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(Notes: for my purposes, 'of all time' means the period from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. Also, for purposes of this list, we will all assume that we live in a better universe where 'Friends' never existed. And in my youth I somehow completely missed both Cheers and MASH. Sorry.)
5)Cousin Ira, Mad About You. What happened to John Pankow? He appeared as Alexander Hamilton in a short I saw in college once, but must have moved to Burma or something. Our loss. When Cousin Ira appeared on screen, good things naturally followed.
4)Jimmy James, NewsRadio. Edges Bill McNeal in a tight race among a strong lineup, thanks to the episode with the mustache.
3)Mr Belvedere, Mr Belvedere. You know what? This doesn't need an argument.
2)Niles Crane, Frasier. David Hyde Pierce nailed the fine line between parody and fastidiousness, a line I just made up. Maybe the best acting job on television, with the possible exception of the below.
1)George Costanza, Seinfeld. Less a person than an embodiment of all things which make humanity unintentionally hilarious. I had an English professor once label George one of the great characters of the twentieth century. No kidding.
Strong cases that just didn't make the cut:
Vickie, Small Wonder Mostly for those moments when we realized, "You know, I'm watching a sitcom in which a child actress pretends to be a twelve year old robot, and I'm actually accepting the premise."
ALF, ALF. Gains points for the movie "Project: ALF." Also for the pogs. Loses points for the crappy animated version.
Bobby Hill; Mr Burns; Bender; Earl Sinclair from 'Dinosaurs.' No animated series, or they'd dominate the list. Sorry.
Zack Morris. Who didn't want to be Zack Morris? Not only do you get Kelly, you get to stop time.
Murphy Brown, Murphy Brown. Because if I left her off, Katie would kill me. Yes, that's right. Katie loves Murphy Brown.
Mr Cooper, Hangin' with Mr Cooper. Best sitcom title ever.
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Sorry, Mr. Cooper totally lost points for being a fan of the Warriors. Seriously, the Warriors?
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quote:Originally posted by MattB: Zack Morris. Who didn't want to be Zack Morris? Not only do you get Kelly, you get to stop time.
That's right! He could stop time! And he moved things around so that when it started again weird things happened.
I always saw those moments as simply "speaking to the camera" moments, where the reality of the show, such as it is, is merely suspended. But taken from another angle, maybe we should reclassify Saved by the Bell as a Science Fiction series. Zach had special powers!
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If it really was of all time we were talking about here, Jack Benny, Gracie Allen, and Fibber McGee would all have to be mentioned.
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What do you mean by the "top" sitcom characters? Most watched? Most beloved? Most funny? Most tragic? Most despised? Most mostest?
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quote:What do you mean by the "top" sitcom characters? Most watched? Most beloved? Most funny? Most tragic? Most despised? Most mostest?
The ones that please me the most.
Ooh. Good call on Dan Fielding and Alex P Keaton.
Unfortunately, the noted parameters force me to disregard those characters who appeared in black and white, in cartoon, or during the Nixon administration.
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I can think of several from Cheers that I would name - Cliff, Norm, Coach, Woody. I can't decide between them though.
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Jimmy James is one of my all-time favorite sitcom characters, too. I think I'd have to take George Costanza off the list (he drives me insane) and make room for someone from Arrested Development.
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I do love Murphy Brown. She was beautiful, funny, flawed, passionate, idealistic...This was no passing appreciation. I wanted to be her. Murphy Brown is responsible for more than one storming of my brother's room with a rubber band gun.
That reminds me - I wonder if the second season has come out yet.
From Arrested Development, I would say Tobias. He consistently makes me cringe and giggle simultaneously. Buster is also wonderful, but Tobias wins because of the Blue Man Group.
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Hey, I liked Murphy Brown too. But I was partial to Elvin, the painter. He was the only one that was happy and supportive for Murphy when she became pregnant.
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I always wanted Murphy to hook up with Eldin (as listed on IMDB). My favorite sitcom characters are Michelle from Full House (kidding!) and Darlene from Roseanne (not kidding) and who can forget Jack from Three's Company?
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Matt, unless I'm more off on history than I thought I was, Nixon was not president from 1982-1989.
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: From Arrested Development, I would say Tobias. He consistently makes me cringe and giggle simultaneously. Buster is also wonderful, but Tobias wins because of the Blue Man Group.
George Michael was also a brilliant character. I'm not sure if I could decide on just one of them.
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Titus was great. I felt like I was the only person I knew that watched it. Probably why it's no longer on TV.
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quote:Matt, unless I'm more off on history than I thought I was, Nixon was not president from 1982-1989.
This confused me deeply until I realized that the Nixon-referencing portion of my post seems to be referring to Family Ties. It was not intended so. My apologies.
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Oh and I agree about Cousin Ira from Mad About You. He hasn't really done much since either. linky
Actually I love all the characters from that show. They had such comedic timing. I wanted my marriage to be like that (because I was in a very lousy marriage at the time) since they were so cute together.
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What the deuce? Has everyone forgotten about Mork?! Mork people! So funny, and so deep. Oh how he came to understand the fun and foibles that make us human... The portions at the end of the episodes when he made his reports... *tear*
Mrs.M, thank you very kindly for mentioning A Different World, but I don't think I would go with Whitley. Dwayne Wayne is far superior. I think that the changes that he makes over the course of the show go farther to develop him as a person than those of Whitley.
Come on people, not one mention of The Facts of Life? Not one? Tootie! What about Tootie! Guh, 'nough said.
Also, I'm gonna have to go with Cockroach from Growing Pains. I have no real reasons, he's just too cool for school.
And last, but certainly not least, the very best actor ever to grace the television genre; the one, the only.... MacGyver! I know it wasn't a sitcom, but that man is as close to god as we've seen in these here parts and all shall bow down before the awesome majesty that is the Phoenix Foundation's, nay the worlds, very best to offer.
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1. Homer Simpson 2. George Costanza 3. Chandler (I'll admit I watched Friends) 4. Niles Crane 5. Tie: Brian the dog or Stewie from Family Guy
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quote:Also, I'm gonna have to go with Cockroach from Growing Pains. I have no real reasons, he's just too cool for school.
Do you mean Richard "Boner" Stabone from Growing Pains (best friend of Mike Seaver) or Walter "Cockroach" Bradley from the Cosby show (best friend of Theo Huxtable)?
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5. Doogie Howser from "Doogie Howser, M.D." (you may have wanted to be Zack, but I always wanted to be Doogie. I even kept, briefly, a daily diary on my computer). 4. Ed from "Ed" (but only when his manic-ness is tempered by Dr. Mike Burton's mellowness) 3. Benson from "Benson" (the satiric rogue) 2. Murphy Brown from "Murphy Brown" (I agree with Katie's asssessment. Except I never wanted to be her. At least, not that much).
and, my #1 ... Ed Chigliak from "Northern Exposure" for uttering what may be my favorite television line of all time: "I'm sorry; you probably want to be be alone with your manifestation."
Honorable Mention: Arvid Engen from "Head of the Class." He gives Ausbergers sufferers hope.
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quote:Also, I'm gonna have to go with Cockroach from Growing Pains. I have no real reasons, he's just too cool for school.
Do you mean Richard "Boner" Stabone from Growing Pains (best friend of Mike Seaver) or Walter "Cockroach" Bradley from the Cosby show (best friend of Theo Huxtable)?
Gal'darnit! You got me. In my mind they are the same person. So I'm gonna go with both, Cockroach and Boner, but Boner was the one I was thinking of originally.
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Edmund Blackadder Arnold Rimmer Basil Fawlty David Brent And, just so you know I've seen American television, Eric Cartman. Or maybe Bender, I can't decide.
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If Northern Exposure is a sitcom, so is Freaks and Geeks. If that's the case, I've got my top five slots filled in several times over right there.
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quote:Originally posted by zgator: Dan Fielding, that's a good one.
I can think of several from Cheers that I would name - Cliff, Norm, Coach, Woody. I can't decide between them though.
Coach and Woody would basically count as one. The only reason that Woody was brought onto the show was to play the Coach character.
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quote:Originally posted by katharina: From Arrested Development, I would say Tobias. He consistently makes me cringe and giggle simultaneously. Buster is also wonderful, but Tobias wins because of the Blue Man Group.
It's so hard to pick from Arrested Development. I mean, you have Tobias, who is just awkward and goofy. And then you have Buster, who is awkward and goofy. Then you have George-Michael, who, need I say it, it awkward and goofy. It would have to be a tie between those three. But seriously, that show needs to come back.
I'll have to think about who would be my next few, however. There are so many good ones to choose from.
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M*A*S*H, all the way. I'm torn between Hawkeye, Klinger and Radar.
And Barney Fife is the Andy Griffith Show, not the Andy Taylor show (says the young and TV literate )
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Since the topic is TV characters, maybe this isn't too out of place:
Which of the M*A*S*H trade-out characters do you like the best?
Colonel Herny Braymore Blake or Colonel Sherman T. Potter?
John Francis Xavier McIntyre (aka Trapper) or BJ Hunnicut?
Me, I have a hard time deciding. I think I like BJ better, just becaus his sarcasm jives with mine a little better. I guess it just comes of as a little more good natured. And definitely Henry is far better a colonel. That guy just didn't give a hoot and wanted to be home at least as much as the rest of them.
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Thought I'd throw some modern notables out there:
House from House, Earl from My Name is Earl, and both Michael and Dwight from NBC's The Office. In no particular order.
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(says the young and TV literate 
