THE BEST TV CHARACTER EVER ?
Whats wrong with you people?
Fred Sanford.....Hands down!
Nothing beats the original cast of Saturday Night Live. None of their later movie incarnations would ever equal the characters they could create on that show.
Dorothy -- I like Ricky Gervais as well. The first time I saw the Brit version of The Office, I was channel surfing and the cinema verite style made me believe that I had found a documentary. Then I realized that nothing anyone said made any sense, which probably makes more sense in terms of the modern work place.
I will always love Black Adder.
Nick -- I like the women of the current cast of SNL.
Here I'm going to put in a vote for Claire Huxtable as SEXIEST TV MOM. I've been meaning to start a thread about this for some time, but I'll honor her here.
Before I had this lame ass full time job of mine, I'd spend an hour each afternoon watching her flash that miraculous smile at the telephone receiver as she sat behind her desk in a business suit and listened to Cliff talk dirty on the other end. It's no wonder the Cos was always putting on jazz records and rubbing her feet, always trying to bang her. On a dime she'd turn from distingushed attorney to badass mom with an attitude to seductress sprawled on the living room couch. Hot!
God bless Claire Huxtable.
Best TV character
Goldie Hawn - Laugh-In
Current characters that have a chance to make it to the top if the shows last long enough:
Randy Hickey (Ethan Suplee) and Joy Turner (Jaime Pressly) from My Name is Earl
Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) from House
Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos) Battlestar Galactica
Some who deserve a mention that I didn't see listed (my apologies to the original posters if I missed them):
Eric Cartman, South Park
Eliot Ness (Robert Stack), The Untouchables
Adam Pierson/Methos (Peter Wingfield), Highlander
Rev. Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd), Taxi
Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) The Pee Wee Herman Show
If Happy Days hadn't jumped the shark, The Fonz (Henry Winkler) probably would have made somebody's list by now.
I think Ardal O'Hanlon as Father Dougal McGuire on the British series
Father Ted is exceptional.
But my final answer has to be the most compelling character on the best television series ever: James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano. And a lot of characters on that show are in the same class.
Who's y'alls' least favorite TV character?
My vote goes to the dad from the show Alf. That guy sucked.
And I think I heard he's into child pornography, but I guess that's the kind of thing you want to be sure of and not speculate about.
The worst was Bob Saget the original host of America's Funniest Home Videos. He had the worst comic delivery of any comic alive today.
No kidding. The sad thing was, he would REALLY be cracking up at his own lame ass jokes, and the audience, late reaction and all, was clearly obeying a flashing sign that said, "Laugh."
Don't ask me how I know all this creepy **** about obscure "celebrities," but I had a friend in grad school who's best friend went on like ONE date with Saget, and he would call her up drunk and leave creepy messages on her answering machine.
I'd cut Saget a little slack on that one. I think he knew how lame the show and the scripted jokes were. I always had the feeling he was trying to convey to the audience that he was just phoning it in, winking to the audience.
That said, there is something creepy about the guy. Watch his segment on "The Aristocrats"; he is having way too much fun with the joke.
The best T.V character ever is with out a doubt Phillip J. Fry
Fictional character-- Gotta go with Barney Fife.
"If there's anything that upsets me, it's having people say I'm sensitive."
But Marlin Perkins was the best in the non-fiction arena.
wandeljw wrote:farmerman wrote:This was a scene stealing act that he had perfected.
That is very true about Don Knotts as Barney Fife. But equal to that, maybe even better, was Art Carney as Ed Norton!
That is very true about Don Knotts as Barney Fife. But equal to that, maybe even better, was Art Carney as Ed Norton![/quote]
Ed Norton stood out because the writing and the other characters weren't that good. I don't know if Ed Norton would stand out on a good show.
Barney Fife stood out on a good show with good writing and characters. That he upstaged the other characters is evident in that the whole show suffered after he left.
He sort of reminds me of Festus on "Gunsmoke." There was great writing and acting on that show, but, in my opinion, Festus upstaged them too.
Setanta wrote:The one with Hyacinthe (sp?) was Keeping up Appearances--i was not as big a fan of that, a show which relied upon the sort of broad humor that many of the English prefer (being in that regard no different than many Americans). To the Manor Born was one show i enjoyed, although it did not run for very many episodes. Although the humor was sometimes broad, by and large, it depended more upon subtlety than shows like Keeping up Appearances and Are You Being Served?.
Hyacinth Bucket ("It's Bouquet!") was a character that wouldn't have existed without Patricia Routledge. It's was sheer genius. Routledge also starred in a series in which she played a private investigator. It worked too.
The best actors create their own characters, though the writing helps.
How about Bronson Pinchot as Balki Bartokomous in "Perfect Strangers." Great acting, writing, and cast.
British television writers generally don't conceive of long running programs are perfectly happy write 10 episodes.
The heroine (is her name Penelope?) of To the Manner Born was brilliant in another show, Good Neighbors, which also featured an actor who later reappeared in the Scots comedy . . . the name of which I have forgotten.
I love the British characters.
Especially like Jean Pargeter and Lyle Hardcastle in As time Goes By.
One of the best comedy programmes for a very long time was Blackadder.
Some short clips....
Back and forth....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrJ4Ikk10fo
Blackadder goes forth...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDM3m10kbyw
A slightly longer clip, but well worth it, as someone who looks rather familiar plays a starring role....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nYFQmz_HHU
plainoldme wrote:British television writers generally don't conceive of long running programs are perfectly happy write 10 episodes.
percisely what i love about them, it's the same for drama, a few episodes a season of a touch of frost, kick the ass of most american weekly action cop shows
The FONZ!
Fonzie's leather jacket is now in the Smithsonian Institution.
Originally, according to ABC, Fonzie wore linen jackets, except when he was around his motorcycle. So, the producers of Happy Days put Fonzie around his motorcycle as often as possible so that he could wear the leather jacket all the time.
Originally Fonzie was also to wear penny loafers. Henry Winkler replaced them with the leather boots he wore in the movie The Lords of Flatbush .
According to Happy Days creator Garry Marshall, he originally created the character with the surname of Marsciarelli (Marshall's birth name), who was nicknamed "Mash." However, ABC insisted that he change Mash's name in order to avoid reminding viewers of the series M*A*S*H on rival network CBS. Thus "The Fonz" was born.
On an episode of Happy Days, Fonzie met Mork, a wacky alien. Played by Robin Williams, the Mork character proved so popular that he received his own spin-off series, Mork & Mindy.
Winkler maintained in interviews that he was merely an actor and Fonzie simply a character he was playing.
Fonzie was one of three Happy Days characters (along with Richie Cunningham and Ralph Malph) who starred in a Saturday morning cartoon spin-off, where the characters, along with a female character named Cupcake and a "Fonz dog" (an anthropomorphic dog named "Mr. Cool" that imitated the Fonz's thumbs-up "Heyyyy" catchphrase), travelled through time.
Fonzie later appeared in the Laverne & Shirley animated series, with all of them in the army, answerable to a pig sergeant voiced by Ron Palillo.
You've named a bunch of characters I'd include on my list. But I haven't seen one that IMO is somewhere at the top--Columbo.
No first name. Smart, and sneaky about it. Messy. With a funny dog. Never let the bad guys, who were usually smart, rich, and convinced they had him snowed, get away.
Loved the raincoat. Loved his, "And just one more thing." Loved the character.
