# Favorite (or noteworthy) supporting TV characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213 "2014-01-19T17:56:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/21 "2014-01-20T20:09:31Z")
Richard Speight’s semi-recurring Trickster character on **Supernatural**. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/22 "2014-01-20T20:21:11Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I enjoyed Tommy Chong in _That 70s Show_, and whoever played Sidney Friedman on M_A_S\*H… That was [Allan Arbus](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0033458/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t26). He was married to photographer-of-odd-things Diane Arbus. > [@DummyGladHands](#): > > The guy who plays Palmer on NCIS. Too lazy to look it up, but that is a very attractive man, IMHO. I like Jimmy Palmer a lot, too. Loved Frasier’s agent [Bebe Glazier](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0364748/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t15). [This IMDB photo does NOT do her justice. In the Bebe role she was gorgeous.] I loved the episodes that featured her. I’ve saved on my DVR the one where Frasier is supposed to get her to quit smoking so she can marry the octogenarian Texas oil man, Big Daddy. Alas, he dies on the way down the aisle. Also the one where she stages a fake suicide attempt so Frasier can “save” her on the evening news. When they’re on the window ledge, she leers at the news helicopter, “Come to Mama!” At the end Frasier asks her, “Do you have anything to say for yourself???” She replies with a sly smile, “Aren’t you glad I’m on \*your \*side?” Ditto on Kimball Cho, but now that he’s with the FBI, he’s not wearing those tight shirts anymore. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/23 "2014-01-20T20:39:56Z")
I wish they hadn’t gotten rid of Gerald Jackson (played by Pancho Demmings), Ducky’s original assistant on _ **NCIS** _, so quickly. He could have been a very interesting character, but he was never really developed before they quietly wrote him out of the show. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/24 "2014-01-20T20:46:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I wish they hadn’t gotten rid of Gerald Jackson (played by Pancho Demmings), Ducky’s original assistant on _ **NCIS** _, so quickly. He could have been a very interesting character, but he was never really developed before they quietly wrote him out of the show. Did Ari shoot him? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/25 "2014-01-20T20:47:19Z")
Omar on _The Wire_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/26 "2014-01-20T20:48:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Did Ari shoot him? In the shoulder, yes. He made a couple of appearances after that, but he never did return to his job. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/27 "2014-01-20T21:10:40Z")
Creed Bratton from _The Office_ (US version) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/28 "2014-01-20T21:35:58Z")
Oh yeah… it wouldn’t be an SDMB poll thread without most people getting the question wrong. Interestingly enough, the OP got it wrong too. If you appear in every episode, you are a “main character.” You might not be the “star,” but you’re a “main character.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/29 "2014-01-20T21:44:49Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Oh yeah… it wouldn’t be an SDMB poll thread without most people getting the question wrong. Interestingly enough, the OP got it wrong too. > > If you appear in every episode, you are a “main character.” You might not be the “star,” but you’re a “main character.” Thanks for the nitpick. I did try to give examples of which members of the cast I was after. But it’s fine to point out the lack of precision in the wording. Feel better? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/30 "2014-01-20T22:10:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Loved Frasier’s agent [Bebe Glazier](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0364748/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t15). …I loved the episodes that featured her… I about died laughing when Niles said that perhaps she “…wanted to mate with a human male to bring about the Apocalypse.” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/31 "2014-01-20T22:12:14Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Thanks for the nitpick. I did try to give examples of which members of the cast I was after. But it’s fine to point out the lack of precision in the wording. > > Feel better? Nope, still pretty confused. All the words you use in your OP point to “recurring characters,” characters that didn’t appear in every episode, like Newman or Uncle Leo from Seinfeld, but were still memorable. But then your example list is a bunch of characters who are actually “main characters” that appear in every episode but aren’t considered a “star” from a marketing perspective. So which are you looking for, “recurring characters” or “lower tier main characters”? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/32 "2014-01-20T22:15:39Z")
I’ve always thought a “supporting character” or “supporting actor” was there to help the star(s) shine, regardless of how many episodes he or she was in. 😕 Even James MacArthur was never officially anything other than a “featured player” on the old _ **Hawaii Five-0** _. Jack Lord pitched a bitch when _ **TV Guide** _ referred to Danno as his co-star. The same was true for James Doohan et al. on _ **ST: TOS** _. Shatner would never have stood for it. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/33 "2014-01-20T22:23:53Z")
Eddie Haskell - Leave it to Beaver Floyd Lawson - The Andy Griffith Show Mr. Carlin - The Bob Newhart Show ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/34 "2014-01-20T22:27:23Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Nope, still pretty confused. All the words you use in your OP point to “recurring characters,” characters that didn’t appear in every episode, like Newman or Uncle Leo from Seinfeld, but were still memorable. But then your example list is a bunch of characters who are actually “main characters” that appear in every episode but aren’t considered a “star” from a marketing perspective. > > So which are you looking for, “recurring characters” or “lower tier main characters”? Tell you what: why don’t you rewrite the OP with your choice of words and see how much clearer you can be. I sense that most posts got the gist of the OP and answered with what I was hoping to see. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/35 "2014-01-20T22:28:30Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss and Rhys Ifans) in both _Sherlock_ and _Elementary_ I enthusiastically second Mycroft from _Sherlock_, as well as Newman from _Seinfeld_. Also, although it’s not a TV show, I like to think that if Shakespeare lived in 2014 he’d write soap operas, so I have to mention Benvolio and Mercutio from _Romeo and Juliet_. The play is (IMO, of course) one of his worst, from the overly soppy, melodramatic plot to the incredibly irritating main characters of, well, Romeo and Juliet, but those two characters somehow saved it. I would happily read several novels filled with half-comical, half-philosophical, pun filled musings between Benvolio and Mercutio. ---
**Author:** ![bunyupp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@bunyupp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bunyupp)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/36 "2014-01-20T22:30:01Z")
All of Al Bundys pals on Married With Children Jefferson Griff Bob Rooney Ike Officer Dan ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/37 "2014-01-20T22:35:24Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Tell you what: why don’t you rewrite the OP with your choice of words and see how much clearer you can be. I sense that most posts got the gist of the OP and answered with what I was hoping to see. I still don’t know which characters you’re looking for, “recurring characters” or “lower tier main characters”? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/38 "2014-01-20T22:46:16Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I still don’t know which characters you’re looking for, “recurring characters” or “lower tier main characters”? I really don’t have a problem with your subdividing your reply into as many non-main-character subgroups as you’d like, if it makes it easier to name the ones (not the main stars) you count on for making the show work. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213/39 "2014-01-21T00:35:33Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > I about died laughing when Niles said that perhaps she “…wanted to mate with a human male to bring about the Apocalypse.” And after that ill-fated night she and Frasier spent together, when Niles came over and saw what had happened, he said, “I would have thought she killed after mating.” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-or-noteworthy-supporting-tv-characters/679213.md?page=1)