Second Character Stars

[Gothampc]

What shows had a secondary character that overshadowed the main character?

Sanford & Son - Redd Foxx was funny, but Aunt Esther stole every scene she was in.

Big Bang Theory - Johnny Galecki is funny, but Jim Parsons steals it all.

Gavin & Stacey - No doubt writers Ruth Jones and James Corden created more interesting characters for themselves than for the leads.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Cybill - Christine Baranski totally overshadowed Cybill Shepherd

[Jungle Red]

Cougar Town - Courtney Cox is the lead, but Christa Miller takes every scene she's in. She also has the best lines. (And Christa Miller was/is the music supervisor.)

A lot of the shows I watch are ensemble, so it's kinda hard to answer this question.

[Gothampc]

PRS - good one! Yes Christine's "Doctor Dick" lines really overshadowed poor Cyb.

[Jon]

Obvious ones:
Fonzie on Happy Days (he had no lines in the first episode)
Latka on Taxi (supposedly, Andy Kaufman's agent told him "Your'e gonna be the Fonzie of the show!)
Urkel on Family Matters

[SNAFU]

The show should have been called Jack and Karen.

[Jordan Catalano]

I thought we weren't feeding the trolls.

[ghostlight2]

David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin became more popular than Robert Vaughn's Napoleon Solo in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Okay, anybody but me remember that show?

[sabrelady]

Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek.

In Britain, the TV series "Minder" was a vehicle for Dennis Waterman but it was his screen "boss" George Cole who made the connection w the public.

[SNAFU]

You can count any of the 70's spin offs….Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Phyllis, Rhoda, etc. When a character started to steal a show they quickly created a spin off. The later two didn't seem to fare well. The characters were too quirky and needed a straight star to play off of.

And yes Jordan, we are.

[strummergirl]

I would say Mayim Bialik has stolen TBBT nowadays. In fact, sans Sheldon, I find the ladies way more interesting on the show.

Community- Danny Pudi and Donald Glover in the beginning of Community. But then the show made a transformation into ensemble show than it being 'Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, and a bunch of other people you see but do not know their names!' show. But I am pretty convinced that Abed and Jeff were always equal parts Dan Harmon. Even Britta had a little Dan Harmon.

Mary Tyler Moore- I always dug Rhoda more.

True Blood- Sometimes I forget Sookie Stackhouse's whole existence. All about Lala, Pam, and Jessica for me.

Family Ties- Alex P. Keaton was supposed to be a stooge and the embodiment of what is wrong with the 80s with the show about the parents, according to the creator. The test-audience saw the pilot and loved Alex.

Popular- Mary Cherry. Not even a question.

Glee exhausts the side character breakouts. Sue is still in recovery from Season 2. Brittany was better just giving the one-liners. But most of the time the side-characters are forgotten or given terrible material they often cannot recover from.//Says the bitter Quinn fan

Jesse Pinkman was supposed to die in Season 1 of Breaking Bad. Joan was supposed to just be in the pilot of Mad Men. Not stars, they are supporting players, but I always found the, 'we loved the actor too much to kill them off' restructuring TV shows do to be fascinating.

[ghostlight2]

OK, from this century: Castle. It seems to be less about the title character and more about the officer, Beckett.

I don't see any troll-feeding in this thread...

[Jon]

David McCallum on Man From Uncle was kind of a teen idol thing. And now he's "Ducky" on NCIS!

[Gothampc]

Poor Mary Tyler Moore, not only Phyllis and Rhoda, but you have to admit that Betty White made an impression in her scenes.

And Marla Gibbs as Florence certainly held her own on The Jeffersons.

[strummergirl]

Speaking of Marla Gibbs, I am pretty sure Jackee was the breakout star of 227.

[ghostlight2]

Hey, Jon:

"What did Ducky look like when he was younger?"
Illya Kuryakin

[SNAFU]

"Speaking of Marla Gibbs, I am pretty sure Jackee was the breakout star of 227."

Yes, because MArla became the straight person for that show.

[sabrelady]

Larry, Daryl and "my other brother Daryl" on The Bob Newhart Show, originally a one off that evolved into a hugely popular recurring characters.
Donna Mills as "Abby" in Knot's Landing practically ran off w that series.
Heather Lockyear also kinda took over on Melrose Place.

( funny thing is, except for Newhart, I never watched those shows)

[Gothampc]

"Larry, Daryl and "my other brother Daryl" on The Bob Newhart Show"

Yes that's a good one, I forgot about that one.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Don Knotts on "The Andy Griffith Show."

And I wouldn't say poor Mary Tyler Moore. She still WAS that show, as demonstrated by the fact that it continued to thrive when those characters left--and their spinoffs didn't.

Slightly off-topic, though not really: As much as I love Mary Richards, I loved Laurie Petrie even more. Which reminds me: I LOVED Buddy, Sally, and Millie Helper, though I wouldn't say any of them stole the show.

[Gothampc]

"And I wouldn't say poor Mary Tyler Moore."

I agree that she was the show and I think (along with Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett) that MTM is one of the Queens of Comedy. But have you ever watched an episode wishing that Sue Ann Nivens would appear and stir things up?

[Reginald Tresilian]

Oh, I love Sue Ann. But I also loved when Mary got the last word with her.

[Mister Matt]

Michael J. Fox - Family Ties
Loni Anderson - WKRP in Cincinnati
Polly Holliday - Alice
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother
Michael Jeter - Evening Shade
John Larroquette - Night Court
Pat Harrington - One Day at a Time

[SNAFU]

Have to say, Ted Knight also walked away wiyh many, many scenes on MTM!

[Reginald Tresilian]

And don't forget Georgette! I think MTM just falls under the category of astounding ensemble work.

[Marianne2]

I always liked the Ropers on Three's Company. They were funny. Too bad their spin off was not a hit. But, their seasons of the show are my favorites. It was still good after they left, but it went a bit down hill.