Breakout character

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Henry Winkler as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli in Happy Days, one of the best-known breakout characters in television.

In TV programs, movies and other episodic media a character that becomes the most popular, talked about, and imitated is a breakout character.^[1] A breakout character in a series captures audience's imagination and helps popularize it, sometimes inadvertently.

In some instances, particularly television, when characters have broken out from minor roles to become the center of the action, viewers have felt they received too much focus and were detrimental to the show^[2], sometimes leading it to jump the shark.

[edit] Examples

Characters that have become breakout characters include:

[edit] Television

• President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen) on The West Wing. Series creator Aaron Sorkin originally intended the Bartlet character to only occasionally appear, with most of the drama surrounding the character of Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe).^[3] While some reports suggested the change in focus from Seaborn to Bartlet contributed to Lowe's decision to leave the series after the fourth season,^[4] others suggest Lowe just didn't get the money he wanted.^[5]
• J.J. Evans (played by Jimmie Walker) in Good Times.^[6] With his catch phrase "Dyn-o-mite!", J.J. came to dominate the series as audiences couldn't get enough of him. This led to friction with stars Esther Rolle and John Amos, who played his parents, not so much because they resented being upstaged but because they felt he was becoming too stereotypical and not a good role model for African-American youth^[7][8]. Ultimately, they forced a showdown with the producers which led to some changes in J.J.'s character, Amos's character being killed off and later Rolle's temporary departure from the show (she returned at the beginning of the show's final season), after which J.J. became even more the focus of the show.
• J.R. Ewing, (played by Larry Hagman) in Dallas. Originally intended simply as a nemesis for Pam and Bobby Ewing, his villainy made him so popular that by the end of the show's third season the story arc around his attempted murder put the show high atop the ratings.^[9]
• Barney Fife (played by Don Knotts) in The Andy Griffith Show^[10]
• Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli (played by Henry Winkler) in the American sitcom Happy Days^[1][11]. The character of Fonzie (played by Henry Winkler) started out as a fringe character but quickly evolved into the focal point of the series. His character became best friend to the main character, Richie Cunningham, displacing the character originally intended for that relationship. Winkler's billing in the credits rose all the way to second (he refused to go before Ron Howard, the star) and then first after Howard left the show. At one point, network executives even hoped to call the show Fonzie's Happy Days. ^[12]
• Spike (played by James Marsters) evolved from villain to comic relief to hero in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, lover of the show's titular character, Buffy Summers and coming to parallel Angel in terms of motivation. He became one of the show's primary focuses in its final season, and then moved to its spin-off Angel. He appeared on the Angel season 5 DVD covers alongside its titular character. Some fans disliked Spike's changes, and criticised the relationship between his character and Buffy.^[13]
• Cosmo Kramer in Seinfeld. He was at first, a shut-in, to accommodate with the person he's based on, Kenny Kramer. As he appear outside more and more often, many people became attracted to his unique senses of morality and character. Rob Reiner has stated that Kramer stood out because the other characters are more conversational, making him the "action character".
• Stewie Griffin in Family Guy. Creator Seth McFarlane reports being very surprised that Stewie turned out to be the show's breakout character, and that when this turned out to be the case he had to work out stories to do with the character.^[14]
• Spock, (played by Leonard Nimoy) in Star Trek: The Original Series. While Gene Roddenberry had put a lot of effort into creating the first alien regular in a TV series, he was just one of an ensemble on the Enterprise. But Spock rapidly became the show's most popular character, virtually identical with it in later years as it grew into a franchise. Nimoy, too, was so strongly identified with him that he titled his first memoirs I Am Not Spock.
• Steve Urkel (played by Jaleel White) in Family Matters. Originally just a one-time guest character, he was so popular he eventually became a regular and practically synonymous with the series.^[15][16]
• Mrs. Slocombe and Mr. Humphries (played by Mollie Sugden and John Inman, respectively) on the 1970s British sitcom Are You Being Served?. Though it had an ensemble cast, the series was originally devised largely as a vehicle for actor-comedian Trevor Bannister, but by the middle of the first season, it had become obvious that haughty, sexually frustrated Mrs. Slocombe and flamboyant bisexual Mr. Humphries had become just as popular as Bannister's character, being the focus of an increasing number of episodes; Bannister left the series midway through its run, although this was not because of the change.
• Max Klinger (Played by Jamie Farr) from M*A*S*H Was originally introduced as a bit character in the early first season episode "Chief Surgeon Who?" as a simple gag of a soldier who wanted out of the army and was trying to fake his way to a "Section 8" medical discharge, he made such an impression on the producers and audience that he became a recurring character throughout the season, and by the second season was a regular member of the cast.
• Miss Piggy (Performed by Frank Oz) on the The Muppet Show. She was initially intended to be only a bit character in the series, but her aggressive personality, expressed by her karate chops, intrigued the writers and she became a more prominent character to whom the viewers responded.^{[citation needed]}
• Alex P. Keaton (played by Michael J. Fox in Family Ties). The original pitch was for Meredith Baxter-Birney and Michael Gross to be the main characters, but very positive audience feedback in the first season shifted much of the show's attention to Fox.
• Homer Simpson (voiced by Dan Castellaneta on The Simpsons). While much of the show's original focus was on the mischievous Bart and his strange, childish schemes, after a few seasons the focus shifted towards Homer and the bizarre situations he gets in.^{[citation needed]}
• Bob & Doug McKenzie (played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas respectively) were originally created as filler material to both satisfy and satirize Canadian content broadcast rules when the series Second City Television was on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television network. However, the producers were surprised to learn that these characters became of the most popular of the series in both Canada and the United States.
• Will Robinson, Dr. (Zachary) Smith, The Robot (Billy Mumy, Jonathan Harris, Dick Tufeld/Bob May) in, of course, Lost In Space. The show, as its early episodes suggest, was originally supposed to be a serious action/adventure series showcasing Guy Williams. Fan response completely changed the nature of the show and the set of focal characters.^[17]
• The Janitor in Scrubs was originally part of the secondary cast and only ever spoke to one character (with the idea that if the show failed, they could reveal the whole scenario only ever occured in that character's head anyway). However, his popularity soon rose and he was added to the main cast in the second season. Despite not actually becoming a main character, his rise from simply a fallback crutch to a main, respected character is a good example of a breakout character.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Movies

• Inspector Jacques Clouseau (played by Peter Sellers) in The Pink Panther series of films. In the first film, David Niven's suave jewel thief was the main character. But audiences and critics so loved the bumbling Clouseau that later films in the series were written around him instead.^[18]

[edit] Comics

• Popeye became the central character of the Thimble Theater comic strip in 1929, displacing Castor Oyl as the strip was eventually named after him.
• Snoopy in Peanuts became, in the strip's later years, the focus of the strip, displacing Charlie Brown, as his character began to do more and more fantastic things, got his own sidekick and proved to be a huge seller in the strip's merchandising. In the 1970s he, like Spock in Star Trek, was practically synonymous with the strip^[19][20]
• Mary Jane Watson was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man as a flighty rival of Gwen Stacy for the affections of Peter Parker. However, Mary Jane's energetic and confident personality drew considerably more reader interest than expected and she evolved into one of the central supporting characters of Spider-Man.
• Wolverine began as a villain for the Incredible Hulk. Even when he joined the Uncanny X-Men, he was a minor character, but he soon grew in popularity to become one of Marvel Comics' most memorable and marketable characters.

[edit] Computer and video games

• Murray, a talking skull in the LucasArts game The Curse of Monkey Island (voiced by Denny Delk was originally meant to appear only in the preview. However, he was a hit with the fans and was added to the game (at one point the player needs Murray's help to overcome a puzzle). He also has a cameo appearance in the sequel, Escape from Monkey Island

[edit] References

1. ^ ^a b Raymond Weschler (2000). Man on the Moon. English Learner Movie Guides.
2. ^ Break-out characters discussion thread at Sitcoms Online, started May 10, 2006; retrieved July 28, 2006.
3. ^ Hal Erickson, "The West Wing: Plot Synopsis," All Movie Guide, accessed Jul. 30, 2006.
4. ^ Id.
5. ^ Star Wars, Hollywood Style, Adalian, Josef, "Daily Variety," September 17, 2006
6. ^ Moore, Frazier; September 15, 2005;Hurricane made TV see the underclass; Associated Press; retrieved at MSNBC.com July 28, 2006.
7. ^ "Bad Times on the Good Times Set", Ebony, September 1975
8. ^ Mitchell, John L.; April 14, 2006; Plotting His Next Big Break; Los Angeles Times; retrieved July 26, 2006.
9. ^ What Larry Hagman Brought to the Character, J.R. Ewing! discussion thread at soapchat; started December 22, 2002; retrieved July 28, 2006. This discussion thread refers to J.R. as the show's breakout character.
10. ^ Allen Johnson (2006-02-27). An Ode to Barney. News and Record.
11. ^ Ron Miller. My Happy Days with "Happy Days": They really were a great bunch of happy people. TheColumnists.
12. ^ missingauthor. Happy Days. TV Land.
13. ^ August 3, 2005; Movie File: Jon Heder, Ryan Reynolds, Alyson Hannigan, Mike Judge & More; MTV Movie News; text refers to Spike as a breakout character.
14. ^ Nathan Rabin (2005-01-26). Seth MacFarlane. The A.V. Club.
15. ^ Joel Keller, The TV Squad Interview: Fred Goss and Nick Holly of Sons & Daughters, TV Squad, 2006-05-14.. Fred Goss and Nick Holly, creators of Sons & Daughters, describe their hopes that that show's Carrie will be "our breakout character ... our Urkel"
16. ^ missingauthor, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, MSN Movies, unknown. This MSN review of the DVD set of second-season episodes of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper refers to "Marquise Wilson, a new regular who was evidently intended to be the series 'breakout' character, a la Urkel on Family Matters".
17. ^ Mark Phillips. The History of Lost In Space, Part I. Official Series Site.
18. ^ Derek M. Germano (2004). The Pink Panther film collection. The Cinema Laser DVD Review.
19. ^ comment by lastangelman; March 5, 2006; The Barber Shop 3: The Funny Pages Ain't Funny No More; All kinds of stuff; retrieved September 10, 2006.
20. ^ Author not identifiable; undated; cb; Roseville Times Online; retrieved September 10, 2006