The Winner! TNRLM's Favorite TV Characters of the Year: The 2011 Contest Results

Thanks for playing along, everyone. For the third consecutive year, no one identified every single character on the collage, but we do have a winner. As always, I was worried that I made this year's too easy, but it turns out this was the most difficult contest yet. In 2009, we had a winner with 24/25. Last year, we had a photo finish (tie broken by timestamp) with 20/25.

This year's winning entry, submitted by reader Sara, correctly identified 19 of 26 -- the highest total of all the entrants. Sara will be receiving an HD episode of Game of Thrones (if available; individual eps not yet in the iTunes store) or Doctor Who. Congratulations, Sara, on spending as much of your life in front of the boob tube as I do!

Every character was identified by someone, so even though no one ran the table, I feel good that I didn't make it TOO challenging.

All that said, here are your answers. First, the images:

And now, the characters:



1.    Idris (AKA The TARDIS, AKA “Sexy”), Doctor Who. Well, this was the “cheat” I referenced, in that there was an “embodiment” of the TARDIS in only one episode (the sensational “The Doctor’s Wife”), but obviously, the “character” of the TARDIS has been omnipresent in Who. This beautiful, touching, funny, haunting episode was one of the recent season’s highlights, and the personification of the Doctor’s “wife” was played for all it’s worth by the mesmerizing Suranne Jones. I’m not sure what to make of my attraction to a big blue box.

2.    Gavin Q. Baker, The Closer. Mark Pellegrino has been doing fantastic character work on a number of shows for quite a while. He seems to show up for an arc on shows like Dexter, Supernatural, Lost, and Being Human, completely own it, and then move on to the next thing. Here he’s playing a high profile attorney defending Brenda, and doing some of the most interesting work of his career. He’s smart, bitchy, flamboyant and working a completely different rhythm than the rest of the cast, which serves to keep his character, and the characters he’s bouncing off of, strategically off-balance.

3.    John Luther, Luther. Luther is like a British Mickey Spillane protagonist, played with coiled (and uncoiled) intensity by the always riveting Idris Elba. We didn’t have enough Alice in this latest go round for my tastes, but Luther was absorbingly pulpy and always moving, thanks to Elba.

4.    Opie, Sons of Anarchy. Not a good year for Ope. Split with his wife. Felt outside the fracturing club. Had his dad murdered in cold blood. Enacted part of his revenge on the man responsible for that (and the murder of his previous wife!), only to be stopped by his best friend. Ryan Hurst does so much with his physicality under the cap and all the hair, yet we never fail to see exactly what Opie is feeling.

5.    Victoria Grayson, Revenge. Oh, Madeleine Stowe, how I’ve missed you. (though she did show up a few years ago in a little-seen Jeff Goldblum vehicle called Raines that I loved). I was a big fan of her work back in the day (she’s superb in flicks like 12 Monkeys, Last of the Mohicans, and Closet Land), and she’s just as beautiful now as she was then, without looking like she’s been tucked and injected within an inch of her life. Her ice queen Victoria is a major part of the charm of guilty pleasure soap Revenge, so much so that I’m almost rooting against our main character. How can you not love someone who can deliver this line so deliciously: “Every time I smile at you from across the room, or we run into each other at a luncheon, or I welcome you into my home, let that smile be a reminder of just how much I despise you. And every time I hug you, that warmth you feel is my hatred burning through.”

6.    Gary, Alphas. Mr. Nigel Murray was always my favorite squintern on Bones, so I was happy to see Ryan Cartwright cast on Syfy’s new superhero show. The show was so much better than it had a reason to be, given the network and its typical budget issues. All the roles were well-cast (led, of course, by David Strathairn, who seemingly can’t give a bad performance), and Cartwright took what could have been a cliché – an autistic with gifts – and made Gary a real person and valuable member of the team. He established a touching connection to a potentially villainous character, bonded with his peers and made me laugh with and at him throughout. Respect the badge!

7.    Myka Bering, Warehouse 13. Syfy really had a good thing going with their Monday night lineup. Eureka, Warehouse 13, and Alphas all in a row, with each offering their own unique tone. Warehouse 13 was situated schedule-wise, and tone-wise, right in the middle. We could have our share of wacky hijinks to be sure, but we also had some straight down the middle drama we could take seriously. This year, I think the W13 MVP should go to Joanne Kelley’s Myka. She was brought back into the team’s fold after leaving at the end of the season, and deftly balanced her conflicted feelings with the typical artifact-related shenanigans.

8.    Monroe, Grimm. Grimm has turned out to be a more fun than expected guilty pleasure. I didn’t have high hopes based on early reviews, and the leading man certainly isn’t doing the show any favors, with his “Brandon Routh stripped of all acting range” performance. But every time the reformed, zen werewolf (er, “Blutbad”) Monroe shows up, the show crackles to life.

9.    Hardison, Leverage. I included Parker on a previous year’s list because to me, she’s the show’s breakout character. However, Hardison comes a close second. He diverges from the typical “geek” stereotype, and makes hacking, video-gaming and love of all things nerdy just downright cool.

10.    Carrie Mathison, Homeland. My, our Angela Chase has all grown up, hasn’t she? Not only has she grown up, she’s gone off her meds. Homeland was one of the year’s best surprises, a real, adult political thriller anchored by three nuanced and superlative performances (Damien Lewis and Mandy Patinkin being the other two). Danes is sure to be an Emmy nominee, if not the outright winner, and she was fantastic throughout the season, making us feel Carrie’s dogged determination to stop a terrorist attack and her tenuous grip on her sanity. “The Weekend” was one of the year’s best drama episodes (along with “Baelor” from Game of Thrones and one of several from Breaking Bad), and Danes is fantastic in it, just as she was in later episodes where the character necessitated a “showier” performance.

11.    Britta Perry, Community. Gillian Jacobs’ performance this year certainly wasn’t “Britta’d.” What started out on season one as a typical, if abrasively strident, love interest for Jeff has now turned out to be a wholly original creation: the slightly hypocritical do-gooder filtered through the prism of a complete party mop. Love her.

12.    Lincoln Lee, Fringe. Fringe is filled with wonderful characters and actors (particularly the core three), so it takes a lot to get noticed on this show when so much good acting is happening amidst all the sci-fi and multiple universe craziness. But Seth Gabel has turned in remarkable work as all three versions of Lincoln Lee: the hard-charging agent from “over there,” the “what the hell is going on” newbie of “our world,” and the “eyes open but rolling with it” version where Peter is now.

13.    Jackson Brodie, Case Histories. Not many people caught this three part series on Masterpiece, and if you didn’t, you really should make time to seek it out. The always good Jason Isaacs portrayed the central character, a former policeman, now a detective, struggling through a divorce who gets deeply involved in cases that all seem to have more strands and connections to them than is initially suspected. Brodie is by turns soulful and bull-headed, and even though the mysteries are fairly tight, it’s the well-paced character work that keeps you coming back.

14.    Woody the Coroner, Psych. Kurt Fuller is usually cast as an asshole authority figure or bureaucrat (most recently as dickhead angel on Supernatural), so what fun it was to see him playing a slightly demented (and really, really funny) coroner. On most episodes, he’s there to steal a scene or two and give some truly off-kilter line readings or spout non-sequiters, but he’s also been a valuable addition to plots where he’s more centrally involved (like The Hangover riff).

15.    Holder, The Killing. Yes, the writing was bad, and the master plot was just an unearned case of blue balls. And yes, perhaps they destroyed the character with the silly reveals in the last 5 minutes of the season finale. But there’s no denying that Joel Kinnamen was just “killing” it as Detective Holder through much of the season.

16.    Constance, American Horror Story. AHS had to have a very large budget for set design, because Jessica Lange chewed ALL THE SCENERY. In a show that reveled in camp, nobody was better than Lange’s honeydripping, straight outta Tennessee Williams next door neighbor Constance. In every scene with her, you didn’t know whether to cover your mouth in horror, gasp at her politically-incorrect diatribes, or slap your thigh and laugh out loud. Usually, it was all three at once.

17.    Andy Dwyer, Parks & Recreation. Dim, earnest and sweet is hard to pull off appealingly over time (perhaps last done as winningly by Woody Harrelson’s Woody on Cheers), but Chris Pratt has done a fantastic job with P&R’s Andy. The writers made a smart decision going all-in with the April and Andy relationship (his big doofus creates a perfect alchemy with April’s bone-dry cynicism), and “Fancy Party” showcased that perfectly.

18.    Gus Fring, Breaking Bad. It takes quite an actor (and character) to go toe to toe with Bryan Cranston/Walter White, but there’s no doubt Giancarlo Esposito’s Gus Fring was a worthy opponent. A great reminder that stillness can be terrifying, and a master class on how to do a lot with a little.

19.    Mags Bennett, Justified. The Emmy was well-deserved, y’all. Like Gus, another case of a show’s antagonist forcing everyone to up their games.

20.    Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones. If you’ve read the novels, then you know why Tyrion is a fan favorite. If you came to the tale via the HBO series, that shouldn’t change. This is a case of absolutely dead-solid perfect casting (which happened across the board on GoT, luckily) and even though Dinklage’s accent is a little shaky, he truly gets and conveys what the character is all about. Another rare case of the Emmys getting it right.

21.    Pam, True Blood. This season of True Blood was a fucking mess, and one of the few things that kept me tuning in was just waiting for one Pam’s appearances. I mean really, who else could deliver this line: “Holy Shit gentleman, do no tell me you’d put our entire species at risk for a gash in a sundress.” Please don’t ever change, Pam.

22.    Malory Archer, Archer. Picking a favorite Archer character is like asking a parent to choose their preferred child. They are all equally damaged, depraved and funny (the Archer characters. Not your children. Or maybe not. I know nothing of your genetics or parenting skills). So while I could have gone with Kreiger, Lana, Cheryl, Pam, Cryil, Ray or Woodhouse, I opted for Jessica Walter’s Malory, who is every bit the mother as her Lucille Bluth, only with more pixels.

23.    Daryl, Walking Dead. The show hasn’t done a lot to deepen its characters, with the possible exception of Shane, but they have at least made a few strides with Daryl. Some of the rough edges have been sanded off the redneck, crossbow-wielding killing machine, and Norman Reedus has risen to the occasion.

24.    Max, Happy Endings. For some reason, I was late to the Happy Endings party, even though it’s structured the way I like my sitcoms (not about kids, or characters who want kids). But I was glad I caught up, as this show cribs openly from the Friends playbook, and does it with an exceptionally talented cast (they’re even figuring out how to give the ostensible straight man/woman -- and least experienced comic performers, Dave and Alex -- their own idiosyncrasies and funny material). The whole show clicks, but what I like most about Adam Pally’s Max is that, yes, he’s the “gay” character, but they haven’t saddled him with the stereotypically swishy and tired sitcom shtick of a “gay” character. He’s a little dim, a bit slovenly and self-absorbed, and 100% laugh out loud funny.

25.    Wilfred, Wilfred. A possibly imaginary, morally bankrupt canine, realized as a drunk, weed-smoking, unshaven Aussie in a head to toe shaggy dog costume? Of course Wilfred has to be here.

26.    Evil Queen, Once Upon a Time. Once Upon A Time’s ambitions often overshoot its grasp, but they have created an interesting and fascinating dual world that keeps me watching. I wavered between choosing Rumpelstiltskin or The Evil Queen here, but at the end of the day, Lana Parilla is much hotter in campy goth attire than Robert Carlyle. Parilla nails the heartless evil really well; I just wish the writers would give her more comedic edge to play (like another “Mayor” we all know and love from Buffy).

So, that's it kids. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to play along, and if you didn't win this year, just keep watching TV and we'll see ya here again at the end of 2012 for another edition of the contest. Feel free to sound off in the comments about your favorite characters of the year, and whether or not you agree with my choices.

TNRLM's Favorite TV Characters of the Year: The 2011 Contest

Welcome back to an annual Holiday tradition, the TNRLM Character Contest, where I look back at some of my favorite TV characters of the year, AND give you a chance to win some great television.

Here's a quick overview of the contest and the rules:

1. Below I've posted a collage of cropped images of my 26 Favorite TV Characters from the calendar year 2011.
2. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to accurately identify all* 26 characters. NOT the actor. NOT the show. THE CHARACTER.
3. I’ve done 25 before, but due to an error in editing, I wound up with 26 this year. So either I can’t count, or I’m too lazy to go back and edit the picture. Just think of it as one more chance for you to demonstrate your knowledge.
4. Entries should be a list, numbered 1-26, with the corresponding character name.
5. The first reader to send me an email correctly identifying all* the characters will win a prize.
6. Deadline for entries is midnight, Sunday, January 1st.
7. The prize will be an iTunes episode (in HD, if available) from one of the 26 shows in which any of the characters on my list appears. (You choose the show and the episode, and the particular episode doesn't necessarily have to be from 2011 . For example, if one of my favorite characters is Dean Winchester, you could choose "Devil's Trap" from Supernatural's first season.

*When the contest deadline is over, I will review all the entrants. The first, according to the gmail timestamp, entry to correctly identify all 26 characters will win. However, should no one identify all 26 characters, the first timestamped entry to correctly name the GREATEST NUMBER of characters will be declared the winner. (In the two previous contests, no one has named all of them. In 2009, Amanda got 24 of 25, and in 2010, Jim got 20 of 25 – as did another contestant – but he had the earliest time stamp. By eight minutes!). So even if you don't know them all, you could and should enter.

Easy enough, right? Okay, same as previous years, here are a few more rules, disclaimers and considerations:

• I'm going to limit myself to one character per show. In reality, when you look at the talent-rich casts of shows like Fringe, Boardwalk Empire, Community, or Game of Thrones, I could fill up the collage with just them.
• None of the characters featured in the 2009 and 2010 contests will be repeated here. Because if I did, it would just be a big collection of Ron Fucking Swanson and Walter Bishop pictures.
• The characters are not necessarily the "best" characters, nor the most expertly-portrayed characters. Just my favorites (within the confines of the contest rules, e.g., not on last year's list, aired in 2011, one per show).
• The characters listed will have to have been part of the regular cast or a recurring guest star for multiple episodes, and not a single-episode guest star. There is ONE “cheat” or “exception” to this rule, but if you really think about it, it’s not.
• The characters have to be from an episode that originally aired in calendar year 2011.
• I'll publish the list and contest here on the blog and simultaneously tweet a link to the post. So no matter how you usually get here (casual reading, twitter, RSS reader, etc.) you'll have the same opportunity to play.
• You'll need a valid email address. Obviously, if I'm going to give the winner iTunes TV goodies, I'll have to send you a link to pick up your prize.
• Submissions are by email, rather than by comments posted on the blog itself, so that partial or incorrect submissions wouldn't give "hints" or "a leg up" to subsequent entries.
• The submissions can be sent to the email address on the side of this blog: TNRLMeditor(at)gmail.com
• Enter as many times as you like!

Remember, DO NOT post your numbered entries or guesses in the comments.  But, feel free to talk about your favorite characters there.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures:

Good Luck!

The Winner! TNRLM's Favorite TV Characters of the Year: The 2010 Contest Results

Thanks, Dear Readers, for playing along with the TNRLM Favorite TV Characters of the Year contest. Despite the fact that several of these characters won't be with us in the new year, it was a good year for television. Maybe not network television, but television in general. So hopefully Santa brought you blu-rays and HDTVs and DVRs and all the other things that make television so compelling. Now, if we can just convince Nielsen families to play along with the rest of us that enjoy quality programming...

So, without further ado, the answers to the puzzle, followed by the winner of this year's contest:

The images:

And the characters:

1. Alice Morgan, Luther. First, I find my attraction to this character kind of odd, since I had an ex-wife by the same name. That said, I was fascinated by Ruth Wilson’s portrayal. I first noticed her on AMC’s ambitious, but ultimately unfulfilling, remake of The Prisoner. When she popped up here, I was interested, but then became suddenly entranced in the first episode, when her character slowly peeled back the layers (I won’t spoil things, but if you haven’t seen Luther yet, go watch it now). Let’s just say that you need an actress with serious chops, and a compelling character, to hold the screen with Idris Elba, and Alice certainly fit the bill.
2. Abed Nadir, Community. It’s difficult to single out a favorite character from Community, a show that from the jump was my favorite sitcom since Arrested Development. Forced to pick one, I would go with Abed, since it is his Asperger's-tinged worldview that drives much of the tone of the show. And it’s not just his beautifully performed deadpan delivery and entertaining observations on pop culture; it’s also his heart (on a show that reveals surprising levels of pathos wrapped up in the parodies and homages). It’s his underlying emotion that centers the show, particularly in episodes like the Mean Girls riff or the instant-classic claymation xmas episode.
3. Brittany S. Pierce, Glee. Like all Ryan Murphy shows, Glee is a manic-depressive trainwreck. If you’re looking for emotional, narrative and logical consistency, Glee is not the show for you. If you’re looking for a few sizzling musical performances, and some laugh out loud comedic diversions, then stick around, they’re sure to be coming after the next commercial break. Kurt (martyrdom notwithstanding) and Burt Hummel may be the closet to fully realized characters, but Brittany is a one-woman humor machine who never fails to delight. Her moronic one-liners are leavened with an innate naïveté, and DAMN, can she dance.
4. Claudia Donovan, Warehouse 13. I actually like most of the primary cast of Warehouse 13, a show (along with Eureka) that keeps me from going all jihad on SyFy, as they cancel all their “hard sci-fi” programming (RIP, Caprica and Stargate: Universe). The central relationship between Pete and Myka is wonderfully played, and surprising in that they didn’t go the typical route of unresolved romantic tension, instead opting for an engaging brother-sister vibe. However, I picked Claudia because Alison Scagliotti takes what could have been a Wesley Crusher role, that of the annoying, angsty teen genius, and infuses it with wit, charm and just enough edge to elevate the character out of the clichés.
5. Amy Pond, Doctor Who. On every level, the fifth season (or series, as they say across the lower-case pond) of Who was a smashing success. Stephen Moffat expertly balanced end of the world scope with intimate stakes, without resorting to some of the worst operatic histrionics and deus ex machina implausibilities of the Russell T. Davies era. Matt Smith was a charming and off-center Doctor, another bullseye of casting since the show’s revival, and even poor Rory had a nice role to play, eventually fitting into the season long arc quite well. Amy’s mystery was central to the plot mechanics of season five, and Karen Gillian’s companion was full of sass, exasperation and wonder, while still finding time to actively participate in beating back the bad guys. Plus, when she was asked to do some of the emotional heavy lifting, as when she started to lose her memories of her fiancé, erased from time, she delivered in spades. Welcome aboard the Tardis, Amy Pond.
6. Sterling Archer, Archer. We’re in the Danger Zone! Unless you’ve actually watched the profanely hilarious Archer on FX, there’s not much I can say to convince you why he’s one of the best characters on TV. Unless you have a soft spot for jealous, lunk-headed, self-absorbed momma’s boys with a license to kill.
7. Batiatus, Spartacus: Blood & Sand. Tune in for the 300-esque styling and blood splatter, and stay for the rich character development and political scheming. The first few episodes of Spartacus were derivative and obvious, and I wouldn’t blame you if you tuned out. But somewhere along the way, former Buffy scribe Steven S. DeKnight and crew found the right tone for the show, and it became one of the 2010’s guiltiest pleasures. There’s language that approaches Deadwood in its overwrought and vulgar poetry, best embodied by John Hannah’s turn as the manipulative Ludus owner Batiatus. Aided by his delightfully cunning wife (played by Lucy Lawless), Batiatus made mustache-twirling villainy fun.
8. Tami Taylor a.k.a “Mrs. Coach”: Friday Night Lights. Finally, Emmy voters gave some recognition to both Coach and Mrs. Coach, who have been anchoring FNL for years with one of the most realistically and engagingly played adult relationships in TV history. They may fight about the little stuff around the edges, but at the core, there’s never a doubt about their affection for and commitment to each other. Connie Britton gives Tami heart, wit, smarts and sensitivity, all rolled up in a package that makes you understand where the term MILF comes from.
9. Olivia Dunham(s), Fringe. Early on in Fringe, Agent Dunham was the stoic outsider, keeping a poker face at all the assorted sci-fi freak shows unfolding before her. She wasn’t given much to do, and some folks questioned whether Anna Torv had the chops to lead a series. No more. After last year’s finale, when the alt-world Olivia swapped places with “our” Olivia, we had two characters in worlds where they didn’t belong. When you think about it, Torv actually played FOUR characters this year: both of the individual Olivias, plus the façade each had to play to fit in their new world. And it’s a credit to Torv that you could see the subtle differences in each of those four. Really, a tour de force that will probably go ignored at Emmy time, just like John Noble last year.
10. Crowley, Supernatural. A dose of Mark Sheppard always makes things better (see Firefly, The Middleman, Warehouse 13, BSG, Leverage and many, many more). The past two seasons, he’s popped up on Supernatural as the demon Crowley, who alternately helps and hinders the Winchesters as he pursues his own agenda. With a snarling condescension, he livened up the proceedings, capped off in an episode when he wound up arguing with “himself.” Great stuff.
11. Marshall Mann, In Plain Sight. USA’s In Plain Sight stays under the radar. It doesn’t get the ratings of Royal Pains or Covert Affairs; nor does it get as much attention from critics as Burn Notice or White Collar. But it chugs along, delivering solid procedural entertainment anchored by two terrific central performances: Mary McCormack as prickly and borderline unlikeable (but highly competent) US Marshal Mary Shannon, and Frederick Weller as her deadpan, know it all (really!) partner Marshall Mann. Mary does most of the emotional heavy lifting, and the less said about her family the better, but it’s Weller/Mann that keeps this show on my season pass list. He’s like a tall, lanky version of Mr. Spock, only without the pointy ears and with a heightened sense of sarcasm. There’s heart to the character, too, and it’s a delight to see how much Weller can bring to each and every line reading with such a narrow band of “volume” to play with. Highly underrated.
12. Daniel Greystone, Caprica. I can intellectually understand why Caprica didn’t catch on. Folks were still pissed about the ending of BSG. Prequels have a built in demerit, since the ending is already written. Some of the characters just didn’t work. It was too “talky.” But damned if I didn’t love it. I liked what it said about human consciousness and grief. And even as the plot meandered, the show had excellent performances and production values. I could have listed any one of several characters, but I chose Daniel Greystone. Eric Stolz was fantastic in the role, whether he puts on his scientific hat to play god, or wallows in his misery over all that he has lost. In a season and a half of fantastic acting choices, he was never better than in the episode where he starts to suspect that his daughter’s consciousness is somehow inside the U-87 cylon prototype, and forces “it” to do some horrifying things just to test that theory.
13. Dan Stark, The Good Guys. See the ‘stache. Respect the ‘stache. No character brought me greater delight this year than Bradley Whitford’s, playing against type, throwback cop Dan Stark. He walked out of a parody of 70s cop shows, right into a breezy, modern day show from Matt Nix, the creator of Burn Notice. Whitford committed 100% (and played well off the capable and affable Colin Hanks), and even though The Good Guys won’t be back next year, we’ll always have the memories of one of the most unique comic creations of the past few TV season. Bonus points for casting Gary Cole as Dan Stark’s equally amusing former partner.
14. Hank Dolworth, Terriers. Holy shit, it seems like I keep listing great characters from engaging shows…that wound up canceled. My heart breaks a little with this one, because if I put together a list of the best shows of 2010 (keeping in mind I’m not caught up on Breaking Bad), Terriers would be my Number One. As with many on this list, I could have easily picked any of the Terriers’ regulars and been happy with the choice. Narrowing it down to one, though, I’ll have to go with Donal Logue’s Hank. Even though the show’s name, in hindsight, didn’t do it any marketing favors, it really, truly fits. Hank is a terrier – a scrappy, metaphorically undersized little pisser; full of will and fight and unable to realize when he’s gotten in over his head, yet not capable of letting go of that bone. Terriers may not see another season, but you can rest assured that I’ll be viewing it quite a bit once the show is released on DVD. A little 13 episode slice of perfection, anchored by two Emmy-worthy performances and some of the best writing you’ll ever find on TV.
15. Guererro, Human Target. This one was kind of a late addtion. For whatever reason, I missed the show during its first season. And it came back just recently, with a new showrunner and slightly retooled, for a new season. I tuned in this time, and while I can see why there are some complaints about the changes, the work being done by the three regulars from last year (Mark Valley, the always good Chi McBride, and Jackie Earle Haley as Guererro) is superb. I singled out Haley, because his stone cold killer is so much damned fun. Don’t touch the ElDo.
16. Kale Ingram, Rubicon. Yet another character from a show smothered in the crib. Rubicon was not without its faults – the show never really figured out what to do with Miranda Richardson’s character, the pacing was deliberate (which I liked, once invested in the cast) and the finale was a letdown. Still, there was nothing else on TV like it, an adult drama that paid homage to the conspiracy flicks I watched with my parents growing up. James Badge Dale was wonderful as the centerpiece of the show (he also turned in stellar work on HBO’s The Pacific), but my favorite character was Arliss Howard’s Kale Ingram. Calm, cool and collected, but always menacing, Ingram walked a tightrope with his every appearance. Nothing you found out about him as the layers of the onion peeled back was particularly surprising, but it was always entertaining.
17. Mozzie, White Collar. White Collar is an enjoyable trifle, elevated by the charm and chemistry of the cast, particularly leads Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay. But for me, it always livened up once Willie Garson’s Mozzie was on screen. Though Bomer’s Caffrey has “gone straight,” it’s his best friend Mozzie who keeps one foot firmly planted in Neal’s previous world, and approaches all this do-goodery with a healthy dose of skepticism. (Just listen to the way he always says “suit”). Garson’s off-kilter line readings were a delight, and he was never better than when playing off the agents or DeKay’s wife, played by Tiffani Amber Thiessen.
18. Zoey Barkow, Nurse Jackie. For a show that’s ostensibly a comedy, Nurse Jackie is short on laughs. Yes, it follows the Showtime model of casting an acting powerhouse as the central character, and having them plumb the darkness of the given situation. Yet Weeds, Tara and even Big C produced more chuckles than Jackie, so it’s no surprise that Merrit Weaver’s daffy, likeable Zoey was an oasis of warmth and fun in a desert of narcissistic despair.
19. Peggy Olsen, Mad Men. Roger gets all the one-liners, and Don gets most of the dramatic red meat, but this season, Mad Men’s fourth (and perhaps best) really belonged to Peggy. She grew professionally, and personally (see her kept at arms length boy toy, or flirtations with the bohemian lifestyle), and her dramatic confrontation with Don in the single best episode of television this year, “The Suitcase,” was the natural apex of her evolution.
20. Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock. How do you breathe life into a character so well known, and who has been portrayed indelibly so many times in so many mediums? Stephen Moffat seems to have found the trick, casting the wonderfully named Benedict Cumberbatch as the world’s most famous and competent detective in his modern day reboot of Sherlock Holmes. He didn’t wear a deerstalker cap and was addicted to his mobile phone, yet this incarnation was unmistakably Holmes – all manic energy and five steps ahead intellectual acumen.
21. Richard Harrow, Boardwalk Empire. Fortunately for us, Jack Huston’s Richard has been added to the primary cast for BE’s second season. Richard did so much with so little this year (see his vet hospital scenes with Jimmy, or his encounters with Margaret’s kids), but he was never less than captivating.
22. Raylan Givens, Justified. Timothy Olyphant’s US Marshal was a charismatic addition to the stable of FX leading men. Givens didn’t always want to draw his piece, but when he did, you had fair warning that he knows how to use it. Though only the pilot episode was drawn directly from the works of Elmore Leonard, the show remained true to Leonard’s mood and style of dialogue, and Olyphant was terrific at capturing the charming, laconic yet deadly vibe of this complex character.
23. Sunil, In Treatment. Either you’re on board for In Treatment’s 30 minute series of “one act plays,” or you’re not. If you are, you get to witness some of the best pure acting on television today. There’s not a lot you can do with 2 people, in a room, talking, so the degree to which In Treatment propels you along as a viewer depends to a superhuman degree on the caliber of the actors. In Treatment has been blessed with some great performances, and season three was no exception. In fact, it’s hard to single out just one. Dane DeHaan, Debra Winger and particularly Amy Ryan, were all spectacular, but to me, Irrfan Khan as Sunil is the one most worthy of singling out. As Paul’s first patient of the week, a prickly father in law displaced from his home in Calcutta, Sunil was pitiable, uncomfortable, threatening and always mesmerizing. To say more would diminish the surprise of his arc, but it’s definitely one of the best performances of year.
24. Russell Edgington, True Blood. Let’s face it, True Blood’s third season was a hot mess. The plot never really came together, and too many new (and fairly uninteresting) characters were jammed uncomfortably into a sprawling regular ensemble that wasn’t given enough to do. But the one bright spot of the season was Denis O’Hare’s imperious vampire king, Russell Edgington. O’Hare didn’t just chew scenery, he devoured it voraciously, spit it out, and came back for seconds. And we loved every minute of it. On a show that’s borderline camp anyway, Edgington walked up to that line and did a pirouette over it, yet never failed to keep you entertained. Even as he gave soliloquies to a glass jar full of the gooey remains of his lover, O’Hare made you feel for Russell all while you’re wondering how the hell can any actor pull this off. His “interruption” of a local newscast was a high point of the TV season, equal parts chilling and laugh your ass off funny.
25. Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock. Even when the show heads into one of its “down periods” (like most of last year), the core relationship between Liz Lemon and Jack is reason enough to tune in. Fortunately, 30 Rock seems to have found another gear this year, and is making the most of its parts (hell, even Jenna is funny, and Kenneth is tolerable in small doses). Alec Baldwin’s Jack, always a highlight, even in the fallow periods, has never been better.  Well, his multi-voiced “therapy” with Tracy was an all-time highlight, but this year, his video messages to his unborn son are right up there in a collection of Jack’s greatest hits.

So there you have it. Agree or disagree? Who were your favorite characters of the calendar year?


Finally, congratulations to Jim Zvonec, who won this year's contest by correctly identifying 20 of the 25 characters (breaking a tie, having the earliest timestamp by 8 minutes!). Jim wins an HD television episode of his choice, featuring one of the 25 characters shown above.

Thanks to everyone for playing, and we'll see you around these parts next year for the third edition of the contest. Happy Holidays and great TV for all.

TNRLM's Favorite TV Characters of the Year: The 2010 Contest Results Teaser

I'll be back shortly to announce the winner of the contest, and reveal the characters, but first, a few observations:

• No one guessed all 25 characters. No one did last year, either. In 2009, the winner correctly identified 24 of 25. This year, the winner (and the runner up) got 20 of 25 correctly.
• There was a tie for first place, and the winner was decided by 8 minutes on the timestamp.
• There were three characters that no one guessed correctly. (#1, #8 and #23).
• Only one person identified #19 and #25.
• Depending on how you slice the numbers, almost all of the shows represented are niche programming or ratings-challenged. A quick look at ratings trends indicates that 92% of them garner less than 5 million (total) viewers on their first run (cable shows, though, pick up additional viewers with repeat airings. And as we all know, total viewers are far less important to the networks than 18-49 viewers).
• Five of the shows represented already been canceled. (sniff)
• Networks represented: FOX with 4 mentions, BBC (!), FX and HBO with 3, AMC, NBC, SyFy and USA with 2, and CW, DirecTV, Showtime and Starz with 1 each.

 Later this morning, the reveals and the winner. Stay tuned.

TNRLM's Favorite TV Characters of the Year: The 2010 Contest

It's that time of year again, when I look back at my Favorite TV Characters of the calendar year, AND give you a chance to win a valuable prize.

First, some background.

• To read about the idea of the contest, check out this post.
• To see 2009's character collage, check out this post.
• And to see the results of the 2009 contest, won by the very sharp and delightful Amanda (blog here, twitter here), check out this post.

If you don't feel like reading that (but you should, of course), here's a quick overview of the contest and the rules:

1. Below I've posted a collage of cropped images of my 25 Favorite TV Characters from the calendar year 2010.
2. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to accurately identify all* 25 characters. NOT the actor. NOT the show. The character.
3. Entries should be a list, numbered 1-25, with the corresponding character name.
4. The first reader to send me an email correctly identifying all* the characters will win a prize.
5. Deadline for entries is midnight, Sunday, December 26th.
6. The prize will be an iTunes episode (in HD, if available) from one of the 25 shows in which any of the characters on my list appears. (You choose the show and the episode, and the particular episode doesn't necessarily have to be from 2010 . For example, if one of my favorite characters is Dean Winchester, you could choose "Devil's Trap" from Supernatural's first season. Last year, I believe Amanda chose one of the two hour Doctor Who specials, "Waters of Mars").

*When the contest deadline is over, I will review all the entrants. The first, according to the gmail timestamp, entry to correctly identify all 25 characters will win. However, should no one identify all 25 characters, the first timestamped entry to correctly name the GREATEST NUMBER of characters will be declared the winner. (Last year, Amanda got 24 of 25, only missing out on Supernatural's Castiel). So even if you don't know them all, you could and should enter.

Easy enough, right? Okay, same as last year, here are a few more rules, disclaimers and considerations:

• I'm going to limit myself to one character per show. In reality, when you look at the talent-rich casts of shows like Fringe, Boardwalk Empire, Terriers or Modern Family, I could fill up the collage with just them.
• None of the characters from the 2009 contest will be repeated here. Because if I did, every year, I would just post different pictures of Ron Fucking Swanson, Walter Bishop, Roger Sterling and Charlie Kelly.
• The characters are not necessarily the "best" characters, or the most expertly-portrayed characters. Just my favorites (within the confines of the contest rules, e.g., not on last year's list, aired in 2010, one per show).
• The characters listed will have to have been part of the regular cast or a recurring guest star, listed in the credits, and not a single-episode guest star. For example, Peter Weller as creepy ex-cop on Dexter? Eligible. Peter Weller as a creepy scientist on Fringe's haunting "White Tulip" episode? Not eligible.
• The characters have to be from an episode that originally aired in calendar year 2010.
• I'll publish the list and contest here on the blog and simultaneously tweet a link to the post. So no matter how you usually get here (casual reading, twitter, RSS reader, etc.) you'll have the same opportunity to play.
• You'll need a valid email address. Obviously, if I'm going to give the winner iTunes TV goodies, I'll have to send you a link to pick up your prize.
• Submissions are by email, rather than by comments posted on the blog itself, so that partial or incorrect submissions wouldn't give "hints" or "a leg up" to subsequent entries.
• The submissions can be sent to the email address on the side of this blog: TNRLMeditor(at)gmail.com
• Enter as many times as you like!

Remember, DON'T post your numbered entries or guesses in the comments.  But, feel free to talk about your favorite characters there.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures:

Favorite TV Character Contest: The Results

First, a big "thank you" to everyone for playing. It was a lot of fun, and I had a great time reading all your entries. But as the Highlander said (before it was continually retconned to oblivion), "there can be only one."

And we indeed have narrowed it down to one winning entry. There were no "perfect" scorecards, but Amanda from SoCal (blogging here, and twittering here) was the first entry to correctly identify 24 of 25, beating one other person who also scored 96% by a little over an hour and a half on the email timestamp (oddly enough, both missed on the exact same character, #6).

So for the rest of you who submitted entries or played along at home, here are the correct answers (along with a few comments about each one). For reference, the original post with the collage can be found here.

1. Ron Swanson, from Parks and Recreation. P&R improved dramatically in its second year, and all the characters found a nice groove. However, nobody was more fun than Nick Offerman's Ron Swanson, who as we know is a "simple man who likes pretty dark haired women and breakfast foods."
2. Adelle DeWitt, Dollhouse. Limiting myself to just one character from each show was difficult, particularly with Dollhouse, as this season (and especially lately) the show put the pedal to the metal on its corporate mind-fuckery and end of days storyline. I could have easily chosen Victor, Sierra or Topher, but Olivia Williams consistently brought intellectual scrappiness, intimidating professional survival skills and uncharted nuance to the icy Brit.
3. Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory. Scene-stealer supreme, and a gut-busting, loquacious Niles Crane for the nerd set.
4. Sue Sylvester, Glee. Jane Lynch was terrific on the underwatched Party Down, but it's easy to see why she gave up that gig for her role as the most quotable villain on TV.
5. Saul Motherfucking Tigh, Battlestar Galactica. Another show where it was difficult to choose just one character, as I loved just about everyone in our rag tag fleet. Saul's journey took some twists and turns down the stretch, and Michael Hogan never failed to deliver.
   
6. Castiel, Supernatural. This is the one people seemed to have the most trouble identifying. (Several entrants thought it was Patrick Jane from the Mentalist). I don't know if that's because I chose/cropped the picture poorly, or just enough folks aren't watching this dark and entertaining show. But Misha Collins as "Cas" joined the primary cast this year, and has done a lot with what he's been given, whether he's having trouble understanding how to use a cell phone, visiting a whorehouse for the first time (he's an "angel!") or playing the whacked out hippy in an alternate, post-Armageddon future.
7. Sawyer, Lost. (I would have also accepted "James Ford" or "Jim LaFleur"). The picture obviously shows a bit of the Dharma jumpsuit, but if you look closely, you can see a wisp of the hair and the "star" on the logo signifying the security detail. I was in love with Lost's season 5 time-travel shenanigans, and could have selected any number of characters who captivated this year (Faraday, Juliet, Hurley, Miles, Ben, Locke, etc.). But S5 really belonged heart and soul to the con man who discovered his humanity back in the 70s.
8. Roger Sterling, Mad Men. Another show crammed fully of fascinating characters, but I'll offer this for my choice:
9. Walter Bishop, Fringe. In the world of this generation's X-Files, nobody can make the preposterous sound plausible more than John Noble's Walter. It doesn't matter if he's talking about bodily fluids, looking for snack foods or getting lost in Chinatown, Walter can make you laugh out loud or mist up with tears, often in the same scene. It would be a crime if Noble isn't recognized come awards season.
   
10. "Lou"/Kenny Shea, Rescue Me. The smartest and quippiest of the consistently funny Ladder 62 gang, Kenny finally found a small measure of satisfaction this year after "welcoming" former hooker Candy back into his life.
11. Deb Morgan, Dexter. Dexter had a fantastic season, filled with creepy menace supplied in spades by John Lithgow's Trinity Killer, but my heart will always belong to Jennifer Carpenter's endearingly and profusely profane Deb. No one's made me appreciate vulgarity this much since Al Swearingen, and Deb also got a lot of meaty character notes to play as she broke up with Anton, rekindled her romance with Lundy and dug deeper into her father's background, all while serving as the emotional anchor for her more homicidally inclined sibling.
    
12. Nicolette Grant/Henrickson, Big Love. All three of the Henrickson wives turned in Emmy Worthy performances, as I noted here, but Chloe Sevigny had a harrowing and heartbreaking year, particularly for a character as prickly and potentially unlikeable as Nicki.
13. Ned the Piemaker, Pushing Daisies. Yet another show where I waffled on which character to choose (it could have easily been Chuck, Emerson or Olive). Lee Pace's work as Ned wasn't quite as showy as the stuff Cheno and Chi McBride got to play, but his understated longing was a bittersweet treat to watch. Sniff, I'll miss you, Pushing Daisies.
14. Veronica, Better Off Ted. It's a shame that it appears ABC is burning off eps of this overlooked sitcom gem, which is jam packed with absurdly endearing characters. But Portia DeRossi has created a second enduring comic masterpiece (in addition to Lindsay Bluth) of the Aughts. It's like if Adelle DeWitt was slightly less competent and worked for GE.
15. The Devil, Reaper. This quirky little show never found an audience, even on the CW, but it was always supercharged whenever Ray Wise's smooth Old Scratch showed up to gobble the scenery. If I had a soul, I'd be inclined to sell.
    
16. Anna, V. Scriptwise, the V reboot was hit and miss in the first four episodes, but one thing was certain: Morena Baccarin's Anna was the undeniable highlight. Playing her otherworldly beauty for a different effect than she did with Firefly's Inara, Baccarin was masterful in the scenes where she was playing games with Scott Wolf's ambitious newsman, and even better when she was figuring out, right before our eyes, how to most effectively simulate empathetic human emotions.
17. Rick Castle, Castle. Speaking of Firefly, it appears Captain Tightpants has finally found a role that's going to last more than a season, and hooray for that. Nathan Fillion's easygoing charm makes Castle one of the better procedurals out there.
18. Jackson "Jax" Teller, Sons of Anarchy. Sons, like Lost, BSG, Dollhouse and Mad Men, is an embarrassment of riches from a cast and character perspective. Almost all of the principal characters, including Clay, Gemma, Tig, Opie and Tara, got a chance to run wild with all the drama and heartbreak in Charming, CA this year, but I chose Jax because our Hamlet on a Hog kept us actively involved, and rooting for him, in all the show's complicated and tragic storylines.
19. Charlie Kelly, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. In a bar full of hilarious, amoral lowlifes, Charlie never fails to make me chuckle heartily, whether he's practicing his "I've watch an episode of Law&Order" version of the legal profession, or marketing "Kitten Mittens." This was Sunny's most consistent season, and Charlie was a screechy, unhinged comic delight.
20. Parker, Leverage. Leverage is TV throwback, like a better written and acted version of the A-Team each week, wrapped up in a mini Ocean's 11. Beth Riesgraf's Parker, the socially awkward master thief, is endearingly quirky. It's such a spin-filled, off-kilter performance, complete with scrunchy faces and unexpected line readings, that I can't wait to see what she'll do next.
21. Sam Axe, Burn Notice. What nerd isn't happy that "The Chin," Bruce Campbell, has finally found a worthwhile home for his laconic gifts? Last year, I rewatched the DVD set of Brisco County Jr. and was sad that Campbell didn't get a chance to carry on with a character so suited to his leading man looks and sharp comic timing. But Burn Notice has given Bruce an opportunity to show us a more lived-in, but equally competent, character.
22. The Doctor, Doctor Who. Technically, this was a bit of a cheat, since Doctor Who wasn't a regular weekly show this year, but rather a series of specials featuring the sublime David Tennant's last go-round as the Tenth Doctor. (DVR Alert! Part 1 of his swan song airs tonight on BBCA!). This year, we got to see him match wits with a "delusional Doctor," crack wise with a sexy jewel thief on a desert planet and start to come to grips with his arrogant omnipotence on Mars, and that was all before he must face the "end of his song" in a final showdown with The Master. Tennant has always been an accomplished actor, but words can't do justice to how energetic and mesmerizing his performance has been as The Doctor. Matt Smith has big shoes to fill.
23. Chuck Bartowski, Chuck. If you're like me, you were so fond of Zachary Levi's Chuck Bartowski that you made a point to visit a Subway earlier this year, just to send a message to NBC that we wanted more of the warm-hearted Nerd-Herder turned superspy.
24. Cal Lightman, Lie to Me. It takes a strong, strong actor to imbue the central character of a procedural with enough charm, wit and complexity to get you totally invested when the mystery is usually wrapped up in a tidy 43 minutes. But like Nathan Fillion or Hugh Laurie, Tim Roth dives headfirst into his role as human lie-detector Cal Lightman, and makes each week's episode eminently watchable; not so much for the "here's what happened" particulars of the plot, but rather for the journey of watching this serious thespian get there ahead of us.
    
25. Jessica Hamby, True Blood. Season 2 of True Blood seriously upped its game, and was overstuffed with over the top characters. Yet for all the wildly entertaining melodrama around Bon Temps, the character who resonated most with me was Deborah Ann Woll's "baby vampire," Jessica Hamby. Initially just a fanged, spoiled teen destined to throw a wrench into the courtly and stuffy life of Vampire Bill, Jessica's story became more tragic as she experienced love for the first time, and to her horror, realized she was going to be an "undead virgin" for all eternity.
    

So, those were my Favorite 25 Characters of the year. Thanks to everyone for playing along, and a big congratulations to Amanda for notching a victory in the contest! Happy Holidays, y'all.