1. First, in Golden Girls, Sophia was originally planned as an occasional guest star, but audiences loved her so much that she stuck around.
2. In Parks and Rec, Andy was going to leave after six episodes following his breakup with Ann.
3. Originally, Chandler and Phoebe weren't going to be part of the main cast of Friends. They were simply going to pop in occasionally.
4. Breaking Bad's Jesse Pinkman was going to be killed off in Season 1. In fact, his death was supposed to lead to Walt capturing and torturing a drug dealer.
5. In Grey's Anatomy, Arizona Robbins was only supposed to be in three episodes during Season 5.
6. Boy Meets World's Topanga was only scheduled to appear in a few episodes and was actually going to be played by a different actress.
7. Luke Danes wasn't supposed to be a series regular on Gilmore Girls. In fact, Scott Patterson was only given a bigger role after seeing his chemistry with Lauren Graham.
8. Captain Hook was originally going to appear in only four episodes of Once Upon a Time.
9. In Scandal, Mellie Grant was only going to be in three episodes during Season 1.
10. Originally, Dylan McKay was going to have a two-episode arc in Season 1 of 90210 — Fox executives weren't sure people would like his character.
11. In Lost, Jack was supposed to die in the first episode to show that not a single character would be safe on the series.
12. Kelsey Grammer was originally only hired to play Frasier Crane in six episodes of Cheers. Of course, he went on to play the role for 20 years.
13. In Arrow, Felicity Smoak was only supposed to appear in two scenes in a single episode.
14. Ed Helms was only going to appear in 10 episodes of The Office as Andy Bernard.
15. Misha Collins originally signed up for a short three-episode arc as Castiel in Supernatural — now, he's appeared in more than 100 episodes.
16. Due to scheduling conflicts, Jane Lynch originally only signed on to guest star in a few episodes of Glee as Sue Sylvester.
17. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike was originally intended to be just another villain Buffy would defeat in one episode.
18. Martin Sheen was only going to be in four episodes of The West Wing as President Bartlet. In fact, Aaron Sorkin's original plan was to not have the President as a main character.
19. And finally, in The Vampire Diaries, Elijah Mikaelson was supposed to die shortly after being introduced on the show.
