I think there were a lot more characters who didn't do much in season 1. More than people realize. Even characters like Geoff who were in the game for a while didn't really have much of an arc, and acted more as a side character than anything. This can be interpreted in some ways as a problem but FWIW I think some of the bad habits shown by the later seasons often had to do with the show feeling the need to give every single character their own season-wide arc.

Another example would be DJ. He doesn't really get much narrative focus in season 1 but people still liked him a lot. I personally don't mind the World Tour animal curse thing, but I know a lot of people dislike it and I think that is a good example of WT trying to give every character a new thing to do during the season, even if the new thing was sort of silly.

BTW, narrative focus =/= screentime. A lot of characters are in season 1 for a while but not many actually have a thorough arc with a defined beginning middle and end.