# The most annoying recurring characters on TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421 "2014-06-09T17:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/21 "2014-06-09T21:49:55Z")
The lead character on Bones - I hate her so much, I can’t even remember her name. Yeah, I know, she’s supposed to have Asperger’s or some such, but she’s obnoxious at best. I tried to watch the show since my husband liked it, but I never got over the snotty “genius.” ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/22 "2014-06-09T21:55:56Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > His sister Mona Lisa is even worse. She makes Jean-Ralphio look reasonable and self-aware by comparison. The only time I like Jean-Ralphio is when Mona Lisa is there too. They riff on each other really well. They writers did really good job giving us just enough of them. Any more would have made the show hard too watch (say, if they were in every other episode or had episodes centered around them). It looks like there’s 113 episodes (if Leslie was in all of them). Jean-Ralphio was only in 18 and Mona Lisa was in 7. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/23 "2014-06-09T22:07:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But like the title character as well, the character writing was very inconsistent over the run of the show. Yeah, it seemed to me that Adrian Monk had an inconsistent level of self-awareness; and he was damned annoying, and strained my credulity, on those occasions when he, a supposedly smart man, seemed to have no clue that his way of interacting with the world was at all unusual or unreasonable or a problem for those around him. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/24 "2014-06-09T22:14:41Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > The lead character on Bones - I hate her so much, I can’t even remember her name. Yeah, I know, she’s supposed to have Asperger’s or some such, but she’s obnoxious at best. I tried to watch the show since my husband liked it, but I never got over the snotty “genius.” Yes, yes, yes. How do the people she works with stand her? I nominate Rusty on Major Crimes. What a whiner. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/25 "2014-06-09T22:19:25Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I nominate Rusty on Major Crimes. What a whiner. Oh god yes. Fuckin die already! (I repeat my unemotional and perfectly sane and rational comment from the Major Crimes thread in case the show runners read message boards in order to sample the pulse of the viewing public. I want to be sure they get the message.) ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/26 "2014-06-09T23:02:21Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > The lead character on Bones - I hate her so much, I can’t even remember her name. Yeah, I know, she’s supposed to have Asperger’s or some such, but she’s obnoxious at best. I tried to watch the show since my husband liked it, but I never got over the snotty “genius.” I’m pretty sure her name is Bones. I don’t remember it ever being suggested she had Asperger’s, but her schtick about not understanding any aspect of popular culture did wear thin pretty quickly. However, not as thin as Dawn’s constant whining on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/27 "2014-06-09T23:03:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Kripke of Big Bang Theory. Seconded. I’d be able to take him if he was an annoying asshole, or if he had a lisp. But the fact that he has both just makes him a bit too much. ---
**Author:** ![Athabasca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Athabasca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athabasca)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/28 "2014-06-09T23:14:14Z")
Wings-- the character Faye. She had a horrible singsongy voice that grated. Like a perpetual moan/whine. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/29 "2014-06-10T00:02:05Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Wesley Crusher Wesley Crusher’s sole purpose was to steal the “most annoying” award from Deanna Troi. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/30 "2014-06-10T00:08:33Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You were making the classic mistake of watching 2BG with the sound on… Yes, the eye candy factor kept me watching longer than the show warranted! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/31 "2014-06-10T00:08:48Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Wesley Crusher’s sole purpose was to steal the “most annoying” award from Deanna Troi. I think her boobs did that for her. And the nose job helped. I rarely say that, but in her case… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/32 "2014-06-10T00:12:09Z")
Lwaxana Troi, from ST-TNG. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/33 "2014-06-10T00:29:04Z")
But she was _supposed_ to be annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/34 "2014-06-10T01:50:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Det Joe Fontana in L&O mothership. Probably on the take, threatened to physically abuse not only suspects, but witnesses as well. Bent the rules, but not in a likeable way. However, probably the most realistic representation of NYPD in any L&O franchise. 😉 I always wanted a scene where Fontana _sotto voce_ threatens a suspect, who then sneers and says “I was a Green Beret. You try any rough stuff and I’ll put your head through the table.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/35 "2014-06-10T03:16:54Z")
Monroe - Too Close for Comfort ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/36 "2014-06-10T03:25:38Z")
On Bewitched, there were two annoying characters – Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur and Bernard Fox as Dr. Bombay. While both were good in other roles, such as Fox as Colonel Crittenden on Hogan’s Heroes, they just plain annoyed me on Bewitched. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/37 "2014-06-10T04:55:47Z")
> [@johnny bravo](#): > > every single toddler/toddler+ child actor in the history of television who has lines. +1[sup]1,000,000,000[/sup] The most annoying character ever on _Married…with Children_ was “Seven” (so called because his hillbilly parents had one, two, three, four, five, seven kids) – thankfully, the fan outrage was so great that he was quickly written out of the show, although in future episodes he would occasionally appear on a milk carton. And I agree that “recurring” should mean characters who don’t appear in every episode, although the OP apparently did mean just characters in general. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/38 "2014-06-10T05:02:50Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Monroe - Too Close for Comfort I’ll see if I can out-obscure you. Kate Kestrel, _Terrahawks_. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/39 "2014-06-10T05:39:31Z")
How about Colonel Flagg from “MASH”? Yes I get the point of the character was a commentary about McCarthyism. But he was so monolithic a character, with no real sense of humor, that he dragged down every episode he appeared in. Every time I saw he was on the show, I thought “this episode won’t be any fun”. Actually Flagg is the perfect definition of a recurring character. He appeared in a number but not a majority of episodes, the episodes were spaced out over a long stretch of time, and played a big role when he did appear. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421/40 "2014-06-10T07:34:43Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > +1[sup]1,000,000,000[/sup] You realise that’s still just 1, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-annoying-recurring-characters-on-tv/690421.md?page=3)