Top 5 television characters

[DanOregon]

Matthew Broderick was initially cast - backed out to make a little movie called WarGames.

 

[HC]

He's on a short list of shows that became something totally different because of the popularity of one character. Family Matters and Urkel is another. Shoot, hearing about Garry Marshall going to Ron Howard and explaining/begging forgiveness for needing to push Fonzie more was one of those stories you don't hear enough about. (The show didn't make the Top 10 until its fourth season.)

That list has to include Boyd Crowder. "Justified" became a completely different show when they decided that Boyd wouldn't die and became Raylen's foil.

 

[lakefront]

Citizen's arrest on those who left out Barney Fife.

On a side note, one of the great underrated characters is Floyd the barber.



And to continue my Andy Griffith threadjack, there was a character named Malcolm Tucker --- a businessman trying to get to Charlotte whose car broke down on a Sunday in Mayberry --- who was part of what is generally considered the single best episiode: "Man In a Hurry."

You might like this book. I listened to it on Hoopla on a drive from CT to SC. This is also another show that I have showed episodes of to my grand kids. One of my favorite moments was when Opie lets the bird go and said the cage sure looked empty and Andy says but the tree sure looks full.


So, after writing this, here is my list...

Because theses guys were the best fathers on tv of shows I have watched and people I can remember at this moment, (because I really hate lists, I always feel like I leave something out)


Rob Petrie
Andy Taylor
Ward Cleaver

 

[Tighthead]

You might like this book. I listened to it on Hoopla on a drive from CT to SC. This is also another show that I have showed episodes of to my grand kids. One of my favorite moments was when Opie lets the bird go and said the cage sure looked empty and Andy says but the tree sure looks full.


So, after writing this, here is my list...

Because theses guys were the best fathers on tv of shows I have watched and people I can remember at this moment, (because I really hate lists, I always feel like I leave something out)


Rob Petrie
Andy Taylor
Ward Cleaver

Howard Cunningham was a top notch father.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Citizen's arrest on those who left out Barney Fife.

On a side note, one of the great underrated characters is Floyd the barber.



And to continue my Andy Griffith threadjack, there was a character named Malcolm Tucker --- a businessman trying to get to Charlotte whose car broke down on a Sunday in Mayberry --- who was part of what is generally considered the single best episiode: "Man In a Hurry."

Wasn't that guy played by Bill Bixby?

 

[BTExpress]

No. In that episode ("Bailey's Bad Boy"), Bill Bixby played a young playboy who was speeding through town and sideswiped another car. Lesson for that episode was "it's better to stand on your on two feet and not have daddy fix all your mistakes for you."

"Man in a Hurry" was about a businessman whose car broke down on a Sunday (when everything in Mayberry is closed), and the story revolved around his frustration that nobody took any urgency about anything. Lesson for that episode was "Learn to relax and enjoy life's simple pleasures."

 

[Mngwa]

Tyrion Lannister

 

[outofplace]

Tyrion Lannister

Damn. I knew I was forgetting somebody who should be on my list.

 

[DanOregon]

I couldn't imagine anyone else in that role, and it has ZERO to do with Dinklage being a little person. Nobody can hit those minor key changes between sarcasm, sadness and bitterness better.

 

[outofplace]

I couldn't imagine anyone else in that role, and it has ZERO to do with Dinklage being a little person. Nobody can hit those minor key changes between sarcasm, sadness and bitterness better.

Agreed. He really played the part perfectly.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

An absolute monument of 1980s television. No Mount Rushmore of the era would be complete without him. Completely slimy, immoral character that everyone loved and loved to hate. And of course the cliffhanger shooting episode changed television and was front page news at the time.

Really, he paved the way for Tony Soprano, who also should be on this list. Along with The Fonz.

We're running out of time to get Jack Bauer on this list. That guy pulled out all the stops, was completely unique, and never got happy endings. His show changed television and led to serialized television of today.

And Cliff Huxtable was another icon of the 1980s. The Cosby Show dominated much of the '80s, and Cliff always was a highlight, whether he was giving it or getting it.

I'd put Tucker Carlson on the list, but I'm not quite sure if he's playing a character.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

He's on a short list of shows that became something totally different because of the popularity of one character. Family Matters and Urkel is another. Shoot, hearing about Garry Marshall going to Ron Howard and explaining/begging forgiveness for needing to push Fonzie more was one of those stories you don't hear enough about. (The show didn't make the Top 10 until its fourth season.)

Good Times was supposed to focus on Esther Rolle and John Amos. Instead, Jimmie Walker started stealing scenes and became the focus, to the point where Amos was essentially fired for criticizing Walker's character and Rolle eventually quit because she didn't like the direction the show was heading.