TT Top Characters Telly Talk's Favourite Character from the 20th-Century - The Result

[Toni]

Voilà my list:
1 - Miss Piggy (The Muppet Show) (Quel surprise....!)
2 - Pamela Ewing (Dallas)
3 - Bender Bending Rodríguez (Futurama)
4 - Katherine Wentworth (Dallas)
5 - Karen Fairgate (Knots Landing)
6 - Fallon Carrington (Dynasty)
7 - Angela Channing (Falcon Crest)
8- Melissa Agretti (Falcon Crest)
9- Kelly Garrett (Charlie´s Angels)
10 - Mildred Roper (Man About the House)
11 - Dr. Helena Russell (Space: 1999)
12 - Jessica Tate (Soap)
13 - Blanche Devereaux (The Golden Girls)
14 - Doris Schwartz (Fame)
15 - Eric Cartman (South Park)
16 - Abby Cunningham (Knots Landing)
17 - Penelope Pitstop (Wacky Races)
18 - Miss Ellie Ewing (Dallas)
19 - Sue Ellen Ewing (Dallas)
20 - Patsy Stone (AbFab)

So sorry to get you dizzy! I´ll send you Miss Piggy to give you a massage to relax yourself!

Here is my new list (if I´m still on time):

1 - Miss Piggy (The Muppet Show)
2 - Pamela Ewing (Dallas)
3 - Katherine Wentworth (Dallas)
4 - Jessica Tate (Soap)
5 - Karen Fairgate (Knots Landing)
6 - Fallon Carrington (Dynasty)
7 - Angela Channing (Falcon Crest)
8- Melissa Agretti (Falcon Crest)
9 - Mildred Roper (Man About the House)
10 - Dr. Helena Russell (Space: 1999)
11 - Eric Cartman (South Park)
12 - Abby Cunningham (Knots Landing)
13 - Penelope Pitstop (Wacky Races)
14 - Sue Ellen Ewing (Dallas)
15 - Patsy Stone (AbFab)

Patsy Stone - ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

J.R. Ewing – DALLAS
Katherine Wentworth – DALLAS
Pam Ewing – DALLAS
Sue Ellen Ewing – DALLAS
Fallon Carrington – DYNASTY
Angela Channing – FALCON CREST
Lydia Grant – FAME
Jeannie – I DREAM OF JEANNIE
Abby Cunningham – KNOTS LANDING
Karen Fairgate – KNOTS LANDING
Mildred Roper – MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE
Peg Bundy - MARRIED ... WITH CHILDREN
Miss Piggy – THE MUPPETS
Homer Simpson – THE SIMPSONS
Jessica Tate – SOAP
Eric Cartman – SOUTHPARK
Dr. Helena Russell – SPACE: 1999
Penelope Pitstop – WACKY RACES

 

[Luke_Krebbs_Ewing]

Anyone who omits the great Stephanie Harper from Return To Eden from there votes will get tickled on the feet!

And possibly other area's on the bottom half of their body too!

 

[Jimmy Todd]

@Jimmy Todd I think the reason Claudia made the list while they didn't was because we were only allowed to vote for one character/decade. Also just one character from the same show in the semi-finals. So it doesn't necessarily mean that more people likes Claudia better than Greg, Laura, Bobby, Jock and Miss Ellie. It just means that she was one of the few Knots characters from the 1990s that we could vote on.

So it would be more correct to say that she beat out Nick, Kate and Vanessa from Knots Landing!

Thank you!
When you go by decades, she was the better one
Although I wouldn't use her salad dressing. I'll stick to Aunt Martha's Old Fashioned Salad Dressing

 

[Ome]

we were only allowed to vote for one character/decade. Also just one character from the same show in the semi-finals.

Oh my goodness! More confusion.

What do you mean by only one character from the same show for the semi-finals?


First, we took each decade and voted on 20 characters with a limit of one character per show.
Then we took the best of the best from each decade in the 20th-century and voted on as many characters from the same show as we wanted.

 

[Ome]

The vote for the best characters of the 20th-century is over.

The results are being counted and will be revealed later today

​

 

[Karin Schill]

Oh my goodness! More confusion.

What do you mean by only one character from the same show for the semi-finals?


First, we took each decade and voted on 20 characters with a limit of one character per show.

What I meant was what you wrote below. I called the first rounds from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s for "the semi-finals".
In those rounds we were only allowed to choose one character per show for each decade. But since some shows ran for more than one decade we were able to vote for Knots Landing in both the 70s, 80s and 90s and that is why 90s character Claudia made the final while other popular Knots characters like Laura and Greg didn't.

 

[Karin Schill]

Anyone who omits the great Stephanie Harper from Return To Eden from there votes will get tickled on the feet!

And possibly other area's on the bottom half of their body too!

View attachment 28242

I can't vote for a character I have never seen. It's possible I would love Return to Eden but I have not discovered that show yet!

 

[Ome]

As always, it’s taking me forever to put this together; I keep breaking off to do other chores around the house.


What I can say is that I’ve got all the totals together; I need to finish typing them up. I can give away some teasers.

• One family dominates the top five – but in what order?
• The top ten is made up of American shows, but which shows?
• 8 of the top ten are from 4 of the super soaps.
• Best friends Val & Karen came in high, but which friend beat the other?
• Only UK soaps Brookside & Corrie finished in the top twenty, but which soap trumped the other?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

As always, it’s taking me forever to put this together; I keep breaking off to do other chores around the house.

Well, I'm enjoying the anticipation, so there's no rush at all.

I can give away some teasers.

Ooh - this is where we could do with an "Exciting" or "Intriguing" reaction. But I'll have to settle for saying I'm excited and intrigued.

 

[Ome]

From a total of 133 characters qualifying, 22 members voted on 110 characters.

Leaving 23 characters with no votes…

Champion - THE ADVENTURES OF CHAMPION
Barney Fife - THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW
Betty Boop - BETTY BOOP
Carrie Fairchild - CENTRAL PARK WEST
The Cisco Kid - THE CISCO KID
Davy Crockett - DAVY CROCKETT
Sgt. Joe Friday – DRAGNET
Felix the Cat - FELIX THE CAT
Bertha "Bert" Bauer THE GUIDING LIGHT
Matt Dillon GUNSMOKE
Steve McGarrett – HAWAII 5-0
Yogi Bear - THE HUCKLEBERRY HOUND SHOW
George Jetson – THE JETSONS
Claudia Whittaker – KNOTS LANDING
Lassie – LASSIE
Theodore 'Beaver' Cleaver - LEAVE IT TO BEAVER
The Lone Ranger - THE LONE RANGER
Quick Draw McGraw - THE QUICK DRAW McGRAW SHOW
Tom - TOM AND JERRY
Lurcio – UP POMPEII!
Josh Randall - WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
Woody Woodpecker - WOODY WOODPECKER
Don Diego/Zorro – ZORRO


The top 20 characters that qualify for the Big Grand Finale will be revealed later (I need to do the ironing).






Here is the final journey for our beloved 20th-century characters

21. Jessica Fletcher – MURDER SHE WROTE = 60
22. Harriet Oleson - LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE = 58
23. Samantha Stephens – BEWITCHED = 54
24. Archie Bunker – ALL IN THE FAMILY = 51
25. Richard Avery – KNOTS LANDING / Jessica Tate – SOAP = 50
26. Margo Leadbetter – THE GOOD LIFE = 47
27. Hyacinth Bucket – KEEPING UP APPEARNCES / DCI Jane Tennison – PRIME SUSPECT = 46
28. Icky – ONE SUMMER / Stuart Alan Jones – QUEER AS FOLK = 43
29. Patsy Stone - ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS / Niles Crane – FRASIER / Dr Beatrice Mason – TENKO / Top Cat – TOP CAT = 41
30. Spock – STAR TREK / Stephanie Harper – RETURN TO EDEN = 40
31. John Boy – THE WALTONS / Mildred Roper – MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE / Miss Piggy – THE MUPPETS / Mary Richards - MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW / Arthur Fonzarelli – HAPPY DAYS = 35
32. Fran Fine – THE NANNY = 34
33. Alf – ALF = 33
34. Bob Hartley - THE BOB NEWHART SHOW = 29
35. Morticia Addams – THE ADDAMS FAMILY / Lydia Grant – FAME = 28
36. Captain James T Kirk – STAR TREK = 27
37. Diana Prince/Wonder Woman – WONDER WOMAN / Jeannie – I DREAM OF JEANNIE = 26
38. Peg Bundy - MARRIED ... WITH CHILDREN / Stephanie Forrester – THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL / Mike Stone – THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO = 25
39. David Banner – THE INCREDIBLE HULK = 24
40. Dana Scully – THE X FILES / Diana ‘V’ / Dolly Bellfield – DINNERLADIES = 21
41. Dale Cooper – TWIN PEAKS / Maryann Thorpe – CYBILL / Superman/Clark Kent - THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN / Lt. Frank Ballinger - CHICAGO POLICE, M SQUAD / Penelope Pitstop – WACKY RACES = 20
42. Amanda Woodward - MELROSE PLACE / Homer Simpson – THE SIMPSONS / Mary Maloney - ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS / Simon Templar – THE SAINT / Kerr Avon – BLAKE’S 7 = 19
43. Pippi Longstocking – PIPPI LONGSTOCKING = 18
44. Norm – CHEERS / Buffy Summers - BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER / Francis Urquhart - HOUSE OF CARDS / Bugs Bunny - LOONEY TUNES / Sgt. Bilko - THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW / Eliot Ness - THE UNTOUCHABLES = 17
45. Terry Collier – THE LIKELY LADS / Ralph Kramden - THE HONEYMOONERS / Stewie Griffin - FAMILY GUY = 16
46. Karen Walker – WILL & GRACE / Jim Rockford – THE ROCKFORD FILES / Diana Trent – WAITING FOR GOD / Maxwell Smart – GET SMART / Hilary Michaels – MODELS INC = 14
47. George Smiley – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY / Dr. Helena Russell – SPACE: 1999 = 13
48. Eric Cartman – SOUTHPARK / Brenda Walsh – BEVERLY HILLS 90210 = 12
49. Kathryn Janeway – STAR TREK: VOYAGER = 11
50. Sheila Carter – THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS / Sandra Clark – 227 = 10
51. Capt. Frank Furrillo = HILL STREET BLUES / Alex Keaton - FAMILY TIES / Kimberly Shaw- MELROSE PLACE / Dr. Marcus Welby - MARCUS WELBY, M.D. = 9
52. Mark Sloan DIAGNOSIS MURDER / Rosie O'Neill – THE TRIALS OF ROSIE O’NEILL = 8
53. Daffy Duck - LOONEY TUNES / Herman Munster – THE MUNSTERS / Fred Flintstone – THE FLINTSTONES / Lucille Carmichael - THE LUCY SHOW / Pink Panther – THE PINK PANTHER SHOW = 7
54. Perry Mason - PERRY MASON / Emma Peel – THE AVENGERS = 6
55. Nancy Hughes - AS THE WORLD TURNS = 5
56. Chief Robert T Ironside – IRONSIDE / Sweep – THE SOOTY AND SWEEP SHOW 2
57. Jerry - TOM AND JERRY = 1

 

[Sarah]

Oh my goodness! More confusion.

What do you mean by only one character from the same show for the semi-finals?


First, we took each decade and voted on 20 characters with a limit of one character per show.
Then we took the best of the best from each decade in the 20th-century and voted on as many characters from the same show as we wanted.

Think we just need to listen to Ome and stop correcting and dissecting absolutely everything like a post mortem!

 

[Ome]

20

Annie Walker – CORONATION STREET / Lucy Ricardo - I LOVE LUCY = 62


Annie Walker

Annie Walker (also Beaumont) was a long-standing fictional character in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was played by actress Doris Speed from the series' first episode in 1960 until Speed retired from the role 23 years and 1,737 episodes later in 1983. Speed appeared as a guest of honour at the 30th birthday celebration of Coronation Street in 1990 which was hosted by Cilla Black.



The character of Annie has been noted as "snobbish" and "snooty" due to her condescending attitude and delusions of grandeur. Despite this, Annie proved to be one of the show's most popular characters and Speed received more fan mail than any other cast member at the time. For her service, Speed was later declared a "national treasure" by the media and received an MBE in 1977



Lucy Ricardo

Lucy Ricardo is a fictional character from the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, portrayed respectively by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The Ricardos also appear in The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, and Lucy also appears in one episode of The Ann Sothern Show.



Together, Lucy and Ricky serve as a double act. Ricky is the straight man, a character very similar to Arnaz himself; he is a Cuban-American bandleader whose trademark song is "Babalu". Red-haired Lucy is his wife, who always gets into trouble and is usually caught at it by Ricky ("Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do!"). Their son, Ricky Ricardo Jr. (usually called "Little Ricky") was born in the middle of the show's second season. He was portrayed by child actor Richard Keith beginning in season 6.



Lucy's full name (Lucille Esmeralda Ricardo née McGillicuddy) is given in the Season 1 episodes "Fred and Ethel Fight" and "The Marriage License," and "The Passports" in Season 5. Ricky gives his full name in the Season 4 episode "Hollywood Anniversary" as Ricardo Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha, but in the Season 6 episode "Lucy Raises Tulips" Lucy calls him "Enrique Alberto Fernando Ricardo y de Acha III".



19

Batman/Bruce Wayne – BATMAN = 63

Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American industrialist. As a child, Bruce witnessed the murder of his parents, Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne, which ultimately led him to craft the Batman persona and seek justice against criminals. He resides on the outskirts of Gotham City in his personal residence, Wayne Manor. Wayne averts suspicion by acting the part of a superficial playboy idly living off his family's fortune and the profits of Wayne Enterprises, his inherited conglomerate. He supports philanthropic causes through his nonprofit Wayne Foundation, but is more widely known as a celebrity socialite. In public, he frequently appears in the company of high-status women, which encourages tabloid gossip. Although Bruce Wayne leads an active romantic life, his vigilante activities as Batman account for most of his time.


18

Lance Cumson - FALCON CREST = 64


Lance is Julia's son and Angela's heir and grandson. A handsome ladies' man, he enjoys a playboy lifestyle but is also used by Angela as a henchman in her schemes. For a short time, Lance worked for his grandfather's newspaper. His grandmother forces him to marry Melissa Agretti purely so she can acquire the adjoining Agretti lands. After divorcing Melissa, Lance then marries Richard's stepdaughter Lorraine, who later dies. After relationships with singer Apollonia and a second relationship with Melissa, Lance eventually marries Pilar Ortega, the vineyard foreman's daughter. Lorenzo Lamas is the only actor to appear in all 227 episodes of the series.

 

[Ome]

I've been playing around with the timing of making a post; hopefully, these will come out in the right order...

 

[Ome]

17.

Hilda Ogden – CORONATION STREET = 74

Hilda Ogden (also Crabtree) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, one of the best-known of all the regular characters in the serial, whose name became synonymous with a classic hard-working Northern working-class woman. She was played by Jean Alexander from 1964 to 1987.

For much of her period as a character in the Street, Hilda worked as cleaner of The Rovers Return Inn. A gossip and busybody, many of her storylines were used for comedic purposes, though the character was equally used for dramatic effect; a scene in which she wept over the spectacles of her recently deceased husband Stan (Bernard Youens) has been hailed as one of the most moving images in television history.

Alexander quit the role of Hilda in 1987 after 23 years but was persuaded to reprise the part in 1990 for a one-off appearance as part of an ITV Telethon. She has also been seen in a spin-off video in 1998, in which another long-running character, Betty Williams (Betty Driver), visited her at her new home. Both of these appearances are considered canon to the show.


16.

Sable Colby – THE COLBYS = 78

Sabella "Sable" Scott Colby is a fictional character from the ABC television series Dynasty and its spin-off The Colbys, both created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. Portrayed by Stephanie Beacham, the character was introduced on Dynasty in the November 1985 two-part episode "The Titans" as the socialite wife of wealthy California CEO Jason Colby (Charlton Heston). Beacham was subsequently a series regular on The Colbys for two seasons from 1985 to 1987. She reappeared as Sable on Dynasty for its ninth and final season from 1988 to 1989.


15.

Fallon Carrington – DYNASTY = 82

Fallon Carrington is a fictional character from the ABC television series Dynasty and its spin-off The Colbys. Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro, the role of Fallon was originated by Pamela Sue Martin in the show's first episode in 1981, and Martin left at the end of the fourth season in 1984. Fallon was recast with Emma Samms in 1985, and the character was spun off onto a companion series called The Colbys. After the cancellation of the second series, Fallon (portrayed by Samms) returned to Dynasty in 1987, and remained on the series until its finale in 1989. Samms later reprised the role for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion. Elizabeth Gillies plays Fallon in The CW's 2017 reboot series Dynasty.

Fallon is the daughter of oil baron Blake Carrington and his first wife, Alexis, portrayed by John Forsythe and Joan Collins in the original series. Initially a self-indulgent troublemaker constantly at odds with her father's second wife, Krystle (Linda Evans), Fallon navigates a series of romantic entanglements that includes marriages to Jeff Colby (John James) and his half-brother and cousin, Miles Colby (Maxwell Caulfield).




14

Basil Fawlty – FAWLTY TOWERS = 84

Basil Fawlty is the main character of the 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers, played by John Cleese. The proprietor of the hotel Fawlty Towers, he is a cynical and misanthropic snob, desperate to belong to a higher social class. His attempts to run the hotel often end in farce. Possessing a dry, sarcastic wit, Basil has become an iconic British comedy character who remains widely known to the public despite only 12 half-hour episodes ever having been made. In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4 Basil was ranked second on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.



Known for his quotable rants, the character was inspired by Donald Sinclair, an eccentric hotel owner whom Cleese had encountered when he stayed at his hotel (Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, England) along with the rest of Monty Python in May 1970

 

[Ome]

13.

Patricia Hamilton – SONS AND DAUGHTERS = 87

Sons and Daughters was created by television executive Reg Watson who was inspired by glossy US prime-time soaps Dallas and Dynasty, which were averaging huge ratings in their respective time slots on CBS and ABC and was curious to see how an Australian half-hour soap similar in style to those shows would fare with early evening or prime-time audiences. The show was an instant hit and with writers for the show being able to place one or more families and other characters in either Sydney or Melbourne, they knew the show would appeal to viewers living in those cities. Watson knew Melbourne-based shows often did not rate well with Sydney viewers, and set about using either Sydney or Melbourne as the birthplace for much of the show's cast of characters. Sons and Daughters even used some former plot lines from Dallas or Dynasty to gain high viewership figures for the show's timeslot. Critics and press likened the serial as an Australian version of Latin American or South American telenovelas which would often hit huge viewership figures in their home country. British television broadcaster ITV would soon begin airing the show and audiences in the United Kingdom and other European territories would begin to become fans of the show. Most European and foreign countries that aired the show broadcast it in daytime. Ratings for the show would be very high for the first three years, but following the departure of Rowena Wallace in early 1985 to pursue other acting opportunities, ratings quickly began to decline, and a clever idea was put in play for Wallace's character Patricia Hamilton to return to the soap played by another actress. In mid-1985, new actress to the show Belinda Giblin arrived as Alison Carr, the new identity of Patricia, who had plastic surgery in Rio de Janeiro to escape from authorities who were looking for her in Australia for supposedly murdering a wealthy millionaire's son named Luke Carlyle, who had embezzled his father's and Patricia's firm.



12.

Sheila Grant – BROOKSIDE / The Doctor – DOCTOR WHO = 91



Sheila Grant

Sheila Corkhill (also Grant) is a fictional character from British soap opera, Brookside played by Sue Johnston. Sheila appeared in Brookside from the first episode in 1982 until the character's departure in 1990. Her most famous storyline was in 1986, when the character was attacked, raped and beaten by an unknown assailant. Everyone was a suspect, including family friend Matty Nolan (Tony Scoggo), and most residents of Brookside Close found themselves accused. It was later revealed that the taxi driver ( james culshaw) raped Sheila.

The Grant family consisted of Bobby (Ricky Tomlinson), Sheila, Barry (Paul Usher), Karen (Shelagh O'Hara) and Damon (Simon O'Brien). The Grants appeared in the first episode (although Karen was not shown on screen) and were the first to move into the new houses on Brookside Close. Prior to moving onto Brookside Close, the Grant family were from a run-down inner-city council estate, however through Bobby and Sheila's thrift they had managed to move to the 'middle class' Brookside Close.

Sheila was portrayed as a devout Roman Catholic, and as such her views were often to come into conflict with the socialist views of her husband.


The Doctor



The Doctor is the title character in the long-running BBC science fiction television programme Doctor Who. Since the show's inception in 1963, the character has been portrayed by thirteen lead actors. In the programme, "the Doctor" is the alias assumed by a millennia-old humanoid alien called a Time Lord who travels through space and time in the TARDIS, frequently with companions. The transition to each succeeding actor is explained within the show's narrative through the plot device of "regeneration", a biological function of the Time Lord race that allows a change of cellular structure and appearance with recovery following a potentially fatal injury.



A number of other actors have played the character in stage and audio plays, as well as in various film and television productions. The Doctor has been well-received by the public, with an enduring popularity leading The Daily Telegraph to dub the character "Britain's favourite alien", while abroad the character has come to be seen as a British cultural icon.The Doctor has also been featured in films and a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips.

On 25 December 2017, Jodie Whittaker made her first appearance as the Thirteenth Doctor at the end of the 2017 Christmas special "Twice Upon a Time".

11.
Columbo – COLUMBO = 95

Columbo or Lieutenant Columbo is the eponymous main character in the American detective crime drama series Columbo. The character is a shrewd but inelegant blue-collar homicide detective whose trademarks include his shambling manner, rumpled beige raincoat, the cigar and off-putting, relentless investigative approach.

Columbo is portrayed primarily by Peter Falk, who appeared in the role from 1968 through 2003. Columbo's first name has never officially been identified, although the name "Frank Columbo" has been visible on pieces of identification throughout the show's history.

The character of Columbo was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, who said that Columbo was partially inspired by the Crime and Punishment character Porfiry Petrovich as well as G. K. Chesterton's humble cleric-detective Father Brown. Other sources claim Columbo's character is also influenced by Inspector Fichet from the French suspense-thriller film Les Diaboliques (1955). In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4 in the UK Columbo was ranked 18th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.

 

[Barbara Fan]

In the words of Lucy Ewing in Diggers daughter - this is so exciting and i feel it needs a fanfare to count down the top 10

A remarkable (and time consuming for you too) feat @Ome

 

[Ome]

10.

Mary Beth Lacey – CAGNEY & LACEY = 96

Cagney & Lacey is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very different lives: Christine Cagney (Sharon Gless) is a career-minded single woman, while Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly) is a married working mother. The series is set in a fictionalized version of Manhattan's 14th Precinct (known as "Midtown South"). The pilot movie had Loretta Swit in the role of Cagney, while the first six episodes had Meg Foster in the role. When the show was revived for a full season run, Gless portrayed the role for six consecutive years. Each year during that time, one of the two lead actresses won the Emmy for Best Lead Actress in a Drama (four wins for Daly, two for Gless), a winning streak matched only once since in any major category by a show.




9.

Karen Fairgate – KNOTS LANDING / Alexis - DYNASTY = 103

Karen Fairgate

Karen MacKenzie (maiden name Cooper; formerly Fairgate) is a long-running fictional character in the CBS primetime soap opera Knots Landing. Karen is portrayed by actress Michele Lee, and has appeared on the show since its pilot episode, first broadcast on December 27, 1979. Knots Landing follows the trials of four middle-class families living on a suburban cul-de-sac known as Seaview Circle in California. Lee portrayed Karen for the entire run of Knots Landing, being the sole cast member to appear in every episode of its fourteen seasons. At the time, her appearances in all 344 episodes set a record for an actress on American primetime television. Karen's storylines focus on family troubles, business dealings, addiction and kidnapping.



Series creator David Jacobs said "Karen is the tent pole. She says the things I want to say. She's the voice of the viewer." Entertainment Weekly also described Karen as being "efficient, kind, and understanding". During the course of her existence on the program, she was married to both Sid Fairgate (Don Murray) and second husband Mack MacKenzie (Kevin Dobson). Many other characters would try to undermine her relationship with Mack, such as his daughter Paige Matheson (Nicollette Sheridan), and former love interest Anne Matheson (Michelle Phillips), though Karen came to accept Paige as his daughter later on.


Due to her long-running tenure, television personality Joan Rivers commented that Lee was, in theory, the "First Lady of Knots Landing" during her guest appearance on The Late Show, which Rivers hosted at the time. The characters of the series often represented what was happening in society at the time, which Lee acknowledged by saying: "Karen wanted to be a Pollyanna and wasn't ashamed of that. Remember in our society, maybe people don't remember, but remember when we could go over to other people's houses and come in through an open back door? I remember when I was a little girl and my mother and father would have people over and they'd walk into an unlocked door in our house."



Alexis Colby…..

Alexis Carrington Colby (maiden name Morell; formerly Dexter and Rowan) is a fictional character on the American TV series Dynasty. She is the ex-wife of Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) whose schemes cause one problem after another for him and their children.

The role was originated by Joan Collins in the first episode of the show's second season in 1981, though the character appeared briefly in the first season finale, non-speaking and face unseen. Collins remained on the show until the finale in 1989, and then returned as Alexis for the 1991 miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion. The character appeared later in the first season of the 2017 Dynasty reboot series, portrayed by Nicollette Sheridan from the sixteenth episode of the first season to the fifteenth episode of the second season. Stand-in Amy Sutherland played a bandaged, non-speaking Alexis in the sixteenth and seventeenth episodes of the second season. Elizabeth Gillies, who stars as Alexis's daughter Fallon, played the role of Alexis after Sheridan's departure for three episodes near the end of the second season. The role was recast with Elaine Hendrix for season three.

Alexis' schemes to destroy ex-husband Blake, undermine his marriage to Krystle (Linda Evans), and control her children drive much of the action over the series' run. Passionate yet vengeful, Alexis loves her children fiercely and will do anything to protect them, but she often ignores their own needs and desires in place of what she thinks is best. Alexis marries three additional times, to Cecil Colby (Lloyd Bochner), Dex Dexter (Michael Nader), and Sean Rowan (James Healey). She is widowed twice, first by Cecil and then by fourth husband Sean, prompting Alexis' cousin Sable to remark that with Alexis "death is always a simpler solution than divorce." Her third marriage (to Dex) ends in divorce after Alexis catches him in bed with her adult daughter Amanda (Catherine Oxenberg). The name Alexis uses the most consistently over the course of the series is Alexis Colby, though her marriage to Cecil Colby is her shortest. Alexis is romantically linked to a number of men over the years, including oilman Rashid Ahmed (John Saxon); tennis pro (and Krystle's first husband) Mark Jennings (Geoffrey Scott); King Galen of Moldavia (Joel Fabiani); shipping tycoon Zach Powers (Ricardo Montalbán); Congressman Neal McVane (Paul Burke); Blake's brother Ben Carrington (Christopher Cazenove); Dirk Maurier (Jon Cypher) and his nephew Gavin Maurier (Neil Dickson); Cecil's brother Jason Colby (Charlton Heston); and even a near-reconciliation with an amnesiac Blake.

TV Guide named Alexis #7 in their 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time", and in 2016 Rolling Stone ranked her #27 of their "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time". In 2015, executive producer Lee Daniels noted that Taraji P. Henson's character Cookie Lyon in his TV series Empire was partially based on Alexis.



8.
Val Ewing – KNOTS LANDING = 104

Valene "Val" Ewing (maiden name Clements, formerly Gibson, Waleska), portrayed by Joan Van Ark, is a fictional character in the CBS primetime soap opera Knots Landing, a spin-off from the long-running series Dallas, in which she also appeared. The character originated on Dallas in 1978 as the mother of Lucy Ewing and ex-wife of Gary Ewing (the second son of oil baron Jock and Miss Ellie Ewing). Van Ark made several guest appearances on Dallas before becoming one of the main stars of the spin-off Knots Landing in December 1979, though she continued to make small appearances in Dallas for the next several years. Van Ark played Valene in Knots Landing for thirteen of its fourteen seasons, which made her one of the show's longest running stars. The character made her last Knots Landing appearance in 1997, when she appeared in the reunion miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac. In 2013, Van Ark reprised her character for the new, updated version of Dallas.

Valene's storyline in her first two episodes on Dallas focuses on the rebuilding of her relationship with estranged ex-husband Gary Ewing. When Valene arrives in Texas to find her daughter, Lucy Ewing, she is brought back into the drama of the Ewing family. Upon arrival, she is reunited with Gary with whom she slowly falls back in love. Once Dallas became a hit, series creator David Jacobs proceeded to launch a spin-off series titled Knots Landing, which would feature Valene and Gary prominently. The actress had strong input on how they would create her character outline. She recalled, "I remember going to wardrobe and getting a peachy pink waitress uniform, and the shoes. And then I was trying to get that Texas sound, her all important accent. And so we created her layer by layer."

Van Ark received positive reviews for her portrayal of Valene, and received two Soap Opera Digest award nominations in the category "Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial". Greg Hernandez[who?] said, "Her character of Valene was a best-selling author, but her personal life was always a mess. She had her husband, Gary, stolen by another woman, then got pregnant by him, her twin babies were kidnapped by a crooked doctor, she was given a drug overdose at gunpoint by her ex-husband's fiancee, and she racked up enough marriages to give Elizabeth Taylor a run for her money. But she and Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) made for one of television's most beloved couples and the audience never stopped rooting for them to get back together."

 

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7.
Dorothy Zbornak - GOLDEN GIRLS = 111

Dorothy Zbornak (née Petrillo) is a character from the sitcom television series The Golden Girls, portrayed by Bea Arthur. Sarcastic, introspective, compassionate, and fiercely protective of those she considers family, she is introduced as a substitute teacher and mother recently divorced from her husband Stan. She, her mother Sophia Petrillo (played by Estelle Getty), and housemate Rose Nylund (Betty White) all rent rooms in the Miami house of their friend Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan). Dorothy often acted as den mother and voice of reason among the quartet, "the great leveler" according to Bea Arthur, though at times also acted foolishly or negatively and would need her friends and family to help ground her again. Arthur also considered her the "great balloon pricker," someone who openly defied and called out hypocrisy, injustice, cruelty, delusion, short-sighted remarks, and behavior she simply found dull, ill-considered, rude, or unreasonable.


Bea Arthur portrayed Dorothy in every episode of The Golden Girls. Arthur also portrayed Dorothy's maternal grandmother Eleanor Grisanti in flashback in the episode "Mother's Day". In the same episode and others that involve flashbacks, a younger version of Dorothy was portrayed by Lynnie Green. In the season 5 episode "Clinton Avenue Memoirs" (1990), Jandi Swanson portrayed Dorothy as a child in flashback.


Bea Arthur's departure from the show in the season 7 two-part finale "One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest" marked the end of the series as well. Outside of the series, Arthur also appeared as Dorothy in an episode of Empty Nest (a spin-off series), in the episode "Dumped", and in a two-episode story "Seems Like Old Times" in The Golden Palace (a sequel series to The Golden Girls). In the 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly, Dorothy Zbornak was selected as the Grandma for "The Perfect TV Family".






6.
Angela Channing – FALCON CREST = 117

Angela Channing (maiden name Gioberti; formerly Erickson, Stavros and Agretti) is a fictional character on the American prime time soap opera Falcon Crest, portrayed by Jane Wyman from 1981 to 1990. Angela is the devious, tyrannical owner of the Falcon Crest winery in fictional Tuscany Valley, California, whose schemes to advance the fortunes of her family company while keeping sole control over it drive the action of the series. Wyman won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series for the role in 1984





Wyman originated the role of Angela in the December 1981 first episode "In His Father's House", remaining until the series finale episode "Home Again" in May 1990. Wyman appeared in 208 of the series' 227 episodes, missing two episodes in season five ("Law and Ardor" and "Hidden Meanings") and 17 episodes in season nine due to health problem







5.
Katherine Wentworth – DALLAS = 137

Katherine Wentworth was the daughter of Rebecca Wentworth and her second husband Herbert Wentworth. She is the half sister of Cliff Barnes and Pamela Barnes.

Katherine Wentworth falls in love with her sister, Pamela's husband Bobby. She attempts to kill Pamela twice to get her out of the way so she can be with Bobby.
On the Dallas (2012 Series)

Although Katherine never made an appearance, she was mentioned to have died during the intervening years by Bobby in the second season episode "Ewings Unite!" while discussing Rebecca's will.

 

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4.
Abby Cunningham – KNOTS LANDING = 139

Abby Fairgate (formerly Cunningham, Ewing and Sumner) is a fictional character from the CBS prime time soap opera Knots Landing, a long-running serial about middle class life on the fictional cul-de-sac known as Seaview Circle in Los Angeles, California. She was played by actress Donna Mills between 1980 and 1989. Abby was created by producer David Jacobs as one of Knots Landing's earliest characters. She debuted in the first episode of the second season. Mills remained a principal actor in the series until she left in its tenth season. She returned for the two-part series finale in 1993, and made her last appearance in 1997 when she appeared in the reunion miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac.


Prior to being cast on Knots Landing, Mills was predominantly known for playing "damsel in distress" roles, which is why the producers didn't initially consider her. Abby's storylines focused on business dealings, affairs and family troubles. Introduced as the sister of Sid Fairgate, she was initially portrayed as a friendly, warm-hearted woman with great love for her children. In due time, she evolved into the series' main antagonist, constantly causing mayhem in others' lives. According to series creator David Jacobs, the producers always intended Abby to be a J.R. Ewing-esque character. Jacobs said, "When we were casting the role of Abby, we were looking for a homey type, someone whom the other women characters would trust. It was our intention to have this nice person gain the trust of the other women and then cause trouble for them. We didn't want the other characters and the audience to know that there was a scheming person under this nice facade. We wanted her to come on as a good person and then evolve into a vixen.









3.
Sue Ellen Ewing – DALLAS = 172

Sue Ellen Ewing is a fictional character and one of the female leads in the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas. Sue Ellen was portrayed by Linda Gray and appeared on the show since its pilot episode, first broadcast on April 2, 1978. Dallas followed the trials of the wealthy Ewing family in the city of Dallas, Texas, into which Sue Ellen married when she wed J.R. Ewing. Gray played Sue Ellen until the twelfth season of Dallas, when her character finally leaves Texas after beating J.R. at his own game, seen in the 1989 episode "Reel Life". However, Gray later returned for the 1991 series finale "Conundrum", the subsequent Dallas telemovies (J.R. Returns in 1996 and War of the Ewings in 1998). She returned to the role again for the 2012 continuation series of Dallas, which ran until 2014.



Sue Ellen's storylines in the season 2 focused on the character's bout with alcohol and her slowly deteriorating relationship with her husband. The final episode of the season focused on the birth of her son with J.R., John Ross Ewing III. While her relationship with J.R. is not always harmonious, it's a significant aspect of her overall character. As the series progressed, Sue Ellen came into her own as an individual character. The actress has said of her character's personality: "I never wanted her to be boring. She was never boring before – she started out kind of boring, but I think that's the kiss of death because people will expect her to be interesting." Gray later described Sue Ellen as being, "one of the most interesting characters on TV in the 1980s. She was the original Desperate Housewife. She led the way for all those girls."


For her work as Sue Ellen, Gray was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category "Best Actress in a Drama Series" in 1981 (Barbara Bel Geddes who played Miss Ellie Ewing was also nominated in that category for Dallas that year). Gray was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award in both 1980 and 1981 in the category of "Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama" respectively. In 2010, TNT (sister company to Warner Bros. Television, the current copyright owners of the series) announced they were producing a new, updated Dallas series. It was a continuation of the original series and primarily centered around Sue Ellen and J.R.'s son John Ross Ewing III, and Bobby and Pamela's son Christopher Ewing, though various stars of the original series reprised their roles. Gray agreed to return to the new series and once again assumed the role of Sue Ellen.

 

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2.
Pam Ewing – DALLAS = 196

Pamela Jean "Pam" Barnes Ewing is a fictional character from the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas. Pamela is portrayed by actress Victoria Principal, first appearing on the show in the first episode, entitled "Digger's Daughter", which was first broadcast on April 2, 1978. Dallas follows the trials of the wealthy Ewing family in the city of Dallas, Texas, which Pam has married into. Principal played Pam until the end of season 10 in 1987, when the character crashes her car into a truck carrying butane and propane and her body is severely burned. A year later, she was briefly played by actress Margaret Michaels in an attempt to write the character out. Pamela's storylines in season 1 focus on her relationship with her new husband, Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), and her fight against the considerable suspicion and hostility from within the Ewing family, due to Pamela being a member of the Barnes family. Pamela's love for Bobby remains a strong character trait throughout her tenure on the show, noted for its similarities to Romeo and Juliet, with two people from hostile families falling in love.

In the early years of Dallas, Principal took measures to add depth to her character. She initially was very distant from the cast and they assumed she didn't like them. Series producer Leonard Katzman confronted her about the issue and she said, "I like everybody. It's just that I want to feel like an outsider, like Pam Barnes does, being married to a Ewing." Principal also took to other ways of improving her character, such as taking voice lessons to perfect a Texas accent. Her relationship with Patrick Duffy's character, Bobby, was a central component to the show, and when Duffy returned to Dallas in 1986, after being killed off a year earlier, the entire previous year had been written off as Pam's dream.


Principal received positive reviews for her portrayal of Pamela and a Golden Globe nomination in the category of "Best Actress in a Television Series" at the 40th Golden Globe Awards. She was nominated for a Soap Opera Digest award for "Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial" in 1986, while also sharing a nomination with Patrick Duffy for "Favorite Super Couple: Prime Time" in 1988. Hal Erickson of MSN.com opined that Pamela's exit from the series was open ended and left the audience hangin

Your Favourite 20th-Century Character

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1.
J.R. Ewing – DALLAS = 212

John Ross "J.R." Ewing Jr. is a fictional character in the American television series Dallas (1978–1991) and its spin-offs, including the revived Dallas series (2012–2014). The character was portrayed by Larry Hagman from the series premiere in 1978 until his death in late 2012, and Hagman was the only actor who appeared in all 357 episodes of the original series. As the show's most famous character, J.R. has been central to many of the series' biggest storylines. He is depicted as a covetous, egocentric, manipulative and amoral oil baron with psychopathic tendencies, who is constantly plotting subterfuges to plunder his foes' wealth. In the PBS series Pioneers of Television, Hagman claimed the character of J.R. began its development when he played a similar character in the film Stardust, and that he was also inspired by a mean boss he once had.


The focus of the series was initially the feuding families, with J.R. just a supporting character, but his popularity grew and the producers acknowledged he became the breakout character. Two highly rated 1980 episodes became part of a cultural phenomenon that year known as "Who shot J.R.?". In "A House Divided", the audience witnessed J.R. being shot by an unknown assailant.


After the cliffhanger was broadcast in March, the audience had to wait until the November conclusion, "Who Done It". With his new-found popularity, Larry Hagman threatened to leave the series unless his contractual demands were met. CBS leaked rumors of recasting, but the actor eventually prevailed. He also appeared in five episodes of spin-off series Knots Landing between 1980 and 1982. The character is featured in the first two seasons of the 2012 reincarnation series as well. Hagman died on November 23, 2012, and Dallas producers subsequently announced that J.R. would be killed off in the second season. The episode "The Furious and Fast" dealt with J.R.'s death.



J.R. Ewing is considered one of television's most popular characters, with TV Guide naming him #1 in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked him #11 of their "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time". In a 2001 Channel 4 poll in the U.K. he was ranked 38th on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.