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character Unlikeable characters

So I love unlikeable characters and people with real flaws, so that’s what I write. I want to know what you think makes an unlikeable character work in a screenplay.

I don’t need a specific answer on this but I’ll let you know what I’m working on now. Dark comedy tv pilot. Stuffy pretentious theater writer falls on hard times, hasn’t sold a script in years, applies to work on a 13-year-old girl’s YouTube channel for a big payday. I’m trying to make him more of a Frasier Crane than a Niles and poke fun at his flaws while remaining a protagonist the audience can get behind.

Coming up with some ideas to make it work. Have him save the cat off the bat and uncharacteristically do a good thing that the audience can get behind. Have his flaws motivated with backstory to give an explanation of why he is what he is. And an ending where he grows at least a little bit that had motivated him to change. Obviously, I can’t have him come to Jesus and completely be a better person bc he’s gonna reset the next episode like most sitcoms. But it can be a goal grow and be better throughout the series.

Long post. Sorry. Any thoughts would be helpful
 
Well, look no further than Succession. It's an entire family we "love to hate." These are basically the worst people on TV. All of the main cast are completely awful, keep doing disgusting things. They are objectively evil and highly destructive, yet they are basically untouchable and above the law because they are so filthy stinking rich. So the overarching "mechanism", if you will; the chief conceptual way they each "work" for the audience, is because they are constantly giving each other their come-uppances.
 
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