History RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap / LiveActionTV

** Black Noir. While he isn't disliked either in the comics, the twist ||spoiler:revealing that Noir is a clone of Homelander, and also the one responsible for everything horrible Homelander supposedly did]] is a controversial one, especially once it's revealed that Noir in the show is a Black guy named Earving and is given a sympathetic backstory and an almost child-like personality.

*** The Seventh Doctor started his tenure as an annoying, over-the-top pratfalling clown with a tendency towards irritating mixed metaphors, who irritated many of the viewers. After his first season didn't go down that well, the production team decided to sober him up, taking away his more annoying quirks and adding a more mysterious, brooding depth to him. This met with widespread fan approval; however, it was arguably too late to save the series, which was cancelled after his third season. This CharacterDevelopment continued in the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures novels, which greatly increased the character's more sober, introspective AntiHero nature to widespread approval (although it's also often argued that, at worst, the novels had a tendency to take it too far with the DarkerAndEdgier stuff, and sometimes wobbled into making the character an unlikeable KnightTemplar bastard). His AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho episodes largely take place between TV show episodes, and ''somehow'', the writers took his first appearances as a bumbling goof and used that characterisation in two of the most well-loved audio episodes ''ever'': "Bang-Bang-A-Boom!" and "Unregenerate!".

* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'': Some (although not all) of the people who view Coy and Vance as [[ReplacementScrappy Replacement Scrappies]] admit to warming toward the characters around the midway point of their run on the show when they have some powerful moments in the DarkerAndEdgier episode "The Great Insurance Fraud." Coy's actor puts on a particularly convincing performance of someone traumatized by (wrongly) thinking that he caused a fatal car accident. The tension and emotion they display in the DatingCatwoman episode "Coy vs Vance" is also decently remembered.

** The series did this with Frederick Chilton, of all people. In the first season, he was portrayed as little more than an incompetent SmugSnake psychiatrist. In the second season, when Will Graham came under his "care," Chilton seemed to be gearing up to be even more of an epic {{Jerkass}} than before. Which... he still more or less was, but the showrunners took care to spotlight the more hilarious aspects of Raúl Esparza's performance, leading Chilton into LoveToHate territory. Then he got ahold of the SmartBall and became an unlikely (albeit self-serving) ally of Will's, at a time when most of the rest of the cast was still treating Will as [[CassandraTruth delusional]] about Hannibal. And then they basically dedicated an entire episode to Chilton being snarky about Hannibal Lecter's [[ImAHumanitarian culinary interests]], at which point he was officially rescued. By the time [[spoiler:Hannibal sprang the trap he'd set for Chilton all along, fandom ''exploded'' with theories on how Chilton [[TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain could still be alive]].]]

* ''Series/{{Nikita}}'': Jaden started out as a fellow trainee alongside Alex, who took a disliking to her for no apparent reason and acted like a school bully. Then comes the episode "Girl's Best Friend," where she proves willing to work with Alex for the good of a mission, gets some CharacterDevelopment with her story about killing an abusive boyfriend, and finally is set up to be a full-fledged EvilCounterpart to Alex rather than just a whiny bitch. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, she's killed off in the next episode]].

** Connor, after the Wolfram Hart Deal with the Devil that Angel made, came out a much nicer, sane, laid-back fellow after having new memories and a new upbringing put in. Even after he got his memories back, he still was much improved. However, his case is very much Downplayed. After a full season of being an extremely unlikeable main character, he only appeared as his more kind and laid-back self in two episodes of the final season.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':

** For the first quarter of Day 6, Tom Lennox wasn't much more than the typical pain in the ass government employee, and just about everyone watching were quick to dub him one of the worst characters on the show as early as the season premiere. During the remainder of the season, his character was quickly established as one who in spite of some of his questionable tactics truly did care about the fate of the country and after seemingly crossing the MoralEventHorizon by agreeing to take part in an assassination attempt against the current President later proved himself by revealing he was attempting to [[FakeDefector expose the conspirators]] all along; ultimately he even went on to serve as the MoralityPet to a much more gung-ho extremist President later on. Despite the fact that the sixth season is consistently seen as one of the weakest, even its detractors generally agree that he was one of the few real bright spots in it.

* ''Series/AmericanIdol'': Haley Reinhart managed to pull herself out on Season 10. At the beginning of the season she was criticized for her appearance adding more to her staying power than her voice. That all changed when she started to deliver stellar performances and gained a possibly insane fanbase.

** Thea Queen started as TheScrappy, but later redeemed herself, fell back into Scrappy territory and then rescued herself again:
*** After getting in a car crash while [[spoiler: high on Vertigo]] kick-started some much needed CharacterDevelopment by having her begin working with Laurel at C.N.R.I. and subsequently begin developing a relationship with Roy Harper. It also helped that her relationship with Oliver had become less frosty as the season went on, as they both began understanding what the other had been through in the five years that Oliver was missing.

*** Then comes "Canaries", the thirteen episode of Season Three, and she is rescued seemingly for good, what with [[spoiler: Oliver telling her the whole truth (except for her having killed Sara) at last, her lovingly accepting him and even ''thanking'' him for saving her life, and her coming to her senses about Malcolm and turning against him for having manipulated her into abandoning the people she loves]]. Come "The Return" and she [[spoiler:chewed Malcolm out for turning her into a murder weapon, also administering a beatdown to Slade Wilson]].

** A lot of fans feel that this show rescues Nyssa Al-Ghul. Nyssa debuted in the not so popular ComicBook/{{Batman}} "Death and the Maidens" story arc in 2003 as a previously unknown daughter of Ra's who becomes his "true heir". The storyline was very unpopular for a number of reasons, most of all for killing off a beloved Batman villain for a short time. Nyssa rarely appeared after becoming the new Demon's Head, and was killed quietly in four panels during the "One Year Later" event. However, fans seem to like her character here much better. It helps that the show's version of Nyssa is not her father's enemy, but is instead a loyal and honor-driven character more like the classic version of her sister Talia, a much more popular character in the comics.

** Laurel Lance began the series as ''the'' Scrappy of the Arrow fandom in the first two seasons often due to her [[{{Hypocrisy}} hypocritical]] actions and her [[RomanticPlotTumor less then stellar romance with Oliver]] which for many fans caused them to latch on to the [[FanPreferredCouple Olicity pairing instead]]. Comic book fans likewise couldn't stand her due to her being [[AdaptationalWimp significantly less awesome]] then her comic book counterpart ComicBook/BlackCanary. Even when she did finally don her costume in season 3, many fans hated that this came about [[spoiler: due to the death of her more beloved sister instead]]. However as the season progressed and she gained some much needed CharacterDevelopment and [[TookALevelInBadass Badassness]] a lot of fans started to warm up to her. Come Season 4, a combination of much more closely resembling her main comic counterpart, significantly better acting then when she started, and firmly situating herself as the CoolBigSis of the group won over a lot of fans to her side (it also properly helped that Felicity become a significant BaseBreakingCharacter during this time). [[spoiler: It's pretty telling that a lot of the Arrow fandom seems to have reacted in sadness and anger at her death in season 4 episode 18 rather then the glee she properly would have gotten if she died at the start of the series]].

** Felicity was received a lot warmer during Season 7, due to her interesting dynamic with Earth-2 Laurel and being a lot more supportive and less critical of Oliver than before. The finale in particular had many people [[AlasPoorScrappy feel sorry for her]], and her presence has been missed by some fans during Season 8. However, the fans never really got to actually liking her again in the end, at most tolerating her presence because they knew there was no chance of the show going with another of the more popular Oliver ships anymore. The Season 8 / Series finale did have many people being very overjoyed about her return and they were glad for her and Oliver finally receiving a happy ending, despite all the issues before.
** Dinah Drake was initially received very lukewarm due to [[AssPull coming out of nowhere]] and [[ReplacementScrappy replacing]] both Laurel Lance, as well as Black Siren. In Season 6, she was disliked even more due to becoming extremely self-righteous and outright cruel towards her friends in pursuit of a selfish revenge-quest. However, as of Season 7, she was received much more positively due to realizing the error of her ways, acting as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure as the new captain of the GCPD and even forming an unlikely bond with the aforementioned Black Siren. Her future counterpart has also been received quite warmly.

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': Could qualify as a TropeCodifier or {{Trope Maker|s}} with the number of characters that have been rescued from becoming TheScrappy, it's hard to know where to start. We could start with Zach Addy, who started off as an adult CousinOliver but as season one progressed, became a very strong character who lasted for 3 seasons before being PutOnABus. Then there was Dr. Saroyan, who started off as a taskmaster of a boss and a JerkAss, but after nearly getting killed midway through season two, her popularity soared. Then there's Dr. Sweets, who was just like Zach, but with more social skills. Fans didn't really like him until he offered valuable contributions to the Gormagon case. (Incidentally, this was about the same time Zack left.) Some of the Squinterns have become popular after their inauspicious debuts, like Dr. Edison, Vincent Nigel-Murray (who ended up being killed off after 3 seasons) and Arastoo Vaziri. Oh, and let's not forget Caroline Julian, who has made her fair share of fans after her inauspicious debut. In short, no matter where you look, Bones is definitely a TropeCodifier for this.

** Hank began as Walt's obnoxious DEA brother-in law, which inevitably grated on people. Starting in Season 2, after he shoots Tuco and slowly starts to have a nervous breakdown, he became a fan favorite due to actually displaying some competency and HiddenDepths.

** Wesley was probably TheScrappy, and seemed to remain under this shadow at first when transferring over to ''Series/{{Angel}}''. However, he quickly improved, and after a couple of seasons and a great deal of character development, he was one of the most fleshed out and well-rounded characters on either show.
** Connor, after the Wolfram Hart Deal with the Devil that Angel made, came out a much nicer, sane, laid-back fellow after having new memories and a new upbringing put in. Even after he got his memories back, he still was much improved. However, his case is very much Downplayed. After a full season of being an extremely unlikeable main character, he only appeared as his more kind and laidback self in two episodes of the final season.
** Dawn actually achieved this for some in Season 7. With a bit of CharacterDevelopment, less emphasis on the DistressBall and contributing more to the group -- the hate towards her lessened. Season 7 is divisive but people who don't like the season do list Dawn's character as having improved, no longer just there to be rescued and give Buffy unconditional love but fulfilling the role of a full member of the Scooby gang.

* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'': Frasier Crane was hated in his debut due to being the hypotenuse in a LoveTriangle with the shows' FanPreferredCouple Sam and Diane. Creator/KelseyGrammer claims that people would come up to him in the street and curse him out for coming between them. He not only managed to become an integral part of the main cast, but also the star of [[Series/{{Frasier}} arguably the most successful spinoff in TV history]].

** Liberty was unpopular during the show's first few seasons, due to her ShrinkingViolet personality, unsettling obsession with JT, and the fact that many felt Sarah Barrable-Tishauer was weakest actress of the young cast. Her later genuine connection and relationship with JT, pregnancy storyline in which she makes the visibly devastating decision to give her baby up for adoption, and conflict with Mia (who herself was another {{Scrappy}} due to being a CreatorsPet) saw her redeemed in the eyes of many. Years after her exit from the show, Liberty was one of the few characters brought back for the highly anticipated 500th episode special.

** Creator/BigFinish [[AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho audio appearances]] have been responsible for salvaging many characters from the TV show who where either underserved by the writers or got a cold audience reception:
*** Adric, the most well-hated ''Doctor Who'' companion of all, seemed to manage this in the 2008 audio ''The Boy that Time Forgot'', a tribute to the character and his status within the show's history, in which he is played by quality actor Andrew Sachs as opposed to the wooden Matthew Waterhouse; before that, his larger, more active role and HeroicSacrifice in his final story went some way to redeem him, although that falls more under AlasPoorScrappy. Waterhouse himself has since returned to play Adric in Big Finish stories set prior to his demise, which are widely regarded to be considered some of their best productions, not least because of a better-written Adric and that Waterhouse has genuinely improved as an actor since 1982.
*** They considerably improved the reputation of the Sixth Doctor among the fan-base (they got rid of the hideous coat and gave him a blue one, for a start). To display just how ''much'' he has been rescued, it is now the case that the man who was once almost unanimously agreed by many to be the ''worst'' Doctor, now rates very highly on fan-polls, and is almost unanimously agreed by many to be the ''best'' Doctor of the Creator/BigFinish audios.

*** One of the more interesting things about this example was [[spoiler:that the other characters acknowledged that this had happened and in the end her fate worse than death was to be returned to her Scrappy-state. Some of the fans that once disliked her were instead upset that such an anti-climactic fate had befallen her.]]
*** In many ways this also extended to Catherine Tate herself, since before her return to ''Who'' she was something of a victim of typecasting in roles which had a limited appeal. Donna started out as such a character, then changed incredibly.
*** Tate also picked up '''the Doctor Who Magazine's Greatest Contribution Award''' for 2008 for her performance. With twice as many votes as her nearest competitor, Creator/RussellTDavies, who had definitively proven ''Series/DoctorWho'' was back and popular by leading it to its first #1 at the top of the weekly viewing figures in its history. If that's not proof how well the character turned around, what on Earth is?
** Although Creator/JennaColeman's performance was praised by most people, a fandom drained with ArcFatigue for Creator/StevenMoffat's LivingMacGuffin female characters found "Impossible Girl" Clara Oswald to be a "generic companion" FlatCharacter, dressed in a melodramatic mystery arc we'd already seen several times before in this era. Due to the nature of the arc she was introduced in (her first two appearances were as different characters who died helping the Doctor -- but implied to all be the same woman) as well as the main Smith-era arc still not having been resolved ''and'' the 50th anniversary special WhamEpisode being set up, she was stuck doing nothing or having her character reset to zero for most of Series 7B, and conflicting production instructions meant different writers interpreted her in very different ways. The nature of her relationship with the Doctor (who didn't trust her, but was obsessed with her anyway) also meant he ended up acting like a creepy old man -- but with this presented as a romantic ideal, and when her actions in the SeasonFinale and the follow-up specials easily made her one of the most powerful companions ''ever'', she garnered MarySue accusations. However, Series 8 completely overhauled her character, giving her a different job, a genuinely dramatic PartTimeHero plotline and a complicated, {{Hubris}}tic relationship with time travel, making her much more flawed, unique and interesting. The elements of her relationship with the Doctor that came across as unintentionally creepy were brought to the forefront and handled more deftly, without sacrificing the heartwarming qualities of their friendship. The recasting of the Doctor with a much older man moved their relationship away from the standard 'two young hot people in love' idea towards a more complex portrayal of the potentially devastating consequences of the traditional Doctor-Companion UndyingLoyalty. This continued into the well-received Series 9, in which she became his DistaffCounterpart for better and for worse; although her ultimate fate ([[spoiler: she was Killed Off For Real, but due to the Doctor's mad attempt to rescue her she can have infinite adventures in the last moment of her life, complete with her own TARDIS and companion]]) caused a BrokenBase, it was a ''loooooong'' way from where she started as a character in more ways than one.

** Sikozu, who joined in the final season, was initially dismissed as a DroppedABridgeOnHim - style replacement for Jool (even down to the red hair and obnoxious attitude), but was almost instantly rescued from the Scrappy Heap when she finally appeared on screen, most certainly around the time she let her hair down later in the first episode of Season 4.

** Julian Albert shakes off much of the hate he got in [[Recap/TheFlash2014S3E5Monster "Monster"]] due to much needed CharacterDevelopment in the form of BreakTheHaughty and HiddenDepths. While [[{{Hypocrite}} forcing Barry to quit his job as a CSI tech in exchange for not ratting on Caitlin/Killer Frost while criticizing Barry's sense of justice and morality two episodes later]] seemed to have erased any ounce of goodwill, this was soon resolved with the reveal that "Alchemy" was simply Savitar using his body as a vessel, and Julian had no idea about it, handily clearing up all the apparent inconsistencies in his characterization and allowing him to make friends with the team. Unfortunately his continual tendancy to grab the JerkassBall after joining the team, and especially, his [[NiceJobBreakingItHero action of removing Caitlin's suppressor to prevent her death disregarding her will]], turning her into Killer Frost, never redeemed him to more than BaseBreakingCharacter.

** Inverted with Ralph Dibny. At first, he was warmly received, but his popularity kept waning as time went on. [[https://www.theyoungfolks.com/television/119260/the-flash-has-a-ralph-dibny-problem/ Many]], [[http://fangirlish.com/the-flash-1x17-review-null-and-annoyed/ many]], '''[[http://www.withanaccent.com/2018/04/13/the-flashs-elongated-problem/ many]]''' fans and critics alike turned on him after the episode "Null and Annoyed". Not only was it '''another''' personal growth story for Ralph after he's had so many this season, he spent the entire episode being obnoxious to the other team members, especially Barry, who most people sided with even though he was supposed to be in the wrong. Many people pointed out that his screentime could have gone to Iris, who had just decided to be a journalist again, or Cisco and Caitlin, who have been sidelined for Ralph all season. His sob story about cracking jokes during times of crisis also wasn't well-recieved. Having said that, most did not want him [[spoiler:to die at [=DeVoe=]'s hands]].

* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': Used on purpose with Quinn. Quinn began as a shallow, nasty, IceQueen AlphaBitch who was just a RomanticFalseLead for Finn -- the OfficialCouple being Finn and Rachel. Quinn was also a spy for the BigBad, Sue. She was so unlikable that you didn't feel sorry for her when she got pregnant due to this making her a StrawHypocrite (she's president of the celibacy club) and got the baby while cheating on her boyfriend with his best friend. Over time, however, she turned into one of the most sympathetic characters on the series, turning into a FallenPrincess. Some people still hate her but even those who despise her admit to feeling sorry for her during episode 10 when a crying and desperate Quinn begs for her bigoted parents to forgive her only for them to promptly kick her out of the house.

* Vanessa was universally hated among the ''Series/GossipGirl'' fandom to the point that they eventually wrote her out. Only, in the last season she appeared the writers seemed to think the fans would enjoy seeing her being treated like crap and went with that full-force. The result was that people began to sympathize with her and turned their hatred towards Dan who was the character who treated her the worst (while sanctimoniously telling her that ''she'' was an awful person even though ''he'' was the one treating ''her'' badly). It didn't help that Dan was already borderline Scrappy (and became [[CreatorsPet the Wesley]] full force once Vanessa was gone).

** Rather amazingly, the resultant [[spoiler:second pregnancy, this time with Nick's child]], gave rise to an an incredibly successful redemption arc, which started in the Season 4 episode "Iron Hans" and continued without letup through the end of the series. It helped that her rival Juliette [[spoiler:was busy going through a FaceHeelTurn and traveling much further across the MoralEventHorizon than Adalind ever did]] at about the same time. By Season 6, after [[spoiler:earning her way to SecondLove status]], she was a beloved character, and the overwhelming majority of fans wanted her to be the endgame in Nick's romantic life, [[spoiler:which she was, and according to the DistantFinale, was still with Nick 20 years later]].

** Alana Bloom was a very likable character in the first season due to her always showing concern for Will's well-being, and is the only one who sincerely tries to help him compared to the others who would either manipulate him or suspect him. But then in the latter half of the second season, after Will tried to have Hannibal murdered by proxy, she [[TookALevelInJerkass became very resentful of Will, and would always regard him with hostility from then on]]. And during this time, she entered in a romantic relationship with Hannibal, becoming so invested in her feelings for the latter that she absolutely refuses to hear anyone out who would start to believe or consider that Will may be right about Hannibal being a killer. Of course, almost everyone found it hard to continue seeing her as sympathetic at this point, and grew extremely annoyed with her. Near the season finale however, she was slowly redeemed in the eyes of the fandom when she ''finally'' suspects Hannibal may be more than who he seems, which led to her finding out that Will was right all along, and she completely acknowledges her fault in this. She is then fully rescued by the Season 2 finale, when she confronts Hannibal at gunpoint and does not even hesitate to pull the trigger, only failing to get a bullet on him since he saw it coming beforehand. Her character [[TookALevelInBadass Taking A Level In Badass]] in the third season by plotting to take down Hannibal cemented the fact that she is well-beloved by all fans again.
* ''Series/HappyEndings'': Alex. Many deemed her a boring, MarySue type character initially, but starting with the second season, the writers began to [[CharacterDevelopment flesh out her character more]], and she became the lovable [[TheDitz ditz]] viewers have come to know.

** Dr. Cameron was initially hard to like, but the fanbase seems to have warmed up to her (especially in comparison to her replacement on House's team, Thirteen). It was difficult to like Cameron because she usually became emotionally involved with the patients and would usually disagree with House and sometimes the rest of the team simply because whatever House had planned was immoral[[note]] The nature of the show makes any character who adheres to medical ethics look like an absolute moron[[/note]]. She was probably planned to be sort a straight man or voice of reason, but due to the strong personalities of the other characters, especially House, she became more like a preachy, annoying character who made stupid mistakes that sometimes did more harm than good for the sake of her morals. After being replaced by the new team, she reappears occasionally but is ''much'' less irritating.

* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Joy Mercer was originally the show's scrappy, as she was in love with one half of the show's [[DieForOurShip most popular pairing.]] Her {{Jerkass}} tendencies didn't help matters, and eventually even the other characters on the show stopped liking her. However, in the end of she second season, she [[HeroicSacrifice took a lightning bolt meant for Fabian]], nearly dying in the process, which was an act of selflessness so great that people started to see her in a better light. In the third season, she was much more sympathetic, she gained a new look as well as a new attitude, and got involved in a wildly popular pairing, effectively redeeming her in the eyes of the fans.
* Delia in ''Series/InPlainSight''. She starts out extremely annoying, with Mary (the protagonist) very much not a fan. The second episode of the final season, "Four Marshalls and a Baby", seems largely designed just to make Delia more likable. She proves herself to be very adept dealing with baby Nora (Mary's daughter), owns a neo-Nazi with just a few lines of dialogue and an icy stare, and talks down an unstable witness. By the end of the episode, Mary is won over...and so is the audience.

* ''Series/{{Kirby Buckets}}''' older sister Dawn was initially characterized as a spoiled, insecure teenager who pulled gross pranks on Kirby and was alsays envisioned by her brother as an ugly dinosaur caricature called Dawnzilla. This naturally made her into a HateSink. However, as the show went on, she became less [[Series/DrakeAndJosh Megan Parker]] and more [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Meg Griffin]], as Kirby’s behavior in their feud took a turn for the worse, as in one episode he ''nearly killed her'' (granted, it was an accident as he was trying to stage a rescue, but still the fact that Kirby took that risk with little concern for what could go wrong is chilling) and the Dawnzilla gag increasingly came off as mean-spirited and annoying rather than funny. It helps that she spends most of the show in B-plots with her best friend Belinda rather than interacting with Kirby in the A-plot, and that Olivia Stuck got increasingly hotter as the show went on.

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': While it may have been planned from the beginning, Jin became a far more sympathetic and likable character after the episode "In Translation", and especially in season 2.

*** However, for many fans, she never quite got rescued, even though the writers obviously tried; even in season 6 she was probably the most hated character in the show (a poll on a popular fan site showed that up to 50% of voters wanted her to die).

* ''Series/TheLWord'': Jenny was both TheScrappy and a CreatorsPet for most fans, but, when the writers caught onto just how disliked her character was, and brought her back as an all out unsympathetic, incompetent JerkAss director in Season Five, it actually ''boosted'' her popularity. Mia Kirshner's utterly hilarious performance with the new material made her a joy to watch. Ironically, having her go crazy - and ''acknowledging'' her craziness within the show - made fans care about her a lot more than any of the previous efforts to redeem or [[TheWoobie Woobify]] her in earlier seasons.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': When first introduced into the show, Pearl was rather unpopular among fans for being a smug VillainSue mother of the established bad guy. Once she became the main bad guy however, her character was shifted until she became more of a DistaffCounterpart of the original Doctor Forrester.

* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': Andy Bernard was introduced as a thoroughly unlikable sycophant with rage issues. While he's continued to be portrayed as a comically awkward character, his portrayal became more sympathetic during his engagement to Angela (who cheated on him and was otherwise emotionally abusive) and by the time he ended up a main character, he was one of the most likable characters on the show, to the point that the fans were absolutely ''outraged'' by the treatment he received in the series' final season that had him as the DesignatedVillain.

** Zelena was seen as a large VillainSue for much of her appearances. Season 5 morphed her into a gleeful troll whose snark was considered to be funny. The second half rescued her even further by giving her a redemption arc that made her a well developed and somewhat sympathetic character like the rest of the main cast.

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Detective Joss Carter was originally an underdeveloped ByTheBookCop who was concerned with chasing the main characters and bringing them to justice. However, over time, she became one of the most beloved and respected characters on the show who in her final two episodes slipped into the role of TheChessmaster so effortlessly, almost all remaining critics and fans who used to find her the weakest aspect on the series were won over. Judging by the reaction to her demise in the Season 3 episode "The Crossing", many consider her TheHeart of the show, the one who humanized the other amoral protagonists and brought the best out of all of them.

** ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'': Carter Grayson was originally considered a bland, uninteresting character. However, over time, he has become a MemeticBadass. The episode "Yesterday Again" showed that SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct. Also in comparison to the past rangers in the "[[MilestoneCelebration Forever Red]]" episode he does come across as too reliant on his weapons, but few other rangers had the same "go in guns blazing" mentality. So Carter doesn't use the typical strategies other Rangers use but instead just [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim shoots at the bad guys]] or tries to [[RammingAlwaysWorks run them over]] with the rescue jeep.

** Back in the franchise's early years, before they began their Discard and Draw approach each season, any time an actor left, their replacement was [[ReplacementScrappy hated on sight.]] However, given time and a little CharacterDevelopment, most are able to shed their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute origins and become well-liked on their own merits. Rocky, Adam, Kat, Tanya, TJ and Cassie. The only one who didn't get this was Aisha, who had the unfortunate problem of spending most of her tenure OutOfFocus (though her actress is a fan favorite, at least.)
* For a time in 2003-04 after the death of longtime announcer Rod Roddy, ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' rotated among several guest [[TheAnnouncer announcers]] before picking Rich Fields as the successor. The most hated by ''far'' was Daniel Rosen, for not only his utter lack of enthusiasm, but also his {{Astro Turf}}ing of fan forum Golden-Road.net. However, Rosen later went on to become one of the rotating announcers for ''The Price Is Right Live!'', a mock version of the show put on in some casinos.

** Despite being one of the scrappiest of scrappy characters on television, Danny manages to pull this off in one of the most spectacular ways possible. [[spoiler:Miles is knocked out by a chopper missile during an attack on a rebel HQ while attempting to take it out. Danny makes a run for the rocket launcher, and successfully destroys the chopper carrying the amplifier, resulting in the other chopper losing power and dropping as well. Unfortunately for Danny, he is torn to shreds by stray machine gun bullets not ten seconds after. To reiterate, Danny not only saved everyone at the rebel HQ, but destroyed Monroe's only power amplifier, so possibly ''thousands'' of other lives as well. Later, according to Jason, the story of Danny's last stand has spread and inspired many other people--possibly other defectors from the militia--to join the rebels, reinvigorating their cause after it was nearly destroyed.]]

* ''Series/{{Scandal}}'': Quinn Perkins started out as being hated, due to being the NaiveNewcomer and generally sticking out like a sore thumb. Season 2 fixed this by revealing that she is actually Lindsay Dwyer, a woman who is wanted for murdering 7 people. She did no such thing, but there are corrupt powerful people out to make her the patsy. Quinn is now considered TheWoobie. In addition, she is receiving training from Huck, and is turning into a female version of him.

*** The Originals the moment they got their own show. Awhile back they were a base breaker for the VD crowd in that some found them entertaining villains while others hated them because of their overexposure. Once their backstories and motivations became more fleshed out on their show they've been rescued to the point that some people consider them more likable than the Vampire Diaries main cast.

** Michonne's sullen personality, permanent scowl, and [[PoorCommunicationKills refusal to explain]] her mistrust of the Governor to Andrea early in Season 3 did not make a good impression on fans, but she eventually won a lot of them back by showing a more human side towards the end of the season. Her CharacterDevelopment in subsequent seaons eventually lead on her becoming one of the show's most popular characters.
** Father Gabriel was a DirtyCoward priest who left his congregation to be eaten alive by walkers. He's very distrusting of Rick's group, and even after they spend weeks defending him from the undead, he refuses to so much as [[UngratefulBastard lift a finger to help them]]. Once they reach Alexandria, he has the audacity to betray the group to Deanna, tries to get them kicked out, and deliberately taunts a grieving Sasha. He was reviled both InUniverse and out, until it was revealed that [[spoiler: he's a DeathSeeker suffering from deep guilt.]] After an intervention with Maggie, he apologizes profusely to Rick, starts holding mass in the town's church, helps Rick and the others fight a horde of walkers, and has [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome his very own CMoA]] when he [[spoiler: shoots a Saviour in cold blood, whilst reciting a passage from the Bible.]] His BadassPreacher status not only won over the fans, it won over Rick, who is more than happy to let Gabriel babysit his infant daughter.

* ''Series/TheYoungAndTheRestless'': With no help from the writers what so ever, [[TroubledButCute Sharon Newman]]. The character remains a fan favorite through some of the most infuriating, {{Squick}} inducing and reviled plot-lines, all due to Sharon Case's amazing ability to act above them. So less ''Rescued'' and more ''Refuses to Sink Into the Scrappy Heap''.

** Dawn actually achieved this for some in Season 7. With a bit of CharacterDevelopment, less emphasis on the DistressBall and contributing more to the group -- the hate towards her lessened. Season 7 is divisive but people who don't like the season do list Dawn's character as having improved.

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Amy Farrah Fowler was something of a BaseBreakingCharacter in her early appearances, partially due to having no character outside being a DistaffCounterpart of Sheldon, and her status as Sheldon's "love interest" caused some backlash from [[CrackPairing Shenny]] shippers. As time went on she developed into a much more rounded character in her own right and her relationship with Sheldon gained momentum, which brought some development to Sheldon's previously StaticCharacter, and the fanbase began to warm to her.

** Skyler was rescued in Season 5 and became a JerkassWoobie as Walt's Heisenberg persona started to come into their married life.
** ZigZagged with Marie. Marie was rescued in Seasons 3 and 4 when she takes care of Hank and tries to keep him from becoming depressed after [[spoiler:a shootout leaves him bed-ridden]]. She slipped back into Scrappy territory in the first part of season 5, but [[spoiler:has well and truly left the zone in the second part when she finds out about her brother-in-law's activities and her sister's knowledge of these activities, with a slap in "Buried" and a WhamLine in "Confessions.]]
** Hank was rescued when he had a nervous breakdown [[spoiler:over killing Tuco and the bombing in Juarez]].

** Connor, after the Wolfram Hart DealWithTheDevil that Angel made, came out a much nicer, sane, laid-back fellow after having [[spoiler: new memories and a new upbringing put in]]. Even after he [[spoiler:got his memories back]], he still was much improved. However, his case is very much {{Downplayed}}. Unlike Wesley and Tara and even Dawn (who never quite managed to go above BaseBreakingCharacter status herself), he got hardly any more appearances after he stopped being a Scrappy. After a full season of being an extremely unlikeable main character, he only appeared as his more kind and laidback self as a GuestStar in ''two'' episodes of the next and final season. He is certainly not a Scrappy in either of those appearances, but he never really went above being an average character in them either, and so most fans still look back on him negatively because of the 20+ episodes as a Scrappy far outweighing the two episodes that he wasn’t. By comparison, the other characters who got Rescued from the Scrappy Heap were given the time to organically improve onscreen, and demonstrate their better qualities to the audience far more often.

** Dawn: her very existence was a CosmicRetcon, and many felt that she was a whiny DamselScrappy. In the last season she loses some of her angst issues and becomes a sort of junior Watcher, helping the rest of the team in research, becoming a full member of the Scooby Gang rather than just there to be rescued and give Buffy unconditional love. Also Michelle Tractenberg becomes hot/legal.
** Tara was originally despised for [[ReplacementScrappy replacing Oz]] as Willow's love interest, but over time the fans came to love her and then revolted when ''she'' went off the show and was followed by another ReplacementScrappy, Kennedy, who was despised through the rest of the series and into the comics despite several attempts to make her a character most fans would consider really cool were it anyone else.

* ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'': Chelsea was an extremely hated character when she first appeared. She was an arrogant JerkAss, rude to everyone around her (even her best friend Abby), responsible for killing her little brother, and tried to break up Bo and Hope's marriage. When she started dating HollywoodNerd Nick, she became a much better person. She went from being the most hated character on the show to one of the more popular characters.

** Unfortunately, this trope seems to have been [[InvertedTrope inverted]] in the case of Felicity Smoak. She started off as a popular character for being {{Adorkable}} and [[PluckyComicRelief bringing some humor]] to a show that was supposed to be DarkerAndEdgier, making it much more likeable. However, starting from season 3, [[SpotlightStealingSquad she got a lot more focus than was necessary]], and took Laurel's place as Oliver's LoveInterest. While she did have better chemistry with him [[PanderingToTheBase (Which is what caused the writers to make their ship canon in the first place)]], it turned into a RomanticPlotTumor. It doesn't help that [[TookALevelInJerkass she gained]] [[ItsAllAboutMe some]] [[{{Hypocrite}} annoying]] [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic traits]] but does not get called out for them. It's clear that she's turned into a CreatorsPet, especially since she's been given a lot of CharacterShilling not just in this show, but in ''Series/TheFlash2014'' and ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' for no apparent reason other than to advertise her. Even some of those who ship "Olicity" seem to be getting tired of her and were probably glad when they broke up midway through season 4. And even those who once liked her wished that it was her in the grave instead of [[spoiler: Laurel]].
*** The trope is being played increasingly straight with season 5, where Felicity owns up to the mistakes she makes, consciously heads down a darker path and repeatedly gets called out for it by many characters, which forces her to eventually own up to how similar she has become to Oliver in the past two seasons, and sees her relationship with Oliver be relegated to a scene or two per episode at best. While there are some who still hate the character, the majority opinion is that Felicity has successfully redeemed herself from falling into [[TheScrappy scrappy]] territory this season.
*** And unfortunately double-[[PerfectlyCromulentWord Invertsubverted]] in Season-6 where Felicity fell even harder back into Scrappy territory where the relationship drama returned in full-force and Felicity ended [[Series/CrisisOnEarthX the yearly crossover]] by interrupting [[SuperCouple Barry and Iris']] wedding to tack on her own ceremony with Oliver. This earned her the hate of not just the Arrow fanbase, but the ''entire'' Arrowverse fandom with [[Series/TheFlash2014 the Flash]] fanbase in particular pissed that their heroes' special moment was stolen right under their nose. However, some warmed up to her because she is [[GoodParents a good mother]] to William. Even so, this became ''the'' NeverLiveItDown moment for her and destroyed her popularity ([[AbandonShipping and the popularity of the Olicity ship]]) permanently. Every attempt to redeem her character after that fell flat, and while the fans eventually came to tolerate her again (especially after she formed a friendship with BreakoutCharacter Black Siren), then never really got around to ''liking'' her again.

* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'': Adalind Schade floated in and out of Scrappy and CreatorsPet status for more than half the show's run. A SmugSnake through the first couple of seasons, she had a striking talent for picking up the [[WhatAnIdiot Idiot Ball]] and was often the textbook personification of EpicFail. She came close to being pulled from the heap in Season 3 after [[spoiler:the birth and subsequent kidnapping of her first child]] garnered her sympathy, especially since she appeared to [[TookALevelInKindness take a level in kindness]] in the scenes with [[spoiler:Meisner]].

* ''Series/CobraKai'': Amanda had a hatedom before the series even aired, mainly due to not being either of the love interests from the movies. Her DeadpanSnarker tendencies and willingness to call out people's bullshit, as well an absolutely stellar performance by Courtney Henggeler, won the bulk of the fandom over in short order.

** H.R. Wells was initially disliked for being a false scientist and being just a gimmick to keep Creator/TomCavanagh on the series, but people warmed to him when he could show he was a creative, intelligent strategist and that he was very good-hearted. Outsmarting Savitar at the ending [[spoiler:by swithcing his appearance with Iris]] skyrocketed his popularity with fans and some even prefer him over Eobard Thawne or Harry Wells.

* ''Series/CobraKai'': Amanda had a hatedom before the series even aired, mainly due to sinking the Danny/Alli and Danny/Tamikoships by her existence. Her DeadpanSnarker tendencies and willingness to call out peoples' bullshit, as well an absolutely stellar performance by Courtney Henggeler, won the bulk of the fandom over.

** Zelena was seen as a large VillainSue for much of her appearances. Season 5 morphed her into a gleeful troll whose snark was considered to be ActuallyPrettyFunny. The second half rescued her even further by giving her a redemption arc that made her a well developed and somewhat sympathetic character like the rest of the main cast.

** Beginning in season 4, the producers took great lengths to rescue Chloe from the pit of fan hatred (even earning the nickname "Jar-Jar" on one forum) that she'd fallen into after her début the previous season. She was given better makeup and wardrobe, they toned down her abrasive personality, and ultimately gave her a [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Crowning Moment Of Awesome]] -- a scene where she ''mowed down terrorist assassins with an M-16.'' It also helped that her "I do things my way and don't listen to authority" attitude, which was directed at well-liked characters like Jack in season 3, were later redirected at unsympathetic characters. More simply put, she could still be a pain in the ass, but if she is a pain in the {{jerkass}} character's ass, driving the unsympathetic character up the wall, you love her for it. This was later lampshaded in the final episode of 24. In that episode, Jack actually said something along the lines of "When you first came to CTU, I never thought it was going to be you that was going to cover my back all those years." to Chloe during their final conversation. Chloe later has the final line of the series, "Shut it down" before the 24 countdown clock times out.
** Kimberly used have loads of hatred for being the DamselScrappy but this changed as she grew up. When this happened is debatable, though - most would argue Day 7, when she apologises to Jack for how she acted after he came back from the dead, or Day 8, when she tells him to go back to CTU regardless of whatever plans he had with her, but some say Day 3, when she was working for CTU and managed to make herself useful more often than not. It also doesn't hurt that she TookALevelInBadass on Day 7, and was able to get out of a terrorist's grasp using nothing more than a pen.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Wesley was probably TheScrappy, and seemed to remain under this shadow at first when transferring over to ''Series/{{Angel}}''. However, he quickly improved, and after a couple of seasons and a great deal of character development, he was one of the most fleshed out and well-rounded characters on either show.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine's'' Nog annoyed viewers to no end in the early seasons of the show, but he went on to become one of its most sympathetic characters.

** Laurel Lance began the series as ''the'' Scrappy of the Arrow fandom in the first two seasons often due to her [[{{Hypocrisy}} hypocritical]] actions and her [[RomanticPlotTumor less then stellar romance with Oliver]] which for many fans caused them to latch on to the [[FanPreferredCouple Olicity pairing instead]]. Comic book fans likewise couldn't stand her due to her being [[AdaptationalWimp significantly less awesome]] then her comic book counterpart ComicBook/BlackCanary. Even when she did finally don her costume in season 3, many fans hated that this came about [[spoiler: due to the [[StuffedIntoTheFridge death of her more beloved sister]] instead]]. However as the season progressed and she gained some much needed CharacterDevelopment and [[TookALevelInBadass Badassness]] a lot of fans started to warm up to her. Come Season 4, a combination of much more closely resembling her main comic counterpart, significantly better acting then when she started, and firmly situating herself as the CoolBigSis of the group won over a lot of fans to her side (it also properly helped that Felicity become a significant BaseBreakingCharacter during this time). [[spoiler: It's pretty telling that a lot of the Arrow fandom seems to have reacted in sadness and anger at her death in season 4 episode 18 rather then the glee she properly would have gotten if she died at the start of the series]].