# Your favorite TV characters of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641 "2012-03-03T15:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/21 "2012-03-03T17:21:49Z")
Surprised nobody’s mentioned Vic Mackey yet. And Carl Kolchak if you’re as old as me. ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/22 "2012-03-03T17:27:12Z")
Steve McGarrett, Dan Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, etc. (original “Hawaii Five-O”) Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, and Max (“Hart to Hart”) Doctors Marcus Welby and Steven Kiley (“Marcus Welby, M.D.”) There are others, but those are a few of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/23 "2012-03-03T17:28:49Z")
Some other classic icons: Archie Bunker, Lou Grant, Professor Charles Kingsfield, and Thomas Magnum. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/24 "2012-03-03T17:35:06Z")
President Bartlett And Jim Rockford ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/25 "2012-03-03T17:37:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Surprised nobody’s mentioned Vic Mackey yet. > > And Carl Kolchak if you’re as old as me. Both are excellent nominees. I would also include Shane Vendrell (and by extension, Boyd Crowder). Does anybody else remember another Darren McGavin character: Captain Grey Holden? ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/26 "2012-03-03T18:13:08Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Both are excellent nominees. I would also include Shane Vendrell (and by extension, Boyd Crowder). If I were to consider The Shield’s supporting cast, I liked Dutch and Aceveda. Vic Mackey Dr. Perry Cox George Constanza Denny Crane Alan Shore Chuck Bartowski John Casey Alex P. Keaton Barney Stinson Buffy Summers ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/27 "2012-03-03T18:23:27Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > If I were to consider The Shield’s supporting cast, I liked Dutch and Aceveda. Both those actors have had significant roles in _Sons of Anarchy_, along with [Detective Curtis Lemansky](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0425543/) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/28 "2012-03-03T18:24:58Z")
Homer Simpson Kenny McCormick The Tick (NOT the Patrick Warburton one) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/29 "2012-03-03T18:26:49Z")
There is a _lot_ of love for Rockfish on this board. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/30 "2012-03-03T18:29:46Z")
Cheyenne Bodie and Paladin for me. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/31 "2012-03-03T18:35:32Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Cheyenne Bodie. Amen! Do you have any strong feelings about any of the other WB Westerns of that era? – Bronco – Sugarfoot – The Lawman Also, did it strike you as odd that Cheyenne was always getting beat up by some much smaller bad guy? ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/32 "2012-03-03T18:38:13Z")
Cosmo Kramer ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/33 "2012-03-03T18:38:31Z")
Barnabus Collins ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/34 "2012-03-03T18:48:47Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > President Bartlett > > And Jim Rockford I would so totally watch this show! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/35 "2012-03-03T18:54:22Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > There is a _lot_ of love for Rockfish on this board. 🙂 Gandy, is that you? Lenny Briscoe Louie DePalma ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/36 "2012-03-03T18:55:57Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > 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 I’ve got to ditto **Bret Maverick**. Ooh, and your mention of Napoleon Solo reminds me of **Ilya Kuryakin**! and thus I add **Donald “Ducky” Mallard** to my lists. I was alive and remember the theme songs to the other shows, but was too young to appreciate or remember Cheyenne Bodie or Peter Gunn, though I still the theme music for the latter. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/37 "2012-03-03T18:57:12Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Amen! Do you have any strong feelings about any of the other WB Westerns of that era? > > – Bronco > – Sugarfoot > – The Lawman > > Also, did it strike you as odd that Cheyenne was always getting beat up by some much smaller bad guy? I could only watch what my parents watched, so I never saw any of those shows in primetime, but I did catch a season or two of Lawman on Encore last year. I enjoyed it, but for me, nothing beats Cheyenne. When I was a kid, he was better than Superman. They run him on Encore, too, and I see a lot more in the episodes than I did when I was a kid. Some of the episodes were blatant plagiarisms of movies, like “To Have and Have Not,” and “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” IMO they did a great job of getting the essence of those great movies in a 45-minute episode. I honestly don’t remember Cheyenne getting beat up by smaller guys, unless it was a gang of them. Of course, almost everybody was smaller than he was, so I guess he couldn’t win them all. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/38 "2012-03-03T19:03:54Z")
I should add: Leroy Jethro Gibbs Michael Westen President David Palmer Artemus Gordon ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/39 "2012-03-03T19:12:01Z")
Capt. Malcom Reynolds Richard Castle (man crush? No, why do you ask?) President Bartlett Dept Marshall Raylon Givins Boyd Crowder ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641/40 "2012-03-03T19:17:14Z")
Great choices. I’d like to add Bart Maverick. Jack Kelly was a better actor at this point in his career than James Garner was at the time he played Bret. Sue Ann Nivens played by Betty White. A joy to watch. Candy played by April Bowlby on Two and A Half Men. A complete joy to watch. A complete modern mastery of the Gracie Allen type character. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-tv-characters-of-all-time/614641.md?page=3)