History TheLoad / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'': Harry Solomon. Although all the aliens are often TooDumbToLive, Harry is the worst. At first he seems to have no official role in the unit, until it's revealed that [[spoiler:he has a massive transmission device in his head, and to make space for it they gave him only half a brain.]] An unusual case because although he's generally useless, he's one of the most beloved and endearing characters in the show.

** Dawn. Buffy has to protect her from those that know she is the key, but Dawn gets kidnapped, paralyzed, and attacked all the time, not to mention the trouble she causes by herself by inviting vampires into their house, making wishes to vengeance demons, resurrecting dead people and parking with vampires. That being said, the show makes it fairly obvious that half of this is Buffy's fault, as she [[ScreeningTheCall refuses to train her in combat]] so that she can have the normal life [[IJustWantToBeNormal Buffy never had]], yet [[ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne personal]] [[HeroicBSOD problems]] and [[HeroicSacrifice various]] [[ParentalAbandonment tragedies]] intervene and she ends up ignoring the poor girl more than half the time. The only way Dawn could ever get attention was [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl when she got in trouble]], so it might be that subconsciously she wanted to be in danger, [[FridgeBrilliance which might explain her lack of caution in certain situations that should have warranted it]], and certainly explains her brief stint as [[StickyFingers a kleptomaniac]] in the sixth season. Once Buffy does start training her and giving her a bit more attention, Dawn [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap stops getting kidnapped]] so much and even manages to become [[TookALevelInBadass a decent supporting fighter]]. And in the comics, she's proving quite GenreSavvy.

* ''Series/RobinHood'': This new BBC series also has one. [[TheSmurfettePrinciple For mysterious reasons]], the outlaws let village girl Kate join the gang instead of shipping her off to Kirkless Abbey like they do to all the other people they rescue. They pay dearly for their foolishness, considering they spend the greater part of the rest of the series [[DistressedDamsel rescuing her when she gets kidnapped]], caring for her when she gets injured, and having to put up with her endless moaning, nagging, whining, and criticism (all done in a delightful high-pitched screech). Throughout the course of the series she never achieves anything important or interesting. [[FauxActionGirl She's useless as a fighter]], [[InformedAttribute has no helpful skills]], [[TooDumbToLive lacks the most basic degree of common sense]], and [[JerkSue isn't even a very nice person]]. Honestly, if a team member is so useless that she needs to be '''spoon-fed''', then you need to seriously reconsider your recruiting standards.

* ''Series/TheRifleman'': Stars a BadAss ''[[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill rifle slinging]]'' [[PapaWolf rancher]]... and his son Mark. When Mark isn't directly getting into trouble himself (and forcing poor Luke to rescue his worthless ass), or ''getting his father into trouble that he has to bail'' himself ''out of'', he's probably whining about the school teacher being mean to him.

* ''Series/{{Sense 8}}'': Every member of the main [[HiveMind cluster]] is incredibly good at something, from Will the cop to Sun the pit fighter to Kala the chemist. Riley, on the other hand, is just a DJ. A really really ''good'' DJ, sure, and she's works well as TheHeart, but neither skill is really useful when fighting a conspiracy. In the last few episodes her PTSD actually leads to the rest of the cluster having to rescue her, with Will actually physically coming to get her. [[spoiler:Subverted when Will makes eye contact with the BigBad (creating a telepathic link that Will can't break), and has to sedate himself because otherwise they'll be found. Riley has to drag herself out of her BSOD and save them both]].

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': Barbara, most of whose heaviness is the weight of the IdiotBall she's hogging the whole time dragging down every character that comes into even minor contact with her.

* ''Series/{{Survivor}}'': Some players are weak in challenges, lazy at camp, and have no real sense of strategy. These are usually the first tribe members to be voted out -- ''if'' the tribe is playing intelligently. But, since anything can happen in ''Survivor,'' sometimes these players make it all the way to the end of the game and even ''win. Pretending'' to be this, as Natalie White did, can protect a player against a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness.

** Plenty of companions qualify for this trope, ''especially'' [[TheChick the female ones]], with the most well-known examples being Tegan, Susan and Peri. The new series has thankfully avoided this, making the companions useful while still being outshone by the Doctor.
** With the possible exception of Adam Mitchell, who borders on TheMillstone, especially in ''The Long Game''. Note, however, that for once the Doctor dumps him as soon as his status becomes clear. Also take note that Adam was only invited because of Rose's poor judgement of his character (plus it was strongly hinted that she invited him because he was in the Doctor's words, a "bit pretty"). The Doctor wasn't so sure, and the Doctor always chooses companions whom he knows without a doubt will rise to the occasion.

* ''KrodMandoonAndTheFlamingSwordOfFire'':

** Special mention to Dr. Keller. On two separate occasions, Keller ends up in a dangerous situation where she's on the run from the bad guys with one of Sheppard's team (with Teyla in "Missing" and Ronon in "The Lost Tribe".) Both times she is a serious liability, being unable to fire a weapon or fight (and complaining when she has to pick up a gun to defend herself). ''And yet'', when Keller TakesALevelInBadass in later seasons and becomes at least semi-competent at defending herself, most of her haters in the fandom simply said that this just proved that she was a MarySue -- thus proving themselves to be an UnpleasableFanbase.

* ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'': Harry Solomon. Although all the aliens are often TooDumbToLive, Harry is the worst. At first he seems to have no official role in the unit, until it's revealed that [[spoiler:he has a massive transmission device in his head, and to make space for it they gave him only half a brain.]] An unusual case because although he's generally useless, he's one of the most beloved and endearing characters in the show.

** In "The Zeppo," Xander worries that he is the Load, and the other characters agree and treat him that way. It feels like a subversion, but careful observation reveals that he doesn't help the other characters save the world despite playing his usual role of seeming a little like a Load, or even by stepping completely outside his role and doing something different. It's much more of a mere [[AvertedTrope aversion]], since instead he does step completely outside his "Load" role, and does save the school from being blown up, but [[LowerDeckEpisode from a completely different threat]]. When Buffy sends Xander out of the path of danger and prevents [[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed an apocalypse]] without him, this is more of a confirmation that Xander can easily be the Load despite his very real skills in fighting a gang of zombie punks.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Plenty of companions qualify for this trope, ''especially'' [[TheChick the female ones]], with the most well-known examples being Tegan, Susan and Peri. The new series has thankfully avoided this, making the companions useful while still being outshone by the Doctor.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Aaron sees ''himself'' as such which is why he [[spoiler: abandoned his wife--he felt he was only hindering her chances for survival post-blackout.]] [[TookALevelInBadass He got better.]]

** Dawn. Buffy has to protect her from those that know she is the key, but Dawn gets kindapped, paralyzed, and attacked all the time, not to mention the trouble she causes by herself by inviting vampires into their house, making wishes to vengeance demons, resurrecting dead people and parking with vampires. That being said, the show makes it fairly obvious that half of this is Buffy's fault, as she [[ScreeningTheCall refuses to train her in combat]] so that she can have the normal life [[IJustWantToBeNormal Buffy never had]], yet [[ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne personal]] [[HeroicBSOD problems]] and [[HeroicSacrifice various]] [[ParentalAbandonment tragedies]] intervene and she ends up ignoring the poor girl more than half the time. The only way Dawn could ever get attention was [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl when she got in trouble]], so it might be that subconsciously she wanted to be in danger, [[FridgeBrilliance which might explain her lack of caution in certain situations that should have warranted it]], and certainly explains her brief stint as [[StickyFingers a kleptomaniac]] in the sixth season. Once Buffy does start training her and giving her a bit more attention, Dawn [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap stops getting kidnapped]] so much and even manages to become [[TookALevelInBadass a decent supporting fighter]]. And in the comics, she's proving quite GenreSavvy.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': In the TV series version, Carl Grimes and Sophia Peletier are about as much help as you'd expect a pair of gradeschool kids with a fondness for wandering off to be in the middle of a ZombieApocalypse -- and that's in season 1. In season 2, they actually take a level in being the load; Sophia panics when she gets attacked by a pair of [[NotUsingTheZedWord walkers]] in the first episode, which is understandable, but then she leaves the safe place that Rick tells her to hide in and runs off while he's busy drawing away and killing them -- [[spoiler:this results in her death when a walker in the woods gets her,]] and directly leads to every bad thing that happens in the season. Carl gets shot while out looking for Sophia; this prompts the guilty shooter, Otis, to make a dangerous run to an infested highschool with Shane and wind up being shot to serve as live bait for the walkers. Then, after he finally gets better, he steals a gun and wanders off in a tantrum for [[spoiler:telling Sophia's grieving mother that there is no heaven]] -- when he finds a walker stuck in the mud, he taunts the thing, and then panics when it manages to escape, running back to the farm. Not only does this lead the undead monster there, he refuses to admit he saw a walker in close proximity and that it may have followed him because he's afraid of getting in trouble. This makes him the indirect cause of [[spoiler:the death of Dale, the CoolOldGuy TeamDad]] -- and earned a lot of bile from the watchers.
* ''Series/TheRifleman'': Stars a BadAss ''[[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill rifle slinging]]'' [[PapaWolf rancher]]... and his son Mark. When Mark isn't directly getting into trouble himself (and forcing poor Luke to rescue his worthless ass), or ''getting his father into trouble that he has to bail'' himself ''out of'', he's probably whining about the school teacher being mean to him.
* ''Series/{{Survivor}}'': Some players are weak in challenges, lazy at camp, and have no real sense of strategy. These are usually the first tribe members to be voted out -- ''if'' the tribe is playing intelligently. But, since anything can happen in ''Survivor,'' sometimes these players make it all the way to the end of the game and even ''win. Pretending'' to be this, as Natalie White did, can protect a player against a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness.

* ''Series/RobinHood'': This new BBC series also has one. [[TheSmurfettePrinciple For mysterious reasons]], the outlaws let village girl Kate join the gang instead of shipping her off to Kirkless Abbey like they do to all the other people they rescue. They pay dearly for their foolishness, considering they spend the greater part of the rest of the series [[DistressedDamsel rescuing her when she gets kidnapped]], caring for her when she gets injured, and having to put up with her endless moaning, nagging, whining, and criticism (all done in a delightful high-pitched screech). Throughout the course of the series she never achieves anything important or interesting. [[FauxActionGirl She's useless as a fighter]], [[InformedAttribute has no helpful skills]], [[TooDumbToLive lacks the most basic degree of common sense]], and [[JerkSue isn't even a very nice person]]. Honestly, if a team member is so useless that she needs to be '''spoon-fed''', then you need to seriously reconsider your recruiting standards.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': A new Crime Scene Unit guy Stucky in the 08-09 season was a load to the detectives, ''shouting'' inappropriate things at crime scenes and generally annoying the hell out of the other lab tech and Stabler. All this changed in the season finale when he [[spoiler:was revealed to be a complete psychopath who planted evidence and ''killed a man'' to "help" the detectives catch a serial killer. And when that failed to impress his colleagues he killed his lab partner and almost killed Stabler. Fortunately Olivia was there to put down the deranged Scrappy.]]
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'':
** There's Chuck. At the start much of the show's humor came from demonstrating someone in so far over his head he's in danger of being crushed by the pressure. He also demonstrates erratic competence, often managing to both save the day and act as The Load in the same episode. [[TookALevelInBadass He has largely]] [[CharacterDevelopment outgrown this now]], and is actually pretty darn competent much of the time.
** Morgan becomes this when Chuck outgrows the role.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Dawn. Buffy has to protect her from those that know she is the key, but Dawn gets kindapped, paralyzed, and attacked all the time, not to mention the trouble she causes by herself by inviting vampires into their house, making wishes to vengeance demons, resurrecting dead people and parking with vampires. That being said, the show makes it fairly obvious that half of this is Buffy's fault, as she [[ScreeningTheCall refuses to train her in combat]] so that she can have the normal life [[IJustWantToBeNormal Buffy never had]], yet [[ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne personal]] [[HeroicBSOD problems]] and [[HeroicSacrifice various]] [[ParentalAbandonment tragedies]] intervene and she ends up ignoring the poor girl more than half the time. The only way Dawn could ever get attention was [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl when she got in trouble]], so it might be that subconsciously she wanted to be in danger, [[FridgeBrilliance which might explain her lack of caution in certain situations that should have warranted it]], and certainly explains her brief stint as [[StickyFingers a kleptomaniac]] in the sixth season. Once Buffy does start training her and giving her a bit more attention, Dawn [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap stops getting kidnapped]] so much and even manages to become [[TookALevelInBadass a decent supporting fighter]]. And in the comics, she's proving quite GenreSavvy.
** Wesley was this when he first appeared on Buffy. Aside from being a not-very-effective [[TyrantTakesTheHelm tyrant]], he was inexperienced, his attempts to help the other protagonists usually just made things even worse, and the number of times he was actually useful could be counted on one hand. He got a lot better when he was moved to ''Angel'', however.

* ''Series/TheAmazingRace'': There's at least one racer per season that's completely useless on tasks, dragging down their teammate.
* ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'': Arthur contributes nothing to the household and in fact has cost the Heffernans significant amounts of money (Started fires, sold their furniture when they are away...etc.) and stress (goes through personal belongings, keeps them awake at night when moved across the hall, constantly yelling and trying to force his rules on them...etc). Whenever he comes across some money like bingo winnings, he doesn't even think to offer Doug and Carrie any of it for something such as new appliances they all use and has to be more or less told to give it to them. Doug wants him out of the house for these reasons but Carrie defends Arthur, claiming he isn't that bad (which is odd, as it has been firmly established that Arthur was a terrible father).
* ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'': Harry Solomon. Although all the aliens are often TooDumbToLive, Harry is the worst. At first he seems to have no official role in the unit, until it's revealed that [[spoiler:he has a massive transmission device in his head, and to make space for it they gave him only half a brain.]] An unusual case because although he's generally useless, he's one of the most beloved and endearing characters in the show.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': Stark, who gets promoted to the main cast to replace [[spoiler:Zhaan]] after [[spoiler:she]] gets KilledOffForReal. Except that, unlike [[spoiler:Zhaan]], Stark has no particularly useful skills and is generally either borderline catatonic or engaging in psychotic fits that endanger the other characters.
* ''Series/{{Merlin}}'':
** SubvertedTrope with Merlin. He's the king's clumsy manservant who can't hold a sword to save his life, and yet the Knights of the Round Table all insist on bringing him along on dangerous missions. However, when the Knights turn their backs, Merlin turns out to be an extremely badass mage who has singlehandedly saved all of Camelot multiple times and is the only reason Arthur survives these dangerous missions. Problem is, magic's illegal on pain of death, so no one is aware of this except the audience.
** DependingOnTheWriter, Guinevere. On one hand, her quick mind has proven useful on several occasions, on the other, she's still a relatively small and untrained peasant girl who often winds up being a DistressedDamsel.
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Aaron sees himself as such which is why he abandoned his wife—he felt he was only hindering her chances for survival post-blackout. He got better.

* In the TV series version of ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', Carl Grimes and Sophia Peletier are about as much help as you'd expect a pair of gradeschool kids with a fondness for wandering off to be in the middle of a ZombieApocalypse -- and that's in season 1. In season 2, they actually take a level in being the load; Sophia panics when she gets attacked by a pair of [[NotUsingTheZedWord walkers]] in the first episode, which is understandable, but then she leaves the safe place that Rick tells her to hide in and runs off while he's busy drawing away and killing them -- [[spoiler:this results in her death when a walker in the woods gets her,]] and directly leads to every bad thing that happens in the season. Carl gets shot while out looking for Sophia; this prompts the guilty shooter, Otis, to make a dangerous run to an infested highschool with Shane and wind up being shot to serve as live bait for the walkers. Then, after he finally gets better, he steals a gun and wanders off in a tantrum for [[spoiler:telling Sophia's grieving mother that there is no heaven]] -- when he finds a walker stuck in the mud, he taunts the thing, and then panics when it manages to escape, running back to the farm. Not only does this lead the undead monster there, he refuses to admit he saw a walker in close proximity and that it may have followed him because he's afraid of getting in trouble. This makes him the indirect cause of [[spoiler:the death of Dale, the CoolOldGuy TeamDad]] -- and earned a lot of bile from the watchers.
* ''Series/TheRifleman'' stars a BadAss ''[[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill rifle slinging]]'' [[PapaWolf rancher]]... and his son Mark. When Mark isn't directly getting into trouble himself (and forcing poor Luke to rescue his worthless ass), or ''getting his father into trouble that he has to bail'' himself ''out of'', he's probably whining about the school teacher being mean to him.
* In ''Series/{{Survivor}}'', some players are weak in challenges, lazy at camp, and have no real sense of strategy. These are usually the first tribe members to be voted out -- ''if'' the tribe is playing intelligently. But, since anything can happen in ''Survivor,'' sometimes these players make it all the way to the end of the game and even ''win. Pretending'' to be this, as Natalie White did, can protect a player against a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness.
* Doctor Goodfellow, the resident "scientist" aboard ''Searcher'' in the second season of ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury'', whose occasional contributions as MrExposition were vastly outweighed by his bumbling mannerisms, inability to control his curiosity, and an utter lack of basic self-preservation instincts. ''Searcher'' and its complement could have avoided at least half of their problems if he had been ThrownOutTheAirlock and Buck, Wilma, or Hawk had asked for a scientist with a ''brain'', instead of trying to protect someone so self-evidently TooDumbToLive.
* Plenty of ''Series/DoctorWho'' companions qualify for this trope, ''especially'' [[TheChick the female ones]], with the most well-known examples being Tegan, Susan and Peri. The new series has thankfully avoided this, making the companions useful while still being outshone by the Doctor.

* River Tam's "wanted" status on ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' generates conflict between the crewmembers by forcing them to avoid lucrative jobs that would involve too much oversight and poses a risk of arrest whenever they come into contact with government agents. That is, until she TookALevelInBadass for the movie. Of course, her brother and protector, Simon, acts as The Counterwieght by being a ''very'' useful doctor and occasional heist planner for the crew, of a talent the crew would not otherwise have access to, if not for the fact that he and River are on the run. Justified in that even without Simon, the crew (with the exception of Jayne) would never have the heart to dump a cripplingly insane girl with the Alliance, especially since they made her that way. It should also be noted that River's telepathy has saved the crew's ass more than once, both in the series and the movie. And, of course, she almost certainly would have continued to be progressively more helpful [[ScrewedByTheNetwork had the series gone on for more than one season.]]
* Luke, [[BigBad Sylar's]] KidSidekick on ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. "You almost got us both killed!" "[[TooDumbToLive That was]] ''[[TooDumbToLive so]]'' [[TooDumbToLive awesome!!]]"
* ''KrodMandoonAndTheFlamingSwordOfFire''

* ''Series/{{Lost}}''

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''

* Much, the TagalongKid from the series ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'', never accomplishes anything, fails as a lookout, and occasionally lets prisoners go. Any fight scene he's in always involves someone rescuing him, even when he gets a MagicSword. He's quite a liability for a tiny group of constantly hunted outlaws. Of course, he's also the hero's brother... at first. After Robert Huntingdon comes in, they don't even have that excuse. He eventually [[TookALevelInBadass gets (somewhat) better]]. At the beginning of the episode "Adam Bell" an entire troop of fully armed and armoured soldiers has hard time capturing Much, who has only a staff and none of his friends to help. They eventually get him, but he gives them a good run for their money. It says a lot about his Load status that "not getting captured right away" is a point in his favour.
* The new BBC series of ''Series/RobinHood'' also has one. [[TheSmurfettePrinciple For mysterious reasons]], the outlaws let village girl Kate join the gang instead of shipping her off to Kirkless Abbey like they do to all the other people they rescue. They pay dearly for their foolishness, considering they spend the greater part of the rest of the series [[DistressedDamsel rescuing her when she gets kidnapped]], caring for her when she gets injured, and having to put up with her endless moaning, nagging, whining, and criticism (all done in a delightful high-pitched screech). Throughout the course of the series she never achieves anything important or interesting. [[FauxActionGirl She's useless as a fighter]], [[InformedAttribute has no helpful skills]], [[TooDumbToLive lacks the most basic degree of common sense]], and [[JerkSue isn't even a very nice person]]. Honestly, if a team member is so useless that she needs to be '''spoon-fed''', then you need to seriously reconsider your recruiting standards.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis''

* Camille Wray and Chloe Armstrong from ''Series/StargateUniverse''. Their field of study are in politics, which makes them useless on an alien spaceship. On top of that Camille is a ManipulativeBitch and Chloe has a bad case of TooDumbToLive.
* A new Crime Scene Unit guy Stucky on the 08-09 season of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' was a load to the detectives, ''shouting'' inappropriate things at crime scenes and generally annoying the hell out of the other lab tech and Stabler. All this changed in the season finale when he [[spoiler:was revealed to be a complete psychopath who planted evidence and ''killed a man'' to "help" the detectives catch a serial killer. And when that failed to impress his colleagues he killed his lab partner and almost killed Stabler. Fortunately Olivia was there to put down the deranged Scrappy.]]
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}''

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''

* There's at least one racer per season on ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' that's completely useless on tasks, dragging down their teammate.
* Arthur from ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'' contributes nothing to the household and in fact has cost the Heffernans significant amounts of money( Started fires, sold their furniture when they are away...etc) and stress (goes through personal belongings, keeps them awake at night when moved across the hall, constantly yelling and trying to force his rules on them...etc). Whenever he comes across some money like bingo winnings, he doesn't even think to offer Doug and Carrie any of it for something such as new appliances they all use and has to be more or less told to give it to them. Doug wants him out of the house for these reasons but Carrie defends Arthur, claiming he isn't that bad(which is odd, as it has been firmly established that Arthur was a terrible father).

* Stark on ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', who gets promoted to the main cast to replace [[spoiler:Zhaan]] after [[spoiler:she]] gets KilledOffForReal. Except that, unlike [[spoiler:Zhaan]], Stark has no particularly useful skills and is generally either borderline catatonic or engaging in psychotic fits that endanger the other characters.
* ''Series/{{Merlin}}''
** Subverted with Merlin. He's the king's clumsy manservant who can't hold a sword to save his life, and yet the Knights of the Round Table all insist on bringing him along on dangerous missions. However, when the Knights turn their backs, Merlin turns out to be an extremely badass mage who has singlehandedly saved all of Camelot multiple times and is the only reason Arthur survives these dangerous missions. Problem is, magic's illegal on pain of death, so no one is aware of this except the audience.