It's amazing how we watch and love people on
TV who we would hate and despise if they were real people in our lives. I
thought I would look at my favorites.
This is different than characters we love to hate. Those are
characters that are just plain rotten for some reason, even the characters on
their shows hate them, but we love watching them anyway. This list is about
characters that are loved and cherished, but if they were real people they
would be hated instantly. All of these examples come down to one thing; they
are played by very good performers who know how to make an otherwise
aggravating person actually likable. I know I mention her constantly, but that
is the mistake Patricia Heaton made with Debra Barone. There was nothing
likeable about her character, we just hated her. Here are some examples that
got it right.
#5. Roseanne Connor (Roseanne)
Let’s be honest, if Roseanne were a real mother
would she be
well respected? I think people would be calling child welfare on her,
the way
she acts with her kids. Sure, on the show the little insults and
comments are
funny. If it were real life, I am not sure how well received her antics
would
be. She has bad habits, and in later years seemed constantly moody and
depressed. Ok, I am being hard on her, she did love her family and did
take care of them. It's just as this show went on she got more and more
unlikable, sometimes she came off as a little to miserable with her
life.
#4. Zack Morris (Saved By The Bell)
This guy had good looks sure, but he wasn't exactly a role model.
He did all kinds of horrible things, even against his friends if it served his
purposes. He used his best friend Screech also, no matter how humiliating the circumstance.
I could run a list of the things he did on this show, but just thumb through an
episode guide. Most his ploys involved get rich quick schemes; the rest
involved avoiding school at all cost. He never respected authority, and avoided
real work at all cost. Why we did we love him? Because Mark Paul Gosselar did a
great job of making him charming, and the show did make Zack pay for his
crimes. As years went on he wasn’t so bad, but man those early episodes……
#3. Alex Keaton (Family Ties)
What a pompous snob! Alex is a true jerk; he acts like he is
smarter than everyone and doesn't even pretend to be humble. However, played by
the amazing Michael J. Fox this character became a true breakthrough hit. The
truth is he wasn't a bad guy, he was just so sure he was right in the things he
thought and did that it that when a different point of view came up he just
laughed it off as being preposterous. The worst is what he does his to poor
sister, Mallory is constantly being put down by him and it’s no wonder she had
such an inferiority complex. By the time the series ended she was happy with
who she was, even Alex still made fun of her.
#2. Murphy Brown (Murphy Brown)
I can't tell you how many times I will watch an episode of
this show and wonder why we love the lead. She is so selfish and pushy; if she
were real everyone would be calling her a certain word which rhymes with witch.
She walks over anyone who gets in her way, and that includes her so called best
friends. However, Candace Bergen does an exceptional job of giving Murphy just
enough humanity that we can ignore when she is just plain terrible. We see the
real person underneath, a recovering alcoholic who has had more than her share
of trouble. Her biggest flaw is that she always has to be the best, and it's
when that means even her best friends can't have a moment in the sun that she
is at her most unappealing. At least she is humble about it when someone calls
her out about, that makes a big difference.
#1. Monica Geller (Friends)
I just noted that Murphy and be apologetic when she has gone
too far, that is unlike Monica, who never apologizes. She is right, end of
story. What can you say about this bossy, anal retentive, pain in the you know
what. Courtney Cox was real good at making Monica a crazy nut, but not to the
point we wanted to throw something at our TV. Sure, Monica was a real good
friend, and loved to take care of people. However, when her engines started
firing she could be such a pain! Everything had to be clean, and not just clean
but every item in her apartment had to be in the exact right spot. She could be
incredibly bossy, and had to be in control of everything. She drove Phoebe out
when they were roommates, annoyed Rachel, and how Chandler stood being married
to her I'll never know. She is the
ultimate control freak, look at the episode where Phoebe got married. She ran
the wedding like a drill sergeant, and sucked the fun out of it. However,
without Monica this show wouldn’t have been the same. We loved her, even if she
did get a big obnoxious at times.
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