I know you’re gonna laugh, nut I’ve always admired Jesse Duke from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’. He was a guy who everyone could look up to, but he wasn’t afraid to stand up to the bad guys. He gave up his moonshine business so his nephews wouldn’t have to go to prison. (they were still on probation and couldn’t leave the county, but it still has to beat prison) Plus he could drive like hell for an old man!
Alex P. Keaton (Michael J Fox, Family Ties) without a doubt! I can’t think of any other tv character who could be so pompous, opinionated and stuffy and STILL be the most loved of the cast. Alex was single-handedly responsible for my yuppie leanings and fascination with Wall Street back in the 80s. Even though I’m a female I always related to Alex more than anyone on the show. Brilliant character.
Obviously, Columbo. I mean.
But also, Joe Friday is a man I admire greatly.
Sure, often he’s naive, and he over simplifies issues. But his speeches are sobering yet seductive, and I don’t think he’s usually completely off base.
“Listen, pal, maybe you don’t know it yet, but you’re not the first guy to think he had all the answers and wanted to fix the world. You’re looking at one of them. The lingo has changed, but the sentiment’s the same. Only there is one difference. We didn’t drop out and smoke weed and talk about fixing the world. We got jobs and did our part, paid our taxes and voted and did our best to work with the system to make it better. But you know what happens? You grow old. You get tired. It’ll happen to you, too. In the end, you’ll be content to just make the world better for your family. But you know what? Things have gotten better, little by little, because we didn’t give up on society. We didn’t sell out, you’re selling out. You’re throwing away everything that countless generations have sweated and bled for, everything your parents and their parents did to make the world better for you, because you’re seventeen years old and you found all the answers in a puff of marijuana.”
What a guy!