Your favorite TV characters of all time

Cafe Society
1

This article was sent to me yesterday by a Doper friend because he knows how much I like Omar Little on The Wire as a favorite character on that show. In response to him I said that Omar may just be my favorite character of them all!

That’s in spite of some competition he would face from the likes of:

– Tony Soprano
– Raylan Givens
– Dexter Morgan
– Walter White
– Al Swearingen

… and at least a dozen others that are slipping my mind at the moment.

Maybe if enough iconic characters get mentioned we can even have a poll for the best one.

Who do you nominate?

2

Hmm…

The first I though of were:

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly)
Toby Ziegler (the West Wing)
Benjamin Linus (Lost)

But I think I’ll go with:

President Laura Roslin (Battlestar Galactica). No one really comes close.

3

Lieutenant Columbo, probably.

4

I came in here to say Al Swearingen, and lo and behold, there he is in the OP!

Early on I thought, he’s going to be a great bad guy, and all the creative cursing was fun, but I had no idea what I was in for. The layers just kept coming as the series went on, and Ian McShane did a masterful job of revealing just enough in just the right way.

HBO pulled the plug on Deadwood too soon, and not getting to see the end of Swearingen’s arc is practically tragic (well, as “tragic” as it gets when you’re talking about watching TV).

5

Currently Richard Castle is one of my favorites. He just seems to be enjoying his life. (Most of the time)

6
  1. Lieutenant Columbo
  2. Leroy Jethro Gibbs
  3. Patrick Jane
    4)Jayne Cobb
  4. Malcolm Reynolds
    can’t wait for Adam Baldwin’s guest appearance on Castle!
  5. Ted Mosby, Marshall Ericksen, Barney Stinson (they work for me as an ensemble, not as individuals)
  6. Pierre Despereaux
  7. Lassiter (I watch Psych more for the supporting characters, not the main two)
7

Well said, Wheelz, and it may be his turn as Seth Bullock that gave Timothy Olyphant a leg up in the Raylan Givens (Justified) characterization for me. Deadwood had way more than its fair share of memorable characters. So much so that when I see those actors in other settings it’s usually their Deadwood work that springs to my mind first.

8
  1. Basil Fawlty
  2. Edmund Blackadder (II-IV)
  3. The Doctor

Hmmm. I think my biases are showing!

9

To save having to start another thread for females, I’ll mention these who are in my faves list:

– Kalinda Sharma
– Gemma Teller Morrow
– Lt. Debra Morgan
– Mags Bennett

… and likely another dozen here as well.

10

Jim Rockford

11

For the record, I’d like to note that *my *favorite character was a woman of the female persuasion.

12

Jim Rockford
Lt. Arthur Dietrich
Rev. Jim Ignatowski
Lou Grant
Peter Paul “Paulie Walnuts” Gaultieri
Artie from The Larry Sanders Show
Dr. Robert Hartley
Admiral William Adama
Col. Saul Tigh
The Doctor (specifically Nine, Ten, and Eleven)
Fox Mulder
X, Mulder’s contact after Deep Throat

13

Claire Huxtable (Cosby Show)
Angela Chase (My So-Called Life)
Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)
Niles Crane (Frasier)
Chandler Bing (Friends)
Bubbles (The Wire)
Dr. Elliot Reid (Scrubs)

14

More to serve as a trigger for the old-timers in the crowd (along with the reruns fans) here are some of my early favorites from the early days:

– Cheyenne Bodie
– Paladin
– Perry Mason
– Peter Gunn
– Napoleon Solo
– Bret Maverick

15

That’s a good point. My favorite female is also a woman.

16

The Countess of Grantham
Tom Servo
Angel Martin
Buddy Sorrell
Paul Drake
Veronica Mars
Saul Goodman

17

In no particular order (and many of mine aren’t at all “iconic”):

  • Mr. Spock
  • Dr. Gregory House
  • Dr. Anton Arcane from Swamp Thing
  • Frank Furillo and Joyce Davenport from Hill Street Blues
  • Cal Lightman from Lie to Me
  • Gil Grissom from CSI
  • Father Dougal McGuire from Father Ted
  • Captain Picard from ST:TNG
  • Niles Crane from Frasier

I’ll probably think of more as soon as I hit Reply, but those are the ones that pop to mind right away.

18

Jayne Cobb
Gus Fring
Sheldon Cooper

19

Hawkeye Pierce
Captain Piccard

20

Outstanding replies, y’all! Quite a few of my “missing dozens” have already showed up in some of your lists.

Also, it’s encouraging to see how many of these characters are not the starring roles in the shows being mentioned.

Maybe some other threads focusing on things like sidekicks (or other non-star types) would be fun along with this catchall survey. Be my guest starting such a spinoff.