Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Most useless minor character

Well, we all know that Tank thinks that Jimmy should have been strangled at birth. But are there any recurring minor characters which annoy the heck out of other people?

I know who mine would be. But I'll be interested to see other people's choices!

By 'minor characters', by the way, I'm not including major supporting characters such as Perry, Jimmy, Lex and so on. Just people who were around for the occasional episode - and whom some of us may have wanted to kick all the way over to Seaquest DSV.


Wendy

I voted for Dan... he was useless... except to be thrown from the window in some Silly Revelations

Jose

I was tempted to vote for Star, as most of the so-far-voters did, but finally voted for 'Other'.
First of all, I kinda liked Star. She was a bit of a nervous-breaker for me, but she was fun too, so I didn't feel like voting for her.
Also, I believe that none of them was completely useless. (No offence, Wendy, it's just me, I always have trouble choosing)
I think that L&C would be much different if one of these characters didn't exist. The problem is that I can't judge if it would be better or worse...
Anyway, I'm just a useless babbler, so I'll shut up now.

See ya,
AnnaBtG.

P.S.: I can't remember Henderson at all... maybe I haven't watched any episodes with him.

I voted 'Other' mainly because for me, the most annoying was definitely, definitely Gretchen Kelley <g>. She just really annoyed me, not only because everything about her stunk of a bad cliché, but because Denise Crosby [thanks guys on IRC who got her name for me ] really didnt make her come alive, I dont think. When Emma Samms [thanks again guys ] was telling Lois how much she loved Lex, I could get into her mind and really feel what it was like to love somebody that cruel... the desperation... the torment... etc. etc. but when Gretchen was trying to convince Lex not to rescue Lois from the rat-infested-pit-thing I really felt detached from the character, the same as I did every time she appeared. To me, she was just... creepy, I guess

Anyway, nice poll, and interesting results!

~Sara

I voted Dr. Friskin as the most useless character. Her role could have been better filled by the Kents (for Clark) and Lucy (for Lois)...that and she grated on my nerves.

Jack's a close second in the most useless character category but he was fun and I liked him. I also liked his friendship with Clark.

HG Wells - a lot of people dislike this character and I'm rather indifferent to him myself. But without him we wouldn't have met Tempus who was the best foil for Superman since Lex left so he was obviously good for something.

Cat, as well as Star, could have been developed into an interesting character. Lois was in dire need of some female friends - it was actually really disappointing that she seemed to have an antagonistic relationship with every other woman on the show save for a few. And those characters usually disappeared after and episode or two. So these two characters were useless but more for lack of trying than being redundant (like Dr. Friskin and Jack).

Inspector Henderson rocked! He was sorely underutilized by the series...I was sad that he was only around for the first season.

Mayson and Dan were both catalysts in helping Lois and Clark realizing their true feelings for each other. Besides I liked both characters even if most FoLCs don't. :p Also, I think both had potential as characters that were antagonistic to Clark/Superman and yet still be a "good guy" , which could have been interesting.

Okay, It was a tough choice between Jack and Star, but in the end... I chose Star.

I know I said I hated Jack (and I did), but he had a use in the one episode and was gone within a couple more. I still don't buy into his 'turning his life around because Clark was nice to him' routine. Nor would anyone with his attitude ever have been able to stay employed for more than two hours.

So, while I didn't like Jack's character and didn't see much use for it, Star was really annoying. Her character was created to be an unnecessesary comic relief. Only it turned out to be comic cringing everytime she came on screen. The only decent thing she ever did on the show was that she was used to give a nod to classic Lois Lane artist Kurt Shaffenberger.

Tank (who almost got to meet Mr. Shaffenberger but he took ill just before he was sheduled to attend our convention)

YES!!!!

Star is by far the most totally useless repeated character in the whole show!

James

It was a tossup for me between Cat and Star - but Star edged out Cat for sure... Can't say why, but I think there was potential for Cat, and so why they didn't use her after season one (other than her actress went to B5) I wonder. Star, on the other hand, only served to be annoying - and I was so grateful when they wrote her out after only a few eps!

Melisma (feeling snooty here under her Rock )

Well, since I'm a newbie, can someone explain Tank's dislike of Jimmy. I personally like him for certain reasons, but I want to get a better understanding of Tank's reasons for NOT liking him. Thanks!

Jaxie

I wasn't going to answer this question because it just seems so obvious to me.

I never liked Jimmy in the comics and there was nothing in the series that changed my mind about him. I've never cared for characters who were designed to be the 'lovable loser'. The stumblebum whose good intentions are always interrupting or interferring with the major characters. The 'computer whiz' aspect was manufactured by the series as a convenience to allow the show to more easily come up with background information on the villian of the week.

If Jimmy were really so wonderful with computers why was he still a glorified gopher and not working in the Planet's IT department. No, Jimmy's character was created to be the schmo and I generally dislike that kind of character.

Bottom line... Jimmy was annoying.

Tank (who generally dislikes characters who are two dimensional and even the few episodes that focused on Jimmy didn't change that fact)

I had to vote for other. The reason I did was because I really felt that all of the characters named above had their uses in the show. I didn't really feel that *any* of them were useless, and I've utilized just about all of them, except Star, Tempus and HG Wells in a fanfic at one time or another. Each one of them had potential, even if the writers failed to develop it.

Nan

I voted for 'Other,' but then I forgot who I meant!

Ohh yeah! I meant Mike, the 'guy who was just *there*.' He was annoying and freaky (horrible combination), and Perry coulda performed the ceremony. <g>

Couldn't have put it better myself.

And you've reminded me of another reason I hated their wedding. I'll add it to the location and Lois wearing the dress from Purgatory.

Mike. Definitely Mike.

- Vicki

I'm going to have to say Cat Grant. For somebody who had an entire season in the beginning credits, she had remarkably little to show for it. Outside of being the local mankiller and throwing an antagonizing line or two at Lois and passes at Clark, she didn't do anything useful. Even Jimmy and Perry forwarded L&C plots even if they didn't really have any themselves. Cat did nothing at all, so I'm not surprised in the least that she disappeared before BatP and was never seen again except in Clark's group picture in HOL.

Oh, Mike was definitely one of the most irritating characters in the entire series. I hated the role he played and the importance they gave him in that ep. It totally ruined the wedding episode for me. But I didn't include him because he wasn't a recurring character.

As for my most hated recurring character, I'm fascinated to see that the majority agrees with me. Star is my choice right the way down the line. She is annoying, a waste of space, exactly the kind of person I would go out of my way to avoid. And I can not see Lois listening to her 'psychic' stuff for even a second, much less considering Star a friend. She'd dismiss her as a complete flake and keep out of her way.

And there's another reason why I dislike her: she was the only recurring black character in the series, and that's all they could come up with for her?!?!

Thanks for telling me what you think!

Wendy

Well, I'm not a Cat fan, but she did occasionally have her uses. She helped tail Harrington in HiM (freeing up L&C to canoodle in a hotel room! ) and provided the vital clue at the last minute through her ignorance of Japanese food! :p I think that whole scene is stupid on any number of levels, but she definitely had a decisive role in it.

And she did get Lois to admit to having been scared, in Witness... but, as per usual, there was a lot of potential that never got explored.

PJ

Ahh, Scardino go away, away

sunshine

Well, my annoying glitch means I still can't get in to vote on polls, but we were talking on irc and someone brought up Mike and I just had to add my raspberries in here about that.

Now there's a guy I'd like to drop down a deep well wearing concrete overshoes...

LabRat

I voted 'other' because I actually like all of the characters listed. However, like Labrat, Mike could quite easily disappear in a fluffy pink ball of corny, sickly, yuck-making smoke as far as I'm concerned. <g>

Yvonne