Monday Madness: Favorite Non-Original Cast Members

This Monday Madness, we’re looking at non-original cast members! Sometimes these characters replaced fan favorites who had left the show (for plot, personal, or business reasons), and often their presence upset the show’s dynamics. Many had a difficult time being accepted by long-time fans of the show, while with others it seemed like they had always been a part of the story. But, begrudgingly or with open arms, we learned to love most of these characters, and now you get to choose which ones are worthy of recognition!

This poll will be open for one week, and you can choose up to 10 of your favorite characters who joined their shows later on. Be sure to spread the word so your favorites will make it into the top 10!

Even though there are 50-some options on this list, I know there are dozens of characters I left out! You can nominate people I missed in the comments, and I may add them to the poll. I tried to limit this mostly to characters who joined after the complete first season, though with shorter-running shows I was more lenient. Want more of a say in who makes it onto the poll each week? Be sure to follow me on Twitter, since I usually ask for nominations for the next Monday Madness the weekend before the new poll. Please help out with nominations! There are only so many shows I can watch personally, so I’m counting on you to fill me in!

Without further ado, here’s the poll for this week’s Monday Madness! Voting ends around 1AM June 11th.

UPDATE: this poll has ended. Vote for this week’s poll here: Favorite TV Dads.

Who is your favorite character who joined their show later? (Choose up to 10!)

  • Spike (James Marsters) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (9%, 3,410 Votes)
  • Castiel (Misha Collins) - Supernatural (8%, 3,064 Votes)
  • Winifred "Fred" Burkle (Amy Acker) - Angel (5%, 1,712 Votes)
  • Anya (Emma Caulfield) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (4%, 1,606 Votes)
  • Oz (Seth Green) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (4%, 1,602 Votes)
  • Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) - NCIS (4%, 1,557 Votes)
  • Lorne (Andy Hallett) - Angel (4%, 1,481 Votes)
  • Woody (Kurt Fuller) - Psych (4%, 1,437 Votes)
  • Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (3%, 1,230 Votes)
  • Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) - The Big Bang Theory (3%, 1,096 Votes)
  • Dr. Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley) - Bones (3%, 1,059 Votes)
  • Gwaine (Eoin Macken) - Merlin (3%, 1,045 Votes)
  • Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) - Doctor Who (3%, 995 Votes)
  • Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) - Glee (2%, 827 Votes)
  • Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) - NCIS: Los Angeles (2%, 727 Votes)
  • Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) - The Big Bang Theory (2%, 585 Votes)
  • Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll) - True Blood (2%, 555 Votes)
  • Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) - Lost (1%, 549 Votes)
  • Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley (Olivia Wilde) - House (1%, 522 Votes)
  • Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) - Criminal Minds (1%, 519 Votes)
  • Dr. Camille Saroyan (Tamara Taylor) - Bones (1%, 507 Votes)
  • Nell Jones (Renée Felice Smith) - NCIS: Los Angeles (1%, 503 Votes)
  • Alcide Herveaux (Joe Manganiello) - True Blood (1%, 491 Votes)
  • Sir Leon (Rupert Young) - Merlin (1%, 479 Votes)
  • Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1%, 476 Votes)
  • Sir Percival (Tom Hopper) - Merlin (1%, 456 Votes)
  • Col. Potter (Harry Morgan) - M*A*S*H (1%, 445 Votes)
  • David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) - Criminal Minds (1%, 431 Votes)
  • Lois Lane (Erica Durance) - Smallville (1%, 429 Votes)
  • Capt. B.J. Honeycut (Mike Farrell) - M*A*S*H (1%, 416 Votes)
  • Jess Mariano (Milo Ventimiglia) - Gilmore Girls (1%, 389 Votes)
  • August W. Booth (Eion Bailey) - Once Upon a Time (1%, 363 Votes)
  • Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard) - Monk (1%, 347 Votes)
  • Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) - The Office (1%, 346 Votes)
  • Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly) - NCIS (1%, 323 Votes)
  • Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan) - Charmed (1%, 319 Votes)
  • Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) - Cheers (1%, 305 Votes)
  • Jesse Porter (Coby Bell) - Burn Notice (1%, 287 Votes)
  • Leon Vance (Rocky Carroll) - NCIS (1%, 259 Votes)
  • Riley Finn (Marc Blucas) - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1%, 258 Votes)
  • Sara Ellis (Hilarie Burton) - White Collar (1%, 256 Votes)
  • Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) - Parks and Recreation (1%, 252 Votes)
  • Dr. Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite) - Stargate Atlantis (1%, 245 Votes)
  • Logan Huntzberger (Matt Czuchry) - Gilmore Girls (1%, 240 Votes)
  • Alex McHugh (Mekenna Melvin) - Chuck (1%, 236 Votes)
  • Maj. Charles Winchester (David Ogden Stiers) - M*A*S*H (1%, 230 Votes)
  • Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) - Grey's Anatomy (1%, 227 Votes)
  • Erin Hannon (Ellie Kemper) - The Office (0%, 177 Votes)
  • Steve Jinks (Aaron Ashmore) - Warehouse 13 (0%, 163 Votes)
  • Rosalee Calvert (Bree Turner) - Grimm (0%, 159 Votes)
  • Dr. Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson) - House (0%, 127 Votes)
  • Dr. April Kepner (Sarah Drew) - Grey's Anatomy (0%, 126 Votes)
  • David Hodges (Wallace Langham) - CSI (0%, 124 Votes)
  • Hal (Damien Molony) - Being Human (UK) (0%, 115 Votes)
  • Ben Grogan (Ryan Johnson) - Fairly Legal (0%, 112 Votes)
  • Tom (Michael Socha) - Being Human (UK) (0%, 107 Votes)
  • Olivia Kendall (Raven-Symoné) - The Cosby Show (0%, 85 Votes)
  • Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) - Private Practice (0%, 85 Votes)
  • Tom (Bob Cledenin) - Cougar Town (0%, 80 Votes)
  • Jo Danville (Sela Ward) - CSI: NY (0%, 78 Votes)
  • Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley) - Cheers (0%, 76 Votes)
  • Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher) - Two and a Half Men (0%, 70 Votes)
  • Tuck (David Harewood) - Robin Hood (0%, 55 Votes)
  • Valerie Malone (Tiffani Thiessen) - Beverly Hills, 90210 (0%, 52 Votes)
  • Sgt. Baker (Kenneth Washington) - Hogan's Heroes (0%, 12 Votes)

Total Voters: 8,576

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106 thoughts on “Monday Madness: Favorite Non-Original Cast Members”

  1. This time I vote for Lois my favorite character after Clark on Smallville, I loved this Tv-show.

  2. You missed two of my favorite non-originals probably because they are so new and they were very, very much a surprise to me because I was in love with whom they replaced, Marg Helgenberger and Melina Kanakaredes but Elisabeth Shue and Sela Ward are excellent on CSI and CSI-NY respectively.

    1. I added Jo Danville (Sela Ward), but since Julie Finley (Elizabeth Shue) has only been on 9 episodes out of 250+, I felt it was better to go with David Hodges for CSI.

    1. I’d planned to add Jimmy, but then realized he’s in the first season. For a show that has completed nine seasons and already has several cast members in the poll, Jimmy was too close to the beginning to include.

    1. Not too late! I usually close nominations around Thursdays, to give fans the weekend to drum up support and votes. Sorry I didn’t get to it yesterday, I was swamped with work. But she’s in the poll now!

    1. You don’t have to comment to vote (2000+ voters and less than 30 comments at the moment!). Sometimes, if the site’s getting a lot of traffic, the poll won’t load properly the first time. Just refresh the page and it should work!

  3. I see Tom (Michael Socha)- Being Human on that list, but not Hal (Damien Molony). I think he should be on the list too.

    1. Added! I’ve fallen behind on my Being Human watching, so I only knew about Tom’s character.

    1. If someone on your computer or your internet network has already voted once, you shouldn’t be able to vote again, since the poll assumes it’s the same person. If you haven’t gotten a chance to vote, try using a different computer at a different location.

  4. Please add Tom Hopper who plays Sir Percival in Merlin to your list? He’s my favourite all-time character! Thanks, Pippa

      1. And Sir Leon would also be a fantastic addition to your list – he’s become a fan favourite because he popped up in so many season 2 and 3 episodes before he joined the regular cast.

        1. Sorry, there’s no way for you to go back and change your vote (and any system that would allow that would probably require voters to register and log in, which many internet users don’t enjoy).

          I do try to get as many nominations in as I can before the poll begins, but late nominations will always have a disadvantage. So if you or someone else nominates a character after the poll starts, you’ll have to work extra hard to get the word out!

          I’ve added Sir Leon!

  5. I did not vote for 10 I only voted for 1 not realizing you could vote for more than 1. So nnow you won’t let me make the other 9 votes. Useless

    1. It’s mentioned twice before you get to the poll that you can choose up to 10. I wish the poll plugin I use allowed you to go back and vote for the other nine, but it doesn’t.

  6. Through thick and thin, my heart has always been with this show (Supernatural) and this character (Castiel). No show has ever moved me more, and no character has ever made me fall so fast and so hard. My loyalty will live on for as long as i am here. No one has added more substance and character to a show like Misha Collins’ Castiel. He has made Supernatural bigger, better and most important… enjoyable, to watch!

    1. Kim, I couldnt agree more about Supernatural. I am a Supernatural Con goer, if you havent considered it before you should attend. It’s everything you’d want it to be!

    1. That just means we have to rally our troops and get them to vote for our Spike. We need to show him some major love like we’ve been doing all these years.

      Go Team Spike!

    1. I wanted to include Wesley (badly – I love his character!), but he was only a reoccurring guest on Buffy and joined Angel halfway through season one, too close to the beginning in a 5-season show for this poll.

  7. My votes: Anya (BtVS), Spike (BtVS), Castiel, Winifred Burkle (AtSV), Ziva David (NCIS), Walden Schmidt, Lance Sweets (Bones), BJ and col. Potter from M*A*S*H.

    Missing characters? Maybe Drusilla from Buffy (she was so crazy that it was impossible to not like her), Alaric from The Vampire Diaries, Bobby from Supernatural, Illyria from Angel, Richard (Tom Selleck) from Friends, Semir Gerkan (Erdogan Atalay) from Cobra 11 (it’s German TV series so you probably don’t know it but he joined the cast in the 3rd episode and now he is the only one left from season 1; he’s like the major character and the series has over 30 seasons!) .
    Was Klinger in M*A*S*H from the very beginning? I can’t remember.

  8. You’ve put Amy Pond of Doctor Who. That’s kinda….silly. The entire cast of of Doctor Who from the past 40+ years would qualify. Or if you’re only counting Since 2005, David Tennant would technically qualify. Despite being the title character. LOL

  9. Why can’t we vote more than once? 🙁 I’m just showing my love for my favorite character…! 🙂

  10. I never realized how few non-original cast members I actually like. It was hard to find 10. Most of them were from Buffy (Anya, Spike, Oz) and Angel (Fred, Lorne). My favorites are Ziva and Natalie, both of whom improved their shows greatly. Now if you had put Bobby Singer from Supernatural in there, he would have gotten my vote hands down. Not so much Cas.

  11. Fred on Angel is one of the best characters ever! I’m sad Wesley wasn’t on this list, because he wasn’t an original Buggy or Angel cast member

  12. Awww, choosing between Anya, Oz and Spike was super hard but Spike gets it first next poll I’ll pick Anya!

    1. *cries* Why don’t I read then vote! I could have picked all three! And Castiel and Fred! God I feel awful.

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