LOST. The first time I watched the show, when I rented the DVDs, I didn't really like either. I just thought Shannon was too bitchy/whiney and that Sawyer was almost like a caricature or something. But then I quickly changed my mind on both and now they are my two favorite characters on the show ever. Actually, they are two of my favorite TV characters ever. Now I watch those beginning episodes and I love them in them. I actually can't believe I ever didn't really like them. Weird.

Oh and I HATED Jin throughout all of season one but then he just became made of awesome.

Still on LOST, but I loved Jack and Charlie at the beginning of season 1 and, well actually pretty much all of season one, but then the next time I watched season 1 I decided I actually didn't like Jack as much as I thought. I don't dislike him really, but he's just annoying to me. And for Charlie, season 2 was just terrible for him for me (heh). I began to like him again in season 3 though. And then there was Michael who I didn't really like but didn't dislike during my first viewing but then I watched season 2 and ugh, he quickly became my least favorite character. Now whenever I rewatch season 1 I can't believe I didn't hate him all along.

Just what I need---another thread I love to pieces and will hence waste hours a day reading and posting on ;)



I know many people who underwent the same shift as you did, but I actually had the opposite experience. I LOVED Logan as a sharp, semi-sociopathic adversary for Veronica, but the character's appeal drastically decreased for me once he became all schmoopy over Veronica. I hated their relationship---I thought it was unhealthy in every way, made both characters significantly less enjoyable and, most egregiously for me, that their never-freaking-ending romantic angst took time away from other characters and relationships I was more interested in. By S3, Logan seemed like a lobotomized, sad sack version of his former awesomely awful self.

And, while we're on the topic: while I never *loved* Veronica of Veronica Mars, I did enjoy and even admire her throughout much of S1 and some of S2. I flat-out loathed the girl by S3 and was actively rooting against her rather than for her.
She seemed indiscriminately mean and nasty rather than directing her venom at the targets who deserved it; her smugness and sense of entitlement had grown to epic proportions; the moments of sensitivity and vulnerability we used to see were now rarely to be found; her once touching relationship with her dad had a weird and vaguely inappropriate vibe to it; and her detection skills seemed to flat out suck! Oh, and rather than being the root-worthy underdog who stood up for the marginalized, she was in good with most of the powerful administration, being told by one and all how brilliant and gifted she was and had dated a few of the gorgeous, rich and 'popular' guys...so, yeah, she no longer had the underdog factor working in her favor! Oddly enough, the less apparent reason she had for carrying a chip on her shoulder, the larger that chip seemed to grow.

On a different, Buffy-related note: I loved and related to S1 Willow more than any TV character in my sadly extensive viewing history! IMO, she was shy and insecure, yet also a female who was highly, proudly intelligent, an extremely loyal friend and very empathetic. By S4, my affection for her had significantly faded---she seemed weirdly status conscious ("my boyfriend's in a band!", devastated when Jock Percy thought she was a ----gasp---geek, etc.) It's great that she was more confident, but she seemed weirdly entitled and selfish. By S6, I loathed her...a passive-aggressive (er, and then just plain aggressive), self-centered brat who, in between abusing her own 'powers', engaged in constant cooing baby talk that made me want to bang my head against the nearest wall. Granted, Alyson Hannigan's cutesy, stammering, wide-eyed "who, ME?!" way of playing the role---affected mannerisms which seemed to increase with every season---didn't help my opinion of the character!

And ITA with whomever mentioned Rory---a proudly intellectual, quietly strong-minded, sharp and relatable girl in S1 who, by S5, had somehow morphed into an impossibly bland, spineless, vapid girl who enjoyed partying with exactly the kind of people she used to rather justifiably mock. Add in the fact that she suffered from the Willow Rosenberg Cooing Baby Talk Syndrome *and* the Lana Lang Every Boy Within a 10 Mile Radius Worships Her Devotedly for Years Syndrome, and you have an initially likable, relatable character who became one of the most snark-worthy females on TV.

I do have characters whom I went from initially disliking to eventually loving, but for now I've probably rambled more than enough!

Daisy on Dead Like Me. When she first showed up and took over George's apartment I wanted to strangle her. I wished George would tell her to get the fuck out and slam the door in her damn face. Then towards the end of the season we found out that the last thought before she died had been "Why has no one ever loved me?". Aw hell, I couldn't hate her after finding that out. Then in S2 they gave her more depth and I really fell in love with her and her bitchiness.

Another would be Olive from Pushing Daisies. I couldn't stand her fawning over Ned and it annoyed me that even though he was with Chuck, she'd still try it out. Then in S2 I got bored of the Ned/Chuck schmoop and slowly grew to love Olive and her wacky ways. Hell, I even started wishing that Ned would give her the time of day because they had great chemistry, and Chuck's constant perkiness was starting to grate.

Same here. I really liked Rebecca Gayheart's character-so warm and like a big sister to George- so it was bad enough when she left, but it was even worse when she was replaced with the completely shallow and self-centered Daisy Adair. But like you, I started warming up to Daisy when we found out what her last thought was and while I haven't finished watching the second season yet, I am liking her more and more. One of my favorite eps with her is when she's goes on speed dates-from twisting the perv's fingers to talking with the man whose soul she has to take.


Also, I think I may have been the only Grey's Anatomy watcher who wasn't completely enamoured of Christina Yang from the start. She gave me some laughs, but mostly I thought she was an insensitive bitch who only cared about being the number one surgeon for her own ego, rather than for helping people. But as the seasons went by and we saw more layers of her, she's completely grown on me and has become one of my favorite characters.

Definitely agree with Andy Bernard and Jin. I thought Jin was a horrible abuser, but he turned out to be rather awesome. Andy went from annoying to lovable doofus really quick.

Someone from The Office I go back and forth on is Michael Scott, but I figure that's how we are supposed to feel about him. One minute he's doing something insanely horrific and the next, you feel so sorry for the dumbhead. Of course, in the British Office, when David Brent was begging to not be made redundant, you went from despising to feeling bad for him.

When Eric first showed up on True Blood, I wasn't really intrigued, but he's become someone who's scenes I can't wait to see. Bill, on the other hand, I liked in the first season, but in the second, he's become so boring and stale. When he's with Sookie, he's unbearable to me. Another TB character I didn't care for at first was Jessica, because she was so bratty and annoying, but lately, she's been great to watch and Hoyt, I think, brought out something good in her. Wonder where they'll go in Season 3?

Earth 2, the too-swiftly-cancelled NBC series in the 90s had a few characters that I flip-flopped about.

When the series first aired, I couldn't stand the couple, Morgan and Bess Martin. Upon re-watching the series on DVD, I've changed my mind. Their self-serving attitudes that often got the group into a lot of trouble with the 'natives' was toned down, and they even proved themselves to be useful to the common good of the group's survival.

Dr. Julia Heller went from a non-issue to an I hate your filthy Council-spy guts! to an I love you for making tough loyalty decisions, and a vital part of the storyline. I remember actually feeling heartsick that Julia was a 'baddie' when she revealed she was communicating with the evil Council.

Terrible shame NBC had no earthly idea (pun intended) what to do with this series. Pity, because it had all the makings of a great sci-fi series that could have lasted for several seasons.

I think the transition from loathe to love for Andy Bernard was intentional. Nobody likes the guy that constantly talks about his Cornell background and overuses inter-office nick-names that don't make sense. He is a completely different character now than in earlier seasons. I wonder if his annoying manners were intentionally subdued because he was humbled after his breakup with Angela... Or if NBC picked up on some negative response from audience-members toward his character.

For me, this thread is made to order for Meredith Grey. I started watching "Grey's Anatomy" because I already loved Sandra Oh, and I immediately found the show engaging and entertaining. Only problem was, I hated the two main characters and their 'love story'. Well, I still hate McSleazy, but have steadily come to enjoy, admire and like Meredith more and more. Maybe some if it is the character's slow but real growth - she smiles and laughs more, and is more responsive to the people around her. I remember absolutely loving the way she told Lexie, "You're my sister, Lexie; you're in the wedding!" It was so sincere and warm and affectionate.

I'm actually going to miss her during her maternity leave, although I understand she taped some scenes for insertion so she won't be entirely absent.

One of the most extreme cases for me was Sam Anders from Battlestar Gallactica. When he first showed up, I didnt think much of him, in fact found him pretty boring, and the actor rather wooden. I was not at all happy that he was being brought back as Karas husband, and was extremely ready for his boring, plot device self to be gone.
Boy was I wrong. Sam totally won me over during the New Caprica, showing alot more toughness than I expected, and at the same time alot of genuine decency. The love just continued into season three, where(in my oppinion) he came out as by far the most likable member of the whole love quadarangle disaster, and was the only one that I really felt sorry for. The fact that Michael Trucco is actually a much better actor than I thought helped things out quite abit. Then in season 4, he became my favorite character in the whole series. His whole story of trying to both be there for his crazy wife while slowly having a break down due to his recently discovered cylonness was just so facinating to watch. Now rewatching, I dont even know why i disliked him so much in the first place, as I found him totally charming in those first episodes. And amazingly, despite all the terrible crap that happened to him, he really stayed one of the most consistantly sympathetic characters on the whole show, but without getting boring.
So I went from utter annoyance and wishing for his death, to crying hysterically during the season finale, when it actually happened.
Well Played

Kate and Charmaine from United States of Tara for me.

Pilot Kate was the annoying, oversexed, somewhat good looking teenager walking cliche I am so tired of and Charmaine was the stereotypical paranoid and useless sister too.

As the season developed, they became way more than walking cliches and I fell in love with them. Hopefully this will continue to be the case next season, otherwise I'll be so disappointed I might be inclined to never change my mind about tv characters again... joking ;)

Me too. I really found myself surprised when I started taking Meredith's side at some point in time. And I used to hate her baby voice. I don't know if that's changed or if I've just grown used to it. I couldn't really take the voice overs because of it. I've been a complete yo-yo with Derek. I liked him at first, despised him later but I like him so far this season. Which again caught me by surprise.

As for Meredith's relationship with Lexie, it really peaked last week with, "I know what it's like having a sister. And it's good." Brought a tear to my eye. If anyone told me I'd give a crap about Meredith Grey's family issues five seasons ago, I'd have laughed mightily.

Pam on "The Office" used to be one of my favorite characters. She was modest, likable, kind, sensible, and humble. But ever since she ran over the hot coals and landed Jim, she's gotten too big for her britches. She bitches out whenever anyone disagrees with her or tells her no. Her behavior in "The Surplus" made me fully hate her because, after years of watching her suffer through Michael's sexual harassment, she flirts with him for a CHAIR.

Now there are so many moments where I yell "Fuck you, Pam!" at the TV screen. The latest was Pam ordering Phyllis in front of the entire office to stop wearing her perfume because it made Pam's morning sickness worse, then whining in a talking head that there's no courtesy left because her coworkers wouldn't bow down to her commands.

Seven from Star Trek: Voyager. I really liked her at first. She was interesting, but she ended up taking over the show. If she wasn't in the main plot, she was in a subplot. Sometimes it seemed they changed other characters to make her better. Harry getting (stupidly obvious) leadership tips from her? Even if they wanted him to learn something. Couldn't he learn it for himself? At least, couldn't he learn it form someone who's been a leader? Chakotay suddenly falling in love with her? I read somewhere that it was the writers' response to the actor wanting more screen time. Oy. Nothing against the actress, but I hate the character.

House last year nearly became unwatchable for me (it would have, but my husband insists on watching it and I was trying to be sociable) because the title character devolved into a gratuitiously mean-spirited character who seemed to take great pride and pleasure in shafting everyone, boss, co-workers, employees, and even the one friend he had left who would put up with his bullshit. I wasn't looking forward to this season, but luckily for me, there has been a change. Thanks to a lot of therapy and rehab, which he finally took seriously, the character of House has returned to what I liked about him at the outset of the series: he's acerbic, witty, suspicious and a tad misanthropic still, but he isn't an ass just for the sake of being an ass anymore. Hallelujah.

Yeah, that was disgusting.

I used to love Phyllis, but she's become so nasty that my stomach clenches whenever she opens her mouth. The zingers aren't even funny, they're just so mean they bring tears to my eyes.

I loved Blair Waldorf, on Gossip Girl so much in S1 and even all of S2, mainly due to my girl crush on Leighton Meester. Even though, Blair could be a scheming, minipulative, cruel bitch, in the early seasons, she had these layers of insecuruity,self loathing and showed a deep emotional vounerablity, so you rooted for her and where pleased by how aweomely diveous and wicked she was. However I have grown to hate her this season and this pains me. Their is just no depth left, she has just turned into a nasty, shrill, minipultive evil little brat, and she has shown to regress more then any of the other character. LM for some reason seems stuck on 2 modes for Blair, whinney/shrill and self entitled. I am sad by the character assisanation of what was once one of my favorite females to a female on my cannot stand list.

For most of Season 3 of One Tree Hill, I hated Rachel, but then she and Brooke became friends and Rachel became pretty bitchingly awesome. She went from trying to sleep with Nathan and to steal the cheerleading team to being a pretty damn loyal friend to Brooke, for 5 episode at least. I stopped watching mid-season 4 so I don't know what happened after, but last I heard Rachel's gone down and alcoholic slut spiral or something of the sort (it's OTH, so no one expects otherwise) but damn, Rachel was awesome for a while.

She is now married to Dan.

For me one of the most drastic and inexplicable change in opinion towards a character was Dr. Archie Morris.

When Dr Morris fist arrived in the ER I absolutely loathed him. He had little medical knowledge, no bed side manner to speak of, no people skills and was downright obnoxious!

When Carter passed on the infamous "You set the tone" line to him, it felt like the final nail in the coffin for the once great show.

Then, the inexplicable happened, and it is still impossible to pinpoint exactly where my shift in opinion happened, Arcie Morris did not grate on my nerves anymore.

After this revelation it took little time for him to endear himself to me and soon he became one of the main reasons to watch the show for me.

If somebody had told me five years ago that my favourite character in the final season of ER would be Morris I would have either laughed in their face because of the absurdity of the statement or cried at the thought of the quality of the writing and characterization decreasing so badly that Morris could be my favourite!

But it happened, and he will always have a special place in my tv-watching heart because of it.

I think I started to like Morris when he mentioned that he liked babies in that episode with the baby chimp.

I think I started to warm up to Archie Morris when he had the opportunity to bail on County General for a cushy job with higher pay and stuck with County. He started becoming the Archie we loved by the final season. I also credit Scott Grimes for this. He played the hell out of that role and I think he's a big reason we all warmed up to him.

Oh hell yes. I really liked her in the beginning - and it was funny when she'd occasionally let her mean streak or dirty mind show. But now she's just a bitch, and it's depressing. I do wonder how Phyllis Smith feels about her character's decline, as by all accounts she's just about the nicest person alive.

I originally came here to complain about another Office character I used to love but now can't tolerate. The man himself, Michael Scott. I just can't stand him any more. He used to be well-meaning, just hopelessly clueless. But somewhere along the way he turned into a complete douche. Phyllis's wedding was the first moment where I just couldn't stomach his bratty childishness. I let it go when he showed up at Pam's art show and was genuinely impressed with her paintings. But that was his last redeemable moment for me. And now that he's doing Pam's mom? I just can't take it. I think it's that he considers Pam not just his employee but his best friend - it's two separate kinds of horrible and he still doesn't understand why that would upset someone. (I know Pam doesn't think of Michael as a friend, but I'm pretty sure he didn't have that figured out until now.)

And as much as I've disliked Pam in recent years, and as inappropriate as her behavior was, I damn near stood up and cheered when she told Michael that she couldn't give a shit about his happiness. Maybe now that she's stooped to his level, he'll get the hint. I mean, when Creed is telling you that what you're doing is messed-up? That's pretty damn messed-up indeed.

There's really no one left on the show to like - they're all terrible at this point. It's sad, because they were such a great bunch of characters to begin with.

Just came off a 3 day binge of It's always sunny in Philadelphia and I gotta say that pretty much every character outside 'the gang' made me think of this thread.

I really mean everyone! Even Dee and Denis' real dad, who I thought was just an annoying hippie when they first introduced him, but turned out to be as funny as the other parents.

Does Bobby Flay count as a character? If so, then him. He was completely dead to me, and then his Throwdown shows and his relatively sane opinions on The Next Food Network Star turned the opinion almost a full 180 degrees. (It's not quite love, but he's welcome in the home.)

I was super thrilled with that moment too McKay. I'm also extremely vexed that they're turning Oscar into such a mean character.

Same here and for the same reasons, except that yes, it has become actual love. There are rumors that a throwdown may come to a cinnamon roll maker near where we live and if it bears out, I'm planning on doing some gentle stalking.

Agreed. I actually kind of started to like Michael again when he called him a douche. I'm not sure why Oscar is suddenly on Team Michael, when he's always hated him more than just about everyone, but he's starting to grate in a major way.

Oh well. At least Creed is still awesome, when they let him speak.

I have to add Bobby and Ruby from Supernatural to this thread.

I loved Bobby, in the first 3 seasons. I felt JB brought alot to the show, and his affection for Sam and esp Dean, was so endearing becuase in seasons 2 and 3, he was everything John should have been to the boys but was not. I would say the Dean/Bobby reuninon in the season 4 premire, was more moving then Sam/Dean's. However since then, the writers have destroyed all that was great about Bobby, and I rarley feel he has any affection towards eaither Sam or Dean, and they have been playing the gruff older man, stuff for too long and also I am not feeling Bobby is bringing anything to the table of real importance. I am starting to almost dislike him becuase his character has become a writer mouth piece and his insults to Dean, are hard to stomach. I have gone from loving him, to rolling my eyes and feeling annoyed whenever he is on screen and giving the boys, a hypocritical, unlogical lecture.

I liked Ruby in season 3. when Katie Cassidy played her. I thought S3 Ruby, was snarky, badass, funny, and brought some sassiness to the table. Plus she had great chemistry with Jensen and Jared. Their was no sweet as pie, or sex buddy Ruby that was horrible characterazation in season 4, she was a lying minipulative demon, out for number 1 and Katie played her that way. When she left the role and in season 4, I went from liking Ruby, to hating her with a passion, the writing, acting, lack of chemistry, and total character shift, destroyed what was actually a pretty fun, female antagonist.

Battlestar Galactica owns this thread for me.

Firstly, never have I gone to hating someone so vilely as Gaeta. I thought he was just a cute, harmless little boy in the beginning. When they almost killed him for being a Cylon collaborator on New Caprica, I thought "No! No! Don't hurt him, he's good!" Now that the series is over, I wish he bit the dust then. The mutiny he so pathetically tried to stage, as well as the manipulation he allowed Zarek to unleash on him, just made him a really hateful character. Gah. (This is not to say, however, that I hate BSG for this--I think it was a logical character development for him).

Upon rewatching the series, there are several characters I didn't like on first viewing but now find really interesting. Baltar annoyed the shit out of me the first go-round, but now I absolutely adore him because he's just so damn fascinating. I hated Kara and what I thought to be the "tough girl" cliche she fit into, but now I really do sort of enjoy her. I think it's because now I know how she will end up, and maybe that has softened my view towards her. And while Adama is still kick-ass, I grew weary of his constant alcohol-driven breakdowns in the last several episodes. It pains me to admit, but I really hated those scenes and they were starting to get me to resent Adama, which is not particularly something I want to do.

I don't know if I will ever like Lee, though.

Oh, and with Star Trek: DS9--how frickin' awesome was Damar by the end of that series? He was so blah in the beginning and overshadowed by Dukat, but by the last season I found myself yearning for more Damar screen time. On the flipside, DS9 really ruined Dukat's character, imho, but I find myself hating the writers for that more than Dukat. I can't bring myself to hate Dukat.

This! is awesome; it's exactly how I feel. I'm all for growth; in fact, I like it. But she grew out of some of the characteristics that caused me to like her so much. Yes, getting confidence and all--that's great, but I liked that she cared about school and doing the right thing before, and we didn't see that as much later, if at all.

Also of note here is Xander, who became the only character without superpowers. I loved Xander at the start and actually wanted to see him and Buffy get together. He was a genuine person with feelings and input. . . up until they graduated. When he didn't go to college was the beginning of the end for him (and I don't just mean for his wardrobe.) I don't necessarily believe that every character had to go to college, but making this choice separated him from a lot of the stories and from the core group. They tried to turn the character around (remember the body separation episode?), but then right after that he was the same old goofball as before. I was glad that in Season 7 we got back to some of the basic-Xanderness, but that was after he had screwed up his wedding.

YES YES INFINITY YES. I loved Pam for the first three seasons. I saw some of myself in her and related to her. I rooted for her to break up with Roy, get with Jim, realize her true potential and find happiness. She started to grate by the fourth season, but there was still enough underlying care and sweetness that I held onto my love for her. By season 5 it was just full blown hate. I can't stand her anymore. The writers have made her into another "bitchy girlfriend" caricature. She opens her mouth now and I want to punch a hole through her face.

The Surplus was disgusting. Old Pam would never, EVER use her sexuality as a means of getting what she wants. It wouldn't even occur to her. To see her flirting with Michael and Jim for something as petty as a chair shocked me. I thought Pam was smarter, more clever, than that? What happened to that girl? I was creeped out and slightly offended the Office writers went the way of having a female character using sexuality to get her way.

The character BLAIR WARNER from Facts of Life. I could not stand her during the first season. She was a sexual tease. The second season we saw a somewhat different Blair. She was still snooty and she thought she was all that but it was funny. And that whole sexual tease thing was no longer there.

Pam Beasely, Willow Rosenberg and Rory Gilmore all follow that depressingly similar path for me: bookish, good-hearted introverts I loved and could relate to whose theoretical 'growth' consisted of completely stripping them of the traits that made them likable and relatable to me in the first place.

To be fair, I know it's a really fine line for the writers to walk: if the characters remain the same, people justify complain about stagnation and repetitiveness; if the characters show too much growth, people like me complain that they've lost what made those characters likable and unique and/or that the growth felt unearned and unrealistic.

I was fine with Chuck's Sarah Walker in the truncated first season, but the second season had me wanting to smack her nearly every episode for being such an unrelenting cock tease.

I know she's a CIA agent posing undercover as Chuck's girlfriend, but I think she's done a terrible job of keeping his crush on her at bay. If anything, she encourages it.
One second she's giving Chuck the "I'm not your real girlfriend" lecture, the next she's fishing for compliments, flirting with other guys and expecting him to deal with it, and/or wearing a tight T-shirt and panties when they have to share a bed. Never letting him forget that she's a beautiful woman he desires and can't have.
The worst part is, I don't even think she has a crush on him in the first place! I think she's just a classic case of 'former nerd who blossomed and now craves attention.'

To be fair, Chuck has a similar problem. The real thing in that situation is that they are two attractive people who have to pretend that there isn't something going on while also pretending that there is something going on. That can be confusing after a while.