History CharacterPerceptionEvolution / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': When the show was first running, Jim Halpert was one of the most popular characters and beloved by most of the fanbase. Over the years, however, due in large part to ValuesDissonance, [[https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-offices-jim-halpert-absolute-worst/ an]] [[https://www.buzzfeed.com/hilarywardle/his-hair-is-pretty-shit-as-well increasing]] [[https://screenrant.com/office-jim-halpert-worst-jerk/ number]] [[https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/20/the-office-usas-nice-guy-jim-halpert-was-actually-a-terrible-person-13936376/ of people]] have begun to look at him with a much more critical lens. Nowadays, Jim is one of the biggest {{Base Breaking Character}}s of ''The Office'' fandom, with people split between those who consider him a funny and sweet moral center of the show and those who consider him a DesignatedHero and TheBully.

* When ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' first began airing in the early 2000s, protagonist John "J.D." Dorian was near-universally viewed as a likeable and relatable character with a strong foundation of underdog sympathy; he was also considered fairly groundbreaking at the time, being an early example of a sitcom protagonist who was [[ProudToBeAGeek openly and proudly nerdy]] and [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide unafraid to subvert traditional ideals of masculinity]]--while also having an active love life. But as cultural perceptions of geeks and nerds have shifted over the years, it's come to be much more widely acknowledged that men with nerdy interests (and those with superficially "feminine" tendencies) can be just as guilty of toxic masculinity as stereotypical "Alpha Males", meaning that modern viewers are a lot less likely to see J.D. as an underdog by default. Partly due to this, ''Scrubs'' fans are now much more willing to acknowledge the character's negative traits, particularly concerning his relationships with women. Considering the many morally questionable things that he did over the course of the show's run (e.g. abusing his authority to torment Keith out of jealousy over his relationship with Elliot, knowingly sleeping with Elliot while she and Sean were dating, and telling the mother of his child that he didn't love her while she was giving birth), he's now widely seen as a well-meaning but deeply flawed anti-hero who occasionally [[BitchInSheepsClothing uses his timid personality to get away with treating other people horribly]]. Although plenty of people still find him entertaining to watch, he's a far cry from the universally loved hero that he was when the show began.

** Cat Valentine was at one point the show's BreakoutCharacter due to her KindheartedSimpleton nature, being a FountainOfMemes, and for her singing voice courtesy of Music/ArianaGrande early in her career. She was popular enough to co-star in the CrossoverSpinoff with ''Series/ICarly,'' ''Series/SamAndCat.'' However, in the years since the show ended, Cat has been more harshly criticized due to being Flanderized from a ditz to being TooDumbToLive, often being an IdiotHoudini, and undergoing massive CharacterShilling that was done in response to Ariana Grande's growing fame. The most notable example was how she was shoe-horned into ''Sam And Cat'' when it originally started development as just being a solo spin-off for Sam, and the show demonstrated that Sam and Cat didn't work as a duo. Ariana Grande's behavior behind the scenes also negatively effected her character perception, as friction between her and Creator/JennetteMcCurdy ultimately got ''Sam And Cat'' canceled, there was even some rumored friction between her and Creator/VictoriaJustice after she accused her of getting that show canceled. After the allegations of Creator/DanSchneider started coming out, the show's tendency to sexualize Cat got very uncomfortable [[HarsherInHindsight in retrospect]].

** Cat Valentine was at one point the show's BreakoutCharacter due to her KindheartedSimpleton nature, being a FountainOfMemes, and for her singing voice courtesy of Music/ArianaGrande early in her career. She was popular enough to co-star in the CrossoverSpinoff with ''Series/ICarly2007,'' ''Show/SamAndCat.'' However, in the years since the show ended, Cat has been more harshly criticized due to being Flanderized from a ditz to being TooDumbToLive, often being an IdiotHoudini, and undergoing massive CharacterShilling that was done in response to Ariana Grande's growing fame. The most notable example was how she was shoe-horned into ''Sam And Cat'' when it originally started development as just being a solo spin-off for Sam, and the show demonstrated that Sam and Cat didn't work as a duo. Ariana Grande's behavior behind the scenes also negatively effected her character perception, as friction between her and Creator/JennetteMcCurdy ultimately got ''Sam And Cat'' canceled, there was even some rumored friction between her and Creator/VictoriaJustice after she accused her of getting that show canceled. After the allegations of Creator/DanSchneider started coming out, the show's tendency to sexualize Cat got very uncomfortable [[HarsherInHindsight in retrospect]].

* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': While it wasn't universal, there were some pretty vocal anti-Tori sentiments during the show's run, mainly for being the SitcomArchNemesis of fan-favorite Jade as well as her tendency to kiss other girls' boyfriends, but also general CharacterShilling and constantly being at the center of every plot as those who wish one of her more mercurial co-stars got time to shine as a main character for once. And even some of the hate was felt to be more about rumors of backstage fighting, thought that was purely speculative. In retrospect, though, more have come around to enjoying her character, feeling that some of the more selfish and jealous traits even as she generally tried to make everyone happy and do the right thing in most given situations made her feel like a more believably flawed heroine than some of Creator/DanSchneider's past main girls (notably [[Series/Zoey101 Zoey]] and [[Series/ICarly Carly]]), as well as certainly being aided by her character's growth as a beloved LGBTQ+ icon after Jade and Tori's Playdate (even with the character's canonically [[AmbiguouslyBi ambiguous sexuality]]) and liking her subversion of the more boy-and-image-obsessed characterization of most Zitcom heroines of the time.

** For years, Wesley Crusher was infamous for being one of the biggest CreatorsPet characters on television. While [[BaseBreakingCharacter he's still divisive]], there's a significant number of fans who [[CriticalBacklash find those criticisms overblown]], arguing that most instances of him being truly obnoxious occurred in the early seasons and that there are more episodes where he's being dismissed and called out by the cast. Not to mention that in later years, Wesley's actor, Creator/WilWheaton, has been more upfront about [[HateDumb the vitriol he had experienced from fans during his time on the show]], making people more inclined to cut his character some slack nowadays. [[spoiler:To whit, Wheaton's appearance as Wesley (now a Traveler) in the season 2 finale of ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' was widely praised by fans.]]

** For years, Wesley Crusher was infamous for being one of the worst MartyStu and CreatorsPet (the former {{Trope Namer|s}}, in fact) characters on television. While [[BaseBreakingCharacter he's still divisive]], there's a significant number of fans who [[CriticalBacklash find those criticisms overblown]], arguing that most instances of him being truly obnoxious occurred in the early seasons and that there are more episodes where he's being dismissed and called out by the cast. Not to mention that in later years, Wesley's actor, Creator/WilWheaton, has been more upfront about [[HateDumb the vitriol he had experienced from fans during his time on the show]], making people more inclined to cut his character some slack nowadays. [[spoiler:To whit, Wheaton's appearance as Wesley (now a Traveler) in the season 2 finale of ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' was widely praised by fans.]]

** When the show first started, Will Schuester used to be pretty well-liked by the fandom for being a CoolTeacher, his charisma, and his good looks courtesy of his actor, Matthew Morrison. Nowadays, he's TheScrappy for reliving his glory days vicariously through the Glee club, forcing Finn to join by planting pot on him and threatening to destroy his academic future, cheating on his wife because of a misunderstanding involving a pregnancy scare, and regularly having his underage students dress provocatively and perform sexually suggestive dances for the Glee club's performances.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': [[TheCasanova Barney Stinson]] was initially the show's BreakoutCharacter, due to getting a lot of the best lines and Creator/NeilPatrickHarris's charisma in the role. However, after the [=#MeToo=] movement brought greater attention to sexual harassment and abuse, many have felt that some of his LovableSexManiac antics have aged him poorly as a character. Despite his {{character development}}, his womanizing bordered on rape at times. He has been implied to [[ButLiquorIsQuicker sleep with drunk women]] regardless of his own sobriety, and he regularly lies to women to get them to sleep with him (including [[DisguisedInDrag dressing as a woman]] to have sex with lesbians and tricking a woman into shooting a sex tape with him so he can show it to Ted). Nowadays, while he still has his fans thanks to his larger-than-life personality, there are many people who think some of his more questionable sexual behavior makes it hard to find him funny or charming and wish he'd been written as a bit less creepy.

** Xander Harris. During the show's original broadcast, a lot of viewers sympathized with and related to Xander as TheHeart of the Scoobies, but ValuesDissonance has led to a new generation of viewers (especially female ones) absolutely loathing him for his interference in Buffy's love life (in particular his hostility to Angel and Spike, and his support of her human love interest Riley, who is also unpopular with fans) and for his treatment of his own female romantic partners Cordelia and Anya, which has been accused of including strong elements of [[EntitledToHaveYou entitlement]], [[DoggedNiceGuy inability to take no for an answer]] and other types of unpleasantness. The fact that he is an acknowledged AuthorAvatar for Creator/JossWhedon made things [[HarsherInHindsight even worse]] following the allegations against Whedon of abusive behavior towards cast members and writers going all the way back to the days of ''Buffy'' after the TroubledProduction and [[BoxOfficeBomb box-office failure]] of ''Film/JusticeLeague2017''.

*** Felicity Smoak was originally the show's BreakoutCharacter, with fans loving her for being an {{Adorkable}} GenkiGirl who served as TheHeart of Team Arrow, with many even [[FanPreferredCouple shipping her and Oliver]] over the source material's pairing of Oliver and Laurel. When Season 3 actually [[PromotedToLoveInterest made this canon]] however, many fans started to think that Felicity had become a CreatorsPet, with [[SpotlightStealingSquad too much focus]] being put on her at the expense of other characters, her romance with Oliver being seen as a RomanticPlotTumor, and her actions occasionally coming across as [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic self-centered and hypocritical]]. By Season 4, these traits had become so exaggerated that Felicity ended becoming the biggest BaseBreakingCharacter in the entire series. However, it wasn't until her actions in Series/CrisisOnEarthX resulting in the [[NeverLiveItDown infamous "double wedding"]] that finally killed off whatever remaining popularity she had and resulted in her being the most hated of the ''entire'' Arrowverse at the time, with her character now being seen as perhaps the biggest example of what happens when an originally popular character gets way too much exposure. However, a few years after the show has ended, there's been some fans who have considered the hatred towards her to be overblown, helped by the fact that the writers had taken strides to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap redeem the character]] in the last few seasons, along with giving her a rather [[AlasPoorScrappy somber send-off]]. As a result, she's moved back to being a BaseBreakingCharacter, albeit one that plenty of fans will admit could have been handled way better.

* PlayedForLaughs in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS0lOf4SBRU&t=633s this real-life principal's reaction]] to Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide, in regards to [[OneOfTheKids Gordy the Janitor]]. Fans did and still do love Gordy, but the reviewer points out that inviting kids to scheme in the janitor's closet with him would look creepy in real life, and he's taken to doing a counter on how many times per episode he'd get fired in real life.