10 TV Shows Whose Leads Are The Worst Character
Heroes who lived long enough to see themselves become the villain.
There are many important factors to making a beloved TV show, but chief among them is the main character. While many programmes rely on a deep bench to keep things moving, your lead is the guide who brings people into your fictional world, and the anchor which keeps them invested once they’re there.
Your lead doesn’t need to be likeable - just look at Don Draper, Tony Soprano, or Wendy Byrde - but they must be compelling, and understandable. They’re the glue that often holds the whole series together.
So what happens when your lead character is by far the worst part of the show? Well, it doesn’t necessarily doom the programme to failure; plenty of series have managed to scrape by in spite of a vacuum at its centre. It does, however, create an imbalance, wherein the character you’re spending the most time with is the one you’re least interested in.
To varying degrees, these shows put their worst foot forward, whether their lead was the least interesting part of a successful whole or a dud who could have been removed from proceedings for a more enjoyable experience. When you’re first on the call sheet, the responsibility is massive, and not everyone can live up to that
10. New Girl - Jessica Day
Zooey Deschanel was the hook used to bring people into New Girl. The advertising was heavily based around the “adorkable” qualities that she and her character Jessica Day shared, and indeed New Girl’s Jess did seem a natural extension of Deschanel’s persona.
The series, however, quickly evolved beyond the initial episodes’ focus on Jess and her attempts to re-enter the L.A dating scene as a quirky, melodious singleton. The characters with whom she shared the loft - Nick, Schmidt, and Winston, along with best pal Cece - embarked on their own adventures with and without Jess’ involvement.
The issue was that these were without exception more interesting than whatever Jess was doing. She was relegated to the straight woman on her own show, such were the wacky qualities of the other characters and their more comedically gifted actors, particularly the exceptional Max Greenfield.
Jess still works well as an anchor and in no way would you want her removed from the show, but she’s the title character and yet consistently the least important part of the puzzle.