Sitcoms
live in a very strange universe where things happen which could never
happen in real life. For example, the way every problem is solved in 22
minutes. I have actually always argued about this, but that isn’t what I
want to discuss today. I want to discuss characters we love to hate.
You know, people who are so terrible that we wouldn’t tolerate them for a
second in the real world. But in a sitcom we love them and enjoy
watching them week after week. Here is my five favorite’s, and I am
limiting these to sitcoms (with one exception).
#5, Dan Fielding from Night Court.
Why
on Earth would anyone like this character? Dan Fielding was a
narcissistic, over-sexed, lecherous person who looked at women as
objects to be conquered. He never thought of others. If sex was not on
his mind than money was, he would take a gift and turn it around and
pawn it for the cash almost instantly. If this character were a real
person, he would probably be in jail for sexual harassment. However, as
played by the great John Larroquette we got to see enough humanity in
Dan to forgive his transgressions. One of the best scenes ever happened
late in the series. Dan had gone through an arc where he turned into a
good guy. Finally, on one episode an attractive women slapped him after a
bad date, and suddenly Dan’s primal urges start to kick in and he
returned to the lech we all loved. Not only did John Larroquete handle
this scene beautifully, but the audience loved it! They cheered and
screamed as Dan returned to his sex crazed ways. Where else but on TV
would that happen?
#4, Louie De Palma from Taxi.
This
guy was just a plain jerk. No, he wasn’t a jerk. He was an obnoxious
ass. Only Danny Devito could have played this horrible character and
give him just enough charm that fans didn’t hate his guts. Louie was the
main dispatcher at the cab company, and was constantly yelling and
insulting the other cab drivers. He could be downright abusive at times,
but fans loved him and kept coming back for more. Not only did he do
horrible things, but he enjoyed every second of being a miserable
bastard.
#3, Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory.
In
the first two examples, Louie and Dan were able to make friends because
they found people who could see there was good in them and they learned
to appreciate them. This guy is, at the most, tolerated by his group of
friends. Sheldon is a genius physicist who has no social skills. He is
uncaring about any and all social norms, and such a control freak that
his friends never argue with him when he goes off about something
because they know it’s pointless. Sheldon has to have everything his
way, and has no qualms about insulting his friends from their profession
to life style. He even made his best friend sign a roommate agreement
which binds him to live exactly as Sheldon wants him to. Unlike the
first two, you wonder just how anyone could put up with this guy for a
second. And yet, we love to watch him and look forward to everything he
says. Played by the great Jim Parsons, Sheldon has just enough humanity
lurking inside of him that the audience can see it and laugh when he is
obnoxious. His funniest scenes are when he loses his cool because his
carefully structured universe doesn't always work as he thinks it
should.
#2, Karen Walker from Will & Grace.
I
mean, what can you say? Mean, selfish, spoiled, rich socialite who only
cares about money. She has a husband and stepchildren but is only with
them to maintain her socialite status. She spends little to no time with
her family and is just fine with it. Her best friend is Jack because
she is just as shallow as he is. They are two peas in a pod which is why
they get along so well. The reason I chose her over him was because
Jack is selfish in a childish way. Karen goes past Jack into plain
hateful. She constantly puts down Grace from the clothes she wears to
the men she dates, she doesn’t hold back at all not giving a care about
other’s feelings. Plus, she is an alcoholic and a pill popping drug
addict. She has no morals, no grip on reality; she works for Grace but
does nothing, and is downright abusive to her house staff. Why did we
watch her week after week? Because Megan Mulally did a great job of
making this obnoxious character a true laugh to watch, from her voice,
to her one liners, to the quirky way she acts. We love it every time she is on the screen.
#1, George Costanza from Seinfeld.
Oh,
you knew he was going to be on here. One the most despicable characters
in television history, and yet we love to watch him week after week. We
could list his faults all day. He is selfish, dim witted, neurotic,
paranoid, cheap, liar, insecure, conniving and on and on it goes. He
can’t hold a job, and it’s a wonder why his friends put up with his
annoying whining. I always understood why Jerry hung out with him; it’s
because Jerry sees in George the person he would have been had he not
been successful in comedy. As Jerry notes in an episode, George’s misery
gives him pleasure. Unlike the others on this list who pretend not to
care but really they do, George is the opposite. He pretends to care but
really he is just worried about himself. Take the episode “The
Cadillac”. Elaine’s friend mentions that she could have hooked George up
with Marisa Tomei. Finally, George makes Elaine call her to set up a
date. Elaine finds out that the friends is now in the hospital with a
heart condition. When she tells George this, his response is to roll his
eyes and ask “But what about Marisa Tomei?” Nice! Jason Alexander
created a character with no redeeming values at all, which is not easy.
Even the others in the cast have their moments when they seem to be kind
(and I’m not talking about that horrible final episode!), but not
George. He is just a loser, and that’s why we love to watch him.
Special Mention, Oscar the Grouch
Not
a sitcom character, but I had to mention Oscar the Grouch. We all loved
him on Sesame Street, but why? Not just a grouch, he's downright mean.
Not only does he make fun his friends and everything they do, he plays
mean tricks on them. I can never forget the old Christmas special where
he tells Big Bird there is no Santa! That's just evil. Big Bird then
sets out to prove him wrong, and my favorite scene was always when Maria
literally strangles Oscar and chews him out. Ah, old school Sesame
Street. Of course as with the others on the list Oscar did have a soft
side. He was mean but we loved him, in fact he is the one character who
still makes me laugh out loud with his one liners and nasty comments to
this day.
Its
interesting that all these actors one Emmy’s for their roles (accept
Jason Alexander which is a real shame. How did he get robbed?). I think
one of the things we like about these character’s is that they are all
happy with who they are, even if that is being terrible. What saves
these characters is that each and every one will have moments where we
get a glimpse of the real person beneath the obnoxious, crass façade. We
see that deep down, they do care they just don’t like to show it. Or,
in George's case, we see that he came from a painfully bad childhood
which likewise makes him more sympathetic. Maybe that is the lesson from
these characters, to not judge someone by how they act on the outside
but look in, at the real person inside. Not a bad lesson at all.
I
know I left out lots of others. Honorable mentions include Monica from
Friends, Dwight from The Office, Nina from Just Shoot Me, and Suzanne
Sugarbaker from Designing Women. Who were your favorites?
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