# Most despicable television character in history, in your humble opinion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2015, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498 "2015-09-10T04:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Blackstock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c77e96/32.png) [@Blackstock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackstock)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/141 "2015-09-13T13:20:53Z")
Brenda Chenowith from Six Feet Under. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/142 "2015-09-13T18:16:00Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > There is little equivalency between the behaviour of the real life Ted Bundy and the behaviour we see of Todd on Breaking Bad. > > Bundy enjoyed torture, rape, murder and desecration of his victim’s corpses. Bundy would set out and actively seek victims because of the direct pleasure he attained from his acts of depraved brutality. > > Todd, as far as is portrayed during his limited screen time, only committed such crimes as gave a wider, practical benefit. He was not portrayed as taking any pleasure from what he did. He was clinical and his actions were professional. Even if his poor decision making in the case of motorcycle boy was amateur. > > Todd is a bad person but, as portrayed, is no Ted Bundy. The original point I made in this thread was that Todd is nowhere near as bad as Walter. Walter, for all his hand wringing and heart wrenching ‘crisis of conscience’ nevertheless continued pursuing his life of crime. Continually escalating his level of criminality generating an ever increasing number of victims. > > In the end Walter even admitted that he had continued the life of crime, far beyond any perceived economic need (and there was never any actual economic need because his former Grey Matter colleagues had offered to pay for all his treatment) simply because he enjoyed it. It made him feel alive, made him feel good. Walter actually admits, on the show, he relished his time as a drug lord. > > Todd could be a truly evil person although that isn’t made clear and he could equally just be painfully shy and too eager to please those around him - a situation made tragic when his family and friends, as portrayed, are all violent criminals themselves. > > Walter, however, knows exactly that what he is doing is wrong. He knows people are dying all around him. He knows he is putting innocent people including his beloved family at risk but for all the crocodile tears and insincere remorse he keeps going. > > Todd does evil things but shows little understanding of the concept. Todd is trying to survive. Walter is doing evil things, knows it is wrong and keeps doing it because it’s fun. It’s just a game. > > TCMF-2L I’m not comparing Todd to Ted. I’m only saying that they are both sociopaths and all the nice little things that both of them did doesn’t change this fact. I happen to find sociopaths to be vastly more despicable than a man turning bad after being given a death sentence. The difference between Walt and Todd is that when it came down to it, Walt tried to set things right with the people in his life that he had wronged. Todd is incapable of this. He doesn’t understand that he should. He doesn’t feel. He is straight up monster. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/143 "2015-09-13T18:17:50Z")
Do Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly count as “characters”? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/144 "2015-09-13T18:57:28Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > Todd is incapable of this. He doesn’t understand that he should. He doesn’t feel. He is straight up monster. He sure is. The interesting thing about him, though, is that he just isn’t a sadist. More like the opposite. As was noted in another thread, if your car breaks down in a bad part of town, Todd is the the guy you want to have passing by. He’s the one who will stop to help you out, and he’ll be completely cheerful and pleasant about it the whole time. If you don’t have any business with him otherwise, he’s a fine young fellow. The problem is that if he has a reason to kill you, or someone like Walt or his uncle tells him to do it, he’ll go ahead and do that, and be just as chipper and cheerful. “Yup, that’s your wheel changed for you. Don’t mention it! My pleasure! Oh, BTW, just a text from my uncle here, saying I need to shoot you. Nothing personal, hope you don’t mind.” BLAM! “OK, thanks! I guess we’re done here. Nice meeting you, have a good day, um, afterlife!” Todd is the kind of guy who would ramp the volts up to the max in the Milgram experiment, and feel good about himself for being such a fine citizen. Then he would helpfully suggest an improvement to your setup to get more juice from your generator, to zap your subject all the better. And I don’t think he would really understand the problem with that even after you explained it to him. But not a sadist, at all. Just a nice young man, who happens to be a total monster. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/145 "2015-09-13T18:57:34Z")
My nominee is police detective Michael Tritter (played by David Morse), who appeared in seven episodes of the third season of _House, MD_. I gather that many fans of the Hugh Laurie show disliked the Tritter arc, but I found it to be one of the most compelling storylines that show ever did. The character has a little bit of power (as a police detective), and he uses it relentlessly and self-righteously to get his vindictive revenge on a man who humiliated him (namely, House). That’s a bit closer to the sort of despicable people we might have to deal with in real life, as opposed to the nostril-flaring, eye-brow arching Sadistic Villains who so often appear on television. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/146 "2015-09-13T19:44:23Z")
How about George Warleggan and Osborne Wentworth, Jr, in the original _ **Poldark** _ series? (Haven’t seen the new one yet.) The latter was particularly slimy. Speaking of sociopaths, John Hurt’s Caligula in _ **I, Claudius** _ was great! Nero, played by the same guy who was OWJ in _ **Poldark** _, was equally slimy as Claudius’s adopted son (and future emperor). ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/147 "2015-09-13T19:53:37Z")
Robert Patrick Modell, from the **X-Files** episode “Pusher”. He was just pure mean, and ruined a perfectly good shade of blue… No, I won’t say which one. Too dangerous. Look it up…if you dare… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/148 "2015-09-13T20:02:22Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > This one goes back a bit to the early days of Fox TV, I nominate Dabney Coleman from\*\*Buffalo Bill \*\*in which he played a loathsome TV talk show host. _Buffalo Bill_ was on NBC. I nominate Bugs Bunny. 😃 Yeah, I know he started out in the movies, but I grew up watching him on TV. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/149 "2015-09-13T20:06:51Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > _Buffalo Bill_ was on NBC. I remember that series, though I seldom watched it. The one line that sticks in my mind is when he had a fat chick on the phone and told her “By the way, you are a real porker; you know that!” just before hanging up on her. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/150 "2015-09-13T20:25:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I remember that series, though I seldom watched it. > > The one line that sticks in my mind is when he had a fat chick on the phone and told her “By the way, you are a real porker; you know that!” just before hanging up on her. 🆒 What a cast! Geena Davis. Joanna Cassidy. Meshach Taylor. John Fiedler. Max Wright. Charles Robinson. All of that talent packed into 30 minutes and it only lasted 26 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/151 "2015-09-13T21:02:48Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Robert Patrick Modell, from the **X-Files** episode “Pusher”. > > He was just pure mean, and ruined a perfectly good shade of blue… > > No, I won’t say which one. Too dangerous. Look it up…if you dare… He did have information about the scientific basis of “The Whammy” though. For some reason, I found the character of Ted (played by John Ritter) on an episode of Buffy to be deeply disturbing. When he turned out to be a robot I was quite relieved. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/152 "2015-09-14T00:58:12Z")
Maria LaGuerta from Dexter Lori Grimes from The Walking Dead Wesley Crusher Sawyer from Lost ---
**Author:** ![Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skinnybones_lampshade/32/2872_2.png) [@Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skinnybones_Lampshade)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/153 "2015-09-14T01:26:09Z")
One vote for the horrible character who almost raped Edith Bunker on “All in the Family” (and would have succeeded if Edith hadn’t pushed the cake she just removed from the oven into his face). The audience was audibly shocked and repelled by him. Apparently, the poor actor who played him was accosted repeatedly in his daily life by irate strangers who thought they recognized him as a criminal. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/154 "2015-09-14T02:09:07Z")
Laggard wrote: “Sawyer from Lost”. If by “Sawyer” you meant the original Sawyer, John Locke’s father who stole his kidney, yeah, you’d be right. If, on the other hand, you meant the main character “Sawyer”, I’d have to disagree. His character arc, through the series, was one of redemption as he went from a self-absorbed bastard to a contributing member of a community. And, Skinnybones Lampshade, the same thing happened to the actor, Bill Raisch, who played the “one-armed man” on the Fugitive. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/155 "2015-09-14T03:01:20Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Laggard wrote: “Sawyer from Lost”. > > If by “Sawyer” you meant the original Sawyer, John Locke’s father who stole his kidney, yeah, you’d be right. If, on the other hand, you meant the main character “Sawyer”, I’d have to disagree. His character arc, through the series, was one of redemption as he went from a self-absorbed bastard to a contributing member of a community. Main character. And yes, he did get better ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/156 "2015-09-14T03:23:39Z")
> [@Skinnybones\_Lampshade](#): > > One vote for the horrible character who almost raped Edith Bunker on “All in the Family” (and would have succeeded if Edith hadn’t pushed the cake she just removed from the oven into his face). The audience was audibly shocked and repelled by him. > > Apparently, the poor actor who played him was accosted repeatedly in his daily life by irate strangers who thought they recognized him as a criminal. I dunno . . . of course that’s a despicable character; but a character who makes only a one-episode appearance hardly seems to count for this thread, or else every perp in every _Law & Order_ series and every other cop show ever would. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/157 "2015-09-14T05:53:50Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > This one goes back a bit to the early days of Fox TV, I nominate Dabney Coleman from\*\*Buffalo Bill \*\*in which he played a loathsome TV talk show host. I was going to say this exact same thing. I couldn’t even watch that show, I find nothing remotely interesting about TV series where the main character is despicable. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/158 "2015-09-14T12:54:53Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I agree, Dickweed was quite oppressive to his wife. He abused her emotionally by making her feel ashamed of who she was. She should have been allowed to be a proud witch like Endora. I have no problem with this sentiment, though I think it’s more complicated than that. But Endora was just as big a problem. Samantha did choose of her own free will to marry Darrin, and Endora constantly treated him as subhuman. The name thing is just the icing on the cake. Personally, I don’t think Darrin made Samantha do anything. She entered in willingly. She was on a “be a mortal housewife” kick at the time. She had pretended to be mortal the entire time they were dating. Yes, I think she should have stood up for herself some, but it was still her choice, and Darrin wasn’t actively manipulative. Well, at least, that holds until Endora came up with her most devious plan yet, and changed him to have a different face and personality. New Darrin was a smarmy ass who treated her like a child. ---
**Author:** ![tafowler87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tafowler87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tafowler87)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/159 "2015-09-14T13:02:39Z")
Jimmy Fallon. Hands down. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498/160 "2015-09-14T13:24:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Yeah, it’s one thing to disagree with your son-in-law, and it’s another thing to hate him (justified or not), but turning him into an artichoke is over the line. I dunno. Dipwad pretty much had the brains of an artichoke, so what was the difference? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-despicable-television-character-in-history-in-your-humble-opinion/730498.md?page=9)