A TV show will often undergo minor rewrites and additions over the course of its production, which is to be expected, as it can be difficult to tell is scenes are working until the actors are standing in front of cameras.
There have been times when a TV show undergoes a major change during its production, either due to a conscious decision on behalf of its creators or due to some outside influence that has forced the producers to move in a different direction.
These last minute changes can be a blessing in disguise, as they may lead to an actor being given more of a chance to shine, or for some underappreciated story element to be given more screentime and becoming a major part of the success of the show.
The changes can also condemn a show, either by ruining an established character or by alienating the audience through a decision that manages to annoy them so much that they turn the channel.
We are here today to look at the changes that were made at a late stage during the production of a TV show that either kept it on the air or condemned it to failure; from the lost speculation about a story taking place in the mind of a man to the secret that was revealed far too soon.
Here are the 10 Last Minutes Changes That Ruined Shows (And 10 That Saved Them).
Saved: Q Who? (Star Trek: TNG)
There were several attempts to revive the Star Trek franchise after The Original Series finished its original run, but most of these projects never went far.
The buzz surrounding Star Trek: The Next Generation led to the people at Paramount demanding that the length of the pilot episode be increased to two hours. This caused problems for Gene Roddenberry, who only had enough material planned for one hour worth of material.
In order to fill up the time for “Encounter at Farpoint”, Gene Roddenberry created the character of Q and the concept of the Q Continuum.
This turned out to be one of the things that saved the show, as the Q episodes were the high point of the first two shaky seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, especially as they included the episode that introduced the Borg to the series.
Hurt: The Lawsuit (X-Files)
The X-Files quickly became a huge hit and started pulling in huge ratings for the Fox network. The ratings continued to climb throughout the first five seasons and then started to dip around the sixth.
This was the point when the show started to wrap up the major storylines, with the seventh season being planned as the last one.
The X-Files was too successful to end, so Fox commissioned another two seasons. This turned out to be a problem for David Duchovny, as he didn’t want to work on the show anymore and was embroiled in a legal dispute with Fox.
The eighth season of The X-Files brought in a new lead character (played by Robert Patrick) and the show even brought in a potential replacement for Dana Scully (in the form of Monica Reyes) so that the show could be reborn with a new cast.
The fans did not take to the new cast members and the conclusion of many of the older storylines meant that the show ended up spinning its wheels, leading to a decline in ratings and its eventual cancelation.
Saved: It’s Always DeVito (It’s Always Sunny)
The first season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia consisted of seven episodes that were highly acclaimed by those who saw it, but the show lacked the mainstream appeal that was needed to win an audience, so it was put on the chopping block for cancelation.
The executives at Fox happened to be big fans of the show, so they gave the creators of the show an ultimatum: they could either add a big name star to the cast, or the show would not be renewed for a second season.
The creators of It’s Always Sunny were reluctant to add a celebrity to the show, but they had little choice in the matter. They were able to convince Danny DeVito to join the show and he took on the role of Frank Reynolds.
The addition of Danny DeVito to the cast of It’s Always Sunny is considered by many to be the turning point in the success of the show, making it one of the few cases of positive meddling on the part of studio executives.
Hurt: Tracey’s ‘Mon Have Got It Going On (Pokémon)
The Pokémon anime was a hit across the globe, which led to some issues with the people who actually created the cartoon, as they now had to cater to different sensibilities than what they were used to.
The international audience for Pokémon made the creators of the anime concerned about Brock, as they were worried that his design may appear racist.
These concerns led to Brock being left behind during the Orange Islands storyline. Brock was replaced by Tracey Sketchit, who was made to look more Angelo-Saxon.
The concerns of the creators of the Pokémon anime were unfounded, as the fans were angry that Brock was replaced by a character who was boring.
This backlash led to Tracey being dumped at Professor Oak’s Lab and Brock rejoining the gang for their journey to Johto.
Saved: Saving Jesse (Breaking Bad)
Jesse Pinkman was one of the main characters in Breaking Bad, and his story of addiction and redemption is one of the most compelling in the show.
The story of Jesse Pinkman almost never made it past a botched substance deal, as he was originally planned to perish during one of Walt’s schemes, leading to his guilt over costing a young man his life.
The original plan for the first season of Breaking Bad was for Jesse to be slain at the hands of Tuco in the finale.
However, Aaron Paul’s performance impressed Vince Gilligan so much that he rewrote the ending and made Jesse one of the most important characters on the show for the remainder of its run.
Hurt: The Mystery Of Laura Palmer (Twin Peaks)
Twin Peaks helped to set the mold for shows like Lost and The X-Files, by setting up a mystery plot that engaged the viewer from the first episode.
In the case of Twin Peaks, this involved the body of Laura Palmer, which is found wrapped in plastic and dumped on a river bank.
The mystery of who was responsible for Laura Palmer’s demise became the foundation of Twin Peaks’ success, with the first season drawing in huge ratings.
The ratings of Twin Peaks dropped during the second season due to a studio mandate that demanded that the mystery of Laura Palmer’s assailant be wrapped up… during the middle of the season.
This meant that the remaining episodes had little content to go on until the finale introduced lots of new questions.
The audience was already gone by this point, leading to the cancelation of the show.
Saved: Where Is Hurley’s Mind (Lost)
Lost was a show that sold itself on the mystery surrounding the events that were happening on the island. This worked well for two seasons, but an actual explanation for the mysteries was always going to harm the show, as some people were going to be disappointed and tune out.
It’s for this reason that the people at ABC freaked out about a Lost script, as they felt that it offered a concrete explanation of what was going on– and a poor one at that.
Damon Lindelof revealed during an interview that one of the episodes of Lost was going to suggest that everything was happening in Hurley’s head.
The complaints from ABC lead to a rewrite that severely toned down these elements, as there were concerns that the audience might be turned off by the suggestion that the show was just a hallucination.
Hurt: The Kissing Cheerleaders (Heroes)
There was a time when TV shows would include a scene where one of the female leads would kiss another woman on the show. This was referred to as a “Sweeps Week Lesbian Kiss”, as it was mainly a ratings stunt in order to boost interest in a TV show.
You don’t see many kisses between women like this anymore due to how society has grown numb to such lame attempts at titillation.
Heroes attempted to drum up some interest in its fourth season, with gay romance storyline that was requested by Hayden Panettiere.
This storyline involved Panettiere kissing Madeline Zima on the show.
The introduction of the lesbian romance storyline at such a late stage only aggravated an audience that was being pushed further away. The general audience had become savvy enough by this point to spot a stunt born of desperation and the kiss did nothing to save Heroes from its fate.
Saved: Pilot Light (E.R.)
The pilot of a TV show will often be screened in front of test audiences so that the opinions of the general public could be gauged before the show enters production.
The results of these screenings can often lead to huge changes for the next pilot, as was the case with shows like 30 Rock and The Big Bang Theory.
It was due to the reaction of a test audience that Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) was kept on E.R., as she was originally planned to succumb to an overdose in the pilot.
The demise of her character was intended to be a shocking moment at the end of the pilot, but the reaction to her character was so positive that the producers brought her back for the first season.
Carol Hathaway became one of the most popular characters on E.R. and remained on the show for six seasons. She would also have cameo roles in the later seasons.
Hurt: The Demise Of Model Shots (Red Dwarf)
The seventh season of Red Dwarf had a lot of problems with its production, as one of the main writers (Rob Grant) had left the show and one of the main cast members (Chris Barrie) could only commit to a very limited schedule.
One of the most hated aspects of the seventh season of Red Dwarf involved a shift from practical effects to CGI.
This was a change that was forced upon the show, due to the increased cost of using models for the scenes involving spaceships, as well as the model department wrapping halfway through production, which meant that key scenes that were added in during rewrites had to be accomplished through computer effects.
The CGI effects looked terrible in Red Dwarf, which was due to the fact that it was produced in 1996 and the creative team lacked the budget to pull together a proper effects team for what was still new technology.
Saved: Saving Tree Trunks (Adventure Time)
It’s rare for a cartoon intended for children to include any kind of violence that results in the demise of a character.
The majority of producers know not to ask, as there are issues relating to age ratings that would quash any notion of showing realistic violence on a show meant for kids.
This kind of censorship can be a blessing, as it led to a character from Adventure Time being given more of a chance to shine.
Tree Trunks first appeared in the fourth episode of Adventure Time and was originally going to be consumed by an explosion.
The people at Cartoon Network vetoed this idea and forced the creators to include a scene that showed that Tree Trunks had survived the events of this episode. This turned out to be a good move, as Tree Trunks became a fan favorite character.
Hurt: We Have A She-Hulk (The Incredible Hulk)
The ’90s were a great time for fans of cartoons that starred Marvel characters, as this was the era of X-Men and Spider-Man.
The Incredible Hulk would receive his own animated series in 1996, but this wasn’t as well received as the shows starring his contemporaries in the Marvel universe.
The second season of The Incredible Hulk was retooled so that She-Hulk became the co-star.
The reason for this was due to a desire to attract a female audience. In order to facilitate this change, the executives at UPN fired most of the creative staff of the show and brought on new people, which led to a notable decline in the quality of the show and it’s eventual cancelation.
Saved: Seven Savior (Star Trek: Voyager)
Star Trek: Voyager has its fans, but there is no denying that the show had an incredibly bland cast for the first few seasons.
This was one of the reasons why fans who had been spoilt by the awesome characters on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine weren’t tuning in to Voyager, to the point where there were concerns that the show was going to be canceled.
It’s not hyperbole to say that the introduction of Seven of Nine saved Star Trek: Voyager.
Seven provided some much-needed flavor to the crew and her presence added a lot of drama that helped make some of the other characters more interesting.
The reason Seven of Nine was added to the show was to bring in some appeal, but Jeri Ryan elevated the character in such a way that it brought the audience back and helped Voyager reach seven seasons.
Hurt: I Like Big Bots (BattleBots)
We live in a world where a TV show that featured robots fighting each other wasn’t considered interesting enough to draw in a big audience, so an attractive woman was brought in to provide fan service in an effort to entice a crowd.
BattleBots was an American spinoff of Robot Wars, which was a popular show from the UK about robots competing against each other in combat sports.
The first season of BattleBots was really popular, but the audience numbers declined sharply with each new season, so an effort was made to retool the show in its fifth season in order to make it more exciting.
One of the big changes was the inclusion of Carmen Electra as a correspondent.
The show would often include cutaway scenes of Carmen Electra, but these only managed to alienate the audience that was just there for the robots, who felt that the forced fan service was lowering the quality of the show.
Saved: Dad’s War (Dad’s Army)
Dad’s Army was a classic British comedy show about the members of the volunteer Home Guard during World War II, who were all comically inept at their jobs.
One of the most iconic aspects of Dad’s Army was its intro, which included the song “Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mr. Hitler?” by Bud Flanagan. The intro showed an animated map of Europe and several lines depicting the armies of Great Britain and Nazi Germany.
Dad’s Army was a show that was almost doomed by its own intro, as the original version included footage of refugees fleeing from the war, as well as footage of the Wehrmacht.
The people at the BBC refused to use this intro due to how it would be inappropriate for a comedy show.
Hurt: The Fairy Tale Goliath (Gargoyles)
It’s rare for an entire season of a TV show to be struck from continuity in an official capacity, but it does happen. The most well-known example is the ninth season of Dallas, which was revealed to have been a dream and never actually happened.
The third season of Gargoyles (which earned the sub-title of The Goliath Chronicles) is one such example of a season that is ignored by its creator, as Greg Weisman had almost nothing to do with its production.
Gargoyles was an awesome show, but it was also a lot darker than the usual fare produced by Disney. This led to the majority of the production staff being replaced with people who weren’t familiar with the show, in order to retool it into something that was more family friendly.
The Gargoyles fanbase (as well the creators who lost their job) rejected this new format and the show was canceled.
The story of Gargoyles continued in a comic book series, which totally ignored the events of the third season of the show.
Saved: Tony’s Original Job (The Sopranos)
The main storyline of the first season of The Sopranos involved the escalating conflict between Tony Soprano and his uncle Junior.
The previous head of the New Jersey crime family was about to pass away and a power vacuum was threatening to drag the two family members into an open war against each other.
The incredible storyline that involved the conflict between Tony and Junior Soprano almost never happened, as the pilot episode of the show confirmed that Tony was already the boss of New Jersey and that Junior was struggling to deal with him.
The first episode of The Sopranos after the pilot changed the status quo so that Tony and Junior were both bosses who served under Jackie Aprile.
If the storyline from the pilot had been retained, then we would have lost one of the best parts of the show.
Hurt: Pregnant Beauty (Beauty And The Best)
Beauty and the Beast was considered a cult hit for a long time, but it has received a new audience due to the fact that it was written by George R. R. Martin, who went on to write the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, which were adapted into Game of Thrones.
The ’80s version of Beauty and the Beast was a modern take on the classic fairy tale, which starred Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman in the title roles.
The entire point of Beauty and the Beast was the romance between the two leads, which was made redundant by the fact that Linda Hamilton wanted to leave the show at the start of its third season, due to the fact that she was pregnant and eager to move on.
The third season of Beauty and the Beast tried to start a new romance with a different female lead, but the fans didn’t care and the show was canceled.
Saved: Jack In The Box (Lost)
The pilot episode of Lost (called “Pilot”) was originally planned to involve a shocking swerve that would let the people in the audience know that they should expect the unexpected.
The plan for “Pilot” was to show that Jack Shepard would be incredibly important to the survival of the castaways, as he is a doctor.
The show would then pull the rug out from under the viewer by having Jack perish at the hands of the smoke monster at the halfway point of the episode.
This would have made for an awesome twist, but it also would have robbed the show of one of its best characters. Jack went on to be one of the most important characters in Lost and the show would have suffered without his presence.
Hurt: Dark Blossom (Blossom)
Blossom was a light-hearted sitcom in the vein of shows like Full House for most of its run. The show did occasionally touch on darker subject matter and had its fair share of “special” episodes that dealt with more serious issues, but these were the exception rather than the rule.
The fifth and final season of Blossom was intended to return to the more light-hearted storylines of the earlier seasons, as it was losing in the ratings to Melrose Place.
The episodes were still considered to be too serious, especially one where Blossom goes on a date, which results in a physical altercation.
Blossom was canceled by NBC, but the finale still managed to offer a proper conclusion to the various storylines in the show.
Can you think of any other last minute changes that either hurt (or saved) TV shows? Sound off in the comments!
