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The Magic of Great Ensemble Casts in Writing Through TV Series

Posted on February 4, 2025 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Beverly Hills 90210 cast. Let’s see if I can still remember the characters’ names… From left: Steve, Kelly, Andrea, Brandon, Brenda, Dylan, Donna, and David.

I love a good ensemble cast. When done well, you have multiple characters to root for and hate. And sometimes through the pages or episodes, these characters change. And so do your favorites.

Where does my ensemble love come from?

When I was a kid, I was hooked on the teen drama Beverly Hills 90210 (The original. Yes, I’m 40.)

And a little after that, I enjoyed Melrose Place: A fun soap with an interesting set of characters that have messy love lives in California.

It’s no wonder that I’m now mostly writing ensemble-cast novels featuring multiple POVs and beautiful people. And guess what? My romcom trilogy A Change Would Do You Good (aff.link) is set in San Diego, California. And while my debut novel Making A Difference (M.A.D.) (aff. link) is a standalone with fewer characters and plotlines, it still has a large cast.

I’m not the only one with a soft spot for an impressive ensemble. Let’s look at some popular TV series in different genres that audiences love and can’t resist watching again.

Lost: Adventure, drama, fantasy, sci-fi (2004-2010)

Characters from left: Charlie, Sun, Shannon, Sawyer, Jack, Boone, Hurley, Michael, and Kate.

I’ve just finished binging Lost, one of the most beloved adventure/fantasy shows of all time. And the show has a huge cast filled with talented actors.

When the Oceanic 815 flight crashes onto a remote island with no way to ask for help, it’s up to the passengers to come together to survive. However, such different personalities (most of who harbor secrets) will often clash, making it difficult to fight against the real enemies: the violent natives of the island, a smoke monster, and dangerous wild animals.

Here are the characters from season one with storylines on and off the island:

Sawyer: a grifter with a traumatic past. He has an attitude, hoards whatever he finds, and has no regard for anyone else. Or so it seems.
Jack: A successful neurosurgeon dealing with the death of his father and their tumultuous relationship. Not to mention, he feels responsible for the well-being of survivors.
Kate: The one with the biggest secret. A beautiful badass with a mind of her own.
Sayid: A former Iraqi intelligence officer and torturer who will be one of the biggest assets – as long as you don’t cross him.
Jin: A possessive and intense Korean husband who wants his wife Sun to keep to herself. They don’t speak English, and his “us and them” attitude pisses everyone off.
Sun: Sun loves Jin but is sick of his attitude. She’s not above going behind his back to do what needs to be done.
Hurley: A big guy who has had a series of bad luck and is now questioning whether he’s cursed.
Locke: Locke loves being on the island and he believes he’s destined to be there.
Charlie: A former rock star and a drug addict hiding the addiction part from fellow survivors
Claire: A young, single, very pregnant woman.
Michael and Walt: Michael is the father of 12-year-old Walt, and he has had to get custody after his ex died. He needs to learn how to be a father while getting to know his son and making sure they both survive the island.

While they are supporting characters, step-siblings Boone and Shannon affect the plot and the characters above in major ways.

As episodes and seasons go on, more important characters will join. Some of these characters will be killed off. But the cast remains huge.

You might not like all of the storylines or the seasons: But the writers knew how to hook you. There is no shortage of internal and external conflicts.

As a viewer, having a variety of options makes it more fun. As a writer, your creativity knows no bounds. It’s a win-win.

Let’s take a look at some other wildly successful ensemble cast TV series in other genres.

Friends: Sitcom (1994-2004)

Characters from left: Chandler, Rachel, Ross, Monica, Joey, and Phoebe.

One of the most popular shows of all time, Friends features six different main characters in their mid-20s with their own set of quirks.

You have handsome actor Joey who is a bit stupid, but he’s an Einstein when it comes to picking up girls. He loves food, and he will not share it.

Rachel is a waitress learning to stand on her own feet after ditching her boring fiancé (and no longer able to receive help from her rich father) at the altar. She knows and loves fashion.

Ross is a paleontologist adjusting to life after his divorce – which happened because his wife discovered she was a lesbian.

Chandler is an anxious commitment-phobe, but he’s also afraid to die alone. He makes good money from his boring data/statistics job. He’s excellent at sarcasm, and he has the best jokes.

Despite her tragic past, Phoebe is a vibrant, quirky bohemian chick who plays the guitar for fun and works as a masseuse.

Monica, Ross’s sister and Rachel’s high school best friend, is a great chef. She’s also obsessively clean and highly competitive.

Chandler and Joey live together across Rachel and Monica. Ross has crushed on Rachel since high school.

The loves and lives of these six friends gave us 10 seasons through 235 episodes. Fans (including me) can’t get enough and rewatch the series again and again.

Gilmore Girls: Comedy, drama, romance (2000-2007)

Characters: Michelle, Babbette, Emily, Richard, Sookie, Luke, Lane, Lorelai, and Rory.

When Lorelai, the daughter of highly privileged Gilmore family, got pregnant at 16, she left her helicopter parents to raise her daughter Rory on her own. She started as a maid at an inn and worked her way up her way to hotel manager. In her small town of Stars Hollow, we witness her (mis)adventures and relationships with her neighbors, the handsome owner of Luke’s diner, town’s busybody mayor Taylor, the weird guy with a million jobs – aka Kirk -, Rory’s love interests, loveable but inappropriate Babette and Miss Patty, her best friend Sookie, Rory’s best friend Lane, receptionist Michel, and of course last but not least the OG Gilmores – her parents Emily and Richard Gilmore.

A popular show with a big cast often creates different “teams” in the fandom. To this day, some people hate Lorelai’s parenting and some love it. Some people can’t get enough of Emily Gilmore while some get PTSD from their own rocky relationships with their mothers. Who’s the best boyfriend of Rory? Is it Dean, Jess, or Logan? (I’m team Dean – before season 4 happened.)

While I have seen people who dislike Lorelai and can’t stand certain seasons where Rory is a brat, I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t adore Luke. (We don’t speak of mid-season 6 Luke. If you are wondering why, check out my post on the dreaded surprise child trope.)

Why do I mention all the fun disagreements among Gilmore Girls fans? Because that’s one of the biggest perks of creating (and consuming) a series with an ensemble cast. You’ve got tons to choose from.

The Vampire Diaries: Fantasy, horror, thriller, drama, romance (2009-2017)

Characters from left: Bonnie, Damon, Matt, Caroline, Tyler, Jeremy, Alaric, Elena, Enzo, and Stefan.

While based on the popular book series by L.J. Smith, the series wildly differs from the novels. And since I watched the series, I’ll be basing my ensemble opinions on it.

The Vampire Diaries starts as 100-something vampire Stefan Salvatore (who was turned when he was about 17) returns to his hometown of Mystic Falls to get to know Elena, a 17-year-old high schooler who lost her parents in a tragic accident about a year ago. (Why Stefan is interested in Elena will be revealed later). With his powers of mind control, Stefan easily enrolls in the high school and his charm and good looks make him instantly popular – much to the chagrin of Elena’s ex Matt – who is still in love with her. Matt and his best friend Tyler (who has unresolved anger issues) are further annoyed by the new kid as his strength and speed land him a spot on their football team. As Elena’s instantly drawn to Stefan, her best friend Caroline is jealous because all the boys seem to want Elena, while their other best friend Bonnie suspects she’s a witch.

But high school dynamics is the least of Stefan’s problems. While Stefan strictly feeds on animals, another vampire has arrived – who doesn’t mind leaving bodies behind. And while the mayor (Tyler’s dad) and the sheriff (Caroline’s mother) explain these bodies as vicious animal attacks, they know all about vampires – a secret they keep from their children and the rest of the town.

Spoiler alert: Towards the end of the pilot episode, the violent vampire will reveal himself to be Damon, Stefan’s slightly older and equally gorgeous brother Damon, who is on a mission to make his sibling’s life hell.

More characters:

Elena and her fellow high schooler younger brother Jeremy live with their grad student aunt Jenna.
Tyler’s mother is a founding family member – meaning she knows about vampires.
Matt’s sister Vicky is friends with benefits with Jeremy. She’s also dating Tyler.
In episode 9 – spoiler alert – we’ll meet another important character: high school history teacher Alaric Saltzman who is secretly a vampire hunter, looking to avenge his dead wife.

While the show centers on the love triangle between three characters (Stefan/Elena/Damon), Caroline and Bonnie will have their storylines both directly and indirectly related to the trio. Tyler and Matt are both crucial love interests, friends and important characters in their own right. And then you have Alaric. I haven’t even started on the actual bad guys yet. (Damon will be a psycho asshole for a while but then he will switch to good guys.)

That’s a lot of characters. Keep in mind that this is a supernatural show with serial storylines and a different villain (or villain group) each season. Many characters will either die and/or change into something else. Some will come back, some will stay dead. Other important characters will join the cast. So The Vampire Diaries will keep its ensemble form until the very end.

During the first season, I liked a lot of the characters, but Stefan and Elena were my favorites. During the second season, we saw Tyler change into a solid, vulnerable person. From season 2, he was one of my favorites. I’ve always liked Alaric. I started liking Caroline after she “changed.”

When vampire Enzo first joined, he had my sympathy but he did annoy me to no end. Toward the end of season 7, he became one of my favorite characters. In fact, when the series was over, my favorite characters were Bonnie, Enzo, Tyler, and Alaric.

So there you go: Four wildly popular shows with ensemble casts.

As a viewer, it’s inevitable to find characters to root for, identify with, hate, and ship.

As a writer, you have immense creative freedom with character growth/regression, storylines, conflict, and even genres.

I realized this post would be too long if I covered books with ensemble casts here as well, so I’ll be talking about books with ensemble casts in part two.

What about you? Do you enjoy ensemble casts? Do you tend to write a big cast of characters? Let me know in the comments.

PS This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, it’s no extra cost to you, and it fuels my coffee fund.

How to Use Excess to Create Memorable Characters in Your Fiction

Posted on January 13, 2024 Written by Pinar Tarhan

This looks like a smaller version of my cup collection. Or just how much coffee Lorelai drinks in a day…

“Everything in moderation” is good life advice in general. It helps us maintain healthy diets, not neglect or overdo exercise, don’t go bankrupt on shopping sprees… All sensible stuff.

But if there’s one place where excess is welcome, and it’s fiction.

Most of our favorite books, shows, and movies feature main characters with extreme habits and/or personality traits. Many stretch the courtesy to supporting characters as well.

While how much excess (and in what areas) one prefers can vary, here are some of my favorite “excess” examples:

Excess Examples in TV Series

Gilmore Girls

One of my all-time favorite shows Gilmore Girls centers around best friend mother-daughter duo Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. They share similar taste in music, movies, food, and clothing. They order too much takeout, consume a scary amount of coffee, and talk at a million miles a minute.

The show is funny, romantic and emotional, and the excesses don’t end with Lorelai and Rory. It merely begins there.

The maker of their favorite coffee, Luke (Scott Patterson), owns Luke’s diner. A town issue will up his grumpiness and ranting to the max.

Lorelai’s best friend Chef Sookie (Melissa McCarthy) is extremely clumsy, forgetful, and in love with her cooking.

Lorelai’s co-worker Michel couldn’t be more stereotypically French if he tried.

Town spokesperson Taylor is always annoying one poor soul or another with his demands, festivals, problems, complaints, etc… And when it’s not one or two people, he’s pissing off the entire town.

The town’s weirdest resident Kirk makes Phoebe from Friends seem sane and normal. There’s no job he won’t try, for one.

Lorelai’s next-door neighbor Babette is loud, loving, very fond of her cat and her husband, and doesn’t exactly know boundaries (but in a cute, warm way).

Last but not least, Lorelai’s estranged rich parents, Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard (Edward Herrmann) are excessively elitist, opinionated, lacking in empathy, and unappreciative of boundaries. Friday night dinners are a battleground. And both Emily and Richard are prone to tantrums that would make 5-year-olds facepalm.

Gilmore Girls is a quintessential feel-good comedy drama, and this beautifully written excess is one of the elements making it so memorable and addictive even after all these years.

Friends

If you don’t think Friends isn’t funny, we can’t be friends. I’m kidding. Of course, we can. We probably shouldn’t watch a comedy together, though.

If Friends isn’t your kind of sitcom, pick yours. Sitcoms mine excess to hilarious results.

Whether it’s The Office, The Bing Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, or another show, you will notice the excess immediately.

In Friends, Joey (Matt LeBlanc) eats anything and everything. He covets food more than his own life, and almost as much as he loves sex. He is also very stupid. He is cute and loveable, but he likely wouldn’t survive long outside of a TV show. But there is an exception: If he’s trying to pick up a girl, his IQ suddenly spikes.

Initially, Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) is spoilt and clueless about the real world. As seasons progress, her remaining excess is her love for fashion and shopping.

Monica (Courteney Cox) is an amazing cook and terribly organized, clean, and competitive. She exhibits a love for cleaning that would prompt a psychological diagnosis. She once cleaned several cars in her neighborhood because they looked dirty.

Ross (David Schwimmer) is a massive dinosaur nerd. He gets excessively jealous when he dates Rachel, but outside of that, he is all about academia and dinosaurs and putting his friends to sleep.

Chandler (Matthew Perry) IS sarcasm. He is also hilarious. He manages to be extremely commitment-averse and afraid to be alone at the same time.

Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) is just quirkiness personified. Bohemian, unique, and flaky, she is a lot of people’s favorite character.

Excess Examples in Movies

John Wick

John Wick is very stylish and although bloody, it’s not too gory. Which is how I love my action thrillers.

Wrong John Wick (Keanu Reeves), and he will kill you. Even if you bring 100 people along. And we love him for it. Whether it’s guns, swords, hand-to-hand combat, or pencils, he will take you out. So don’t get in his way.

Any kickass action hero with kickass killing and survival skills fits here: Rambo, Robert McCall (The Equalizer), Lorraine Broughton (Atomic Blonde), Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible), Jack Reacher (is a great example because Reacher was/is a book series first, movie and then TV adaptation), Bryan Mills (Taken, of movie and TV series fame), Duncan Vizla (Polar), Evelyn Salt (Salt), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), Cataleya (Colombiana)…

The list is long, but let me finish with Smith (Clive Owen) from Shoot ‘Em Up. Not only does the movie have a fantastic cast, action scenes, and a kickass rock soundtrack, but I’ll forever be grateful to have learned how deadly carrots can be in the right hands.

These people are deadly, but they will look after the people they take care about.

Excess Examples in Books

Pride and Prejudice

True to its title and theme, Elizabeth can be very prejudiced and proud. And so can the male main character Mr. Darcy.

Moreover, Elizabeth is incredibly modern and ahead of her time. She’d rather read and walk all day and night rather than conform to her society’s norms. Darcy is very introverted and prejudiced, so he comes off as rude.

But that’s not all. Elizabeth’s mother is so obsessed with marrying off her daughters, love and compatibility don’t even cross her mind. Collins’ lack of emotional intelligence and self-awareness are astoundingly hilarious.

A Change Would Do You Good

A Change Would Do You Good is a short, escapist rom-com trilogy, and is also the title of the first book in the series.

Excess in opposite directions works wonders for creating conflict.

My main character Janie is still recovering from a loss. She experienced true love and an amazing relationship, and she is certain she will never feel the same way about anyone.

On the other hand, her new neighbor Kevin has had a blessed existence. He is a top surfer, has never met a beautiful woman he couldn’t seduce, and has no interest in a romantic, serious relationship. Put these extreme ends together, and the sparks are electrifying.

But because this is an ensemble romcom novel, plenty of excess can be found in other characters: How well Ben and Greg’s lives are going vs. how much of a rut Linda’s in, Ashley’s apathy and disregard for others, the career Tom and Sam want vs. the career they have…

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Love it or hate it, any successful work of fiction has excess. When you write fiction, it’s okay to go all the way with character quirks, tastes, and personality traits.

When you are reading or watching and the excess puts you off, it might be that you aren’t the intended target audience. And it’s okay.

For writers:

If you find yourself lacking inspiration, look at yourself and your friends. What about you/them seems strange/over the top to other people? What have been some of your weirdest encounters? Remember how life is often stranger than fiction, and you’ll have more material than you can handle.

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What are your favorite excess examples in fiction? Let me know in the comments.

The Surprise Child Trope: How to Piss off Your Readers and Viewers

Posted on October 17, 2023 Written by Pinar Tarhan

Readers and viewers come with a variety of tastes when it comes to tropes. Some people hate love triangles; some love them. And many readers live for the friends-to-lovers; others avoid them when they can.

But there’s one trope that I have never seen anyone talk highly about: It’s the surprise/secret child trope. You follow a TV series or a book (series), and suddenly there’s a child or a teenager that the main character (or a significant character that heavily impacts the main character) has had. Oops. Now the audience has to sit back and watch all the conflicts unfold, all because of a kid we never signed up for.

There is nothing wrong with writing about characters who are parents. But if we suddenly have to deal with a child that comes out of nowhere after 5 or more seasons (or books), we start to complain.

Here, I’m going to remind you how certain shows lost or lowered their appeal, and two shows that did it right and how.

Note: Please note that this post contains affiliate links. It’s no extra cost to you, but I do make a little if you buy through them.

Spoiler Alert: This post contains spoilers about Buffy, Gilmore Girls, Lucifer, Ally McBeal, and Virgin River.

Let’s start with a good example.

Grandfathered starring John Stamos and Josh Peck

While it only aired for one season, this Stamos comedy was a sweet and fun one. A handsome, successful, and happily single restaurant owner gets a double shock when the adult son he didn’t know he had shows up with his granddaughter.

It’s a fun concept and a welcome twist on the good old trope. And the best part? We were ready for it as an audience.

Where the fandoms didn’t welcome the surprise child.

Buffy starring Sarah Michelle Gellar

Here we are, happy Buffy fans until season 5, knowing that our favorite vampire slayer is an only child… until there is suddenly a teenager and she’s Buffy’s sister. And she has been Buffy’s sister this whole time.

Technically, Buffy’s mother is not blindsided by the sudden existence of her child. Neither is Buffy. It’s only the audience.

Buffy is a supernatural show. We can accept a lot of things. But of all the things Buffy fans disagree about (“Angel or Spike?”, “Is Riley an undeserving man unworthy of Buffy or is he a decent guy who dealt with the crazy world the best he could? ”, etc.), there is one consensus. I never heard a Buffy fan happy about the arrival of Dawn.

Gilmore Girls starring Lauren Graham

I love this show. I resisted it for a long time because everyone seemed to love it, and I didn’t think it could be that good. I was wrong. It really is that good. Except season 6. I’d like to pretend Season 6, from episode 9, never happened. Because you guessed it, the main male character of the show, our beloved TV boyfriend Luke Danes got a 12-year-old daughter. And both a character and a romance for the ages were ruined.

But first, let’s give a short recap for those of you who never watched the show:

Lorelai is an independent, fast-talking, gorgeous single mother in her early 30s. She manages the hotel in the small town Sleepy Hollow and raises her book-smart and pretty teenager Rory. The two are more besties than mother and daughter. However, the picture-perfect life Lorelai built here will be disturbed when Lorelai has to ask her estranged parents for money so that she can send Rory to her dream school.

There are many storylines, character arcs, and relationships we don’t see eye to eye as GG fans. But we do agree that Luke Danes is awesome.

Luke owns and runs the diner in town, which is his dream job. He’s handsome, honest, dependable, and fun in his own way. Luke is so well-written and portrayed that he almost seems more real than other men we see on TV.

It takes a long time for Lorelai and Luke to get together. Like four entire seasons. Then we still have to wait a bit more for the first official date. But when the romance starts, we are thrilled. These two are made for each other.

And the proposal scene in season 5, as well Luke’s reaction… Well, I think I watched it like a hundred times. Cuteness overload.

And then during season 6, we get a child, and it all goes to hell from there. I have nothing against the child herself as a character. While I’d rather Luke never had a kid, she is okay. It’s the man/fiancé Luke turns into that I hate.

He neglects Lorelai so badly that she goes nuclear when she ends it. And I don’t blame her one bit. She hung on a lot longer than I’d have, and she only did because this was Luke.

Don’t worry, they fix things in season 7. But man, what an unnecessary bumpy ride we didn’t need.

The reason Luke gets no sympathy from us is he had no excuse. His daughter wasn’t problematic. She wasn’t terminally ill. She got along fine with Lorelai. Lorelai was also sweet and welcoming.

I’d like to pretend Luke was temporarily replaced by an alien or android. If GG had a fight club, the first rule would be we hate season 6 Luke.

Ally McBeal starring Calista Flockhart

Ally McBeal will always have a special place in my heart. I was supposed to be studying for college entrance exams, but had a bunch of health issues so I watched a lot of series. One of my favorites was this quirky comedy drama, and to this day it remains one of the quirkiest, most fun shows I’ve seen.

Ally is a young lawyer who accidentally ends up working at the same company as her college boyfriend Billy and his wife while Ally not being the quirkiest character… You just need to watch it. The show was David E. Kelley, who has a track record of creating addictive legal comedies and dramas.

But if I had to choose my least favorite Ally McBeal storyline, the award goes to season 5 (the show’s last season) where a 10-year-old shows up at Ally’s door and says she’s her daughter. Turns out, Ally joined a fertility study, they made a mistake, and when the girl’s father died, she came looking.

Now, in one episode, Ally decided she was meant to be a mother. One episode. What???

Though not at the same level as Gilmore Girls, I am still not sure a daughter was the be-all-end-all solution to all of Ally’s problems. It’s like almost impossible for a woman to find what makes her complete without a romantic partner or a kid. (Eye roll.)

Oh well. At least season 5 had James Marsden, Josh Hopkins, Regina Hall, Jon Bon Jovi, and Tim DeKay as guest stars.

Lucifer starring Tom Ellis

Based on the DC comics Lucifer, Lucifer has one of the most fun concepts ever: The devil gets bored in hell, and moves to Los Angeles where he runs a piano bar and assists the LAPD with solving murders. Tom Ellis is never anything less than perfect as Lucifer. And while some storylines, seasons, and character developments are more interesting than others, he is always a joy to watch. The song and dance numbers on the show are also priceless.

What sets Lucifer apart from other in(famous) comic characters is that he never tries to hide his identity. He tells everyone he’s the devil and no one believes him, which adds more hilarity.

So while I recommend anyone give Lucifer a try, I am also not going to insist you watch season 6. In episode 2, we meet a petulant young adult from hell. With wings. In episode 3, we find out – along with Lucifer – that she is his daughter.

What????? Why?

The rest of the storyline is hazy because I never could give my full attention after this. As you know, this is not my first surprise child character.

I prefer Lucifer’s episodic stories over serial ones because serial stories usually get more convoluted as they try to up previous seasons.

A neutral example: Virgin River starring Alexandra Breckenridge

While I don’t watch shows eagerly waiting for a surprise child to turn up, Virgin River’s use of the trope didn’t bother me. For one thing, “the child” didn’t belong to Mel or Jack, our main characters.

At the end of season 3, a handsome college-aged guy named Denny walked into the town’s B&B and declared he was looking for his grandfather, the town doctor.

Since then, Denny’s been a regular on the show. While initially he has a secret, his presence didn’t hurt Doc’s relationships. It didn’t cause a personality change. Denny was a likable character on his own.

When should you consider using this trope?

I believe as a writer you should be able to write whatever you want. Because you can’t (or at least shouldn’t) spend months laboring over something you aren’t excited about. So while I am not a fan of this trope in most cases, only you can know if your story needs it.

You should also consider your target market. If you have asked your readers and they seem to love and expect this trope, then you have nothing to worry about.

Just like any trope, you can make a decision by asking yourself some vital questions.

Does this trope work for my genre, particularly for this story?
How does my audience feel about this trope?
Does this reveal (of the surprise child) feel organic, or was I really just looking for an easy way to create conflict?
Am I staying true to my characters when I write their reactions?
Do I have a fresh, or a lesser-used take on this?

There you have it. What about you? Which surprise child reveal annoys you to no end?