The Scrappy/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
Examples of [[The Scrappy]] in [[Live-Action TV]] include:
* Babe Carey Chandler from ''[[All My Children]]''. Oh my God, Babe. She started as the slutty gold digger playing two brothers, then the writers decided to make her a heroine, without actually changing her in any way. One of the worst things was when she knowingly kept Miranda, Bianca's daughter, away from her, letting everybody believe Miranda was dead. Oh, but she wasn't totally heartless, she let Bianca be Miranda's godmother! And she told Bianca at least once that Bianca was lucky to not be a mother because she had all this time for herself, while Bianca was grieving her daughter's death. And then, after Bianca got her daughter back, not thanks to Babe, and gave her a very deserving slap, the writers actual had Bianca said that everything Babe did was out of love, for others, with total sincerity... Yeah.
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** When Ellen DeGeneres was announced as the host that would replace Paula Abdul, she immediately gained Scrappy status, due to everyone complaining about how she's not even connected with the music industry and will likely be a [[Yes-Man]] just like Paula. However, those complaints have mostly subsided since she started hosting, thanks to her shocking knowledge of music and the fact that she's just hilarious.
** Sanjaya Malakar from season 6. He was regarded as the least talented singer from the top 12 and not even liked by the judges. His prolonged stay was widely suspected due to the Anti-Fandom site Votefortheworst and the fact that little girls seemed to like him.
** Of course Sanjaya is still a better singer than Phillip Phillips of Season 11. He was criticized for having a very limited range and being a [[Suspiciously
* ''[[Angel]]'':
** Wesley started out like this on , but [[Character Development|he got better]]. Part of it was his replacing of Doyle, who was popular for the Irish accent and likable personality, only to be kill in the 9th episode "Hero" to ensure the show has an [[Anyone Can Die]] reputation.
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*** The differing fan opinions on Connor are largely a function of time. For most of season 3 and his appearances on season 5, fans generally liked him because he was mostly doing likeable things. The season 3 finale and season 4, on the other hand, had Connor being universally loathed because he was not only an unbelievable [[Jerkass]] during that plot arc but he actively betrayed the team.
* Any replacement for Mr. Grainger in ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'', although fan opinions differ as to exactly when the replacement characters became intolerable. Few would argue that the wooden and taciturn Mr. Grossman was anything but horrible. There's no question over Old Mr. Grace, though.
* While there are probably several characters in ''[[Babylon 5]]'' that are considered a Scrappy by some, the one who almost certainly falls into this trope is Byron. Introduced in the 5th season, which many fans consider
* Even among kiddie show characters, ''[[Barney and Friends|Barney]]'' is one of the most hated characters in television. So much, that there is an entire website dedicated to making fun as him known as the Jihad To Destroy Barney and that there are entire videos and fan fics depicting him being a [[Complete Monster]]. Many of the characters on his show are hated as well.
* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'':
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* ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'''s [[Cousin Oliver]]. Nuff said.
* Skyler on ''[[Breaking Bad]]''. In a show filled with murderers, drug dealers, corrupt cops and lawyers. Her [[Moral Event Horizon]] is taking up smoking again, whilst pregnant. Even before that it was pretty obvious all she cared about was herself.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''; to be honest, every character is a Scrappy to one subset of fans, even Buffy herself. Maybe ''especially'' Buffy herself, especially in later seasons. Those who stand out:
*
** Willow's
*** A characteristic snapshot of fan opinion re; Kennedy can be found in this line from the fanfic 'Idiots In Love':
{{quote|'''Dawn''': (writing in her diary) Willow broke up with Kennedy! I don't know how to write down a high pitched squeal of happiness, but imagine that's what I'm doing.}}
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* ''[[Coronation Street]]'':
** Janice Battersby.
** Kevin Webster has been getting a hate campaign lately too, in the current ''War Of The Websters'' storyline, for his over the top [[Jerkass|Jerkassery]], [[Jerk Sue|constantly getting away with said jerkassery]], [[Miles Gloriosus|the fact that he only picks fights with harmless people]], or [[Designated Hero|characters who are several times more likable]], the fact that [[Never My Fault|he claims that his
* Olivia and Pam in ''[[The Cosby Show]]'s'' waning years.
* Netflix's live action adaptation of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' has proven controversial for all sorts of reasons: casting, dialogue, visuals, its mere existence as an adaptation very few were asking for... so naturally, this would also apply to its characters, certain ones in particular.
** Faye Valentine is easily the show's most hated character. She acts nothing like the beloved [[Femme Fatale]] from the original anime, and comes off as a walking, talking, badly written "strong female character" cliché. She's a rude, foul-mouthed [[Ladette]] who speaks entirely in [[Joss Whedon|Whedonesque]] snark, and is responsible for a ''lot'' of the show's most cringeworthy dialogue. Her actress' hostile attitude towards fans of the original didn't exactly help with the character's reception, either.
** Vicious, for feeling less like a ruthless assassin and more like [[Harry Potter|Draco Malfoy]] with a sword. He's a smug, petulant manchild with a goofy wig and daddy issues... or in other words, ''nothing'' like the stone-cold, ''terrifying'' badass fans loved.
** Oddly, Radical Edward's reception is a complete reversal of Fay and Vicious'. The hate for her doesn't stem from being wildly different from her anime counterpart, but rather for being too ''similar''. Ed's eccentric and hyperactive behavior does ''not'' translate well into live action, resulting in her feeling like she stepped out of an annoying [[Totally Radical]] commercial from the nineties, or even a [[Nostalgia Critic]] skit. Her scene at the very end of the last episode was near-universally hated due to her energy and zaniness annoying viewers and scaring them off at the prospect of a second season ''heavily'' featuring her... before the show's sudden cancellation caused them to breathe a sigh of relief.
* ''[[Criminal Minds]]'':
** Elle Greenaway is fairly unpopular with most people, for varying reasons. David Rossi started out as an example of this (and probably is still counted as [[The Scrappy]] by some people) due to [[Replacement Scrappy|replacing]] Jason Gideon, and occasionally coming off as uptight ass.
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** When Daphne's brother Simon and her mother started appearing quite frequently, the terms 'annoying', 'obnoxious' and, most critically, 'not very funny' began to be heard applied to them very quickly.
** Also, Lana's son Kirby was introduced as a young, everyman character and totally upset the show's character dynamic.
* ''[[Fresh Prince of Bel Air]]'': [[Cousin Oliver|Nicky]], who was a complete annoying idiot, even for a kid. Some fans also believe Carlton to be an example.
* Michelle Tanner from ''[[Full House]]'', mainly in the later seasons when she is a mouthy, spoiled brat who faces no consequence whatsoever for her actions, is as definitive of a Scrappy as the trope namer himself. Fans of the series universally hate her and feel that she makes the later seasons all but unwatchable.
** This is reconigized by the writers of the series, who made one episodes subplot about D.J. and Stephanie trying to convince Danny to be tougher on Michelle, who they feel is given much more leniency then them.
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* ''[[Happy Days]]'':
** Chachi. He was popular when ''Happy Days'' was running; this is an example of [[Vindicated by History|hindsight]], given that Chachi used to regularly get the female audience screams upon entrance that the Fonz ''used'' to get.
** From the same show, Roger, as played by Ted
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'':
** Maya, the [[Too Dumb to Live]] plague-creating "heroine" who was introduced to us in Season 2 became [[The Scrappy]] of the show in record time. Her entire lengthy story was a [[Trapped by Mountain Lions]] plot and had fans begging for her death at the hands of Sylar even before the two characters met. Here's a hint for the writers: If a character dies and is [[Death Is Cheap|brought back to life almost immediately afterwards]], and the fandom is ''angry'' that the character is still alive... you know you've got a Scrappy on your hands.
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* Marley And Lindsay on ''[[The New Adventures of Old Christine]]'' they're [[Rich Bitches]] who seemingly have no purpose other then to make jokes about how ignorant and "poor" Christine is, they're not the least bit funny, they're just incredibly irritating.
* Kirk DeVane on ''[[Newhart]]'' was a painfully unfunny [[Jerkass]] for the show's first 2 seasons. Midway through the second season, the writers desperately tried to [[Rescued from the Scrappy Heap|save him]] by giving him a sweet, likeable girlfriiend. It only worked part way. She herself was quite likeable and appealing, but it was impossible to understand [[What Does She See in Him?|what the Hell she saw in Kirk.]] Fortunately, around the same time, a new, hilarious [[Jerkass]], Michael Harris, made his debut on the show. At the start of the third season, Kirk and his new wife were [[Put on a Bus]], Michael [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|took his place on the show]], and ''Newhart'' [[Growing the Beard|grew the beard.]]
* Gina Russo from ''[[Nip Tuck]]''. She started as a minor foil for [[Chick Magnet|Christian Troy]] when he began attending [[Tropaholics Anonymous|SA Meetings]], but she quickly became a semi-regular, showing up at the most inopportune times to cause Christian and Sean grief, such as forcing Christian to wait on her hand and foot as she prepared to give birth to a baby she thought was his ([[
* Nikki from ''[[Numb3rs]]''. She's got a 4 year degree from the streets of Compton, yo!
* A [[Vocal Minority]] of ''[[The OC]]'' fans loathed Marissa Cooper passionately, mostly because she tended to be a self-destructive drama magnet (and on a soap opera, that's ''saying something'') who became the center of attention of any scene she was in and tended to [[Jerkass|treat people like crap]]...but everyone around her continued to like her and put up with it. {{spoiler|The third season ends with her finally getting [[Killed Off for Real]].}}
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* Lana Lang from ''[[Smallville]]''. Many people who watch the show also consider her a [[Creator's Pet]], because the writers seem to refuse to do anything interesting with her character that contributes positively to the story.
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' had Ezri Dax, the seventh season's [[Replacement Scrappy]], who filled in after Jadzia was killed.
* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'':
** First, the elephant in the room, Dr. Pulaski:
*** She replaced Wesley's mother as the ship's doctor for a single season before fan outcry got them to bring Dr. Crusher back. Not only was she a [[Replacement Scrappy]], but the writers made a major miscalculation in their attempt to make her a [[Distaff Counterpart]] of [[The McCoy|Dr. McCoy]] from the original series. Since McCoy's arguments with Spock were such a fan favorite aspect of the character, the writers tried to duplicate it by having Pulaski take a dislike to [[The Spock|Data]] and toss him similar insults about being so logical all the time. Unfortunately, unlike Spock (who routinely gave as good as he got, and seemed to actually enjoy the battle of wits as much as a Vulcan would allow themselves to enjoy anything), Data couldn't even really understand that he was being insulted and never responded in kind, so Pulaski came off as a bully who kept picking on Data because he couldn't fight back.
*** Further, while it's still sorta rude (or, rather, it would be entirely rude ''if'' Spock ever actually chose to take offense) it's not ''horrible'' for McCoy to insult Spock because McCoy's seriously punching uphill here. Vulcans are the co-dominant species of the Federation, and for that matter helped ''found'' the Federation. Also, nobody would cite Spock's being a Vulcan as a reason to remove him from command given that Vulcans are the second-most common species in Starfleet after humans. And on an individual level, Spock outranks McCoy and Spock's father is Vulcan's ambassador to the Federation High Council, meaning Spock is in absolutely no fear of political or career consequences to anything. Data, on the other hand, is ''not'' the Enterprise's First Officer and so doesn't have seniority on the Chief Medical Officer. Furthermore, he has no influential relatives, routinely goes through ''genuine'' prejudice over his status as an android, and actually has officers questioning if Data can do things like make command decisions or care for small children. At the time in which Pulaski was on the ship, Data wasn't even being recognized as a sentient being, and thus had none of the rights that would entail. In short, the target of McCoy's jibes is not only entirely indifferent but is also in a position where the only person McCoy could get in trouble is himself. Pulaski, meanwhile, is dumping crap on someone in no position to defend themselves, and who arguably lacks the mental capacity to deal with it emotionally at all. Keeping all this in mind, Pulaski's slamming of Data's cold logic making him inferior to humans just makes her look like a bigot.
*** Making all of the above even worse is the fact that an elderly Admiral McCoy actually ''met'' Data briefly (in the TNG pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint")... and was entirely respectful and polite to him. Furthermore, in his conversation with Data he actually compares him to a Vulcan and in the process of doing so emphasizes that Spock was an honored and beloved friend 'even if he was damned annoying at times'. A more direct contrast to Pulaski's bullshit would be harder to imagine. That this was also DeForest Kelley's final appearance as McCoy, the note he chose to exit the series on, only underlines it yet again.
*** [[Creator's Pet|Pulaski was also regularly cited by other characters as having a very kind and compassionate personality]]. Her treatment of Data says otherwise. On that note, it should be mentioned that she didn't only insult him directly; in her earlier appearances, she repeatedly talked about him in the third person while he was in the room and ran a scanner over him the same way one would run a scanner over an indistinct object, chemical, or other substance. [["It" Is Dehumanizing|Oh, and she called him "it."]] This is basically the most rotten and degrading thing you can do to someone without actually resorting to physical violence; her implication was that she considered him to be no more worthy of respect than the matter replicator.
*** Not even getting into the political status/power argument, Vulcans are ''capable'' of emotions, though they control/suppress them, and can be a bit haughty about it. ''Data,'' however, was ''physically incapable of feeling emotion'', and not only didn't have any issue with others feeling emotion, often wished that he ''could'' experience it himself. So Pulaski was basically ''tormenting a disabled person for her own amusement.'' Maybe she should have been on [[Villain Protagonist|Voyager]].
*** And that's just her treatment of Data; she constantly interrupted everyone else, ''including'' the captain of the ship, threw her opinions out without thinking of the consequences, practically bullies the crew into doing what she wants, even at the risk to herself, them, and/or the ship...let's just say that if she isn't related to Janeway, in some capacity, it would be a profound shock.
*** A major problem with her portrayal was that the writers seemed to think that all you needed to make a TNG version of Dr. McCoy was to make the character abrasive. They missed the fact that Bones was also a very close friend of Kirk and Spock, was loved and respected by the entire crew, and had served with them for years. In other words, he'd ''earned'' the right to occasionally act like a jerk. No one would ever question his loyalty or respect for the crew, even if he was curt with them much of the time. Whereas Pulaski, as the newest member of the TNG crew, came off as an arrogant newcomer who had never proven herself yet expected others to instantly think the world of her.
*** McCoy also leavened his moments of abrasiveness with moments of strong friendship and emotional support -- both to Kirk ''and'' to Spock. In McCoy's case, being compassionate and empathetic was not an [[Informed Attribute]]. In Pulaski's case... see above.
** And, of course, there's Wesley Crusher. See the [[Creator's Pet]] page for more.▼
** Reginald Barclay was a character designed to be a [[Black Sheep]] who didn’t fit in with the rest of the crew. Unfortunately, the writers did that far too well. His character orchestrated a lot of great moments, mostly via the Holo-Deck (seeing the main cast as swashbuckling characters was a great scene) but in every great scene he was a part of, he only succeeded in making everyone else look great. Barclay himself was… lame. Still, he did much better on Voyager.
▲** And, of course, there's Wesley Crusher. See the [[Creator's Pet]] page for more. Interestingly, many fans have grown to like him ''because'' he's such a Scrappy.
** Lwaxana Troi has a few fans and had a few good moments, like the the episode “Dark Page”, but others like “The Muse”, “Manhunt”, and “Fascination” presented her as simply annoying. Most of the time she was simply Deanna’s [[Amazingly Embarrassing Parent|Amazingly Embarrassing Mother]] (often embarrassing Captain Picard in the process), and an [[Attention Whore]]. Overbearing and brash, loud to the point of obnoxious, with little concern for anyone but herself, there was little that made her appeal to fans.
* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'':
** Neelix.
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** Worst of all, when Kes left the crew, he really didn't have much to do, and while ''every'' member of the cast was overshadowed to some degree when Seven of Nine was introduced, Neelix was pretty much [[Demoted to Extra]].
*** A [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMHzOjggHoA youtube] clip on how Neelix should have been handled in the series.
** Oh, and speaking of Kes... Who in the world thought her up? This was a concept that might look good on paper, but… No, check that, this is a concept that doesn’t even look good on paper. This character couldn’t and ''shouldn’t'' work. A race of sapient and civilized aliens with only a ten-year lifespan pushes the [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]] (even for Trekkies) far enough as it is, explained through the eyes of a two-year old member of said species, who has two members of the crew competing for her affection, both of which are thirty years older, at least… ''She is a child'' in a somewhat [[Adorkable]] adult body, and no amount of
** Seven of Nine, for the usual [[Die for Our Ship]] reasons and for being [[Ms. Fanservice]]. Kate Mulgrew herself never liked the concept behind this character; her own character - Captain Janeway - was designed to be a [[Deconstruction]] of female characters in science fiction (''not'' a [[Ms. Fanservice]] and ''never'' a [[Damsel in Distress]], but a competent, intelligent leader) and ''it worked'', so she was very cold to the idea of the introduction of a character who clearly ''was'' introduced for sex appeal, so much that she and Jeri Ryan had a lot of trouble getting along on the set.
** Chakotay has this among American Indian Trekkies for [[Ethnic Scrappy]] [[Magical Native American|reasons]].
** The entire Kazon species basically constituted one of these on the first two seasons of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''; while nearly every other alien species on [[Star Trek]] gets some measure of character development, the Kazon were ''never'' depicted as anything other than [[Card-Carrying Villain|moustache-twirling badguys]]. And in spite of the fact that the entire species seemed to be rock-stupid and technologically backwards, ''Voyager'' somehow managed not only to keep running into them, but to keep running into the ''same'' ones. Later in the series, the writers themselves took shots at the Kazon by revealing that the Borg took a pass on assimilating them on the grounds that doing so would undermine their perfection. Their role as a major power in the Delta quadrant seems an [[Ass Pull]] as well. On the first episode they are shown, they are depicted as a small nomadic slave-trading tribe always on the move to find vital water supplies... but the minute Neelix pisses them off, out comes the armada of Voyager-level warships always on the Voyager's tail. It's almost like refusing change to a bum on the subway only to find you pissed off [[The Godfather|Don Corleone.]]
** [[Tagalong Kid|Naomi Wildman]] was a case of [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character]]. On the surface, Naomi was a chilling reminder of the situation the crew was in, and the possibility that, if the Voyager ever made it home, it would be the children or even grandchildren of the current crew who would be manning it. Sadly, that was really the only thing she did, other than occasionally say something to help a member of the main cast remember something they forgot. This was a case where the idea was sound, the execution of it was poor.
* Narissa from ''[[Star Trek: Picard]]''. It would be easy to call this character "the Evil Romulan Lady", but the trouble there is, that's the usual moniker given to the Romulan Commander from the OS episode "The Enterprise Incident", and ''she'' is a memorable, likeable, three-dimensional character, unlike whats-her-name from this series. Again the fault of the writers, as Peyton List tried hard trying to eek out a personality in a flat role that gave her nothing to work with. The Admonition storyline seemed to open her to some character development, but it came and went quickly. Even her death after a fight with Seven of Nine (who, ironically, was on her own way to being [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap]] by then) seemed bland and anti-climatic. Still, ''Star Trek'' is often a series where [[Death Is a Slap on The Wrist]], so there ''might'' be some chance she'll return and improve as a character... maybe...
* ''[[Supernatural]]'':
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* ''[[Torchwood]]'':
** Owen, an apparent attempt to create a [[Ted Baxter|Jack-the-Lad]] type character that failed dismally. In the story world he's supposed to be some kind of [[Casanova|love god]], but the actor playing him is strangely froglike and charm-free. It doesn't help that when we first see him he's getting women to sleep with him by using a special spray he nicked from Torchwood supplies that made him irresistible (which more than a few fans saw as essentially Owen raping unwilling sexual partners). However, in the second series, the writers acknowledged all of this and early on took constant digs at him. [[Rescued from the Scrappy Heap|His popularity increased]] with his character arc through the second season, only for {{spoiler|him to be [[Alas, Poor Scrappy|killed off]] in a [[Tear Jerker|heartbreaking]] final episode}}.
* Kim Bauer from ''[[24]]'', owed heavily to her [[Trapped by Mountain Lions|irrelevant plotlines]] that only [[Filler|take time away from the main story]] than anything she actually does. (Most viewers seriously wanted to see that mountain lion eat her.) Imagine Ashley from ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'' except her safety depends on someone the folks on your side of the Fourth Wall cannot control or influence. The only reason she got her job is [[Nepotism|because of her dad’s credentials]], as one character pointed out to her face. She’s whiny, rebellious, oblivious to danger, and many of her [[Damsel in Distress]] situations are her fault. Of course, in the early seasons, she was [[Too Dumb to Live]] too, to the point that she was the original [[Trope Namer]] for [[Damsel Scrappy]].
* ''[[Victorious]]'':
** Robbie can be considered this, as he is widely considered to be the most useless of the seven main characters, and sometimes annoying, known to butt into random situations in the weirdest ways possible. Sometimes his puppet Rex can be the source of his annoyance factor to others.
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