History JerkWithAHeartOfGold / LiveActionTV

** Schmidt is probably a more pure example. Even at his most vain and status-obsessed self, he'll always stand up for his friends, especially Nick. His CharacterDevelopment comes when we learn that he's so driven because he was an overweight, unpopular kid and he doesn't want to become that again. He finds more balance and learns to appreciate the things he does have, and he's genuinely a better person when he and [[=CeCe=]] get back together.

** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' gives us Hiiro Kagami (Kamen Rider Brave), who has a very smug, condescending attitude, especially towards amateurs like protagonist Emu Hojo. However, he still fights to save peoples' lives, both as a genius surgeon with a perfect record ''and'' a KnightInShiningArmor HenshinHero. His rude behavior is eventually explained to be tied to the death of his girlfriend Saki, with Hiiro pushing himself as hard as possible to honor her LastWords: "Become the best doctor in the world." His interactions with Emu eventually lead to him (mostly) losing the jerkishness and just becoming a straight-up hero.

*** Sento can come off as a selfish InsufferableGenius, who usually gloats about himself, argues with or insults Ryuga and barely reacts to anything that doesn't concern him directly. He would never insult Misora in all seriousness, took Ryuga in when he was on the run from the government and saved him from being eaten by an EldritchAbomination. He usually goes by ''narcissisic, conceited hero of justice'' for a reason.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Phoebe after she TookALevelInJerkass (she was more of a NiceGirl in early seasons). She does redeem herself in the end when she willingly drives Ross to the airport to catch Rachel, and is genuinely feels bad for Ross when Rachel at first gets back on the plane.

---> '''Tyrion:''' I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards, and broken things.

--> '''Lulu:''' As I slowly got to know you, I realized how deep you are and how special and how remarkable you are. And how lucky I am the day that you stomped into my life. And I'm very happy that you married my dad, and I'm honoured to call you my stepmother.

* ''Series/TheCleanerUK'': While Terance (from "The Writer") at first comes off as an absolute Jerkass who hates everyone and clearly has Skewed Priorities of writing a novel, he slowly opens up emotionally to Wicky, and tells him that the reason for why he's so focused on writing is because grieving gets rid of his emotions, and he'd rather put that to paper.

* ''Series/{{Becker}}'': Becker, from this sitcom.
* ''Series/BetterThings'': Frankie often acts very rude and callous to her mother or sisters. At heart though she does love them, but takes out all her teenage issues on them this way. When pressed or something's wrong, she immediately drops this façade to help them.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'':
** Chuck [=McGill=] would appear to be one of these, since he held back Jimmy's career as a lawyer in order keep his brother from abusing the law -- something we know from ''Series/BreakingBad'' is a totally legitimate concern. But as he becomes more obsessed with foiling Jimmy, it becomes clear that there is a [[TheUnfavorite deeper]] [[GreenEyedMonster animosity]] at work. Chuck also becomes just as manipulative as (and even more petty than) Jimmy in order to bring him down, getting to a point where he becomes a JerkWithAHeartOfJerk by Season 3.
** Howard Hamlin is a hot shot lawyer who has an arrogant streak a mile wide and often acts as a yes man to Chuck, but ultimately proves to be a straighter example. There are moments where he is courteous towards Jimmy, he agrees to pay off Kim's law school debt, and eventually he gets fed up with Chuck's antics when they threaten his law firm and the livelihoods of the people working there. He eliminates Chuck's financial leverage over the firm by buying his share out of his own pocket, putting himself into debt but saving the jobs of the people below him.

** Barney. Though he frequently comes across as selfish and narcissistic, he's willing to go to extraordinary lengths for his friends and family. For example,him spontaneously flying to San Francisco, convincing [[spoiler: Lily]] that she and [[spoiler: Marshall]] need to get back together, and paying her airfare home. He also pays for their honeymoon. There's a catch though - this is only to his friends and family. To other people, especially his one night stands, he's just a plain JerkAss.

** Walter White's brother-in-law, Hank Schrader, is a DEA agent and a bit of a jerk to Walt (while Walt starts off a simple high-school chemistry teacher, while Hank is ''far'' cooler). He is also ''extremely'' stubborn and self-confident. On the other hand, he genuinely loves his wife and his nephew, Walter, Jr. (who in turn idolizes Hank) and is shown to care deeply for his family in general - when he finds out about Walt's cancer, he assures Walt that he will look after the others.

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* Let's be sincere, in the Spanish Sitcom ''Aída'' everyone acted like a total jerk at least one time, even the most innocent ones like Soraya, Chema or Fidel. However, the most prominent ones are:

** Adric is sort of a lesser version of this, as he doesn't really develop jerk tendencies until season 19, but he still shows he cares. For instance, at the beginning of "Kinda" when he and Nyssa are discussing her recent fainting spells and he calls her "hopeless in her present state of mind." But when she starts having another attack, he goes over and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.

** Daario's taunts can be nasty but he does treat people respectfully when the situation is serious as shown when he sees Jorah is affected with greyscale - he drops the taunt about him being old and is visibly worried.

** Sandor is a rough, callous brute, but he disdains the petty cruelty of Joffrey, becomes very protective of Sansa Stark and teaches Arya some harsh lessons to show her what it means to survive in Westeros.

** ''Series/FamilyFeud'': Probably the Richard Dawson-hosted version is the most prominent example. Dawson many times has been accused of being downright mean and egotistical to the production staff (particularly producer Howard Felsher), and would cut mean jokes about people he didn't like, particularly about Richard Nixon (a man that, according to one history of the series, Dawson claimed tried to "destroy" democracy). He once refused to participate in a ''Magazine/TVGuide'' feature on game show hosts (because he wanted to be ''the only'' host pictured on the cover), and fellow game show hosts – including Monty Hall – had rather unkind words to say about Dawson (his personality, hosting style and so forth) in said feature.

* ''Series/HaltAndCatchFire'': Although the ManipulativeBastard Joe spends most of the first season as a JerkAss, by Season Three he develops outspoken compassion for Gordon, Cameron and Ryan, especially after [[spoiler:Ryan commits suicide]].

** Doctor Chase is a lesser example, he is a self-serving jerk and semi-antagonist for the first season but proves his loyalty by season 3. It's also assumed by everyone that he will break Cameron's heart when they begin their friends with benefits relationship, when in fact she's the one who breaks his.

* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'': Deeks in the start of the 5th season, which it ends on a somewhat happy note.

* [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Michael Ragosa]] from ''Series/TheNightShift'', although the "heart of gold" part becomes more apparent in season two.

** Louis Litt as well. Over the first three and a half seasons, he is depicted as being an {{Jerkass}} towards practically everyone and picking on those lower in the hierarchy than himself (especially the paralegals and associates), to the point where most of his subordinates outright fear him. However, it is implied that he is only hard towards others because he wants to push them and test them, so they can become better lawyers and more valuable employees at Pearson Whatever-other-name-is-on-the-wall-at-the-time. In Season 4, episode 8, when he is forced to quit, he points out in his letter of resignation that the firm is his home, and the people working there his family, and he genuinely feels sad to leave the only firm he has ever worked for and ever wanted to work for.

** Dean ''defines'' this trope. His jerk side is easy to see, especially along his contrasting, nicer brother [[ByronicHero Sam]]. He's cocky, impatient, self-righteous, judgmental, and ''always'' [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]]. Yet, underneath it, he cares genuinely for the safety of strangers and has an honest willingness to sacrifice his own happiness for their sake. He's also responsible--surprisingly so, in fact--and has such low self-esteem he labelled himself once as "90 percent crap". All his wisecracking and bravado is also just a way to "mask all that nasty pain". Not forgetting that he's also the [[TheChewToy show's favorite bitch]], so you've got to give him some sympathy.
** Sam really does deserve to be here as well. He's self-absorbed, doesn't seem to think much of Dean, can be incredibly cruel at times ("You were ''four'' when Mom died. How could you possibly know how I feel?", anyone?) and is prone to self-pity by the bucket-load. He uses the whole "Captain Empathy" thing as an act at least half the time, he's incredibly violent when he fights and he knows just how to twist Dean around his little finger. But he tries a hell of a lot harder to make Dean feel better than John ever did, he falls apart trying to save Dean in Season Three, he's using his demonic powers for good, he really did try to make it up to his father after "In My Time Of Dying" by focusing on the hunt and much of the bitchiness is leaning towards the affectionate DeadpanSnarker style and not the unsympathetic {{Jerkass}} type. It's also hinted that his violent streak may not be quite natural in origin.
** Bobby, anyone? As much as he may snap at the boys, and he may not be very friendly to Castiel at times, it's obvious that behind that gruff exterior, he adores Sam and Dean. Hell, he treats them better than their own father did, and tells them when they're in the wrong--same with Castiel.

* ''Series/TopChef'': Stefan from season 5. A very heavy competitor, he comes off as an overconfident ass (which he is, honestly). However, he does have friendships with the other contestants (outside of competition of course) and he tried to comfort Carla when she started to cry during the final judges' session.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': Has Daryl Dixon, who has no problem saying someone is stupid, but who also shares his stash of medicine and comforts a mother with a missing child. In the Season 2 opener he saves T-Dog's life. His brother Merle, on the other hand, is undiluted jerk.

* ''Series/{{The OC}}'': Seth Cohen may fit this. He may be self-absorbed and slightly petty, but he loves Summer more than anything, and most of his selfless and sweet moments occur when he's with her, or when the situation involves her. When he wasn't accepted to his preferred university, and she refused to go without him, he broke up with her and told her didn't love her any more just so she would go. And he clearly did still love her. And how can we forget all the times where he looked after her and his mother while they were drunk?
** And then there's Luke. He started out as a complete {{Jerkass}}, and eventually became a pretty good friend to the main cast.
** Summer. She started out as a spoiled, rude AlphaBitch, but, like Luke, she evolved into a much more likable, sympathetic character.

* ''Series/TheBarrier'': Iván is an immature hard-drinking partier who seems to spend more nights outside his home than inside it and is prone to being InnocentlyInsensitive when drunk or hungover. However, he is by no means malicious, is quick to ask what's wrong if he sees his family members genuinely distressed and attempts to be NiceToTheWaiter.

* ''Series/NeverHaveIEver'': While Ben has a rather extremely snobby and rude front, when it comes down to it and he sees someone (usually Devi) genuinely upset, he drops his unkind attitude immediately and consistently tries to help instead. His soft side is also noticeable when one realizes how lonely he is in the episode from his perspective, with culminates with him breaking down in tears at Nalini's office after she mentions the Vishwakumars eat dinner together every night, something Ben has not done with his family in a very long time.

--> Lulu: As I slowly got to know you, I realized how deep you are and how special and how remarkable you are. And how lucky I am the day that you stomped into my life. And I'm very happy that you married my dad, and I'm honoured to call you my stepmother.

* ''Series/AllInTheFamily''[='=]s Archie Bunker is one of the most famous personable jerks on American TV, who gradually developed a heart of gold as the years went by. While he was a bigot, his attitudes came about more due to the society he grew up in, rather than genuine malice or racism. Once he actually got to know other cultures and peoples better, he was able to accept them at least a little more easily.
** What set Archie apart was that he while had initial dislike of certain groups, he also wasn't a violent man, and was appalled at groups who did use violence and fear.

* ''Series/OneHundredDeedsForEddieMcdowd'': Has the titular character going from antagonizing Justin while he's a dog to helping him when he's in trouble. The Drifter also counts.