The 100 Greatest TV Characters of the 21st Century

[Brian Kinney]

No Annalise Keating???

 

[Barbara Fan]

Well that shows how little TV I now watch

I have seen 2 of them - Luther and the Office

and i have heard of Ian McShane, Maggie Smith and Peter Capaldi in their shows

Its all a little bit American - ey tho!

 

[Ome]

No Annalise Keating???

Lots of great characters missed and shows too, no love for British shows apart from THE OFFICE.

I would have hoped Gemma Teller (SONS OF ANARCHY) and Ted Hastings (LINE OF DUTY) might have appeared.

 

[Barbara Fan]

No one from Homeland! Carrie Mathieson and Saul should be there!

 

[Willie Oleson]

I don't know if this thread was supposed to become a discussion, but I'll post my opinion anyway (of the shows that I've watched).

100. Rust Cohle (True Detective)

Agreed, but I think he deserves to be ranked higher than #100.

98. Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies)

Definitely one of the most colourful characters.

81. Fiona Goode (American Horror Story: Coven)

Not season 4's Elsa Mars???

67. Richard Harrow (Boardwalk Empire)

Agreed.

58. Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife)

I liked her, of course, but I usually found her too untouchable.
Christine Baranski was far more unpredictable, sometimes compassionate, sometimes a two-faced and ruthless corporate bitch.
And better as a supporting character than the lead role in the spin-off.

49. Dowager Countess (Downton Abbey)

It's simply undeniable that she's contributed a lot to the popularity of this show.

46. Boyd Crowder (Justified)

Never seen it but I'm more than happy to take their word for it.

41. Cookie Lyon (Empire)

Disagree. The husband is better.

40. Walter White (Breaking Bad)

Disagree. The wife is better.

34. Meredith Grey (Grey's Anatomy)

Any of her co-workers were more interesting than Meredith.

20. Vic Mackey (The Shield)

Sure he was great, but Jon Kavanaugh was outstanding as Vic's adversary. All his scenes were tense and fascinating.

9. Elizabeth Jennings (The Americans)

YES! YES! YES!

2. Omar Little (The Wire)

A unique character, but I would have given my vote to Omar White from OZ. Then again, it's been a while since I've watched THE WIRE.

1. Peggy Olson (Mad Men)

A good choice and excellent reasoning for this #1 vote, but I found Betty Draper more convincing as a sixties period character. Not that she should have been the #1 instead.

Missing characters:
Maria LaGuerta (Dexter)
Patty Hewes (Damages)
Ben Davis (Ozark)
Margaret Chenowith (Six Feet Under)
Trevor Solloway (The Affair)

 

[tommie]

I'm pretty surprised they didn't include anyone from Desperate Housewives, but maybe it's not a cool enough show for them?

 

[DallasFanForever]

Desperate Housewives was the first show I thought of after reading the list. I actually went back and read it again thinking I missed something. I would’ve thought at least one of those characters would’ve made the list, possibly two of them.

 

[Emelee]

Way too many awesome characters missing. Some wrong choices representing their series.

 

[Angela Channing]

No Annalise Keating???

Shocking omission. Also why include Desmond from Lost and not the best and most interesting character on the show, John Locke?

I would also have included Olivia Pope from Sxandal and Michael Scofield from Prison Break.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Let's not forget the amazing Lester Nygaard


and the unforgettable John Ross Ewing

 

[tommie]

I would also have included Olivia Pope from Sxandal

#13

 

[Angela Channing]

#13

Oops

 

[Ome]

Also why include Desmond from Lost and not the best and most interesting character on the show, John Locke?

John Locke would be my choice too. I also thought a couple of minor characters were more interesting than Desmond such as Mr Eko and Jacob.

No Annalise Keating???

Gemma Teller (SONS OF ANARCHY) and Ted Hastings (LINE OF DUTY)

Homeland! Carrie Mathieson

Missing characters:
Maria LaGuerta (Dexter)
Patty Hewes (Damages)
Ben Davis (Ozark)
Margaret Chenowith (Six Feet Under)
Trevor Solloway (The Affair)

Desperate Housewives

Desperate Housewives

Way too many awesome characters missing.

John Ross Ewing

So many characters missing which means we need to do something about it. I think we should have our very own

​

 

[Sarah]

I am so 20th century but I wish characters from This is Us such as Randall Pearson, Toby Damon, Jack Pearson had been included in this 21st century reveal.

 

[tommie]

I am so 20th century but I wish characters from This is Us such as Randall Pearson, Toby Damon, Jack Pearson had been included in this 21st century reveal.

I think they were trying to limit themselves to one character per series, which is fair enough.

From Desperate Housewives I'd definitively include Bree on the list.

 

[Ome]

I am so 20th century but I wish characters

If the 'Telly Talk 21st Century Characters' is a hit, we can then go back and do each decade.

 

[Ome]

I think they were trying to limit themselves to one character per series, which is fair enough.

Yes and maybe we should do this. I don't think I would enjoy the result if one or two shows dominated it.

 

[tommie]

Yes and maybe we should do this. I don't think I would enjoy the result if one or two shows dominated it.

Yeah, I think if people are forced to just choose one character per series it also makes them think harder about their choice.

 

[tommie]

If the 'Telly Talk 21st Century Characters' is a hit, we can then go back and do each decade.

Should we do "best characters of the 00s/10s/90s/80s/etc" or 21st century (ie 2000-current year)?

 

[Ome]

Should we do "best characters of the 00s/10s/90s/80s/etc" or 21st century (ie 2000-current year)?

My initial thought was to do the 21st century and have everyone vote on 20 characters, then if it generates a good response we go back through the decades starting with
1950s and before
1960s
1970s

etc...

But, I'm happy to do the decades in chronological order and stick to each decade if that's the preferred way of doing it.

I was also thinking that each decade should be shows that started from January 1st of that decade, it doesn't matter if the show continues if the next decade, but to put a cap on each one, we should stick with the starting date.