TT Top Characters Telly Talk's Favourite TV Characters of the 1960s - The Result

[Daniel Avery]

1. Samantha Stevens, Bewitched
2. The Doctor, Doctor Who
3. Rachel Davis Matthews, Another World
4. Barnabas Collins, Dark Shadows
5. Lucy Carmichael, The Lucy Show
6. Lisa Miller Hughes, As the World Turns
7. Barney Fife, The Andy Griffith Show
8. Laura Petrie, The Dick Van Dyke Show
9. Lisa Douglas, Green Acres
10. Victoria Lord Riley, One Life To Live

For the female soap opera characters, I tried to limit the surnames to those earned during the 1960s. Most had plenty more husbands in the ensuing decades.

 

[Ome]

1. The Doctor – DOCTOR WHO
2. Spock – STAR TREK
3. Hilda Ogden – CORONATION STREET
4. Olive Rudge – ON THE BUSES
5. Catwoman – BATMAN
6. Terry Collier – THE LIKELY LADS
7. Lurcio – UP POMPEII!
8. Meg Richardson – CROSSROADS
9. Jennifer Corner – NOT IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN
10. Dawn – THE LIVER BIRDS
11. Morticia Adams - THE ADDAMS FAMILY
12. Michael Upton – DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE
13. Mr Bernard Hedges – PLEASE SIR
14. Emme Peel – THE AVENGERS
15. Steve McGarrett – HAWAII FIVE-0
16. Albert Steptoe – STEPTOE AND SON
17. Jeannie - I DREAM OF JEANNIE
18. Herman Munster – THE MUNSTERS
19. Samantha – BEWITCHED
20. Simon Templar – THE SAINT

 

[Ome]

A couple of questions that came to me this morning. I’m curious what all your answers will be.

1. What decade are you looking forward to?
2. What decade do you think will be your hardest?

For me, I’m looking forward to the 70s and I think 00s will be the one I will struggle with the most.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I’m definitely looking most forward to the 80s, as it’s the decade I grew up watching tv for the most part. However, it’s also going to be my hardest decade at the same time as I think I’m gonna have a hard time picking only 20 characters from that era.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A couple of questions that came to me this morning. I’m curious what all your answers will be.

1. What decade are you looking forward to?
2. What decade do you think will be your hardest?

1. I've already put together a provisional list from the Seventies, so I'm really looking forward to making it live (and seeing how different it looks in a couple of weeks).
2. I started putting together an Eighties list and got quite overwhelmed with too many options. It's a decade where I watched kids' and prime time series of all genres so it's a fairly wide net. Representing my experience of that decade is going to be a challenge and sacrifices will need to be made.

 

[DallasFanForever]

I’ve been doing the same thing Mel. I’m making my lists ahead of time but then the problem I have is one of you will post ur list and remind me of someone I left out. It’s very frustrating LOL but that’s also the fun of it. No matter which 20 characters we pick someone gets left off.

 

[DallasFanForever]

Love ur avatar btw, Mel! I’m gonna safely assume she makes ur list in the 70s.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I’ve been doing the same thing Mel. I’m making my lists ahead of time but then the problem I have is one of you will post ur list and remind me of someone I left out. It’s very frustrating LOL but that’s also the fun of it. No matter which 20 characters we pick someone gets left off.

Very true, DFF.

It's no hardship, because I love making lists. But you're so right that seeing other people's choices will remind me of all these great characters and shows I'd forgotten and then it gets tricky. My #1 choice for the Sixties round is an example of that. I'd forgotten all about Columbo until I saw @Angela Channing's list.

Love ur avatar btw, Mel! I’m gonna safely assume she makes ur list in the 70s.

Oh thanks. And I'm sure my current Bionic rewatch will inspire me. But then the seven year old in me will also then demand that Wonder Woman is in. And I also love so many sitcoms from the Seventies. It gets trickier and tricker.

I wonder where your avatar will rate on The Abby Scale for the Eighties?!

 

[bmasters9]

For me, I’m looking forward to the 70s and I think 00s will be the one I will struggle with the most.

I'm looking forward to the 70s as well-- more of my favorites came from that decade than in both the poll we're doing now and the first poll.

OTOH, the 2000s will be next to impossible for me-- none of my favorites are from that decade.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A couple of questions that came to me this morning.

These decades threads look sure to change the way I view series - especially the long running ones, or the ones that started late in a particular decade and ran into the next.

For example, something that's occurred to me just this morning is that while I look back fondly on Eighties Corrie, there were relatively few new characters introduced during the decade that I look back as important or iconic in the grand scheme of things. Most of the memorable characters from the Eighties had arrived in the Sixties or Seventies. To the point that I'm doubtful any Corrie characters will feature in my Eighties list. Especially when I think about all the characters coming from the new soaps during the same period.

 

[Crimson]

A couple of questions that came to me this morning. I’m curious what all your answers will be.

1. What decade are you looking forward to?
2. What decade do you think will be your hardest?

The 1950s was a tough. Although I LOVE LUCY is my favorite show ever, there's not much else from the 50s that I've seen let alone really like; a top 10 was a stretch. I think 2000-2009 will be tough too. I seem to recall I wasn't watching too much TV in those years. The other decades should all be easy for me, but I suppose I am most looking forward to the 1980s.

 

[Angela Channing]

It's no hardship, because I love making lists. But you're so right that seeing other people's choices will remind me of all these great characters and shows I'd forgotten and then it gets tricky. My #1 choice for the Sixties round is an example of that. I'd forgotten all about Columbo until I saw @Angela Channing's list.

When I was first to post my top 20 in this round, I knew someone would post a name that I had overlooked. It took a while but then noticed Michael Upton from Doctor In The House was chosen by @Ome a few hours ago and I've always like Barry Evans as and actor so I'm sure I would have included his character in my list. Maybe like you for Columbo, I didn't realise it was first broadcast in the 1960s as I always thought of it as a 1970s series.

 

[Angela Channing]

A couple of questions that came to me this morning. I’m curious what all your answers will be.

1. What decade are you looking forward to?
2. What decade do you think will be your hardest?

For me, I’m looking forward to the 70s and I think 00s will be the one I will struggle with the most.

Definitely looking forward to the 1970 because it was the decade that I first remember watching TV and and there were some great programmes from that era that it will be nice to think about.

I think I might struggle a bit with the 1990s because of the top of my head I can't think of many stand out TV series from the era. Maybe when I start Googling it may throw up a few shows I can pick characters from.

 

[bmasters9]

Definitely looking forward to the 1970 because it was the decade that I first remember watching TV and and there were some great programmes from that era that it will be nice to think about.

And all which I have the all-in-one DVD releases for (well worth the money, IMO).

 

[Daniel Avery]

The 1980s will likely be the only decade where I can come up with 20 names. I watch so little TV these days that my 2010s list will look as scant as my 1950s list.

 

[Emelee]

A couple of questions that came to me this morning. I’m curious what all your answers will be.

1. What decade are you looking forward to?
2. What decade do you think will be your hardest?

For me, I’m looking forward to the 70s and I think 00s will be the one I will struggle with the most.

80s and forward to present day will be seriously difficult as there are so many series and so many good characters to choose among. So many darlings will have to be killed. I especially will kill my Swedish darlings since most people here have no knowledge of the series they come from.

But I also look forward to these decades.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Maybe like you for Columbo, I didn't realise it was first broadcast in the 1960s as I always thought of it as a 1970s series.

Yes. I'd forgotten about the 1968 pilot. I'm really glad you reminded me as it would have been a shame to get to the Seventies and realise it didn't qualify.

I suppose Columbo is to the Sixties what Knots Landing will be to the Seventies. Each only had a single pilot episode broadcast during its introductory decade. But this will work out well for Knots characters who appeared early on but not in that first episode.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Hope Ive done this right @Ome

I dont remember much from those days but saw TV repeats and watched quite a few cartoons as a child so a good few in my list

MY friend and I called Ironside - The Wheelie wheelchair man back in the day - so not PC but we were children! And i was surprised when I watched Perry Mason to see that he COULD Walk!

1. Ironside = Raymond Burr in Ironside
2. Annie Walker – Corrie
3. David Hunter – Ronald Allen – Crossroads (my mum thought he was “dishy”)
4. Big John – Leif Erikson – High Chaparal
5. Steve McGarrett- Hawaii 5-O
6. Trampas – Doug McClure - the Virginian
7. The Saint – Roger Moore
8. Major Neilson – Larry Hagman, I dream of Jeannie - I have to include Hagman but thought Jeannie was annoying.
9. Sgt Wilson – John le Mesurier – Dads army
10. Penelope Pitstop – Wacky races
11. Dick Dastardly -Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines
12. Shaggy – Scooby Doo
13. Belle – Belle and Sebastian - loved the theme tune
14. Steptoe – Steptoe and son - poor, downtrodden and very poignant at times,
15. Hector – Hectors House
16. The Baron – Steve Forrest –
17. Dougal – The Magic Roundabout
18. Top Cat = Top Cat
19. The Pink Panther – The Pink Panther show
20. Midge – Mary, Mungo and Midge

 

[Toni]

1- Penelope Pitstop (in Latin Spanish renamed "Glamour" instead!) ("Wacky Races")
2- Dino ("The Flintstones")
3- Jeannie ("I Dream of Jeannie")
4- Lily Munster ("The Munsters")
5- The Hand ("The Addams Family")
6- Endora ("Bewitched")
7- Pink Panther ("The Pink Panther Show")

 

[Willie Oleson]

My favourite memorable characters with a certain something-extra-quality-energy-whatever, the ones that make me think "who IS this actor/actress?"

1. Carolyn Russell - PEYTON PLACE

I could have picked Rodney, Betty, Allison, Steven; they were all great. But this new character in the series' last instalment mesmerized me in unexpected ways.
It didn't hurt that the writing was still excellent but Carolyn could be downright entrancing.

2. The Kid/Number 48 - THE PRISONER

A wonderfully offbeat and electrifying character. There were other interesting guest characters but Number 48 could dominate the scene with very little (although he ended up doing plenty).

3. Aunt Belle - JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN

A vicious, cruel man-hater...but then a handsome drifter comes along. I wish she had been a recurring character in a serial or even a soap.
Despite being a "wild" character, the strength was in her restraint.

4. David Collins - DARK SHADOWS

Based on the little I have seen (but will continue in the very near future - if the episodes are still there!) I must say I find him very funny and intriguing.
And I love it when he looks straight into the camera.

5. Audra Barkley - THE BIG VALLEY

I know it was a hit series but I haven't seen Linda Evans in anything else apart from Dynasty (and a few minis at the time she was on Dynasty) therefore it all looks very obscure and surreal to me. Memorable for that reason.

Probably won't add much to the overall score, but, oh well.