16 TV characters who stuck around longer than expected

Bedelia — a character invented for the show, unlike most of the others, which were taken from Thomas Harris’ book series — started off as Hannibal Lecter’s psychiatrist and was promoted to series regular by the third season, one that began with Bedelia sharing a new life with the troubled title character. “Screenwriting is so much easier when you’re inspired by a great actor,” showrunner Bryan Fuller said in a statement, “and Gillian has filled the Hannibal writers room with wonderful inspiration.” Her role on the drama continues to be one of the most captivating — and Lecter, who hasn’t been shy about his plan to eat Bedelia, would likely agree that keeping her around was a good decision. —Ariana Bacle

When Emily Bett Rickards took the role of Felicity Smoak on The CW's Arrow, it was pitched as a one episode guest spot. But the second the producers saw her chemistry with Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen — not to mention the humor she added to a rather dark show — they knew she'd be sticking around. The role had an option to recur, and recur it did, right up until the show was renewed for season 2, at which point Rickards was signed as a series regular. Flash forward to season 3, and Oliver and Felicity are riding off into the sunset … literally. —Samantha Highfill

Spike, a poet-turned-vampire sporting atrocious bleached hair and a leather jacket, was supposed to briefly appear as a villain and then die off, as temporary bad guys are wont to do. After he proved popular with fans of the show, creator Joss Whedon decided to fully develop his character. Spike fell in love with Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a Slayer he was supposed to be killing, and even got his soul back to please her — ah, true love.—Megan Lewis

Cam, the Jeffersonian Institute’s fierce, intelligent head of forensics, showed up at the start of the second season to add a little tension to the mix, given her history with the FBI’s finest Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz). Taylor’s character was supposed to be killed off in the 12th episode of that season, but luckily the fans loved her — or loved hating her? — enough to save her life.—Megan Daley

Jesse, the incredibly lovable and incredibly misguided sidekick of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), appeared in every single episode of the AMC show — but creator Vince Gilligan initially planned to kill him off after just one season. “But it became clear to me that Aaron Paul was an absolute asset to the show,” Gilligan told New York magazine in 2010. “I’d no more kill him off now than cut off one of my pinkies.” He’s not kidding about Paul being an asset: The actor was nominated for five Emmys overall and won three throughout the show’s five-season span. —Ariana Bacle

Conceived as a short-term distraction to make Sam (Ted Danson) jealous of Diane (Shelley Long) during season 3, the erudite, pontificating shrink quickly ingratiated himself into the Boston bar's collection of misfits. After the love-triangle arc played out, the producers decided to keep Frasier around, and he became one of the show's strongest characters, his intellectual snobbery often masking a hilarious male insecurity that provided additional depth to the legendary sitcom. At a certain point, his romance with the equally reserved Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth) became the show's most creatively fertile subplot. —Jeff Labrecque

Series creator Aaron Sorkin considered revolving The West Wing around an unseen president before signing Martin Sheen for a handful of episodes in the show’s first season. But Sheen's take on the upstanding, intelligent commander-in-chief left so great an impression that the showrunners made him a regular, inaugurating one of America’s most beloved fictional presidencies.—Kelly Connolly

David Anders auditioned in season 1 for a one- or two-episode guest appearance as Sark, an agent working for a mysterious criminal organization. The then 20-year-old Oregonian played such an impressive bad guy — all British accent and cool demeanor — that J.J. Abrams brought him back as a recurring villain, the only one to escape capture or death at the end of the series. Sark spinoff, anyone?—Danielle Zhu

In the first draft of the pilot, the character who would become Luke Danes was originally a woman, but the producers decided to bring in a little testosterone and changed the character. Enter Scott Patterson and his backwards baseball caps. The chemistry between Luke and Lorelai (Lauren Graham) led to a will-they-won't-they, on-again-off-again relationship for seven seasons, but we all like to believe their kiss in the finale means they lived happily ever after.—Danielle Zhu

Mark Rollins wasn’t originally intended to live past the sixth episode of season 2 — and then he turned out to be part of a military experiment with three other clones. Mark and his brothers Rudy, Miller, and Seth comprise Project Castor. The producers had planned all along to throw in a second set of male clones to combat Project Leda (Tatiana Maslany), and Millen's talent convinced them that he was the guy for the job. —Megan Lewis

Beloved nerd Urkel was originally slated to appear in only one episode as a potential love interest for Laura Winslow (Kellie Shanygne Williams), but audiences responded so well to White’s character that the producers transformed his role into the one most commonly associated with the show. The downside to this, as Key & Peele pointed out in a sketch last year, was that one of the first shows about a blue-collar African-American family turned into a spectacle about the nerdy neighbor. —Megan Lewis

The perpetually annoying Andy might be a character audiences wish left sooner rather than later, but his role on the comedy was bumped up from recurring to regular in the show’s third season. “He’s so funny and a great improviser,” Office creator Greg Daniels said at the time. “And we started to really enjoy writing for him.” They enjoyed it so much that Andy stuck around until the very end: Helms maintained his role as the Cornell grad until the series’ ninth and final season. —Ariana Bacle

Emerson’s second season guest arc was only supposed to last a handful of episodes, but the actor was so good that the powers that be couldn’t let him go. Co-creator and executive producer Damon Lindelof cited the classic “You guys got any milk?” line as the one that sealed Emerson's future as Ben Linus, the conniving (and ultimately reformed) leader of The Others. For the next four years, Linus would play a significant role on the Island, becoming one of Lost’s most important characters.—Andrea Towers

If things had gone as planned, Andy Dwyer would have been dumped by Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) after six episodes and never seen again. What would Parks and Recreation be then? Fortunately, we’ll never have to know; Chris Pratt proved too funny to lose, so Andy Dwyer went from Ann’s lazy boyfriend to Burt Macklin/ Johnny Karate/ America’s favorite loveable goof. —Danielle Zhu

In her first hour on the small screen, Nurse Carol Hathaway tried to kill herself. The only reason she wasn't successful? Because her character tested so well with the audience. So instead of saying goodbye to Hathaway on such a somber note, the show kept her around for six full seasons and gave her the happily ever after she deserved: A life with Doug Ross (George Clooney) and their twin daughters. —Samantha Highfill

In season 2 of The Vampire Diaries, the arrival of Elijah Mikaelson meant the introduction of the idea of an Original vampire. "That's a character that presumably exists to die," showrunner Julie Plec said. And by the end of his first episode, Elijah was dead … temporarily. "The more we like him, the more complicated we make the rule about how an Original can be killed for good," Plec said. In other words, Daniel Gillies is the reason that the Original family is immortal. Years later, not only are they still immortal, but they've got their own show. —Samantha Highfill