this is abt sitcoms/dramas that added characters in later seasons and were succesful, as opposed to characters that were added and were so bad that they were later removed from the show. For example:
Ann Wedgeworth: Three's Company
Jennilee Harrison: Three's Company


Succesfully added characters:

Cheers: Adding Woody Harrelson after the real-life death of the actor who played Coach. Also, Kirstie Alley after the departure of Diane.

Roseanne: Johnny Galecki, Glenn Quinn and Martin Mull.

a lot of people will disagree, but I think adding Cloris Leachman in the eighth season of Facts Of Life gave the show a little more shelf life.

On Gunsmoke Ken Curtis replaced Dennis Weaver and did a fine job doing it. Also a ton of characters came on not in the first couple of seasons, Burt Reynolds, Buck Taylor, Ted Jordan, Glenn Strange and a few others.

Besides David, Mark, and Leon being added they added alot of charcters every season...

Season 3 - Leon, Arnie, Nancy, Anne-Marie, & Bonnie Became a Regulars
Season 4 - Chuck became a regular
Season 5 - Leon left, Bev & David became a regulars
Season 6 - Leon Returned, Mark & Fred became Regulars
Season 8 - Scott became a regular

James Garner & David Spade- 8 Simple Rules

Some may disagree, but that was exactly what the show needed.

I'd say that all of the newly added characters on M*A*S*H were successful.

Maj. Winchester on MASH. He added a touch of class to the show.

Besides David, Mark, and Leon being added they added alot of charcters every season...

Season 3 - Leon, Arnie, Nancy, Anne-Marie, & Bonnie Became a Regulars
Season 4 - Chuck became a regular
Season 5 - Leon left, Bev & David became a regulars
Season 6 - Leon Returned, Mark & Fred became Regulars
Season 8 - Scott became a regular
Arnie was not a regular all the way til the end. He came in the earlier seasons, then because of Roseanne's divorce from him, he was also cut. I liked the other characters you mentioned, but they were credited only in the closing credits, not in the opening credits. Regulars vs.Co-stars. Do you get what I am referring to?

Casey on Wings, IMO she was much better than Alex

Jack on Boy Meets World

Arnie was not a regular all the way til the end. He came in the earlier seasons, then because of Roseanne's divorce from him, he was also cut. I liked the other characters you mentioned, but they were credited only in the closing credits, not in the opening credits. Regulars vs.Co-stars. Do you get what I am referring to?

Yeah I just got started and never stopped but you knew what I meant anyways...

Yeah I just got started and never stopped but you knew what I meant anyways...
kewl! i should make it more clearer in my initial post. you know how that goes!:crazy: :wave:

From what I've heard and seen in comparing older and later episodes of it... Jeremy Piven on Ellen. I finally saw a couple eps with Arye Gross and I think Jeremy is much better.

I'd have to agree with a lot of everyone's picks(i.e. Rebecca on Cheers and David Spade & James Garner on 8SR(just for the fact that they lightened the mood). My picks adding to those would have to be:

Don Knotts & Priscilla Barnes(Three's Company)

Sandy Duncan on the Hogan Family. Valerie was good, too but Sandy made the show more fun, I think.

Lori Loughlin on Full House. She helped create some more storylines.

If we're thinking dramas, Dawson's Creek did very well introducing Jack. I often forget he wasn't there in the first season. Andie was a great character as well but since she was eventually written off, I won't count her.

I have to agree about Casey on Wings. She's one of my favorite characters. I'd also like to add Sue Ann on Mary Tyler Moore. She brought in a whole other element that had been missing for the first 3 seasons (though I love those eps, too!). And I've always enjoyed the later cast on MASH more than the early one, prob. b/c those are the eps. I've seen more of.

Edit:Though I'm sure others aren't going to agree, I'd like to add Kay on Murphy Brown to the list. You could never top Miles, but it was great to see Murphy deal with a female authority figure.

For dramas E.R. has added several characters and it's still doing well.

The character Vicki on Love Boat.

Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) on Cheers.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) on Seinfeld (she was added in the second episode)
Christopher Lloyd (Jim) on Taxi

Amy Acker (Fred) on Angel.
Bruce Boxleitner (Sheridan) on Babylon 5
Laura Harris (Daisy) on Dead Like Me
Justin Whalin (new Jimmy Olsen) on Lois & Clark
Jeri Ryan (Seven) on Voyager

One Tree Hill:Felix & Anna in the 2nd Season,Rachael in the 3rd(current)season

Whitman Mayo (Grady Wilson) on Sanford and Son
Marla Gibbs (Florence Johnston) on The Jeffersons
Janet Jackson (Penny) on Good Times
Don Knotts (Ralph Furley) on Three's Company
Melanie Wilson (Jennifer) & Rebeca Arthur (Mary Ann) on Perfect Strangers
Georgie Engel (Georgette) on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Whitman Mayo (Grady Wilson) on Sanford and Son
Marla Gibbs (Florence Johnston) on The Jeffersons
Janet Jackson (Penny) on Good Times
Don Knotts (Ralph Furley) on Three's Company
Melanie Wilson (Jennifer) & Rebeca Arthur (Mary Ann) on Perfect Strangers
Georgie Engel (Georgette) on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Not many Good Times fans will tell you that Janet was a good idea. The ratings of the show got worse little by little after Florida "moved away".

Betty Buckley made a great addition to Eight is Enough after the tragedy of losing their TV mom Diana Hyland. She gave great performances on the show as Abby. I enjoyed the relationship between her and Tom in spite of the obvious huge age difference. The show would not had done well if they kept Tom Bradford as a widower.

Lori Loughlin gave Full House a nice softer touch. It would not had lasted long if they kept the premise like it was from the first season. The guys during the first season was a bit too wild and the addition of Lori helped toned the guys down except for Danny. He still rubbed me the wrong way with his excessive rambling and being so anal about cleaniness.

Adding Shelley Fabares to One Day at A Time was a good one. Her and Bonnie Franklin provided some good comedy together I only wished more storylines could had featured them together.

Don Knotts and Priscilla Barnes was great additions to Three's Company. Don Knotts role as Ralph Furley gave the show a more goofy edge especially with his high strung antics and his outrageous wardrobe he wore on the show. Priscilla Barnes gave the show more intelligence and the sexual innuendos was tremendously toned down. It also freed Joyce DeWitt to give Janet more beauty and to make her a more fun character not so much bossy and controlling. Joyce and Priscilla played well together on the show. I liked those two together better than Joyce and Suzanne Somers.

Betty Buckley made a great addition to Eight is Enough after the tragedy of losing their TV mom Diana Hyland. She gave great performances on the show as Abby. I enjoyed the relationship between her and Tom in spite of the obvious huge age difference. The show would not had done well if they kept Tom Bradford as a widower.

Lori Loughlin gave Full House a nice softer touch. It would not had lasted long if they kept the premise like it was from the first season. The guys during the first season was a bit too wild and the addition of Lori helped toned the guys down except for Danny. He still rubbed me the wrong way with his excessive rambling and being so anal about cleaniness.

Adding Shelley Fabares to One Day at A Time was a good one. Her and Bonnie Franklin provided some good comedy together I only wished more storylines could had featured them together.

Don Knotts and Priscilla Barnes was great additions to Three's Company. Don Knotts role as Ralph Furley gave the show a more goofy edge especially with his high strung antics and his outrageous wardrobe he wore on the show. Priscilla Barnes gave the show more intelligence and the sexual innuendos was tremendously toned down. It also freed Joyce DeWitt to give Janet more beauty and to make her a more fun character not so much bossy and controlling. Joyce and Priscilla played well together on the show. I liked those two together better than Joyce and Suzanne Somers.
Good choices. I am kicking myself for not even remember Abby. I loved EIE. I loved the age difference too. Those two seemed like a real couple.

Lilith on "Cheers," if for no other reason than Lilith is awesome.

Steve Landesburg & Ron Carey - Barney Miller

Celia Weston - Alice

Rene Auberjonois, Ethan Phillips & Didi Conn - Benson

Dean Butler, Merlin Olsen, Hersha Parady & Patrick Labyorteaux - Little House on the Prairie

Amy Yasbeck - Wings

Jeri Ryan-STAR TREK: VOYAGER
DAVID OGDEN STIERS, MIKE FARREL, HARRY MORGAN-MASH

Anna Belknap on CSI:NY. Her character is 10000000000x better than Vanessa Ferlito's.

I also hope Kerr Smith sticks around.


Wasn't sure I'd like Paget Brewster on Criminal Minds at first, but I now think she's better than Lola Glaudini.


Tracey Thoms on Cold Case and Roselyn Sanchez on Without a Trace were successful adds as well.

Mia Maestro - Alias

Rachel Nichols - Alias

Balthazar Getty - Alias

Amy Acker - Alias

Mercedes McNab - Angel

Finola Hughes - Blossom

Mathew Lawrence - Boy Meets World

Emma Caulfield - Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Rose McGowen - Charmed

Matt Czuchry - Gilmore Girls

Leonardo Docaprio - Growing Pains

Soleil Moon Frye - Sabrina The Teenage Witch

Elisa Donovan - Sabrina The Teenage Witch

RonReaco Lee - Sister, Sister

Deon Richmond - Sister, Sister

Jason Marsden - Step By Step

Jenilee Harrison - Three's Company

Pricilla Barnes - Three's Company

For dramas E.R. has added several characters and it's still doing well.
Absolutely.

Beverly Hills 90210, NYPD Blue, 7th Heaven, Third Watch, and Saved By The Bell: The New Class had several cast changes later on - but successfully added new characters.

Buffy: Adding Spike (who was recurring previously) and Anya (who appeared a few times in season 3) as regular characters in season 4 saved the show from total shark-jumpage that the show was nearing with Riley and then Dawn in season 5

Buffy: Adding Spike (who was recurring previously) and Anya (who appeared a few times in season 3) as regular characters in season 4 saved the show from total shark-jumpage that the show was nearing with Riley and then Dawn in season 5
I agree.

I remembered Emma, so I had to edit my post.