The 411 Top 5 06.27.08: Week 119

Posted by Trevor Snyder on 06.27.2008

The Top 5 Comedic Television Characters

Last week, we took a look at the Top 5 Comedic Movie Characters, and because I'm a slave to the obvious, it only makes sense that this week we offer our opinions on the small-screen side of the debate.

Note: Before the comments of "where the hell is Homer Simpson or Cartman?" start to flood in, I should point out that we decided to focus on live-action characters for this column. Our animated friends will have to have their own day in the sun in a future column.

THE TOP 5 COMEDIC TELEVISION CHARACTERS


Trevor Snyder

HONORABLE MENTION

Bernard Black (Dylan Moran) on Black Books - The "funny drunk" has long been a staple of television comedy (because really, what's funnier than alcoholism?), but in my opinion it reached its apex with Black, the cantankerous owner of the titular bookshop. As my friend Melissa often points out, Black has the perfect life. He spends all day – every day – reading, drinking wine, and being insufferably rude to customers, and yet somehow his shop never goes out of business. Who wouldn't want to live like that?

THE TOP 5

5. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) on The Office

Although I still prefer the original British version of The Office overall, I'll at least admit that no character on that version is as memorable as Dwight. Rather than just copy the original's Gareth, Rainn Wilson and the team of Office writers went in a slightly different direction, managing to combine Gareth's sycophantic adulation of his boss with a new heavy level of nerdiness. What a combination. We all work or have worked with someone like Dwight – the dead-serious but ultimately clueless putz who doesn't even realize he's the butt of all his co-worker's jokes.

4. Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) on Fawlty Towers

Cleese's comedy skill was already well-known when this series started, thanks to his excellent work on Monty Python's Flying Circus. But with Fawlty Towers, Cleese showed he could sustain a singe character for the entire run of a series. And while you probably wouldn't want to stay at the titular hotel that Basil runs – and risk being the focus of his vicious anger – it's still sure as hell fun to watch the guy indulge in his snobby attitude. Cleese often looked to be on the verge of a heart attack or nervous breakdown while playing this character, which is the true sign of nailing this kind of performance, really.

3. Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) on Married with Children

The ultimate guy's guy…even if none of us really want to admit it. The main character of one of the most subversive sitcoms ever, Bundy became a sort of blue-collar hero to legions of fans who could relate to his everyman concerns – a low-paying job, an overbearing wife, under-achiever children. Hell, who could blame the guy for wanting nothing more at the end of the day than to just drink beer, watch some TV, and maybe go to the strip club. In the show's later years, the series would veer more and more into the surreal, and yet Bundy's simplistic desires and goals in life would remain grounded – a love of football and boobies, if you will. Al Bundy showed us that even when a character has completely given up on life, they can still be funny as hell.

2. Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) on Mr. Bean

Forget the two lame movies for a moment, and instead remember just how hilarious it was the first time you saw an episode of this classic series. Atkinson's Mr. Bean took the art of silent physical comedy to a new level. The character himself is a strange one (that might be an understatement). At times he seems to have the mind of a child, yet he is also sometimes capable of crafting quite brilliant solutions to a problem (check out the episode where he has to drive his car from a recliner fastened to the top of it). He can be a selfish jerk, and yet because this seems to come out of his somewhat clues nature – and not any actual malice – he is still also incredibly likable. And Atkinson had to get all these various aspects of Bean's personality across while barely uttering a single word during the entire run of the series. Simply put, one of the greatest comic creations ever.

1. George Costanza (Jason Alexander) on Seinfeld

It's only natural that the greatest sitcom ever would also give us the greatest sitcom character ever…although who would have ever thought years ago that we would someday be saying that about a character who is, let's face it, essentially a complete asshole. It's tough to think of a single positive aspect of George's personality. The guy is selfish (and this is not an innocent selfishness, like Mr. Bean…George knows damn well what he's doing), dishonest, angry, cheap, lazy, and pretty darn dumb, to boot. And yet, week after week I, and millions of others, would watch and cheer his antics on. Perhaps this is because in a world dominated by sitcoms that – until that point, at least – had given us character after character that were just too sweet to even seem realistic, it was refreshing to finally see someone a little more realistic. People like George obviously exist, and while you might not want to be friends with them, you at least want to know them, so you can tell everyone else the stories of what they did. Or maybe it's that we can all see a little of ourselves in George…a scary thought, perhaps, but not an unreasonable one. We all have moments where we are just as big as jerk as George, and so at least the character shows us that its OK to laugh at moments like these.



Owain J. Brimfield

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Mark Corrigan (David Mitchell) in Peep Show - the thinking man's sitcom hero, and British to a fault.

The Janitor (Neil Flynn) in Scrubs - how could the man who brought us Dr. Jan Itor be absent from this list? A surreal creation of comic majesty.

Dr. Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce) in Frasier - although his brother was already eminent when his own eminence was merely imminent, Niles is still the funniest character in one of the great intelligent sitcoms of our time.


THE TOP 5

5. Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) in Friends

The funniest Friend by a long shot and also, for a lot of people, the one who resonates most closely to home. We've all been the sarcastic funny guy at some point in our lives, seemingly doomed to romantic failure and eternal insecurities. Friends is one of those shows that people seem to have re-evaluated for the worse in recent years, with plenty of people to quick to pour scorn, but you have to remember that this is a TV show that single-handedly shaped 90s pop-culture; it's importance can't be underestimated. Even during the show's barren seasons Chandler was still the refuge of the punchline, and managed (just about) to be the only character who didn't descend into some semblance of caricature by the end of the show's run. Plus, his name is as amusing as something out of a Coen brothers flick.

4. Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg) in Spaced

A cult icon, and surely every British geek's idol. People seem to have forgotten about Spaced in the wake of Pegg and his compatriot Edgar Wright's success - apart, that is, from people outside the UK, who never heard of it in the first place - but it serves as a great insight into the duo's humor, and no character is as well drawn as the lead, Tim. The perennial nice-guy who can't catch a break, Bisley is an everyman for the geek sub-culture (everygeek?) and manages to embody the turn-of-the-century twentysomething Brit struggling to find his place in society. Of course, it all works out well in the end - kind of - and with rumors recently surfacing once again that Pegg's writing partner (and on-screen buddy) Jessica Stevenson wants to get a Spaced movie back on track, there's hope yet for a screen resurgence for the comic book artist who could.

3. Father Dougal Maguire (Ardal O'Hanlon) in Father Ted

The ultimate comic buffoon. I mean, if you look at it objectively, there's very, very little believable about Father Dougal, and yet he somehow managed to come out of the show as British TV's most lovable character for a good few years. It's actually surprisingly hard to describe the character of Dougal to someone unfamiliar with the show - suffice to say, if you've never seen it, you're missing out one of the most consistently funny shows in TV history (yes, that's not hyperbole), and Dougal is the icing on the cake, with his appealing hang-dog expression and plethora of comic moments more than compensating for his consistent idiocy.

2. Arnold Judas Rimmer (Chris Barrie) in Red Dwarf
Despite the fact that the show ran to, what, less than fifty episodes, I'd still argue that Rimmer is one of the most compellingly sketched and wonderfully flawed characters that the sitcom has produced. Not necessarily the funniest, as that accolade goes to the final entry on this list, but certainly one of the most downright interesting. Being dead for three million years has only heightened Rimmer's ridiculous insecurities about anything and everything from his schoolyard bullying to his skill at Risk. Although some might point at the 'Rimmerworld' episode or season seven's "Rimmer Song" (one of the only genuinely funny moments the show had after the end of season six) as his comic highlight, I'd have to go with the episode 'Justice', in which Rimmer stands on trial for the murder of a thousand people and still finds the pride to object to his own defense counsel. And yet, he still manages to find it in himself to sacrifice his life for the greater good in 'Out of Time'. Just an awesome character.

1. Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) in Blackadder

Forget the snivelling coward from the first series, The Black Adder, and concentrate on the endlessly sarcastic and ferociously intelligent nobleman from Blackadder II onwards. Blackadder is a seething cauldron of caustic wit and wonderful putdowns for the idiots that somehow surround him in his daily life, but of course, his path in life is strewn with cowpats from the Devil's own satanic herd. It's never easy for Blackadder, but he always manages a comeback - except of course, for his demise at the close of Blackadder Goes Forth, one of the great series finales and a memorable send-off for a man who, for my money, provides more comic value than any other comedy character ever written.



Steve Gustafson

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler)in Happy Days - Yes, the Fonz was cool. But does he deserve to be on the list? YES! I mean, the guy had his office in the bathroom. He could control jukeboxes with a tap of his fist! He jumped a shark, waterskiing...while wearing a leather jacket! If that's not funny...Heyyyyy!

Screech (Dustin Diamond) in Saved By The Bell - A guilty pleasure if there ever was one! Remember when he had that robot? How cool was that? I know I'll catch flack for this but admit it...even though you all wanted to be Zack, deep down you knew you were Screech.

Larry David (Larry David) in Curb Your Enthusiasm - Look at his face. That tells you everything you need to know about him. I've never laughed so hard, yet been so uncomfortable doing so.

THE TOP 5

5. Kramer (Michael Richards) in Seinfeld

Yes, the strength of the show was in the talents of the ensemble and how well they worked with one another. But I credit the random, zany elements directly to the man called Kramer. He brought back physical comedy to the masses and gave us tons of classic moments.

4. Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) in I Love Lucy

Look, this show is still popular and it ran from 1951 to 1957. THE 50's!!! She's an icon and her influence is still felt today. I can run down the list of actresses who've ripped her off. Her comic timing is beyond description and she could make the simple things into comic gold.

3. Jack Tripper (John Ritter) in Three's Company

I like physical comedy. John Ritter took a one note character and gave him life. The episodes were silly. The plots were basic. But Ritter rose above it and gave the show weight.

2. Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) in Sandford & Son

As a kid I was amazed with this show. AMAZED! A father and son running a junkyard out of their house. C'mon! Foxx...words can't do him justice.

1. Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) in M*A*S*H

No one did a better job of balancing humor and drama. Yeah, he was a little drippy at times but his performance was the heart and soul of that show.



Bryan Kristopowitz

HONORABLE MENTIOS

Roseanne Connor (Roseanne Barr) in Roseanne (1988-1997) - Roseanne Connor. She was big, fat, sarcastic, smart, and, above all else, a television depiction of a real, working class woman with a working class family in the suburbs of middle America. That's part of the character's allure and what made the show so interesting. Roseanne was "real." She worked in a plastics factory, then worked at a hair stylist's place, she sold stuff over the phone, she worked as a waitress in a mall restaurant, she worked part-time at her husband's bike shop, had her own loose meat restaurant, etc. Her kids were all whacked out, too. That's important. And her husband was just as fat as she was. She was a "real" American.

Maude Findlay (Bea Arthur) in Maude (1972-1978) - Maude was funny because she didn't take any crap from anyone. Her husband Walter, his right wing buddy Arthur (as played by Conrad Bain), her daughter Carol, Maude was always in charge, forceful, "liberated" in a way from the usual sitcom set up. Arthur made her sympathetic, too, but, because she was so dang tall and stern looking (all that stage training most likely), she just oozed hilarity. And remember that episode where she met John Wayne? Of course you do.

George O'Grady (George Carlin) in The George Carlin Show (1994-1995): I'm not including O'Grady because of Carlin's death a few days ago. I'm including him here because the New York City cab driver and Moylin Bar regular George O'Grady was a great, funny character that was a sort of working class riff on the Carlin persona. He was wise, sarcastic, caustic at times, goofy, too. And the show as a whole was freaking hysterical. I'll never forget that episode where O'Grady taped Tommy Chong's dope to his chest for transportation reasons, and then, when in the bathroom, ripped the tape off and yelled "Ugh! There goes my one good nipple!" One of the greatest TV character lines of all time. It's too bad that the show didn't last more than a year or so, because it had all of the potential in the world to be a long running classic. We'd be talking about George O'Grady like we talk about Al Bundy. He really was that funny.

THE TOP 5

5. Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) in Married...with Children (1987-1997)

A sarcastic, working class stiff stuck in the hell of an unloving, worthless family and selling women's shoes for below minimum wage to fat women, never getting ahead no matter what, that is the essence of Al Bundy. It's funny how the character didn't change all that much from the beginning of the show. I mean, yeah, Al was a little smarter at the start of the show (not that much, but he definitely seemed more aware and intune with the world), but his general attitude was the same. He understood that he was doomed to live a pointless, awful life until the day he died (a day he often looked forward to. Makes you wonder why he just didn't commit suicide). And yet, every so often, he initiated some scheme to "better" his position in life, knowing full well, deep down, that no matter what he wasn't going to succeed. There's nothing funnier than that sometimes. That total loss of hope. Ed O'Neill has been trying to get away from the Bundy character for over a decade, but, try as he might, he can't. He is Al Bundy, and will remain Al Bundy forever. Maybe he needs to make a movie about the character. Make some money off it.

4. Fred G. Sanford (Redd Foxx) in Sanford and Son (1972-1977)

"Fred G. Sanford. The G stands for garbage." Or whatever the heck Fred thought of at the moment he was introducing himself to whoever. It was one of old man Sanford's many personal tics (the heart attack thing, the shouting of "I'm coming Elizabeth!," the total irresponsibilty when it came to the business of running the junkyard, among others). And Fred was mean. He was mean to everyone. To his son Lamont, to aunt Esther, to O'Grady, to Hoppy and Smitty, to Julio. And he got away with it. That was part of Foxx's genius with the character. He was a total dick but you couldn't hate him.

3. Grandpa Amos McCoy (Walter Brennan) in The Real McCoys (1957-1963)

The Real McCoys was, and still is, the best "rural" sitcom ever made. And Brennan's Grandpa Amos McCoy is the main reason for that distinction. Amos was a total hick hayseed goober, with a limp and his overalls and that goofy laugh he always did, but he never felt like a cartoon or a parody of hick hayseed goobers (although that may have been what Brennan and the show producers were initially going for, I don't know). Amos McCoy was a genuine person, as genuine a TV character can be. And that's where the comedy came from. Nothing Amos McCoy ever did felt contrived. Stupid? Absolutely. But Amos McCoy was stupid. That's why he was so dang funny. Why can't TV Land put that show on again?

2. Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) in All in the Family (1971-1979)

Archie was funny because he was always wrong. Archie was often a disgusting, racist bigot of the highest order, but he was also, in many ways, a product of his time and life experience. Basically, Archie Bunker was never going to be anything else but a disgusting, racist bigot. But there was a sliver of humanity there, as seen in his love and devotion to his wife Edith and daughter Gloria and his son-in-law Mike "Meathead" Stivic. Yeah, he was always fighting with them, always arguing, etc. But remember that episode where Mike and Gloria leave for California and Mike tells Archie that he loves him, hugs him, and then Archie goes back into the house and sits in his chair and starts crying. For some reason that always struck me as incredibly funny. Archie was always wrong, and we were all laughing at him, but we also felt sorry for him, and we cheered when he showed us that he was a human being. "Well if all blood's the same, let me ask you this: how come they ain't got no Swedes in the mafia?" And he got to say things like that.

1. Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) in The Honeymooners (1955-1956)

Ralph Kramden, driver for the Gotham Bus Company, was a total moron at times, mostly because he was out chasing quick and easy success. With his best pal Ed Norton, Ralph tried and tried and tried to strike it rich, make it big, so he could be something more than a lowly bus driver. And, can't forget this, he wanted to give his wife Alice more than she had. But he didn't really want to work for any of it, he didn't want to engage in hard work to succeed. And that's what made it impossible for him to understand both why he was unable to "get ahead" and that, despite his relative meager house and job, he had a pretty good life. Alice loved him. Ralph sort of understood that at the end of each episode (There's a reason he often told Alice at the end "Baby, you're the greatest!"), but, by the next episode he was back to his old tricks. That's why he's the funniest of the funniest. No matter what, Ralph Kramden just didn't get it.

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