Malcolm Reynolds
The Doctor
Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl)
Jarod (The Pretender)
Arvin Sloane (Alias)
Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
MacGyver (MacGyver)
Thomas Magnum, for the free rent on the estate and the free use of the cool car.
Lt. Columbo
Since several people within this thread have listed more than one, I’ll list some of mine:
Lt. Frank Ballinger (M Squad)
Captain Barney Miller of the 12th Precinct
Dr. Bob Hartley (The Bob Newhart Show)
Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, and Max (Hart to Hart)
Detective Joe Mannix and his secretary Peggy Fair (Mannix)
Perry Mason, Della Street and Paul Drake (Perry Mason)
Raylan Givens
Captain America
Ralph Hinkley/Hanley
Adam Goldberg
The Doctor
Pre jerkass Homer Simpson
Rowdy Roddy Piper
Han Solo
Indiana Jones
Rocket Raccoon
Sgt. Johnny Gallagher
Ash
Magnum would be in my top 10. He had to put up with Higgins, but still a pretty sweet deal.
Bill Adama
Cosmo Kramer
Chili Palmer (Get Shorty, Be Cool)
Karen Sisco (Out of Sight)
Raylan Givens (Justified)
Jackie Brown (Jackie Brown)
I miss Elmore Leonard.
Indiana Jones / Han Solo
Same here, for movies.
For TV I’d have to say:
Harvey Specter (Suits)
Tig Trager (Sons of Anarchy)
Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead)
Charlie Eppes (Numb3rs)
Dr. Rogers and Lennie Brisco (Law and Order) I started watching Community because I wanted to see the actress play Dr. Rogers again, even in a parody.
Jeff Winger (Community)
Constable Benton Fraser (Due South)
Link (Monsters vs. Aliens)
Det. Arthur Dietrich (Barney Miller)
and some of the Doctors (Doctor Who)
Spock
Yoda
Paul Bryan. Who? You know. Run For Your Life. Ben Gazarra.
You have at least nine months to live. Perhaps as much as eighteen.
The first doctor told me I’d have one to two years.
I hope he’s right. Where will you go, what will you do?
Well I haven’t taken a day off since law school. Perhaps I’ll try to squeeze thirty years of living into one… or two.
Never say die (ironic) playboy living a fantasy. Plus, he got to fuck Claudine Longet. I was seventeen. Couldn’t take it.
Runners Up:
Wesley Wyndham-Price (Buffy/Angel)
BMO (Adventure Time)
Lennie Briscoe (Law & Order)
Troy Barnes (Community)
Saul Goodman (Breaking Bad)
Toph Beifong (Avatar)
‘Stephen Colbert’ (The Colbert Show)
Tim Gutterson (Justified)
Winner:
Homer Simpson (The Simpsons)
Classic era Homer Simpson is a brilliant characterization. The writers skate a very, very fine line making him selfish, ignorant, and lazy, yet still give him a core of decency. When prodded by friends and family, he can be relied on to do the right thing in the end and that’s why we can cheer him on in his destructive, chaotic hijinks. He’s thoughtless, not nasty, and that distinction keeps the viewers rooting for him. That’s also why ‘jerkass Homer’ of the latter seasons is so galling, they lost track of that decency that kept him sympathetic.
Robert Roy MacGregor in Rob Roy (1995)
Lot of liberties taken in this film, historically , but a great character nonetheless.
Movie characters:
-Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)
-The Joker (both Nicholson & Ledger)
-Lenny (That Thing You Do)
-Quint (Jaws)
-Indiana Jones
TV characters:
-Walter White & Gustavo Fring (Breaking Bad)
-Nikki Nickels (Orange is the New Black)
-Saul Goodman & Mike Ehrmantraut (Better Call Saul)
-Daryl Dixon & Carol Peletier (The Walking Dead)
-Tulip (Preacher)
The xenomorph from Alien was pretty cool: