When Bad Wigs Happen To Beautiful People on TV
Props, effects, and makeup on TV have come a long way in the last few decades. Flying super heroes, monsters and beasts, characters aging before our eyes — we’ve seen it all.
And yet, many of the best shows are seriously shortchanged in the wig department. Bad wigs are my pet peeve — an unwanted, unnecessary distraction! Every ill-conceived wig on TV gives me cause for pause. Let’s take a look at seven of the worst offenders in recent times.
The first image in each item of the list is the actor in his/her natural, singularly attractive state. The second image is what happens when bad wigs happen to beautiful people.
1. Stephen Amell — Arrow
No bad wig list is complete without Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen on Arrow. He is doubly qualified, because he had not one, but two bad wigs!
The first picture is of pre-island Oliver and he looks every bit the douche-bag, but not quite the Casanova, he was supposed to be. The second picture is island-Oliver, who found ways to trim his stubble but never figured out how to cut his hair. Viewers suffered through three seasons of island-Oliver hair, before the show took pity on him (and us) and gave him a haircut in the flashbacks. There was a collective sigh of relief heard around the Arrow fandom.
2. Justin Baldoni — Jane The Virgin
Justin Baldoni’s Raphael is quite the dapper, sexy, good looking suitor for Jane’s affection on Jane The Virgin. And is always so easy on the eyes. Except for the one time he donned a long haired wig as part of a dream sequence.
It was meant to be funny, but I think viewers were supposed to laugh with Rafael, not at him. I watched the Season 1 gag reel and even Gina Rodriguez (Jane) couldn’t stop laughing every time Justin Baldoni turned around to face her. Same Gina, same.
3. Patrick J. Adams — Suits
Patrick J. Adams’ character Mike on Suits has an endearing boyish charm about him, but no stretch of the imagination prepared viewers for the high school version of Mike.
Unfortunately, a bad wig does not a young boy make. A younger actor to play the role would have been a far better choice than the mop they placed on Mike’s head.
4. Megan Boone — The Blacklist
Megan Boone’s Elizabeth Keen on the first season of The Blacklist was a naive FBI agent thrown into James Spader’s (Red Reddington) chaotic world. I can’t quite find an explanation for her wig, except that maybe her own hair didn’t give her the naiveté they were looking for.
However, the wig only served as a distraction and was called out by numerous media outlets. Fortunately, as we moved into the second season, a stronger, more badass Elizabeth benefited from Boone’s natural look.
Riya Verghese
Riya is a software engineer by day and a writer by night. After years of writing code for a living, Riya decided to make time for her original love, creative writing. When she's not writing, she loves spending time with her kids, reading, tweeting, and cooking. Riya also writes for DocBrownTV and UntitledTV. Follow her on Twitter: @rsarahsays
One thought on “When Bad Wigs Happen To Beautiful People on TV”
I am watching I zombie(for now) streaming of course, and I dont even care if it’s a good or bad look, rather that it is always exactly the same. It becomes more and more distracting and screams same exact stupid wig the more I watch it. Aside from that, surprisingly entertaining for as bad as the plotting usually is. But I have never been more aware someone was wearing a wig.
Comments are closed.