Favorite TV show characters

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Favorite TV show characters

Postby cmsellers » Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:25 pm

Who are your favorite TV show characters?

I was thinking about how much I love Dwight Schrute, and decided to make a list of mine. This list excludes bit characters, and an honorable mention therefore goes to Judge Marx from The Good Wife. He's one of my favorite characters, but he's kind of a gag character (the crotchety old judge who understands technology). I'm not sure I'd appreciate him so much if he'd been recurring though. While I'm at it: honorable mentions also go to Eli Gold and Marissa Gold, both of whom would make a list of my top two dozen favorite TV characters.

  1. Sterling Archer (Archer). Not even a competition.
  2. Boyd Crowder (Justified). Unlike most of these characters he's more a dramatic character than a comic one, but I identify with him really strongly. He's smart, sophisticated as hell, opportunistic, and basically what I imagine I might be if I'd grown up in similar circumstances.
  3. Dwight Schrute (The Office, US). I've always sympathized more with Dwight than any other character on either version The Office.
  4. Karl Pilkington (An Idiot Abroad). He's playing himself, but he does so awesomely.
  5. Maurice Moss (The IT Crowd). There's just something so endearing about how Ayoade plays him.
  6. Elsbeth Tascioni (The Good Wife). The bunny-ears lawyer incarnate.
  7. Krieger (Archer). Mad scientist Hitler clone FTW.
  8. Ron Swanson (Parks and Rec). I shouldn't have to explain this one.
  9. Leslie Knope (Parks and Rec). Her manic energy and relentless optimism is everything I wish I could be.
  10. Mr./Ms. Garrison (South Park). Garrison's combination of "only reasonable man" and utter insanity makes him consistently the best thing about the show.
  11. Pam Poovey (Archer). Yes, three Archer characters made it on here; there's a reason it's my favorite show of fucking ever. (Cheryl, Cyril, Ray, Nikolai and Brett are also honorable mentions.)
  12. Kenneth Parcel (30 Rock). Yeah, he's a southern stereotype, but he's also just so adorable.

I'm kind of disappointed with myself that only three and a half of my top twelve characters are female. Not sure if that's my fault or the fault of the people making the shows I like; it's probably a bit of both. With that in mind...

Honorable mentions also go to Rachel from House of Cards and Susanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren from Orange is the New Black. Both of these are tragic characters who stand out really clearly to me for that reason. I also identify strongly with Warren. However as should be clear from that list, I'm very strongly oriented towards comedy, and tend to like comedic characters much better than dramatic ones. An honorable mention also goes to Clara Oswald of Doctor Who. I love her, but I'm pretty sure that's more because I'm infatuated with Jenna Coleman than because her character is all that interesting. Although I still maintain that she was better-written than the average female companion in the new series.

It's interesting that three of my favorite shows--Community, Futurama, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia--have strong all-around casts, yet no character I would call one of my top favorite characters ever (well, Bender probably makes my top twenty). I wonder if that's why the first two kept getting canceled.
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby iMURDAu » Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:03 pm

Right now:

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Off the top of my head I'll also mention:

Darlene Conner (Roseanne)
Randy Marsh (South Park)
Ron Swanson (Parks and Recreation)
Bodie Broadus (The Wire)
Dukie (The Wire)
George Costanza (Seinfeld)
Sarah Connor (Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Sophia Petrillo (The Golden Girls)
Al Bundy (Married With Children)
Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy)
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby NathanLoiselle » Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:29 pm

William "Spike" I-don't-remember-his-last-name (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer)

BOOM! *mic drop*
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby iMURDAu » Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:36 pm

Oh no! I forgot my dream woman!

Spoiler: show
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby Grimstone » Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:48 pm

cmsellers wrote:It's interesting that three of my favorite shows--Community, Futurama, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia--have strong all-around casts, yet no character I would call one of my top favorite characters ever (well, Bender probably makes my top twenty).


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Also, I like Charlie and Frank from It's Always Sunny.
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Spoiler: show
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby JamishT » Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:12 am

This was supposed to be just the ones of the top of my head, but as you can see, I got into it. I love all of these shows, but these are the side/co-main characters that I found the most fun/interesting.

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Frank Rossitano (30 Rock): I just started watching this again last night, and I was reminded of how much I love this character. He's super gross, but also smart/funny/real at the same time.

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Tom Haverford (Parks & Rec): He plays hard and works harder. And his antics are hilarious!

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Jenny Macarthur (The League): She acts like she's better than "the guys", but she's still one of them and can get vicious with insults and fantasy football trades.

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Chief Vick (Psych): she's the chief, but she works with Shawn and Gus's unorthodox methods and requests. She's so great!

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Klinger (M*A*S*H*): He's wacky, he's persistent, he gets things done.

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Jim Halpert (The Office): He messes up sometimes, but he's trying his best! Also, I totally do fourth wall breaks like he does, but to invisible cameras.

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Peter & Elizabeth Burke (White Collar): I'm counting them as one character, because their marriage is a model to all other marriages in my opinion.

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Donna Paulson (Suits): Sassy, smart, and complex. She's the best, and she knows it!

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Jamal Lyon (Empire): THE ONLY SANE PERSON IN THAT ENTIRE SHOW.

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Gilfoyle (Silicon Valley): drier than a stale tortilla chip, doesn't give a flying crap about anything/anybody. Secretly gives some craps.

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Dan Egan (Veep): It was really hard to pick a favorite character from this show, but Dan is one of the smart ones. And he delivers some of the worst insults to Jonah.
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby reallifegirl » Wed Oct 19, 2016 3:12 pm

Off-hand, here are mine, with as many funny .gifs as I was able to find:

Hannibal Lecter, Hannibal

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Tyrion Lannister & Brienne of Tarth, Game of Thrones

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King Richard, Galavant

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Dorian Gray, Penny Dreadful
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(Yes, we know, Dorian)

Mr. Wrench & Mr. Numbers, Fargo Season 1

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Peggy Blumquist & Mike Milligan, Fargo Season 2

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And while we're only three episodes in so far, Maeve from Westworld:

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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby KleinerKiller » Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:14 pm

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Elliot Alderson (Mr. Robot) - The most unstable and unreliable, yet entirely sympathetic main protagonist we've had on television in quite some time. His writing is fantastic, and Rami Malek's performance is, as I've said many times throughout the show's thread, brilliant.

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Lorne Malvo (Fargo) - Intelligent to almost alien degrees, completely inscrutable, a ruthless badass, hilarious in a pitch-black sort of way, and prone to screwing with random strangers wherever he goes and ruining their lives just because it's fun; he's the highlight of his season and tied for the position of my favorite TV villain.

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Will Graham (Hannibal): Murder Husband #1, previously my favorite television protagonist until Elliot dethroned him. Hugh Dancy is a gem whether he's acting friendly, sinking into darker moral depths, or completely losing his shit.

Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal): Murder Husband #2, and the guy tied with Lorne Malvo for the position of "Best TV Villain". Mads Mikkelsen's humanized-yet-demonic performance, subtle development, and moment-to-moment transformation between friendly psychiatrist and bloodthirsty animal handily dethrones Anthony Hopkins's best material in the role.

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Alison Hendrix (Orphan Black): One of the many clones Tatiana Maslany plays perfectly on Orphan Black. She's a neurotic housewife and proactive school advisor who turns into a conspiracy theorist and calculating drug dealer without sacrificing the first two traits. What's not to love about that?

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Doc Yewll (Defiance) - An endlessly snarky woman with a limitless supply of venomous, unpredictable one-liners, the most developed character on the show at the starting point, and the clear standout in an underappreciated cast that only got better as the show went on.

And since Sellers' inclusion of Sterling Archer means western animation counts:

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Marceline Abadeer (Adventure Time) - Sarcastic, brash, and hilariously unpredictable, but hiding a lot of emotional baggage that's constantly putting her on the breaking point. She's the first animated character who ever wrung tears out of me and got me emotionally invested in her life. And one of the first Western cartoon characters confirmed by her creators to have previously been in / currently be toeing the line on a same-sex relationship, so... hooray for progress! And shipping!
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby Matthew Notch » Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:21 pm

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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby Australia » Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:42 pm

Any mad scientist I love - Walter Bishop, Rick Sanchez, Professor Farnsworth, Krieger - so I'll exclude those tropes for some variety and because I'm already going to be cutting a lot of characters to still end up with a list too long for people who watch a sensible amount of television.

Walter White, Breaking Bad - Gradually and expertly evolved from your friendly neighbourhood Heisenberg we hate to love to trigger-happy monster we love to hate. Actually, I guess he technically counts as a mad scientist, huh?

Janitor, Scrubs - I go back and forth between he and Dr Cox on who's my favourite from the show, since they're always in top form and can get away with saying pretty much anything but you never have to be concerned with a dramatic arc from the Janitor.

Franklin, Arrested Development - Kidding, it's obviously his master, GOB, though to be fair I was tempted to put Bob from Soap on the list.

Abed, Community - Still waiting on that movie.

Liv Moore, iZombie - Is this cheating, considering the reason she's so fun is that she has a different personality each episode?

Emerson Cod, Pushing Daisies - Everyone loves a cynic.

Jessica Jones, Jessica Jones - While we're on PIs, she's probably my favourite character in the Netflix Marvel Universe. Also most title characters - House, Castle, Sopranos, Simpsons, Chuck, Dexter, Ray Donovan, probably Spongebob, I've never seen it - are entertaining. Otherwise the show would be called something else.

Clancy Wiggum, The Simpsons - Again, could go to about a billion characters but he can be crooked, incompetent or just lazy depending on the episode so you never know which way the joke's going to go.

They've been mentioned but Bender Rodriguez, Futurama (Because Bender), Donna Paulson, Suits (Because Donna) and Ash Williams, Ash Vs Evil Dead (Because Ash - though while we're on TV reboots, add Jennifer Goines, Twelve Monkeys and Peggy Blumquist, Fargo).

Denny Crane, Boston Legal - Mad cow, not scientist so it counts.

Abe, Forever - I'll never understand why a show with so many great characters with a premise that could literally go anywhere decided on police procedural as the genre. Ditto with Limitless. They deserved to be cancelled out of laziness.

Baldrick, Blackadder - Cunning plans aren't all they're cracked up to be.

Deb Morgan, Dexter - What kept the show interesting in the last few years was seeing how Dexter corrupted her and showing there are repercussions outside of murderer corpses. And she's always good for an F-bomb or two.

Cappie, Greek - Just never takes anything seriously and gets away with it for the most part. Like me, if I had far better social skills.

Basically all the characters in Supernatural, Chuck, Firefly and Stranger Things but gun to my head, Dean Winchester, Morgan Grimes, Mal Reynolds and Eleven respectively.
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby Deathclaw_Puncher » Wed Oct 19, 2016 5:47 pm

Walter White- Breaking Bad
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Saul Goodman- Breaking Bad/ Better Call Saul
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Mike Ehrmantraut- Breaking Bad/ Better Call Saul
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Grunkle Stan - Gravity Falls
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Korra, Lin Beifong, Zaheer, Eska- The Legend of Korra
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Star Butterfly- Star Vs. The Forces of Evil
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby DanteHoratio » Wed Oct 19, 2016 7:29 pm

Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho.
Spoiler: show
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Yusuke Urameshi from Yu Yu Hakusho as well.
Spoiler: show
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Goku and Vegeta from Dragon Ball/Z/GT/Super
Spoiler: show
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Barry Allen/The Flash from The Flash tv series.
Spoiler: show
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Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek: TNG
Spoiler: show
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Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop
Spoiler: show
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Those are some of my favorites characters in tv shows.

**Edit**

Forgot about Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones
Spoiler: show
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby Anglerphobe » Wed Oct 19, 2016 10:42 pm

Not complete, because some people have already mentioned several of my other favourites:

Jane Plough: (pronounced Pluff, like Brian Clough the sportsman) Doon Mackichan, Toast of London
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Brilliant show, brilliant character. Other candidates from this show were the eponymous Stephen Toast, Ray Purchase, and any of the characters played by Geoff McGivern.

Alan Johnson: Paterson Joseph, Peep Show
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Peep Show was possibly my favourite show when it was still running and there were many candidates (Mark and Jez, Sophie, Sophie's parents, Superhans)

Hubert Farnsworth: Billy West, Futurama
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The Robot Devil is also a brilliant character.

Howard Moon: Julian Barratt, The Mighty Boosh
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It was a really tough call between him and many of Barratt's and Rich Fulcher's supporting roles.

Annie Sawyer: Lenora Crichlow, Being Human
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She spends her days making dozens of cups of tea which she can't drink, over and over, which is exactly what I would do if I were a ghost.
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby cmsellers » Thu Oct 20, 2016 12:41 am

I only know four of JamishT's top characters and hate two of them. Jim Halpert and Tom Haverford are a match made in hell. (OK, I don't hate Tom Haverford all that much, but my brother does, and it rubs off. I loathe Jim though.)

I'm going to list my next twelve characters, just because. I realized incidentally that I forgot the inclusion of Zapp Brannigan in Futurama. Also, while "Kill all humans" is wisdom to live by, Bender actually doesn't make the list of my top two dozen after all.
  1. Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother. Honestly, if I'd remembered him, he'd have gone at #9 on my original list. I'm ashamed of myself for forgetting him
  2. Mags Bennett (Justified). One of the greatest TV villains ever. Not quite as good as Boyd Crowder, but Margo Martindale is awesome.
  3. Francis Urqhart (House of Cards, UK version). While I like the US version of House of Cards better in some respects, Frank Underwood can't hold a candle to Francis Urqhardt for charming villainy.
  4. Marissa Gold (The Good Wife). The contrast between her complete lack of energy and motivation in the US vs the adventuresome energy she displayed in foreign countries is something I strongly identify with.
  5. Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren (Orange is the New Black). Alternately charming and tragic.
  6. Helena (Orphan Black). While I love Orphan Black, I would have thought that my favorite character on the show--Cosima--wasn't interesting enough to make the list. But Helena is. Oh sure, she's an ass-kicking action girl, but there's nothing stereotypical about her. She's good at fighting because she was raised to be a killer, and her character portrays the neuroses such a character might actually have.
  7. Kaylee Frye (Firefly). It's hard to say how much of this is just because I have a crush on her. (I love geeky characters and Jewel Staite is adorable.) But she's my favorite character on a show full of memorable characters.
  8. Ehrlich Bachman (Silicon Valley). He has the unwarranted self-confidence of Trump, but with a good heart.
  9. Zapp Brannigan (Futurama). The manliest man ever to wear a miniskirt.
  10. Rachel Posner (House of Cards, US version). I may be a bit biased by the fact that she's literally the only likeable character on the show, but I was rooting for her until her final episode.
  11. Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones). I don't think this requires any explanation, does it?
  12. Eli Gold (The Good Wife). His monomaniacal dedication to Peter and Alicia and the internal conflicts he faces when they squabble is just adorable.
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Re: Favorite TV show characters

Postby IamNotCreepy » Fri Apr 28, 2017 4:27 pm

Just off the top of my head:

Henchman 21 (Venture Bros.)
William Adama (Battlestar Galactica)
Sawyer (Lost)
George Costanza (Seinfeld)
Helena (Orphan Black)
Philip Jennings (The Americans)[Honorable mention goes to Claudia, played by Esteemed Character Actress Margo Martindale ]
BoJack Horseman (BoJack Horseman)
Bender (Futurama)
Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly)
Dwight Schrute (The Office)
Vash the Stampede (Trigun)
Barney Stinson [that guy's awesome] (How I Met Your Mother)
Al Swearengen (Deadwood)
Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones)
Jack Bauer (24)
Omar Little (The Wire)
GOB (Arrested Development)
Walter White (Breaking Bad)
Vic Mackey (The Shield)
Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
Uncle Iroh (Avatar: the Last Airbender)

I'm sure there are many more (plus, I kept it to one per show).
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