MovieChat Forums > Lou Grant (1977) Discussion > Characters of Convenience

Characters of Convenience

posted 15 years ago by LCShackley
3 replies | jump to latest

I just watched "Recovery," a fifth-season episode about Japanese internment camps.

It illustrated a technique I call "characters of convenience," where the writers suddenly introduce a never-before-seen staff member because of a plot necessity.

Of course, every episode has guest stars, because the reporters meet new people when pursuing stories. But it's a stretch of credibility when a reporter pops out of nowhere (in this case a Japanese staffer) and everyone treats him/her like an old-timer. Lynne Moody only shows up when we have a black-related story. Others arrive when a reporter-related story involves a problem too serious or life-changing to be attached to one of the regulars. And a whole new staff bloomed out of nowhere for the episode about the "night side" (see my comment on that episode).

Anyone else have examples of "characters of convenience"? (This was also common on THE PAPER CHASE, which ran around the same time as LOU GRANT. New students would appear among the regulars in class...people who had never been there before and would never be seen again after one episode.)

[–] LCShackley 15 years ago

The fifth season really went off the rails regarding characters.

For instance, what about Billie's husband? The wedding takes place in season #5.1 and then he vanishes. Sometimes she acts as though she's not married at all. Occasionally (#5.17) she mentions him, but with somewhat negative overtones.

Following the "Recovery" program mentioned above (#5.15), it gets worse.

In "Obituary" (#5.16) the plot calls for a reporter to be killed. So, miraculously, an ace reporter everyone seems to know pops up in order to take the fall. Also, a new young character named Lance makes an appearance, also without any kind of introduction, as though we should know him. (He returns in #5.18.) I wonder if the network was pressuring the producers to make LG more "youth friendly."

In "Blacklist" (#5.17), Rossi suddenly has a black girlfriend from the staff. They act as though they have been together for awhile, to the point where Rossi even keeps clothes at her place. But we have never seen her before. Also, veteran actor William Schallert materializes in the news room as another one of those "old reporters" who are needed for a plot line, and everyone acts like he's always been there. That's the most disconcerting aspect of the "characters of convenience" - that we're supposed to believe that these people have been sitting there all along and we just never noticed them.

[–] lloydbowman 9 years ago

This is quite an old and familiar practice, perhaps best exemplified by Star Trek's "Red Shirt" cast members who would appear in an episode and typically have the lifespan of a fruit fly. If Star Trek was doing it in the 1960's, I'm sure the practice was well in place prior to that.

[–] gary-64659 9 years ago

Introducing incidental, one-off characters is a necessity in an ongoing story. Of course you've never seen them before and will rarely if ever see them again -- hence the term "guest stars" -- Otherwise in the course of one series you would need a standing cast of two or three dozen and each week give them one line each to say "Mornin' Lou". That would be really, really stupid.