I’m not going to make every post about characters with Potsie Syndrome ™, but when I saw that Rebecca Romijn will be downgraded from a regular to a recurring character on the next season of Ugly Betty, I realized that that was one thing I hadn’t mentioned in the other post: another way for a show to deal with a character who doesn’t have a lot to do is simply to give them fewer appearances, without actually writing them off the show altogether. That makes the transition less sudden, mollifies fans who have gotten used to that character, and helps ease the actor off the show. Examples of this approach include Giles on the last two seasons of Buffy, Luanne on King of the Hill, and a whole passel of Lost characters.
I’m not going to make every post about characters with Potsie Syndrome ™, but when I saw that Rebecca Romijn will be downgraded from a regular to a recurring character on the next season of Ugly Betty, I realized that that was one thing I hadn’t mentioned in the other post: another way for a show to deal with a character who doesn’t have a lot to do is simply to give them fewer appearances, without actually writing them off the show altogether. That makes the transition less sudden, mollifies fans who have gotten used to that character, and helps ease the actor off the show. Examples of this approach include Giles on the last two seasons of Buffy, Luanne on King of the Hill, and a whole passel of Lost characters.