Sure, there are unlikable characters, evil and irredeemable characters, and controversial characters…
And then there are characters so badly written you must assume it’s done simply out of spite. Did something behind the scenes turn the writing room against the actor?
Or, in the case of some of our picks, did the writers use the character as a scapegoat for all they hated about the world? Compiling this list was challenging because some annoying characters on TV were written that way for a purpose.
We can usually explain away a lot when a character disappoints us, but the TV characters who made our list took things too far. Sadly, it wasn’t their fault; it was the writing Gods manipulating them. Let’s consider 11 characters the writers must have hated.
11. Laurel Lance – Arrow
From this fan’s perspective, it seemed like the Arrow writers had it out for Laurel Lance. Laurel, played by the talented Katie Cassidy, had so much potential and a rich comic book history as Black Canary, but the show didn’t give her a fair shot.
Her character arc was all over the place. Laurel started strong as a badass lawyer, but then she was bogged down with addiction, grief, and constant personal losses.
Meanwhile, other characters got to grow and evolve. When she finally became Black Canary, it was rushed and didn’t get the epic buildup it deserved.
And then they killed her off in Season 4! They just wanted some shock value rather than giving her a meaningful storyline. Laurel’s death left a huge hole, and even when they tried to bring her back in different ways, it never really made up for it.
Overall, it felt like Laurel was constantly shortchanged compared to other characters. For fans, seeing such an iconic character not get the treatment she deserved was frustrating. Laurel Lance had so much potential, and the show didn’t do her justice.
10. Lucas Bouchard – When Calls the Heart
This will ruffle some feathers, but it sure feels like Lucas Bouchard got a raw deal.
Lucas, played by Chris McNally, came in as this charming, suave saloon owner and quickly stole our hearts with his kindness and support for Elizabeth. He fell in love with the town, its people, and Elizabeth. Then it all fell apart.
Lucas had some great moments, like his romantic gestures and unwavering support for Elizabeth. He was instrumental in modernizing Hope Valley with his grand ideas, including community outreach like hosting town get-togethers and funding a library.
However, his character development has been uneven, and by the end of When Calls the Heart Season 10, it was clear that Lucas wasn’t going to be instrumental in town or on the show much longer.
While fans love his depth and complexity, once Lucas’s engagement with Elizabeth was over, it felt like he was a plot device rather than a fully developed character.
Expanding beyond Hope Valley as governor makes little sense. He’s even still living in town. How can that be a viable future?
Lucas Bouchard deserves better! He has the potential to be a truly great character, and while he had his shining moments, the inconsistency in his arcs has been hard to watch.
We saw glimpses of his greatness, but the show doesn’t always let him be the amazing man we know he can be.
9. Derek Shepherd – Grey’s Anatomy
If the writers hated Derek, they’re not alone because I did, too.
But there were some rumors toward the end of his tenure on Grey’s Anatomy that the actor Patrick Dempsey had beef with the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes.
He supposedly left to pursue a race car driving career, so the decision to write him off by killing him in a fiery car crash seemed a little on the nose.
No idea how true all that was, but since Derek’s departure was the best thing that happened on Grey’s in years, I enjoyed the salty rumor!
8. Rory Gilmore – Gilmore Girls
Rory starts off as a motivated, overachieving teenager but turns into a whiny, entitled adult. The writers seem to have grown to hate her along the way, which is reflected in their storytelling.
She alienates friends and family by being cruel to them, struggles with the idea that she might have to work for a job she considers beneath her, and acts like the universe revolves around her.
She’s a serial cheater who slept with a married ex-boyfriend and later had an affair with a different ex while in a relationship.
7. Piper Chapman – Orange Is the New Black
Debates about unlikable characters usually go silent with the mention of Piper Chapman, one of television’s most reviled characters.
How can anyone really compete with a character written to be so shallow, cloying, narcissistic, and disturbingly self-assured? And while we’ve seen ugly-on-the-inside characters before, there’s something else entirely going on with Piper.
You’re supposed to dislike her and frankly hate her because she is supposed to be White Privilege Personified.
Orange is the New Black Creator Jenji Kohan called Piper her “Trojan Horse.”
“You’re not going to go into a network and sell a show on really fascinating tales of black women, Latina women, and old women and criminals. But if you take this white girl, and you follow her in, you can then expand your world and tell all of those other stories.”
Of course, many other comedy shows have done their own take on white privilege. But how many of them beat us over the head with the symbolism?
Piper wasn’t written poorly on purpose but as a subversive experiment. She reminds us all to look at ourselves in the mirror and rhetorically ask, “Don’t you hate this?” Do you really want to live your life as another Piper, or do you want to do some good in the world?
In this case, the show’s writers hated the idea of Piper and the fact that her storyline probably would draw more attention than the rest of the cast.
The most hilarious barb, of course, was the fact that, in the end, Piper never really changed. Happy ending? Of course, every white girl deserves a happy ending.
It’s not a complete mystery why a room of writers would hate Chevy Chase. After all, he’s Chevy Chase, and they’re not.
The man also has a talent for rubbing people the wrong way, talking down to strangers, and alienating even the people who try to be nice to him.
Long before Brie Larson took the mantle of “Actors That Get On Your Nerves,” Chevy was there, barely murmuring his punchlines while saving his best wit for backstage insults. Because yeah, why waste your best roasts in front of a studio audience?
Chevy Chase’s performance on Community is an example of what happens when you annoy the writers personally, and then they are given the karmic task of saying goodbye to your character.
Pierce Hawthorne was later killed off, dying from dehydration while trying to sail around the world in an act to please his father. He was also insulted in the final minutes of the episode.
According to some, Chevy Chase earned his bitter goodbye by going off on a racist rant in front of the cast. Chevy, on the other hand, claims he was tired of portraying an increasingly racist and insensitive character and didn’t like the direction the show was going.
In his defense, Chevy Chase spoke about his time at Community, proving once and for all that Chevy should not speak.
“It’s a sitcom on television, which is probably the lowest form of television. That’s my feeling about it. I love these kids and the cast; they are very good. It’s not like I am working with the great innovators of all time.”
5. Charlie Harper – Two and a Half Men
Charlie Sheen was another cautionary tale of angry writers demolishing your character. While everyone probably remembers Charlie Sheen’s public meltdown, do you actually remember how he died?
During Two and a Half Men Season 9 Episode 1, Harper is revealed to have died after being struck by a train.
Instead of a tribute, the show then continued using Harper’s character as a punching bag, suggesting he had many secrets and that his spurned lover may have killed him. Oh yeah, and they accidentally spilled his ashes, which were supposed to be scattered.
Despite all the insults and that trainwreck goodbye, the writers still found another way to slap him. Kathy Bates guest-starred on the show, playing Charlie Harper in some kind of Hell variation, where he’s sentenced to live a torturous afterlife as an older woman.
Kathy Bates even won an Emmy doing a sort-of-OK imitation of Sheen.
Owch.
Chuck Lorre somehow succeeded in the unthinkable: making me sorry for Charlie Sheen.
Oh, but hey, it looks like Sheen and producer Chuck Lorre finally made up.
4. Geralt of Rivia – The Witcher
If there’s anything pro and anti-Cavill fanatics can agree on, it’s that the writers really didn’t like Henry Cavill, and the last season with Cavill as Geralt was terrible.
By the time Henry Cavill left the show — much to the tantrums of Netflix and Witcher executives — the show spiraled into oblivion, with many fans complaining of radical and ridiculous deviations from the source material.
While the Witcher’s creative team tried to paint Cavill as difficult to work with and even implied that he had an incel toxic gamer mentality that offended female staff members.
But many viewers sided with Cavill.
One reason had to be the words of The Witcher author himself, Andrzej Sapkowski, who said the production never took any of his notes. He even suggested that Netflix executives treated him as “just a writer and a nobody.”
It was clear the producers were going their own way, and while Sapkowski had no say in the matter, Cavill stood up for the source material. He played the games and read the books.
Cavill allegedly didn’t like the producers’ direction – particularly the romance and love scenes with Anya Chalotra.
Even the fans were not impressed once Cavill pointed things out and gave Season 3 an abysmal 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
While Cavill never came out and aired his grievances, besides the old “creative differences” excuses, another Witcher producer, Beau DeMayo, later added his own two cents.
“Some of the writers actively disliked the books and games and [mocked The Witcher]. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.”
See, they didn’t just hate you, Henry. They really hated the book, the game, the character, the culture, and the show. What could possibly go wrong?
3. Andy Bernard – The Office
Andy Bernard is a different case because, unlike some of the other entries on this list, we have no idea what happened behind the scenes to explain this one.
Andy Bernard’s descent into jackassery and irredeemable loser territory came out of nowhere.
His entire character arc was supposed to be an entitled jerk who transformed into a more sensitive guy and even won the heart of the girl he likes. In the latter seasons, he becomes the boss and starts to build a rapport with his employees.
Yes, some growth for a change.
In Season 9, however, he decides to have a midlife crisis, loses his job, and loses his girlfriend. Then, in a power play so cheap that even Michael Scott would cringe, he bullies his girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
Andy reverts to being a selfish idiot and aggressively stomps over all his series-long growth.
Was his dumbed-down and sold-out character the result of actor Ed Helms “betraying” the cast and taking movie roles like The Hangover? Or did The Office’s producers want to punish NBC for demanding new star Ed Helms be given more screen time?
Whatever the case, by the writer’s hand, Andy Bernard’s fate was even worse than that of David Brent or Michael Scott. And that seems shockingly cruel.
2. Eleanor Bramwell in Bramwell
It still bothers me how elegant and witty the British series Bramwell started off as a glorious predecessor to new-age Austen-esque films like Bridgerton or Downton Abbey, only to end with a knife to the gut in its last season.
Eleanor Bramwell starts off as a late 19th-century feminist doctor ahead of her time, a fantastic character to explore.
She often clashes with her opinionated father, Dr. Robert Bramwell, while carrying on a long-term friendship with the charming and rather docile Dr. Joe Marsham, who is married and faithful to his ill wife.
Marsham is later widowed, and the romance between him and Bramwell slowly develops. A surprise engagement happens at the end of Season 3. All right, fair enough. We might see that coming.
But by Season 4, Dr. Robert Bramwell and most of the supporting cast disappear without explanation.
Eleanor Bramwell calls off her engagement to Marsham to have a torrid and random affair with Major Quarrie. You know, just because.
We also learn that all the while Marsham was courting Eleanor, he was also seeing whores on the side. Just because.
By the end of the show, Eleanor Bramwell gets to forgo her medical career in favor of marrying a war hero. Or something.
Perhaps a new writing team was left confused about what Bramwell was supposed to be and tried soaping things up a bit.
Or it’s quite possible that whoever wrote the debacle of Season 4 just hated Eleanor’s feminist character in general and wanted to give her a mockingly happy ending worthy of a GOP Convention applause.
Whatever the case, it’s still a comfort for me to know that everyone else who enjoyed the early Bramwell seasons still describes Season 4 as “Garbage.”
It’s good to know it’s not just my imagination and that the perception of sucky writing is universally shared.
1. Ned Flanders in the The Simpsons
What has happened to Ned Flanders over the course of The Simpsons’ 35-year history is downright tragic.
In the late 1990s, Ned Flanders was a complicated character. He was stubbornly Christian and had a veneer of nerdy kindness that masked his anger for his parents, the world, and particularly the idiots of Springfield.
His faith was repeatedly tested in classic Simpsons episodes, making him an archetypal Job-like character. His survival depended on his unwavering optimism in God and his Mr. Rogers approach to the world.
But as The Simpsons aged and showrunner Matt Groening surrendered more creative control to younger college writers of the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, we lost a lot of the show’s sophisticated sensibilities.
Flanders’ complexity dissolved, and he became a caricature of his former self, not to mention a hateful bible-thumping stereotype who was always the butt of hammy political lectures.
This suggests that newer writers did not understand Ned’s original character. Maybe they were influenced by Family Guy’s shock humor and heartless trolling.
Furthermore, I also get the feeling they just loathed any yellow-privilege Springfield man who was still naggingly Christian.
His faith was now the gag, his religion was his character flaw, and his life’s suffering was the joke. This caustic viewpoint felt uncharacteristic of the show Groening originally told.
While Groening has always been uncompromisingly agnostic in his spiritual views, earlier Simpsons episodes still treated the subject of faith respectfully and intelligently, even though he couldn’t resist a bit of slapstick here and there.
Characters with faith were also allowed their voice, whether it was Apu, Flanders, Lovejoy, or Lisa Simpson.
But in the 2020s, we’ve stepped away from Groening’s peak years of intellectual comedy and have now stepped deep into cultural mudslinging.
The Simpsons of today now has more in common with Family Guy and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia than The Simpsons of the 1990s, and I shouldn’t have to explain why that’s disappointing.
And if you think I’m too harsh on this soulless Ned imposter, just consider that the show’s dumb treatment of Flanders is so notorious to viewers we’ve added a word into the cartoon lexicon as well as a new trope for case study.
What do you think? Agree or disagree with my choices?
Is there someone else you want to call out as the product of a writer’s spite?