More Television, or: "Character is something you have left when you've lost everything you can lose." (- Evan Esar)

In the continuing spirit of the previous few posts, I'm going to make another pop-culture oriented list. This time, I'll be exploring the heart and soul of television programming: characters. I've decided to list the 25 characters who symbolize their show, who bring/brought something special to TV, and actually represent something important, if not to our society/culture, than at least to the area of television. Sometimes, though, I just went with a great, well-loved character. I also tried to limit myself to one character from a show. So, that's why the main character/star of a particular show might not be included over a different, more intriguing, character. Some of these are classic and some of these are questionable, but, at the end of the day, they're my opinions. If you do not agree, post your own list and let's get some dialogue going, otherwise, enjoy! Also, many of these characters are not from shows that I particularly enjoy or watch at all, but I do recognize their relevance and importance to television. So, don't expect a lot of future blog-time spent on Sex and the City, Buffy, 24, or Star Trek. I get them, and can appreciate the writing/acting/impact/whatever, but they're just not my jam. Without further ado, the list:

Top 25 TV Characters:

25. Spock – Star Trek

The alien intellect that balanced out the human emotion of a 5-year journey where no man had gone before.

24. Al Bundy – Married…with Children

Edgy and questionable at the time, he’s become a bit of an icon now. Though he seemed to hate his eponymous lifestyle, he was still, at the end of the day, a good husband and father.

23. Lowell Mather – Wings

Usually, I wouldn’t use such a static character, but you gotta love Lowell. He was the warm and fuzzy side of Sandpiper Air and we needed what he provided.

22. Lindsay Weir – Freaks and Geeks

As both a Freak and a Geek, Lindsay really was the backbone of this show, even if Sam, Neal and Bill were the heart and soul.

21. Maggie O’Connell – Northern Exposure

Coulda went with Fleischman, or Maurice, or Ed, or any of the wonderful residents of Sicily, AK, but Maggie seemed to be the most constant. She was well rounded and dynamic with enough real-world traits to balance out the quirkiness of all the dead ex’s.

20. John Dorian – Scrubs

This is a perfect example of choosing one element of certain dynamics or gimmicks used in a show. It’s kind of like cheating. By choosing JD, I get to include, through his relationships with them, the wonderful characters of Christopher Turk and Perry Cox. It’s a three-for-one. Nice.

19. Dale Cooper – Twin Peaks

The whole mystery unfolded for us through his eyes, and as a bonus, he loved pie. He was the un-tarnishable innocence surviving in the oddity that was Twin Peaks. The law and order in the surreal chaos that comes with David Lynch.

18. Michael Bluth – Arrested Development

The tireless straight man for his entire family of eccentric, yet loveable odd-balls. You just have to love this show.

17. Jack Bauer – 24

A classic badass for US television in the age of the War on Terror.

16. Will Smith - Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Man I used to love this show! Will was delightfully funny and served as the down-to-earth grounding force for his well-to-do extended family. From the trite and clichéd to the hip and hilarious, Will could do it all in smooth, sit-com style.

15. Hawkeye Pierce – M*A*S*H

A troublemaker, a slacker, a patriot and a protester. MASH was retro, but the opposite of Happy Days. It looked to the past so we could better understand the present, with Korea as a stand-in for Vietnam, and Hawkeye as our focus point.

14. Arthur Fozerelli – Happy Days

Classic cool. A 70’s retro show looking fondly back at the 50’s? You gotta have a greaser.

13. Barney Fife – The Andy Griffith Show

Barny Fuckin’ Fife. ‘Nuff said.

12. Carrie Bradshaw – Sex in the City

The center of the storm that opened our eyes and minds to the plight of single women in big cities. Not one of my shows, but I saw the impact this show had all around me. Every girl I knew in college was a fan, and it really seemed to change the way people looked at sexuality in single women.

11. Jim Halpert – The Office

Another cheat. Jim seems to be our lens into the world of Dunder-Mifflin and by choosing him, we get to include Dwight K. Schrute (the Jim-Dwight dynamic is one of the best in TV history), Pam Beasley, and Michael Scott. All great characters that should be considered on any list like this.

10. Jack Tripper – Three’s Company

The meat in the sandwich of the all time sit-y-est of sit-coms. Jack Tripper is THE sit-com character king.

9. Buffy – Buffy

Buffy was not, as too many believe, 90210 with vampires. On the contrary, it is a well-written and performed deeply probing look at existence itself. Just look at all the academic studies that have been done; more than have been dedicated to any other TV shows. Or, it’s just a hot chick killing vampires. It wasn’t really one of my faves, but the more time that passes, the more important it gets. We must remember, it was pushing boundaries and busting paradigms before The Sopranos.

8. Chandler Bing – Friends

Of all the friends, we probably learned the least from Chandler, but damn he was funny. He created a new style of humor that resonated with young people the country over. Ah, deadpan sarcasm. There’s nothing better.

7. Homer Simpson – The Simpsons

The longest-lived sitcom father, ever. While not originally the star, as The Simpsons evolved so did Homer’s character and role in the show. Without Homer, there would not only be no Peter Griffin, we would most likely have missed all the dull-witted, slovenly sitcom dads since. Homer built the archetype.

6. Frasier Crane – Cheers, Frasier

20 years on two different shows? He must’ve been doing something right.

5. Heathcliff Huxtable – The Cosby Show

Maybe not the most popular, grumpiest, funniest or longest-lived sit-com dad, but he was probably the best father. As the patriarch of the Huxtable clan, Cliff is the symbol of everything that this truly great show stood for.

4. Al Swearengen – Deadwood

Probably shouldn’t be this high, but he’s scary enough for me to just go ahead and put him in the top 5, anyway. He’s not as iconic as Tony Soprano, but probably just as powerful, and the old west setting makes him even nastier. Ian Mcshane’s role was the driving force of the Deadwood series and there was always something charismatic about him even though he was a murderous, whore-mongering, violent and vicious criminal and businessman.

3. Archie Bunker – All in the Family

As the irritable, bigoted, and intolerant family man, Archie Bunker represented the urban, working-class white middle-aged male of the time. Through him we see that people of different times aren’t bad, just left behind by a world they’re uncomfortable with changing around them. On top of this, his relationships and reactions to those around him were both hilarious and eye-opening. He’s a standard bearer of American television.

2. Tony Soprano – The Sopranos

Does this even need to be explained?

1. George Costanza - Seinfeld

The biggest cheat of all. Through George, the “short, stocky, slow-witted bald man,” we get the rest of the ‘New York 4’: Jerry, Elaine and Kramer. They’re all great and list-worthy, but George is the epitome of what Seinfeld was going for. On close inspection we find he really, actually is, a terrible person, but we love him and identify with him at the same time. He is the greatest character in TV history.

In the running: Lucy Ricardo, Zach Morris, Alex P. Keaton, Ralph Kramden, J.R. Ewing, Fox Mulder

On the Rise: Jack Donaghy, Joy (Hickey) Turner, Barney Stinson, Eric Taylor, Peter Griffin