Elaine?
I think that all of the characters in all incarnations of S.T. are rather bland.
They’re all just too nicey nice.
You can never imagine any of them being irritable,lazy,sexually jealous,argumentative or bored with each others conversations in normal life.
Let alone running away from danger,looking up someones skirt,cheating at cards or phoning in sick when they’ve got a hangover.
(While I personally have some of these characteristics myself I by no means have them all)
And Datas only function seems to be a psycophantic admiration of everything to do with Humans.
I think that is to make even the biggest non achievers amongst the viewers feel a warm self congratulatory glow as in …
O.K. I may be a lazy slob,a couch potato and haven’t had a job in years but I’m Human so I needn’t feel bad about myself because I’m special!
I think that the characters who are a mixture of bastard and nice guy in any sort of series are much more believable and much more interesting.
If only because you will not automatically be able to guess their reaction in any given situation.
I don’t recall Tony giving up Vito (wikipedia and the HBO website back me up). Tony wanted Vito’s income, and the only reasons he didn’t go to war were that (a) war is a money-losing proposition, and (b) not everyone backed Vito. Sure, most didn’t like NY coming after Vito and getting away with it, but wouldn’t fully back a war.
Furio didn’t get a pass–he went back to Italy. Tony would’ve had him killed if he’d set foot in the U.S. again.
And I don’t think Tony ever had hard evidence about the Paulie thing. He does use the information about Paulie going behind his back to intimidate Paulie in “Remember When” when they’re on the boat, so clearly he’s not okay with it. I think Artie got a pass on the gun in his face thing because Artie’s a civilian, and Tony doesn’t really expect much from him. He’s kind of a dumbass. (Plus, he did have a sort of good reason–Tony did blow up his restaurant, even though he’d never admit that.)
She bugged me something terrible at first, but I’m used to her now. Now I can’t stand Rita. OMG she is so annoying. Just her breathy voice is enough to send me over the edge.
Have you never seen Deep Space Nine? Sisko, Kira, Worf, and Odo are often pretty cranky with someone; Worf and Julian feud over Ezri during the last season; Miles despises Julian for most of the first half of the series; and Quark, Jadzia, and Julian are all pretty slutty.
Then there’s Garak, Martok, Zek, Damar, Dukat, Winn, Weyoun, and a good half a dozen or more characters that are not nice people by any definition of the word.
I liked the episode a lot. I didn’t care too much for Wesley’s character in it.
Vince on Entourage. He’s an idiot. A very sweet, loyal, handsome idiot, but an idiot. He’s basically a puppy that can walk upright. (It doesn’t help than Grenier’s a crappy actor.) Drama’s up there, too, as his angry-horny Kramer character is getting old.
Book on Firefly. He always seemed vaguely snide and, well, judge-y. Plus I’m tired of religion as a concept.
Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I started out putting Elaine where the name of the show should be then I switched it with Seinfeld and forgot to specify elaine later.
Ronnie in The Shield. There’s been zero character development in 6+ seasons
I don’t like Sarah Sidle of CSI either–it doesn’t help that I was quietly cheering for Catherine/Grissom all the way back when she fixed his tie and told him that he needed a woman.
I wouldn’t have minded the Grissom/Sidle Romance ™ if only they’d let Sarah grow up and get past some of her issues. She was such a needy little thing, argh. (And yeah, Catherine had her moments, too, but it helps that she tends to be more mature and she is hot. :P)
The CSI shows need more Team Mom/Team Dad OTP. (Miami suffered from a similar problem, where Team Mom Alexx is happily married and Team Dad Horatio hooked up with Delko’s Woobie Sister who, like, died the next episode or something.)
Kenneth - 30 Rock.
Some of his lines are funny, but I can’t stand his delivery or voice. Whenever he is on screen I desperately want to see Jane Krakowski, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, or anyone other than Kenneth!!
I like Kenneth but think he’s overused. I liked him better when we only saw him occasionally.
Dexter-Rita. Someone just mentioned her, but OMG-she’s so whiney. About everything. All the time.
Prison Break-Sara. Totally helpless and always full of made-up angst. I liked her better when her head was in a box.
Dexter has never had a single likable female character in its entire run. Rita and Deb for previously mentioned reasons. Maria is bitchy and clueless, and Lila? Grrr.
Jack on LOST is so self-righteous and annoying, and frequently wrong. He’s supposed to be the protagonist of the show, but I want to kick his ass at least half the time for being so damn fatuous. I’m glad he’s come to regret his attitude towards Locke. But even more than Jack, I can’t stand Kate. How many damn times has she done something she wasn’t supposed to do, been apprehended by the enemy, then used as leverage to get her friends to capitulate to some demand? Insufferable and stupid, she is only tolerated because she’s hot and half the male characters on the show have a crush on her. If she were middle aged, pudgy, and funny looking, she would have been left for dead seasons ago.
Whew. Needed to get that off my chest, I guess.
Ah, Deadwood.
I came in here to mention Deadwood. I disagree that Al Swearangen can carry the show all by himself, and the great thing about this show is that nearly every actor is turning in world-class performances. The only one I have a problem with happens to be Seth’s character, played at only two speeds, pissed and insanely pissed (this may be an acting thing more than any other one thing).
In a show where every other character is an abyssal trench of depth, Seth Bullock seems very two dimensional in contrast.
Oh, and did you know that David Milch, the show’s creator, wanted the part of Al Swearangen to be played by Ed O’Neill (Al Bundy from Married With Children)?! Seems crazy to think about it like that. I know Ed could have pulled it off, but I’m glad we got Ian McShane!
I agree. Even when he’s supposed to be having a pleasant conversation with his wife over breakfast, you can practically hear his teeth grinding. I thought maybe Bullock was intended to be the protagonist of the show, but McShane’s Swearengen turned out to be so compelling that the focus of the show slowly shifted to him, and became about his transformation instead of Bullock.
He not only said that, but after the show was over, said it would have been a better show with O’Neill as Al. No way, Mr. Milch, you cocksucker.
Oh yeah- I agree that the rest of the cast was fantastic and Seth’s character became pretty weak in the third season. That is just wrong to think anyone could have done AL better than McShane though.
I thought Book was a great foil to Mal and many of the crew’s cynicism. Also he seemed like he used to be a real badass, although I guess they never really told that backstory.
I just came in here to third the nomination of Thirteen from House. What a vacant-eyed, slack-jawed nonentity she is. Even Huntington’s and bisexuality can’t make her interesting. (Yes, I know I thought I saw a spark of personality in her a few episodes back, but apparently that was just a trick of the light.)
Heh, you think she’s annoying in Dexter, you should see her in Buffy and Angel. But Lilah is clearly hands down the most annoying character on Dexter. But like the rest of them, she’s supposed to be. I think the real point of the thread is characters you aren’t supposed to necessarily hate, they’re just poorly done so you do. (For example, I think we’re supposed to affectionately chuckle at Eliot’s neuroses on Scrubs, but she’s gone way past that into annoyingland.)