Character Actors: The Power of the Secondary Character Who Remains a Secondary Character

In one particular Love Boat episode, Gopher daydreams various scenarios--himself as James Bond, himself as Humphrey Bogart, himself as a mobster. All this daydreaming is in keeping with Gopher's personality which is part energetic idea-man and part romantic.

And it's cute. Unfortunately, it also proves an important aspect of secondary characters.

Gopher is a great character and very funny in parts. But an entire episode of Gopher doesn't work so well. This particular episode is alleviated by excellent performances by the entire Mills family. Hayley Mills, Janet Mills, and John Mills all star in various guest roles.

But so much Gopher is distracting rather than helpful. And it illustrates an important but problematic point for TV execs:

Just because a secondary character is excellent and hilarious in a particular role does not mean that secondary character can sustain a show.

Of course, sometimes the secondary character can. Frasier succeeded to an impressive degree. But much of the time: no. Of the two Frasier brothers, I find Niles far more sympathetic. But I have never believed for a second that David Hyde Pierce could (or would want to) star in his own show.

 I think this type of thing can be difficult for audiences. We grow to like certain characters so much, it is easy to forget, "Yeah, but a large part of that love is context." I was never even slightly tempted to watch Joey (especially since the creators of that character were dismayed at how he was changed in his new show).

It isn't that the characters aren't awesome. It is that their awesomeness comes precisely from how they play-off their surroundings--surroundings in which they are often perfect. Wilson (Earl Hindman) (from Home Improvement) willingly hid his face (watch him during season endings; he hams up his part of "masked man" when he takes his bows) for seven seasons. And we love him for it and always will.

Sometimes, the answer to the question, "Well, if audiences love the character so much, shouldn't that character get its own show?"

is...

"No. Less truly is more." 

Gopher is best when he is running about the ship, interacting or reacting to other characters. In that role, he truly excels.