Cousin Oliver - Television Tropes & Idioms

Cousin Oliver is that inexplicable kid added to the show's roster, probably in an attempt to liven up an aging cast.

Sometimes Cousin Olivers are then afflicted with SORAS. This doesn't always make it better. Compare it to The Bumblebee, who is generally less annoying.

Very susceptible to becoming The Scrappy.

Examples:

The original Cousin Oliver was added to The Brady Bunch.
Wasn't he introduced in, like, the last episode? I'm pretty sure he was.
Stephanie on All In The Family.
Dawn's sudden addition to the cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer in season 5, as Buffy's heretofore nonexistent sister, was actually made into a plot point.
- Mmmm, Michelle Tratchtenberg... *drool*. Sorry, you were saying something?
Scrappy-Doo, from Scooby Doo .
- There's also Flim-Flam, the ethnic kid from The Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby Doo.
Olivia on The Cosby Show.
Growing Pains had two: Chrissy, the youngest Seaver daughter, and then later Leonardo Dicaprio's homeless-kid character.
Family Ties and Gimme A Break also tried this.
The Simpsons spoofed the idea by adding a teen named Roy for only one episode ("The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show").
Married With Children had Seven, who started as a Cousin Oliver (since both "children" were college-aged). After Katey Sagal, whose real-life pregnancy had been written into the show, had a miscarriage, he became a Brother Chuck when he was removed with absolutely no explanation (though he had his Face On A Milk Carton for Lamp Shade Hanging effect).
Sharko, from the final season of Sealab 2021, is a spoof of this character type.
Justin on Power Rangers: Turbo.
Little House On The Prairie's final seasons featured a hilarious number of random "adorable" orphans shoehorned into the Little House after the original kids left home. Albert (adopted off the streets of the Big City), James and his sister Cassandra (parents killed in a wagon crash), Jenny (left on Laura's doorstep by her dying brother-in-law), etc. This is despite the show already having two younger Ingalls sisters in Carrie and Grace. Oddly enough, as more than one fan has remarked in alarm, Pa Ingalls never did build an addition onto his two-room shanty.
- This troper's mother, who was a big fan of the show, thought that these random adoptions were historically accurate. The troper, who actually read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, had to disillusion her. Carrie and Grace really existed; the others didn't.
Eight Is Enough had Cousin Jeremy (Ralph Macchio) who went on to become the Karate Kid.
In My Three Sons they formally adopted Chip's orphan friend Ernie.
Chibi-Usa's addition to the Sailor Moon cast wasn't initially for this reason, but the writers did end up using her for a younger demographic marketability in the retooled fourth series of the anime. Sailor Luna in the live-action series could also be an example of this trope in the same fashion.
- And who hasn't read a Mary Sue Fan Fic where the author surrogate was Ken's twin sister, or Usagi's long-lost second child, or what have you? Be honest, we feel your pain.
Movie Example: the addition of Howard Phillips (Jason Barry) to the third film in the Re-Animator series, replacing the lead character of the last two films, Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott). Though not a kid, Phillips is significantly younger; producer/director Brian Yuzna admitted freely that Phillips' addition was due to Yuzna's desire not to make a film about "two middle-aged guys".
Also not a kid, but the shoehorning in of Lola Bunny into the Looney Tunes lineage (even being a baby in Baby Looney Tunes...even though the gang didn't know her in Space Jam) somewhat rubs this editor the wrong way. (Though not as much as Loonatics Unleashed, mind you.)
Spoofed in Drawn Together with Strawberry Sweetcake.
Parodied by The Onion (who else, really?)
Wheel of Time randomly adds a young boy named Olver to the cast.
- I'm not sure it was so randomly, there is some very powerful evidence that he is The reincarnation of Gaidal Kain, and he will probably be important in the final book.
The Porters' foster child Declan in the last series of Two Point Four Children. He also served as a Jonas Quinn for the departing Jenny.
Danny Chase in the comic book version of Teen Titans. He was even designed to look like Cousin Oliver. Combine this with abrasive personality, lack of codename, costume, or original powers and he quickly became the franchise's Wesley, as well.
- In other words, Danny Chase is to the Teen Titans what Zam, Jayna, Wendy and Marvin are to the Justice League.
Parodied / referenced in Batman The Animated Series, where "Spunky", the new child star added for the last season of Baby Doll's sitcom was also designed to resemble Cousin Oliver. (Also, the original cousin Oliver's actor voiced one of the actors that Baby Doll kidnaps.)
Arguably, Max from the Pokemon anime fits this trope.
- And May. Once Brock and Misty left the show, the magic was gone.
In Family Matters the Winslows adopted 3J, a streetwise little orphan. Since there already was a Cousin Oliver in the show, little Richie, they both merged into a single split-personality Cousin Oliver ("Maybe we shoudn't do this." "Oh, come on, it'll be fun!").
Parodied/subverted in the Hellsing TV series with the previously unmentioned "Integra Hellsing's sister." She's actually the last of a kind of bizarre vampire that used mind-control abilities to make the Muggles (including the Battle Buttler) "remember" her. Also, she actually manages to seriously hurt Integra, something even the Valentine Brothers couldn't do.
Spoofed in the Pinky And The Brain episode "Pinky and the Brain and Larry" before Executive Meddling retooled the show into Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain.
Robots don't age, but Capcom added the rookie Axl, who acted all of 13 to the cast of Mega Man X7 to contrast with veterans X and Zero. If that wasn't bad enough, X was Derailed into retirement (no, not "Retirement") to force you to use Axl.
Penny from Good Times. Introduced to give Willona someone to care for, since the Evans kids weren't really kids anymore.
Film Example: Minya was added to the Godzilla franchise due to the increasing number of kids going to see the movies. Of course, the less said about him the better.
- Likewise, there's Baby Godzilla AKA Little Godzilla AKA Godzilla Junior.
- Don't forget Godzookie!