Favorite TV characters

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Thanks to TV Squad for letting me know that Joss Whedon and James Gunn recently posted lists of their favorite TV characters.

Gunn’s rules:

  • No puppets or cartoons, otherwise Kermit and Homer would definitely be on this list.
  • No mini-series, otherwise I’d definitely include Philip Marlow from THE SINGING DETECTIVE.
  • No reality show people, otherwise Matt Kennedy Gould from THE JOE SCHMO SHOW would be on here.
  • All characters must be regulars on the show.

As I tend to enjoy ensemble shows, this is really, really hard. I’m trying to limit myself to one character per show. 🙂

  1. CJ Cregg (Allison Janney), The West Wing
  2. Jack Bristow (Victor Garber), Alias
  3. Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy), Six Feet Under
  4. Tobias Funke (David Cross), Arrested Development
  5. Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), Friends
  6. John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), Lost
  7. Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), Wonderfalls
  8. Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), Scrubs
  9. Natalie Hurley (Sabrina Lloyd), Sports Night
  10. Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox), Family Ties
  11. Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce), Frasier
  12. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), Buffy
  13. Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman), Cheers
  14. Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), Quantum Leap
  15. Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen), Murphy Brown

Honorable mentions (people from shows I’ve already mentioned):

  • Toby, Josh, Sam, Abbey, Charlie…and oh, heck, the entire cast of The West Wing
  • Syd, Sloane, Irina, Marshall (Alias)
  • Keith (SFU)
  • Jeremy (Sports Night)
  • Buffy and Giles (Buffy)
  • Eldin (Murphy Brown)
  • Sayid, Sun and Jin (Lost)
  • Woody (Cheers)
  • George Michael, Buster, Gob…and just about everyone involved with Arrested Development

Who are your favorite characters? 🙂

7 thoughts on “Favorite TV characters”

  1. I agree w/ you choices, particularly Ruth Fisher and Perry Cox. I also like Lionel Luthor (Smallville), Al Swearingen (and just about everyone else on Deadwood), Elaine Benes (Seinfeld), Ted Baxter (Mary Tyler Moore), Gomez Addams (The Addams Family), Dorothy Zbornak (The Golden Girls) and Endora (Bewitched).

    This definitely requires more thought!

  2. Well, let’s see… just to pick some random shows:
    Leonard McCoy (Star Trek)
    Sam Beckett (Quantum Leap)
    Londo Mollari (Babylon 5)
    President Laura (Battlestar Galactica)
    Ed (Northern Exposure)
    John Locke (Lost)
    Johnny Fever (WKRP)
    B.J. Hunnicutt (M*A*S*H)
    Phoebe (Friends)
    Xena (Xena)
    Kevin Arnold (The Wonder Years)
    Chris’ mum and dad (Everybody Hates Chris)
    Mike Nesmith (The Monkees)
    The Ninth Doctor (Doctor Who)
    And I couldn’t choose between the characters on “Firefly”

  3. Hmmm…lemme think.

    1. Rhoda Morgenstern, Mary Tyler Moore Show
    2. Sally Harper, Coupling
    3. Edina Monsoon, Absolutely Fabulous
    4. Allen Doyle, Angel
    5. Danny Taylor, Without a Trace
    6. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, Battlestar Galactica
    7. Dr. Daniel Jackson, Stargate: SG-1
    Dang, this is hard.
    8. Det. Frank Pembleton, Homicide: Life on the Street
    9. Will Tippen, Alias
    Oh, what the hell.
    10. Dr. Doug Ross, ER

    This took *way* too long…I need to stop staring at the darn screen!

  4. 1. Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) — Without a Trace
    2. Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) — Law & Order: Criminal Intent
    3. Gopher (Fred Grandy) — The Love Boat
    4. Jonathan Quayle Higgins (John Hillerman) — Magnum, PI
    5. Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith) — Matlock
    6. Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) — Sex and the City
    7. Dewey (Erik Sullivan) — Malcolm in the Middle
    8. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) — The Office
    9. Peter Brady (Christopher Knight) — The Brady Bunch
    10. Reuben Kincaid (Dave Madden) — The Partridge Family
    11. Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr) — Freaks & Geeks
    12. Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister) — Are You Being Served?
    13. Onslow (Geoffrey Hughes) — Keeping Up Appearances

  5. So, here’s my list after all :-p In no particular order and I’m fairly certain I’ve forgotten someone. Oh well…

    1. Radar O’Reilly – M*A*S*H
    2. Jack O’Neill – Stargate SG-1
    3. Oz – Buffy
    4. Jordan – Scrubs
    5. Dean Winchester – Supernatural
    6. Rory Gilmore – Gilmore Girls
    7. Malcom Reynolds – Firefly
    8. Willow Rosenberg – Buffy
    9. Wesley Windom Price – Buffy/Angel
    10. Rodney McKay – Stargate:Atlantis

  7. Hmmm. Well, I won’t limit myself to one per show, but here goes:

    1. Col. Sherman T. Potter (M*A*S*H). Also: Klinger for the first eight or so seasons. He became tiresome after he took over Radar’s job and traded in his elaborate schemes for elaborate scams.
    2. Benjamin Sisko (Deep Space Nine). One of the more well-rounded and believeable of Trek characters — particularly because he was given a family life that was dealt with on a regular basis.
    3. Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Lost). How can anyone with a soul not like Hurley?
    4. John Locke (Lost). Among the most complicated, enigmatic, conflicted and just plain interesting characters, thanks to the writing and the brilliant performance by Terry O’Quinn.
    5. Mad Jack (Grizzly Adams). It’s a guilty pleasure. Everybody shut up. Played by the pre-Uncle Jesse Denver Pyle.
    6. Rev. Jim (Taxi). What … does … the … yellow … light … mean?
    7. Hawkeye Pierce (M*A*S*H). Soulful, passionate character … and the writers weren’t afraid to show him occasionally cross the line into self-righteousness, knee-jerk reactions and insensitivity. (Though as Alan Alda took on more of the creative reins, Hawkeye became ever less fallible. That may have been a deliberate portrayal of growth, or just Alda painting his character in the best light.)
    8. The Doctor (Dr. Who). C’mon. That’s a given.
    9. Spock (Star Trek). C’mon. That’s a given.
    10. Pretty much everyone on Northern Exposure. If pushed, I would say John Corbett’s character whose name just utterly slipped my mind.
    11. Andre Braugher’s character on Homicide, whose name ALSO just utterly slipped my mind.
    12. Lt. Columbo (Columbo). The genius of Lt. Columbo: Make the suspect confident in his/her belief that he/she is smarter than you, has to be smarter than you … simply by gesture, inflection and body language — so that the very tools you’re using against them (methodical approach, etc.) are interpreted as cluelessness. (Harry Turtledove’s “Homeward Bound” has a character who’s an obvious homage to Columbo … if Peter Falk were a reptilian alien.)

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