So here we go. This is in no way the final list. These are just the finalists we’ve all chosen from our own brains. We’re waiting on all of you to get us all of your lists.
Send them to us or leave them as comments in the blog and next Monday on the show we’ll announce the schedule for revealing the full list, complete with explanations.
Please try to limit your lists to 10 each. We know it’s really hard. We’ve all done it. The order will be fairly arbitrary but the most repeated characters will get extra weighting towards the top of the list.
Now, without any fanfare at all, here we go:
Nelly
- Omar Little (The Wire)
- Shirly Schmidt (Boston Legal)
- Tracy Jordan (30 Rock)
- Lynne Postlewaite (D-Generation, Fast Forward, Big Girls Blouse) And here’s a Youtube snippet for those who can’t remember.
- Darlene (Roseanne)
- Toby Ziegler (The West Wing)
- Calamity Jane (Deadwood)
- Janice Soprano (The Sopranos)
- Ruth Fisher (Six Feet Under)
- Coach Taylor (Friday Night Lights)
Josh
- Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)
- Endora (Bewitched)
- Vic Mackey (The Shield)
- Karen Walker (Will & Grace)
- Matron Dorothy Conniving-Bitch (Let the Blood Run Free)
- Lynda Day (Press Gang)
- Daria Morgendorffer (Daria)
- Omar Little (The Wire)
- Al Swearengen (Deadwood)
- Hank Kingsley (The Larry Sanders Show)
John
- The Doctor (Doctor Who)
- Liz Lemon (30 Rock)
- Bernard Black (Black Books)
- Don Draper (Mad Men)
- Nate Fisher (Six Feet Under)
- Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons)
- Emma Peel (The Avengers)
- Lynda Day (Press Gang)
- Gene Hunt (Life on Mars)
- Professor Quatermass (the Quatermass serials – not because he’s interesting, but because the success of the character was important and would shape TV for years to come)
Brett
- Reginald ‘Bubbles’ Cousins (The Wire)
- Eric Cartman (South Park)
- Dr Perry Cox (Scrubs)
- Chris Stevens (Northern Exposure)
- Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street)
- Simon Adebisi (Oz)
- Alex P. Keaton (Family Ties)
- Al Swearengen (Deadwood)
- Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson (Prisoner)
- Jim Halpert (The Office (US))
46 Comments
Daniel B says:
Daniel B:
The Doctor (Doctor Who)
Tony Soprano (The Soprano's)
Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Jimmy McNulty (The Wire)
Donald Draper (Madmen)
Kara Thrace (BSG)
Al Swearengen (Deadwood)
Vic Mackey (The Shield)
Gaius Baltar (BSG)
Fox Mulder (X-Files)
Starlsy says:
Ah TV, my favourite thing. My top 10 that haven't already been mentioned are:
Sock – Reaper
Nessa – Gavin & Stacey
Nathan – Misfits
Jack – Will & Grace
Zoey – Nurse Jackie
Sue White or Dr Alan Statham – Green Wing
Homer – Simpsons
Brett & Jemaine – Flight of the Conchords
Gob – Arrested Development
Vyv – Young Ones
Had to cull the following:
Joy – My Name is Earl
Veronica – Better Off Ted
Jaye – Wonderfalls
Jeff – Coupling
Jordan Catalano – My So-Called Life
With special mention to:
Ja'mie – We Can Be Heroes
Tara – United States of Tara
Leechboy says:
1. Doctor Who – As a character and a brilliant way of circumventing being stuck with a difficult actor.
2. Al Swearengen – As someone recently put it, he's our first Anti-Villain
3. Lucas Buck (American Gothic) – Actually no, this guy was.
4. The Fonz (Happy Days) – For being convincingly cool despite the actor, the setting and the actions of the character.
5. Det. Frank Pembleton (Homicide: Life On The Streets) – Frank in the box, bes tthing on television.
6.Jim Profit (Profit) – Sociopathic Businessman with mummy issues who sleeps in a box. What's not to love?
7. Richard Hatch (Survivor) – I'm pretty sure that if he hadn't been in the first season, Survivor would never have lasted this long.
8. Veronica Mars – That first season was just preferct.
9. Veronica Palmer (Better Off Ted)
10. Frasier Crane – Perfect combination of character and actor.
Dave Wilcox says:
Tongue in cheek:
Bea Smith (Val Lehman) – Prisoner
Matt Hammond (Ed Deveraux) – Skippy
Ted Bulpitt (Ross Higgins) – Kingswood Country
Gerald 'Nudge' Noritis (Chris Truswell) Hey Dad..!
Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce (Alan Alda) – M*A*S*H
ALF (Paul Fusco) – ALF
Sun Wu-Kong aka Monkey (Masaaki Sakai) – Monkey Magic
Colonel (Rob Sitch) – The Late Show
Molly Jones (Anne Tenney) – A Country Practise
Patrick Joseph 'P.J.' Hasham (Martin Sacks) – Blue Heelers
Re: Molly Jones, I made the list before I listened to this weeks podcast.
Leechboy says:
Damn it, forgot –
Bench –
Scorpius (farscape)
Homer Simpson – first decade only
Cousin Oliver (The Brady Bunch) – for being the thing that killed the show.
Leechboy says:
F@$k, I forgot Fitz (Cracker)
MordWa says:
Some omissions that are just mind-boggling:
– Norm Peterson (Cheers) – alway reliable
– Jeff Murdock (Coupling( (“gussets!” “the unflushable” “the giggle loop”. How is SATC was ever compared as racy when *this* guy was around?
– Daffy Duck (too many to mention; ostensively a movie star, but played so often on TV I think special dispensation is warranted. Also, underrated as a stage performer). Would have been an outright winner, except votes were split with a Mr Sylvester T. Cat. (oh, the shame of it all, fah-ther-!)
-Homer Simpson (John, really! – Lisa?? Tina Yothers 2.0?!)
-Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWE Raw). For sheer entertainment value, both dramatic AND comedy – hard to top. Achieved greatness despite setting & supporting cast. Consider it like the Olympics: had a solid 9.9 average, with a degree of difficulty of 3.7…
-Jeremy Clarkson (Top Gear). Despite having a public persona of being a knob, suspect it's 95% put on; interesting that few who work with him think he's a tool. Is it an act? Don't know, but somehow got me to watch a show about cars. Huhn.
-James Talia (Channel 9 News). Now owes me a beer.
– Frank Burns (M*A*S*H*) and gee, how do do split the votes on that show? Frank, Henry, Hawkeye, Colonel Flagg; any one could be a nominee…
– Baldrick (Blackadder); and a big thanking you to Mrs Mords for reminding me of that one-!
– one pick in reserve so I can add to the list when I have an *of course!* moment at 3am…
Darren Boxcutter says:
Character you say..
The “M” from M*A*S*H.
The “i” from The Simpsons
The “l” from lost
The “W” from Doctor Who
The “e” from the Wire
The “a” from Mad Men
The “R” from Red Dwarf
The “F” and “R” from Fraggle Rock
The “p” from Soap
The “z” from The Twilight Zone
As you can see a tough choice.
Rob Boxcutter says:
In no particular order:
He is a loathsome offensive brute, yet I can't look away…
Al Swearingen (Deadwood)
Ari Gold (Entourage)
Paulie “Walnuts” Gaultieri (The Sopranos)
Chicks with ticks (of approval)…
C.J. Cregg (The West Wing)
Lizzie Birdsworth (Prisoner)
Calamity Jane (Deadwood)
Scene-stealing sumbitches…
E.B. Farnum (Deadwood)
Reginald “Bubbles” Cousins (The Wire)
Omar Little (The Wire)
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner…
Norman Gunston
Adam C says:
my ten (not ordered in any particular fashion)
01. E.B Farnum – deadwood
you scene stealing, weaselly, wonderful creature. Every moment E.B popped up in deadwood was a stroke of brilliance.
02. Al Swearengen – Deadwood…
“Act averse to nasty language and partial to fruity tea.”
03.Ben Linus – LOST
Those eyes. Those hideous, revolting eyes.
04. Daria Morgendorffer – Daria
responsible for my entire teenage outlook on life.
05. President Laura Roslin – Battlestar Galactica
It's pretty hard to forget that first time she flushed someone out an airlock.
06. Bubbles – The Wire
One of the greatest moments in television history has to be bubbles walking up a flight of stairs and sitting down to a family dinner.
07. Omar Little – The Wire
he became a bit larger than life towards the end-run of the show but he remains one of television's greatest anti-heroes.
08.Chris Keller – Oz
confirmed my sexuality.
09 Dr. Jennifer Melfi – The Sopranos
confused my sexuality
10. Trixie – Deadwood
If only her aim with a gun was better.
hon. mentions include:
– professor farnsworth – futurama
– the doctor – doctor who
– spock – star trek
– Lucille Bluth – Arrested Development
– Bernard Black – Black books
– Juliet Bourke – LOST
Bbox says:
I actually seriously considered Shitscared for my list
Bbox says:
I couldn't have a twosome so they both had to come out but I had Frank Pembleton and Tim Bayliss in my original list – making a sum much greater than its parts. Frank in the box was powerful but even he held his own powers of manipulation in contempt, being able to coax a confession out of someone he knew to be innocent, as he demonstrated while he was still in his “I'm a lone gun” period.
Pembleton and Bayliss, in their interactions, touched on some amazing topics of conversation and were directed with the most effective use of jumps cuts I've ever seen.
Bbox says:
I dearly wanted to include Homer in my list – especially given the show is all about him – but he tends to be such a prop that just gets bounced around by people and events around him.
Bbox says:
LULZ
Bbox says:
If CJ Cregg wasn't surrounded by such amazing peers, she would have definitely been on my list. I wish we'd seen more of her.
Calamity Jane was SO damaged and full of fear and loathing of almost everyone that she was too busy working on her insulation against the world to have any time to be a great character.
But you're right, Norman Gunston is the answer. And the writing that led to him being on the step below Gough in one of Australia's most momentous points in history was absolute genius.
Bolden says:
I’ll admit this list making did make me realise that either a) I’ve a shocking memory or b) characters didn’t stand out to me as a youngster; as these all seem fairly contemporary characters.
In no real order:
Tony Soprano – Sopranos
Phil – Amazing Race
Ari Gold – Entourage
Alex P Keaton – Family Ties
Kramer – Seinfeld
Barney Stinson – How I Met Your Mother
Jim Halpert – The Office (US)
Tracy Jordan – 30 Rock
Karen Walker – Will and Grace (especially when you find out she put that voice on!)
Kenny Powers – Eastbound and Down
Hard for me to leave out:
Veronica Palmer – Better Off Ted
Sheldon Cooper – Big Bang Theory
Cancer Man – X-Files
Beavis and Butthead – I know, I know, but they were great characters!
Bret and Jermaine – Flight of the Conchords (Season 1 predominantly)
Katie Purvis says:
Can't resist a list!
1. Al Swearengen (Deadwood) – the greatest character from the greatest TV show ever made
2. The Doctor (Doctor Who) – a brilliant creation who will never get old (…ha)
3. David Brent (The Office) – so vile but so compelling
4. Aunty Hayley (Beautiful People) – inspired madness and hilarity
5. Anna Forbes (This Life) – magnificently flawed and prickly
6. Julia Jackson (Love My Way) – a character I loved to hate in a show I adored
7. Andy Sipowicz (NYPD Blue) – my pudgy, reformed-drunk hero
8. Janet Thompson (Swingtown) – started out hating her, ended up loving her
9. Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) – twisted beyond belief, yet somehow divine
10. Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers) – see comment for #3
Honorable mentions:
“Stephen Colbert” (The Colbert Report)
Dr Greg House (House)
Ja'mie King (We Could Be Heroes / Summer Heights High)
Nicollette Grant (Big Love)
Alf Stewart (Home & Away)
Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)
Chris in the Morning (Northern Exposure)
Cheers from Katie P
Katie Purvis says:
P.S. D'oh! I forgot Nessa (Gavin and Stacey) and Ianto Jones (Torchwood), who should be on my list of honourable mentions.
Lauren says:
GOB Bluth – Arrested Development
Agent Dale Cooper – Twin Peaks
Fox Mulder – The X-Files
Darlene – Roseanne
Hawkeye – M*A*S*H
Brenda Walsh – Beverly Hills 90210
Joan Holloway – Mad Men
Gomez Addams – The Addams Family
Ben Linus – Lost
Veronica Mars – Veronica Mars
Katie Purvis says:
Sorry, I have to redo my list, as I left out one of the best characters evah. (Also had to add some more honourable mentions.)
1. Al Swearengen (Deadwood) – the greatest character from the greatest TV show ever made
2. The Doctor (Doctor Who) – a brilliant creation who will never get old (…ha)
3. David Brent (The Office) – so vile but so compelling
4. Aunty Hayley (Beautiful People) – inspired madness and hilarity
5. Francis Urquhart (House of Cards / To Play the King /The Final Cut) – “You might think that – I couldn't possibly comment.”
6. Anna Forbes (This Life) – magnificently flawed and prickly
7. Julia Jackson (Love My Way) – a character I loved to hate in a show I adored
8. Andy Sipowicz (NYPD Blue) – my pudgy, reformed-drunk hero
9. Janet Thompson (Swingtown) – started out hating her, ended up loving her
10. Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) – twisted beyond belief, yet somehow divine
Honorable mentions:
Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers)
“Stephen Colbert” (The Colbert Report)
Dr Greg House (House)
Ja'mie King (We Could Be Heroes / Summer Heights High)
Nicollette Grant (Big Love)
Alf Stewart (Home & Away)
Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)
Chris in the Morning (Northern Exposure)
Sister Scott (The Young Doctors)
David Callan (Callan)
Arthur Daley (Minder)
Rob Boxcutter says:
You bumped Basil Fawlty. Nooooo!
Frank Mattea says:
1. Toby Ziegler – The West Wing
2. Baldrick – Black Adder
3. Joan Holloway – Mad Men
4. Seven-Of-Nine – Star Trek Voyager
5. Spock – Star Trek
6. The Major – Fawlty Towers
7. D.I. Frank Burnside – The Bill
8. Jack McCoy – Law and Order
9. Bill Brand – Bill Brand
10. Lurch – The Addams family
Andrew says:
The best _characters_ on TV are inevitably supporting characters.
I kept it to non-animated characters.
I owned no television from 1993-1997.
I only had broadcast TV (no cable) until 2008. I did see some required cable series via DVD.
So I probably missed some excellent television.
In no particular order…
1. Alice – The Brady Bunch
2. Col. Klink – Hogan's Heroes
3. Cpl. Maxwell Klinger – M*A*S*H
4. Deputy Barney Fife – The Andy Griffith Show
5. Squiggy – Laverne & Shirley.
6. Arnold Horshack – Welcome Back Kotter
7. Omar – The Wire (I don't ONLY watch sit coms.)
8. Frasier Crane – Cheers, Frasier (thanks leech boy)
9. Fred Sanford – Sanford and Son
10. Alexis Carrington – Dynasty
(and I owe Josh a plate of bbq next time he comes to Austin.)
MordWa says:
Hmmmn… if you had told before we started, that by votes so far, Doctor Who would be a tearaway leader; and yet not a single nomination for a Seinfeld character… *gosh* – I'm not upset, just astonished.
Meanwhile… my number ten didn't come to me at 3am. Dammit! So lets just say, ohh, I don't know – Al Bundy (Married with Children) to round out my list…
… but I still know I'm missing someone-!
Adam says:
Tried six times, failed. 10 Murphy Browns. There you go.
Claare says:
1. Bernard Black (Black Books)
2. George Costanza (Seinfeld)
3. Kenneth Parcell (30 Rock)
4. Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory)
5. Elaine Benes (Seinfeld)
6. Liz Lemon (30 Rock)
7. Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)
8. Dwight Schrute (The Office USA)
9. Moss (The IT Crowd)
10. Denny Crane (Boston Legal)
Rob Young says:
Ben Linus – Lost
Jack Bauer – 24
David Brent – The Office UK
Homer Simpson – The Simpsons
Joey Jeremiah – Degrassi High
Tobias Flunke – Arrested Development
Rob Young says:
Steve Sanders – 90210
Dan Barrett says:
This is a harder list to assemble than I'd expected. And how did George Costanza not make the list?
Toby Ziegler (The West Wing)
Colin Matthews (Press Gang)
Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report)
Frank Pembleton (Homicide: Life on The Street)
Jeremy Goodwin (Sports Night)
Rose Nyland (The Golden Girls)
Maxwell Smart (Get Smart)
Cliff Claven (Cheers)
Ari Gold (Entourage)
Mark Corrigan (Peep Show)
Benjamin Katz (Dr Katz: Professional Therapist)
murrayNE says:
The ten in random order:
Adrian Monk (Monk)
Lynda Day (Press Gang)
Jeff Murdoch (Coupling)
Gregory House (House)
Sydney Bristow (I had to look up her name – I've only seen a season and a bit) (Alias)
Bender (Futurama)
Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers)
Sir Humpfrey Appleby (Yes Minister)
The Doctor (Doctor Who)
Bernard Black (Black Books)
Pruned from the ten:
Daria Morgendorfer (Daria)
Gil Grissom (CSI)
Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)
Eric Cartman (South Park)
John Clarke (The Games)
Arnold Rimmer (Red Dwarf)
Col Dunkley (close win over Greg Dominelli) from Grass Roots
rob chanter says:
In no particular order, and betraying the embarrassingly long list of reportedly great shows I haven't seen (or seen enough of):
Gene Hunt (Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes)
The Doctor (Doctor Who)
Professor Frink (The Simpsons)
Endora (Bewitched)
Hawkeye Pierce (M*A*S*H)
Dr Kimberley Shaw (Melrose Place)
David Brent (The Office)
George Costanza (Seinfeld)
Norman Gunston
Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers)
Niles Crane (Frasier)
OK, so maybe Professor Frink isn't really one of the 10 greatest of all time. But he's consistently the best cameo character in The Simpsons and deserves to be on a list somewhere.
And wish I could include Karen Walker, Sir Humphrey, Gomez Addams, Chris in the Morning, and someone from Scrubs – probably JD.
Richard Watts says:
I'll try and limit this to a Top Ten…
The Doctor – Doctor Who
Avon – Blake's 7
Corporal Radar O'Reilly – M.A.S.H.
The Addams Family (yes, all of them!) – The Addams Family
Sir Humphrey Appleby – Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister
Willow – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Beaker – The Muppet Show
Wile E. Coyote – Looney Tunes
Aunty Jack – The Aunty Jack Show
Norman Gunston – The Norman Gunston Show
Honorouble Mentions:
Don Finlayson – Number 96
Diver Dan – Seachange
Servalan – Blake's 7
Katie Purvis says:
Oh, Col Dunkley! Good choice.
Katie Purvis says:
Oh, Col Dunkley! Good choice.
Rob Boxcutter says:
Mike Moore (Frontline) – Anyone? Anyone?
Katie Purvis says:
Mike Moore was ALMOST on my Highly Commended list.
bronaderyn says:
My Top 10 (impossible to order):
Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce (M*A*S*H)
The Doctor (Doctor Who)
Lynda Day (Press Gang)
Daria Morgendorffer (Daria)
Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)
Dr Gregory House (House)
Basil Fawlty (Fawlty Towers)
Detective Frank Pembleton (Homicide: Life on the Streets)
Detective John Munch (what hasn't he been in?)
Eric Cartman (South Park)
Honourable mentions:
Karen Walker (Will & Grace)
Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)
Dr Perry Cox (Scrubs)
Benjamin Linus (LOST)
Denny Crane (Boston Legal)
Sue Sylvester (Glee)
Veronica Mars
Buffy Summers (BtVS)
Brother Justin Crowe (Carnivale)
-several of the well-chosen suggestions already mentioned
-and pretty much any character from The West Wing or Northern Exposure
-slightly surprised no one mentioned an AbFab character
-much like the Bayliss/Pembleton dilemma, I couldn't split Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully so they both missed out. Perhaps Greatest TV Character Pairings would be a suitable solution?
Rob Boxcutter says:
I don't want to be overly scientific about this, but I would like to explore what contributes to greatness when it comes to TV characters.
For me it starts on the page. Do they have a distinctive voice? Does their behaviour and dialogue in every new scene deepen our understanding of them, while also managing to serve the plot? You should be able to recognise greatness on the page alone, I reckon.
Casting: important for sure, but perhaps secondary to the writing. The succession of Doctors in Doctor Who being the best illustration of this.
Performance: Extremely important. Bad performances I'm sure could drain the greatness out of well-written characters [example, anyone?], and superb performances can imbue a character with magical elements perhaps not written into the script (Michael Emerson's Ben Linus in Lost, Jamie Hector's Marlo Stanfield in The Wire).
Real life social/cultural relevance of the character: what does the character reflect to us about our actual society? Do they make us see the world differently, either through their actions or simply by their nature or their very existence on the box?
Real life individual relevance of the character: do they resonate with you the viewer? Do you relate, empathise, sympathise, love, loathe? Of course this one's highly subjective, but hey, this is the human condition.
When these elements come together under good direction, I think you get your real rippers, your Al Swearengen's and Omar Littles et al.
Your thoughts??
P.S. I'd like to nominate one more character:
The City of Baltimore (The Wire)
Lauren says:
Oh man! I can't believe I forgot Spike from Buffy.
Kerrie says:
I would have had to think too hard to cull my list down to ten, but here are 12 characters I love, in no particular order:
Ruth Fisher – Six Feet Under
Tony Soprano – The Sopranos
Hawkeye Pierce – M*A*S*H
Al Swearengen – Deadwood
Benjamin Linus – Lost
Omar Little – The Wire
Reginald 'Bubbles' Cousins – The Wire
Spike – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Gaius Baltar – Battlestar Galactica
Ari Gold – Entourage
Jack Donaghy – 30 Rock
Zoey Barkow – Nurse Jackie
I'm wondering whether some of my choices are about performances rather than characters, but, then, how do you separate the two?
Kerrie says:
Shit, there are only two women on my list… I hope that says more about TV characters than it does about me.
Kerrie says:
I'd also like to add Julia Jackson from Love My Way. But that makes 13. This is really hard. I will stop now, even if I wake up in the middle of the night with an 'Aha!' moment.
Katie Purvis says:
Yay! Another vote for Julia.
Kerrie says:
I know I promised that I wouldn't post again, but I only just listened to the podcast, and Nelly mentioned Bea Smith and Vinegar Tits… I grew up with Prisoner! I can't believe I don't have one of them on my list!
Damnit. I might have to re-think and get that list down to ten. This is torture. I hate you guys for doing this to me.
TV favs says:
Fresh Prince of Bel Air- Will Smiths Character
Whos the Boss – Tony Danza's Character
Charmed – Piper
The Cosby Show – Mr Huxtable
Differnt Strokes – Arnold
Family Matter – Steve Urkel
Blossom – Joey
Rosanne – Rossane Arnold
Married With Children – Ted Bundy
Beverly Hills 90210 – Dylan
rode says:
1. David Brent (the Office)
2. Dexter Morgan (Dexter)
3. Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
4. George Costanza (Seinfeld)
5. Avon Barksdale (the Wire)
6. Arthur Fonzarelli (Happy Days) – the early years
7. David Fisher (6 Feet under)
8. Edmund Blackadder (Blackadder)
9. David Wain (Wainy Days)
10. Maxwell Smart (Get Smart)