I felt a little sorry for Nick Brendan during S7, he obviously was having substance abuse problems during the previous year and they'd scaled back his role as a result. But he had nothing to do that season, except make self-righteous speeches or just nod along and do whatever was expected of him. He was barely there. Shame too, because Xander was a far more interesting character than Andrew, and they could have done a lot more with him. Also, Xander had a history, and Nick Brendan is a much better actor with a lot more range.

Whedon, however, liked Tom Lenk and so did all the writers, they thought he was hilarious, and let him improvise and gave him more leeway than the rest of the cast. It hurt the series in S7 and cost them fans and ratings. But they didn't care.

I don't like the actor or the character. Tom Lenk has no range and basically plays himself in everything he does. Topher Grace who played a similar type of role in Dollhouse and later in Cabin in the Woods, is such a better actor, I wished he'd gotten the role. Or the guy who plays Howard in Big Bang Theory. Or even the guy who played Jonathan and Warren, both good actors. But no, they kept they bad one. (Sigh. Television Writers. Sigh).

But, alas, I know people who adore Lenk. (shrugs).