https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?rf=homepage

What the hell did they do to Michael?

BY JACK POOLEY
UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2023

The TV revival is an extremely tricky thing to get right, because whether or not the original run of episodes ended how the showrunners intended, there's no guarantee of recapturing the lightning-in-a-bottle magic of that initial go-around.

And while Breaking Bad's recent El Camino is proof perfect of how to deliver a respectful follow-up that deepens the meaning of the original material, too often revivals misunderstand what made their prior seasons so great in the first place, or exist simply to line the pockets of those involved.

Worse still, perhaps, is when a revived show ruins a previously beloved character, either by drastically altering their characterization, wringing them through a woeful subplot, killing them off or, get this, maybe even resurrecting them unnecessarily.

These 10 TV revivals all made major missteps with vital characters, usually through careless writing but also occasionally due to some unfortunate timing in relation to real-world events.

Whatever the cause, and regardless of how it affected the show as a whole, these characters were seemingly tainted forever more in their belated returns to the small screen...


10. George Bluth Sr. - Arrested Development (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=2)

9. Claire Bennet - Heroes Reborn (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=3)

8. Miss Piggy - The Muppets (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=4)

7. Michael Scofield - Prison Break (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=5)

6. Angus "Mac" MacGyver - MacGyver (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=6)

5. Roseanne Conner - The Conners (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=7)

4. The Narrator - The Twilight Zone (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=8)

3. Rory Gilmore - Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=9)

2. Basically Everyone - The Bradys (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=10)

1. Logan Echolls - Veronica Mars (https://whatculture.com/tv/10-tv-revivals-that-totally-ruined-awesome-characters?page=11)

Girl Meets WOrld

Girl Meets WOrld

Who?

I didn't feel like GMW completely ruined the original cast very much. But the show wasn't great, and I ended up not caring about the new kids by the end of the show. There was a lot I didn't like about GMW, but not sure if the BMW cast was really a part of that.