9 Of The Best Latecomer TV Characters

For decades, it has been the norm for a once great show on the wane to stick in needless extra characters to try and up the viewers’ interests again. Think Scooby’s annoyingly perky cousin Scrappy Doo or Poochie, the rapping dog from Itchy and Scratchy on The Simpsons that was a terrific satire of that type of character. But it’s not easy for a character who turns up a few seasons into a popular series, as they have to try and match the popularity of the older cast members. Nevertheless, some do manage to equal or even surpass the longer-lasting characters by bringing something that was missing from the show as it was. So, one that note, here are nine of the most awesome TV characters who turned up later on in the show’s run (at least about three seasons in to qualify for this list). If we’ve missed one of your favourite examples, make sure to let us know in the comments. 9) Morland Holmes - Elementary It’s interesting that both Sherlock Holmes adaptations on TV right now have decided to explore the usually off-limits corridor of the Great Detective’s family. In Sherlock, this is played for laughs as Holmes’ parents are presented as completely normal – at odds with the weirdness of their crime-busting son. Elementary, on the other hand, went substantially deeper than that. As played by cult TV hero John Noble, Morland Holmes returns to Sherlock’s life in season four in a fascinating role as neither ally nor villain, pulling the strings in the background with his own agenda held close to his chest. Unfortunately, it has been confirmed that Morland will not return as a regular for season five. Thankfully, though, the door is at least open for him to return sometime in the future. 8) Erin Hannon – The Office Everyone knows that The Office (the US version) went irrevocably downhill in its later seasons, but not everything that came out of the series’ second half was all bad. Take Erin Hannon, for example, a rare perky face at Dunder Mifflin who brightened up the show whenever she was on screen. Played by future Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Ellie Kemper, Erin turned up late in season five as basically a replacement for Pam as the office receptionist. Despite that, she was still her own character (and was also not based on any character from the British show). She sparked brilliantly with Ed Helm’s neurotic Andy, with the pair’s up-and-down relationship a fixture of later seasons. Andy himself could also be a contender for this list, as he arrived in the show’s third season. 7) Hal Yorke – Being Human When TV shows lose all their original cast members to make way for a ‘new generation’ it often doesn’t go well, as the new guys have a tough job matching up to the originals. Sometimes it does work, however, as is the case with cult British series Being Human. Based around a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost sharing a house, the comedy-drama ran smoothly for three seasons before two of its supernatural trio bowed out (with the third leaving in series four). Thankfully, their replacements were just as likeable. While Alex the ghost and Tom the werewolf were entertaining characters, the latter-day star of the show was OCD-suffering vampire Hal. Rather than the ubercool immortal that contemporary vamps are, Hal’s advanced age meant he was hilariously out of touch with the modern world. 6) Anya Jenkins – Buffy The Vampire Slayer As it went on, Buffy The Vampire Slayer swapped its original stance that ‘all monsters were evil’ for a greyer area where some demons could be good, too. One of these is ex-Vengeance Demon Anya, who – despite being as blunt as a spoon – became a firm member of the Scooby Gang from season four (after a few guest spots on season three) all the way until season seven. In many ways, Anya was a straight replacement for similarly direct character Cordelia (once she left to join Angel). However, the money-obsessed, bunny-fearing Anya was definitely her own character. Being unfamiliar with aspects of human life led to much hilarity – her complete lack of tact made for many of the show’s best lines – and occasional tenderness – her defining moment in "The Body" where she doesn’t understand death. 5) Winifred ‘Fred’ Burkle - Angel Technically, Fred doesn’t exactly arrive late in the run of Buffy spinoff Angel, as she first turns up at the tail end of only its second season. However, she doesn’t become a main character until season three, so we’re counting her here. Played by the amazing Amy Acker, shy Texan science whizz Winifred ‘Fred’ Burkle brightened up the show immeasurably and added a much-needed second main female character after Cordelia. Over the course of the next three seasons, Wesley’s unrequited infatuation with her became arguably the biggest fan favourite relationship of the show. The same goes for – spoilers if you haven’t seen the show – the later character Acker also played, Illyria; an ancient demon god in human form. Illyria was a fascinating character, but sadly we didn’t get to see a lot of her before the show was cancelled after its fifth season. 4) Seven Of Nine – Star Trek: Voyager The heart of previous Star Trek incarnations had conversely been the alien, emotionless outsider of the team who had to learn about the human condition across the series. Think Spock or The Next Generation’s Data. One of the problems of the early seasons of Voyager, then, was that it didn’t feature one of these characters. Thankfully, this was fixed with the addition of Seven of Nine in season four. A former Borg drone, Seven was easily the most interesting of the series’ cast of characters because she had a completely different moral compass from everyone else. The character’s introduction paid off, as Seven’s introduction saw a sizeable boost of viewing figures that kept the show on the air for years to come. Of course, this might have something to do with the fact that actress Jeri Ryan wore a tight-fitting catsuit in the role… 3) David Puddy - Seinfeld Quality over quantity is definitely all important when it comes to TV characters who arrived late, as they get less time to win us over than longer-lasting characters. Seinfeld’s Puddy is an extreme example, as the character only appeared in 11 episodes from season six to nine. Played by Patrick Warburton, Puddy served as Jerry’s mechanic and one of Elaine’s conquests (who was probably the closest thing she had to a soulmate). Airheaded to the point of being eerily calm most of the time (he’s probably best known for his signature monotonous delivery of the line “yeah, that’s right”), Puddy made the most of his limited screen time to become one of the show’s best characters. 2) Castiel - Supernatural The crux of the massive fanbase that Supernatural accumulated over its early seasons was largely thanks to the chemistry of Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki as the Winchester brothers. Anyone coming in as a third wheel to their double act should have been hated, then. Surprisingly though, when fallen angel Castiel first turned up in season three, he arguably outgrew the popularity of the Winchesters themselves, in some quarters. Originally turning up for a limited run, the positive reception of the character and Misha Collins’ loveable performance meant that he was kept around and has been flip-flopping between regular and recurring character status ever since. Rarely does a character stroll into the action a few seasons in and change the entire core dynamic of the show to such an extent, but Castiel somehow managed it. 1) Frasier Crane - Cheers There can't be a better show for latecomer characters than Cheers. The key to the sitcom's success was that it knew when to inject some new blood to keep everything fresh. There was Kirstie Alley's Rebecca Howe who arrived in season six as the replacement for Shelley Long's Diane, and there was Lilith, Frasier's ice-queen girlfriend and later wife. But the one who takes the top spot has to be Frasier Crane himself. Frasier is such an icon of comedy and television in general that it's easy to forget he didn't appear in Cheers until 44 episodes in, at the start of the show's third season. The psychiatrist who can't sort out his own issues and neuroses was the breakout star of the show, eventually starring in his own eponymous series Frasier. That show is a rare spinoff that is not only just as popular as its parent series, but probably better than it, too.