Top 10 TV Plots You Won't Believe Almost Happened

Spencer Hastings is the leader of “Pretty Little Liars”’ titular clique and arguably the series’ protagonist, yet her actress, Troian Bellisario, lobbied repeatedly to kill the character off. Bellisario’s reason for wanting her to die was to raise the stakes for the group, as being without their leader would have forced the other Liars to grow and change in new ways. Spencer had several brushes with death during the series, and was even impersonated by her “evil twin” several times, but Bellisario’s plans for her character never saw complete fruition.

Niklaus Mikaelson, better known as Klaus, is a charismatic vampire/werewolf hybrid who acts as an antagonist in the early seasons of “The Vampire Diaries.” The show’s creators originally intended for Klaus to be killed at the end of Season 3. However, the character proved so popular that not only did he appear on and off for most of the rest of series, but he also received his own spin-off show, “The Originals.” If he had died when originally intended, “The Originals” would never have existed and Klaus’ oft-teased relationship with Caroline would never have gotten as far as it did (which wasn’t far enough in our books!).

Some characters end up very different from how they are first envisioned. The hardnosed Miranda Bailey, whose tyranny over her interns was bad enough that she was nicknamed “the Nazi,” was originally going to be named Deborah, and was supposed to be lacking in social skills. Not only that, but she was also going to be in a strangely steamy relationship with George while he was an intern. Whether Bailey had the name Deborah or Miranda, seeing her hook up with George would have been bizarre and, if she was still married to Tucker, quite scandalous too; likely derailing both of the romantic paths taken by each character.

This zombie apocalypse series features characters dropping left and right, so it should come as no surprise that the creators sometimes had a hard time deciding on who lives and who dies. Season 3 saw one such moment of indecision, as the folks in charge killed off T-Dog, but they had considered having Carol die instead. The writers were unsure what to do with the character at the time, but she’s gone on to become a fan favorite, with several memorable, and dark, moments that have made her stand out. Still, we can only imagine what path T-Dog would have traveled instead.

One of the most colorful characters at fictional hospital Sacred Heart is the unnamed Janitor. Prone to nonsensical tall tales about his personal life, as well as bizarre hobbies and inventions, the Janitor is extremely fun to watch, partly because a lot of his dialogue was improvised. Yet, his interactions with the other characters besides protagonist J.D., almost didn’t happen, since it was originally planned for him to be another part of J.D.’s overactive imagination, which would have been revealed at the end of Season 1, had the show not been picked up for more seasons. Thankfully, the show, and the Janitor, had a brighter future, that saw the character get into plenty of adventures with other characters.

The first companion of the revived “Doctor Who” series is Rose Tyler, and while she’s often seen as many people’s ideal companion to the time travelling alien Doctor, due to her being their first impression of the concept, she was nearly literally designed that way in the show. One aborted Season 1 episode would have seen the Doctor, Jack Harkness, and Rose visit Pompeii on volcano day (a concept later revisited). While there, Jack would have uncovered that Rose was actually an experiment by the Doctor to genetically engineer the perfect person to travel with him. This would have completely altered his dynamic with Rose, and likely would have prevented them from having the sort-of romance they later have.

We considered discussing the alternate death for the vampire Spike, which would have seen him be killed off by Angelus in Season 2, but instead we’re choosing to focus on a character who would have returned to life. The shocking and upsetting death of Tara proved quite controversial among fans of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” so much so that creator Joss Whedon thought about bringing her back to life with magic, much like some other characters in the series. However, by the time he was ready to do it, the actress who played Tara, Amber Benson, had already moved on, so the plan was scrapped.

Despite its title, much of the ongoing storyline of “Friends” revolved around the romantic relationships between the characters. While Ross and Rachel and Chandler and Monica ended up becoming the series’ “it” couples, this wasn’t always the intention. At first, the plan was to feature Monica and Joey being the focal couple, but this was scrapped early on, though it was revisited when Season 3 came around and even sort of referenced in Season 7. Clearly though, no matter when this pairing happened, it would have completely shaken up the group dynamics in the show and probably even altered their character growth. Would Joey have given up his womanizing ways? Would Chandler have romanced Rachel or Phoebe? We can only guess.

Jesse Pinkman, Walter White’s former student and partner in meth cooking, is an integral part of “Breaking Bad,” and his relationship with his increasingly toxic mentor was one of the defining dynamics of the series. But according to rumor, Jesse was potentially slated to die in the first season. Although some sources claim that the writers strike that cut the first season short saved Jesse’s life, creator Vince Gilligan credits actor Aaron Paul’s talent as an actor with endearing the character to the writers. Still, we have a hard time imagining what “Breaking Bad” would be without Jesse. Bitch.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

“Oh My God, They Killed Kyle!”
“South Park” (1997-)

Carol Overdoses in the Pilot
“ER” (1994-2009)

Tami or Eric Having an Affair
“Friday Night Lights” (2006-11)

The pilot episode of “Lost” is one crazy, wild ride, but it, and the series, was almost even crazier. The initial plan was to introduce the series protagonist Jack, the heroic doctor, only to kill him off midway through the two-part introduction; helping to illustrate that any character could die. Kate was instead planned to be the plane crash survivors’ leader after his death. Jack dying in the premiere would have irrevocably changed the series, as his relationship with all the characters (and theirs with each other), the lives he saved, and his complete journey that tied “Lost” together at beginning and end would never have happened.