Shows We Really Only Watch For The Minor Characters
Typically, for a TV show to survive, it needs a compelling lead. Even with an ensemble cast, there's always one character more important than everybody else, and that's who the audience is supposed to connect with. Sometimes, though, shows will succeed because of the supporting cast. Even though they're not the focus of the show, they're the reason everyone's really watching.
The Walking Dead
Let's be honest: the Grimes family is not all that interesting. Sure, there's nothing wrong with Rick, and he's definitely had his stand out moments, but he's also not as intriguing as the show likes to pretend he is. Then there's Carl, who is the worst. Whether he's just wandering around the apocalypse playing tag with zombies, or sitting around eating pudding, he's seriously just terrible. It's crazy that out of all the characters that have died on this show that Carl's still bumbling around. The real stars of the show are all the supporting characters. Daryl, Michonne, Glenn, and Maggie are all great. Even the villains, like the Governor, are super interesting. Most times, the best episodes of every season are the ones dedicated to these characters, as opposed to the ones moving the main story forward. That's because the main story is always slowed down because Carl wandered off or is out getting people like Dale killed. Seriously, Carl is the worst.
American Horror Story: Hotel
The American Horror Story series is always pretty hit or miss. Usually, the beginning of the season is much better than the end. The show does a really good job of setting up the storylines, but closing them out is always a bit of a let down. Hotel, however, changed things up by never even setting up all that interesting of a story. Lady Gaga's portrayal of Countess was kind of a bore. Her and all of her bad romances (zing) just couldn't carry an entire season. Then there's Detective John Lowe, played by Wes Bentley. His entire arc is super obvious and never all that engaging. His whole "am I serial killer or not" mystery just always feels completely divorced from everything else going on in the show. The season only stays afloat at all because of everyone else in the hotel. Elizabeth Taylor anchors the season, despite spending the majority of it on the sidelines. Evan Peters really gets to ham it up as old timey serial killer James March, which could have been a disaster, but is instead the most entertaining part of the show. Seriously, it should have been obvious to the showrunners that a ghost that's also a serial killer that talks like an old fashioned movie star would be the most entertaining part of the season.
New Girl
Despite being the titular character on the show, Zooey Deschanel's Jess is the least engaging character on New Girl. We get it: she's quirky! But "quirky" doesn't equal "interesting." The thing is, New Girl is actually a great show. That's because literally every other character on the show is hilarious. Nick, Schmidt, Winston, and Cece are all amazing. It's not uncommon for a show's main character to be outshined comedically by the supporting cast, but that's typically because they're the straight man. With New Girl, Jess is supposed to be as wacky as her roommates, but it just doesn't work out. The issue is that Jess' comedy only comes from the fact that she's quirky. She just ends up looking one-dimensional in comparison. Schmidt is able to be a jerk and compelling at the same time, which is way more interesting than the fact that Jess likes to sing when she's uncomfortable.
Lost
At some point, we all realized that Lost didn't know where it was going. The first two seasons of the show set up so many crazy mysteries, but they just keep piling up on top of each other, and it becomes clear that there's no way to resolve everything. But people kept watching because of the characters. You just have to know how they all turn out, even though it's obvious that it's not going to make much sense. But then there's the show's lead character: Jack. He could have just disappeared into the jungle and it probably wouldn't have upset too many people. It's nothing against Jack...it's just that everyone else has way more compelling stories. Even someone like Desmond, who's crazy time travel nonsense is the most confusing storyline out of everybody's...he just wanted to get back to Penny! Then there's Sawyer, Hurley, Sun, and Juliet. Also, whatever happened to John Locke? Was he even in the final season? None of it made any sense, but it was all okay, because the audience connects so well to these characters.
South Park
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman. In fact, they're still regularly very funny. It's just that if the show were to drop one or two of those characters, it wouldn't really be a problem. Typically, the best moments from any given episode come from Stan's dad, Butters, or Mr. Garrison. The reason for this is pretty simple. South Park has perfected combining political and social satire with vulgar humor. The show is also incredibly self-aware, which is a big reason why the comedy works. One of the results, however, is that the main characters have essentially become stand-ins for the show's creators. They're the ones reacting to everything that's going on, and explaining why it's stupid or frustrating. Even someone like Cartman usually ends up giving a long monologue about what issue is being tackled.