While the new year has officially started and it’s too late for “best of” lists, this past stretch of unbearable holiday television forced me to reflect on some of my favorite television comedies, and even more so, my favorite characters. Here are my top ten characters from comedies of the past decade. Only shows that were primarily on in “the aughts” were considered, and only one character per TV show. Disagree with my choices? Great. Let me know in the comments.
10 ) Dr. John Dorian (“J.D.”) – Scrubs
While Scrubs is slowly chugging along in its ninth season, it’s easy to forget just how amazing it was when it first came on the air back in 2001. I could have chosen plenty of other characters from this show, including The Janitor, Dr. Cox, Turk Turkleton, or Ted, but J.D. makes the list because he pulls everything together. For 4 or 5 seasons, I looked forward to J.D.’s flashbacks and his endless quest for Dr. Cox’s love. My feelings about J.D. are nicely summarized by a hit song – “It’s Guy Love. That’s all it is. It’s Guy Love. He’s mine, I’m his. There’s nothing gay about it in our eyes.”
9 ) Hank Moody – Californication
Hank Moody is, in essence, a smarter, cooler, dirtier version of Zack Morris. Every girl loves him, and every guy wants to be him. For three seasons, Hank has spent most of his time drinking, smoking (weed), neglecting his family, and …. something else I can’t remember. But, all his shenanigans and screw ups somehow manage to make you love him even more. While it’s obvious that no person can actually live like Hank, it gives every guy a hero to live vicariously through.
8 ) Sheldon Cooper – The Big Bang Theory
Sheldon is lovable in a very unconventional way. We are often attracted to a character because we can either relate to them or we can see parts of ourselves in them. Sheldon, on the other hand, is completely unrelatable. He feels no emotion, requires no human connections, and has a complete lack of regard for any form of social convention. Yet it is for all these reasons that I love him. Watching him attempt to fit in with his friends when he often does not understand the reason for his social actions is utterly hilarious.
7 ) Jack Donaghy – 30 Rock
Liz: “Jack, why are you wearing a tux?” Jack: “It’s after six. What am I, a farmer?” Jack Donaghy is a distinguished, controlling, suave network executive who, for some reason, spends the vast majority of his time worrying about TGS. It’s amazing how he finds the time, considering his responsibilities as the Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming at NBC/GE, subisidiary of the Sheinhardt Wig Corporation. Jack’s backhanded compliments, outrageous claims (he overcame a peanut allergy through sheer willpower), and subtle insults are perfectly delivered and entirely entertaining.
6 ) Stephen Colbert – The Colbert Report
Obviously Stephen Colbert is an actual person, but even more so, he’s a character/characature. Colbert manages to embody all the ridiculousness of conservative commentators, so much so that Bill O’Reilly once said that The Colbert Report “owes everything to me.” Unlike the Daily Show, The Colbert Report is almost completely character-driven, focusing less on day-to-day news, and more on the self-opinionated, confident, right wing pundit. While Colbert’s 2008 presidential bid fell short, I look forward to the Colbert-Palin ticket in 2012.
5 ) Barney Stinson – How I Met Your Mother
Barney Stinson is Legen – wait for it – DARY! While Ted is the main character, it’s Ted’s best friend who steals the show. Obviously Barney’s sexual accolades, pick up lines, and all around personality are one of a kind, but it’s really his life lessons and influence on everyone else that makes him special. Barney is the Yin to the hopeless romantic Ted’s yang. He introduced us to the Bro Code, the lemon law, the slap bet (which led to the Robin Sparkles hit), and even brought back the art of the high five. In a word, Barney is Awesome.
4 ) Michael Scott – The Office
It’s not very often that a TV character makes you feel awkward while you’re sitting alone on your couch, but Michael Scott does it with ease and ‘finesse’. While Michael has gotten more ridiculous as the series has gone on, when we were first introduced to him, everyone knew someone just like that. He says things that are inappropriate, offensive, and immature, all in the hopes of being popular and at the center of everything. Michael considers himself a friend first, a boss second, and entertainer third. His incompetence, desperation, and lack of class is difficult to find anywhere else. Why is it so hard? – That’s what she said.
3 ) Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm
LD would be even higher on this list if not for the fact that I’m unsure of just how much of it is a character and how much is real. Larry is neurotic, socially inept, and completely obsessed with etiquette, which is specifically when the show is at its best. His character is so influential that many refer to an awkward situation as a “Larry David moment.” While the episode plots are brilliants, it’s really Larry, and his interactions with his wife, friends, and complete strangers that bring out the craziness we all love.
2 ) Charlie Kelly – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Honestly, Charlie needs no explanation, and I’m not even sure I can explain him. He’s kind of like Matt Damon from Good Will Hunting, except illiterate and possibly retarded. While the whole gang is amazing, Charlie is “The Wild Card” who manges to take things to another level. To understand Charlie, you need only look at the things he says:
Ordering in a fancy restaurant: “Yes, my good man, I’ll have the milk steak, boiled over hard, and your finest jelly beans … raw.”
Talking to rivals: “Let me tell you a little lesson, buddy. The cream always rises to the top. And I’m about to show you the white, hot cream of an eighth-grade boy.”
Preaching: “Here’s a confession: I’m in love with a man. What? I’m in love with a man … a man named God. Does that make me gay? Am I gay for God? You betcha.”
1 ) Dr. Tobias Funke – Arrested Development
Tobias Funke is many things – licensed psychiatrist, anal-rapist, Carl Weathers trained actor, never nude, father, blue man, lead singer of Dr. Funke’s 100 Percent Natural Good Time Family Band Solution, leather daddy, English nanny, CEO of Gobias Industries, assistant, and author. Most of all though, he’s completely amazing and hilarious. Throughout the series, Tobias searches for his calling, discovers new talents, and eventually finds “The Man Inside” him. And to think, if he never attempted CPR on a healthy man, he’d still be wasting his life away as a doctor.
Snubs/Honorable Mentions – Liz Lemon (30 Rock), Dwight Schrute (The Office), Andy Millman (Extras), Ari Gold (Entourage), Bret or Jermaine (Flight of the Conchords), Dr. Cox (Scrubs), Peter Griffin (Family Guy), Nancy Botwin (Weeds), Doug Wilson (Weeds), Tracy Jordan (30 Rock), Jack (Will & Grace), Charlie Harper (Two and a Half Men), Chris (Everybody Hates Chris)
Amir Bednarsh is an accountant by trade, but is considered a renaissance man by many (read: himself). He loves music, movies, books, gossip, and anything that can be considered pop culture. He lives in Teaneck, NJ and can be reached at amir@thevertexblog.com. 
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should your female readers take offense that not one of your TOP 10 characters of comedies are women?
LOVE Tobias Funke at #1. He and Kramer are my all-time favorite comedic characters. The best Tobias moment: When he jumps off the railing on the second floor as Ms. Featherbottom (is that right, the Doubtfire ripoff) to prove to Maybe that he could fly and his subsequent crash through the glass table in “Meet the Veals”. Brilliant.
Female fan,
I actually considered your point while putting this list together, and very much wanted to include a number of females, but in all good consciousness, I could not. Mary Louise Parker was closest to making it for her performance in Weeds, but I didn’t think anyone else was better than the 10 I had. Is Liz Lemon funnier than Jack? Ugly Betty? Grace Adler (is she even funnier than Jack on the show)? One of the Desperate Housewives or SATC girls? I guess I could have, but I’d feel like I was doing myself a disservice trying to be politically correct, rather than honest.
I would very much love to read a guest piece and/or comment making the case for these ladies. I’m more than open to being convinced.
First of all, re: ladies – I just started catching up on “Parks and Recreation” and I think Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope might be a candidate should this list be re-examined at the end of the TV season. (Also, Sue Sylvester. These 15 seconds speak for themselves.
Anyway, despite my appreciation for the compiling of this list and its selections, I’m left with two beefs – Perry Cox and Ari Gold – that prompt a question about the list itself. When you talk about a “top character,” how crucial is the performance to the character making the list? Considering the iconic status of some of the characters on the list, it is no doubt difficult to imagine another actor playing the role. But if one could imagine another actor succeeding in the role, does that make the character better or worse? Is it a credit to the writing that the character is so unique and clever that any good actor could bring it to life, or is part of what makes a character’s popularity is our appreciating the brilliant performance it takes to pull it off?
I suppose this is the key question when considering Cox and Gold, both indelible, hilarious characters taken to iconic levels by John C. McGinley and Jeremy Piven, respectively. (Sadly, only the latter has been formally awarded for his work.) Take McGinley out and put in, say, Hugh Jackman, the character will lose something, so maybe J.D., a character that probably could have been played well by a dozen actors, is the better character. On the other hand, McGinley’s Cox is better than J.D. Same argument for Piven’s Ari. He and the role were made for each other; does that make Ari objectively a great character or a good one made great?
Binny,
Re: Ladies – Glee and Parks and Recreations are currently 2 of my favorite shows on tv right now, and you’re right that those 2 characters are the best, however, I don’t think they’ve been on long enough to include them. P&R was not funny last season and is only now coming into its own (btw everyone should start watching) and Glee is only half a season into the series. Can I really include these ladies for only half a season each?
Re: Main Point – You’re right. 10 can never do a list like this justice. I could do a list of my top 10 Arrested Development characters and still feel like I’m snubbing people (How can I not include Sitwell and his eyebrows). I agree Ari Gold gets snubbed, and piven is one of a kind, but I’m not sure I agree with you about Dr. Cox. As much as I love him, and he’s great in that role, his character is more one dimensional than JD. I love Dr. Cox’s relationship with Elliot and JD, but I love JD’s relationship with everyone.
If you’re going to include anyone from Two and a Half Men, which I admit I watched for years, it should be the “half,” Jake, the kid-turned-teenager who nearly always stole the show, or, gasp!, a woman, Berta, the maid with the greatest one-liners.
Parks and Rec, should it last, will really go down more as a show of the ’10s so I think Amir was right not to include Leslie Knope.
I think Stewie Griffen should make it. He has become an icon in his own right. And his character development from matricidal baby to questionably homosexual baby gives depth to the character.
Ya, Stewie is a great character and it was a shame to leave him off (“how you coming along on that novel you’re working on?”), although I’m not sure he’s better than Peter. If only I could put on Seth MacFarlane and he would include Peter, Stewie, Brian, Quagmire…