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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ome" data-source="post: 259876" data-attributes="member: 2"><h2>50. Desmond Hume (Lost)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25523[/ATTACH]Played by Henry Ian CusickLet's get this out of the way: Lost was on the air for a long time, a result of its huge commercial success at a time when network hits were expected to run until the wheels fell off, and many of its main characters, no matter how invested you were in their journeys, were also incredibly annoying. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, and even Locke all got on your nerves at one point or another. You know who didn't? Desmond Hume, the mysterious long-haired man living in the hatch and punching the same set of commands into a computer every day. In addition to getting the best introductory scene on a show that fully understood the importance of first impressions, kicking off the second season after the first season's massive cliffhanger, he also got best episode, Season 4's stunning "The Constant," a tricky love-story time-travel riff that lingers in the mind long after all the polar bears and Smoke Monsters fade from memory. -- DJ<h2>49. Dowager Countess (Downton Abbey)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25524[/ATTACH]Played by Maggie SmithIf you want to pinpoint one reason Downton Abbey became a phenomenon, you might just have to go with the Dowager Countess. The series could have easily disappeared into the recesses of the Masterpiece archive if not for Maggie Smith's icy-tongued elder, doling out barbs like, "What is a weekend?" Sure, some may have been drawn to Downton's soap-operatic scandals, but Smith as the Dowager Countess made it downright funny. Though she was arguably the stuffiest character on a relatively stuffy show, her sardonic nature cut through all the etiquette. As the series went, the Dowager Countess's cracks became a crutch for the writers, but the freshness of her initial appearances never left our minds. -- EZ<h2>48. Jeremy Usborne (Peep Show)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25525[/ATTACH]Played by Robert WebbWe at Thrillist are (clearly, by the looks of this list) big fans of mega-dipshits, and perhaps the biggest unironic puka shell necklace-wearing disphit of them all is Jeremy "Jez" Usborne, played with ultimate manchild energy by series co-creator Robert Webb. While Peep Show is firmly in socially awkward and brutally insecure Mark Corrigan's (David Mitchell) first-person domain, aimless wannabe electronic musician Jez was the crucially unself-aware and ego-centric half of the roommates' unlikely friendship. At the same time, Jeremy was a sweetheart deep down, walking Mark back from many an edge when his obsession with on-and-off office romantic interest Sophie (Olivia Colman) when it counted most, yet naive enough to be regularly taken advantage of by the uber-dirtbag Super Hans (Matt King) and others. For a character that experienced approximately zero growth throughout the show's nine season, Jez's hilarious unfussy presence and inability to read a room (or lie) remained a constant high point, thanks to Webb's spot-on affect and future Succession creator Jesse Armstrong's sharp writing. -- LB<h2>47. Celery Man (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25526[/ATTACH]Played by Paul RuddThe actual "Celery Man" sketch starring Paul Rudd, which aired on Adult Swim in 2010 and found a second life on YouTube, is less than two minutes long. In that time, we meet "Paul," a coffee-sipping office drone reporting to work in a sterile CINCO chamber, "Celery Man," a modifiable dancing mirror-image of Paul in a silver suit, and "Tayne," a slightly menacing, sunglasses-wearing Lynchian double of the more innocent Celery Man. Like most great art of the digital era, Celery Man is about the slippery nature of identity, examining the interplay between the demands of capital and the pull of desire. You can also read it as a Freudian model of the psyche: "Paul" is the ego, "Celery Man" is the super-ego, and "Tayne" ("NUDE. TARYNE.") is the id. It's a rich text, one of the many vivid creations in the ever-expanding comedic universe of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. Load up Celery Man for yourself and enjoy. -- DJ<h2>46. Boyd Crowder (Justified)</h2>[ATTACH=full]25527[/ATTACH]Played by Walton GogginsThey dug coal together. Throughout Justified's six-season run on FX, Timothy Olyphant's trigger-happy US Marshall Raylan Givens, the creation of legendary crime fiction writer Elmore Leonard, insulted, pursued, and occasionally unloaded his weapon at Walton Goggins' hillbilly mastermind Boyd Crowder, but they also shared a mutual respect and a sense of local history. Occasionally, the two Harlan County, Kentucky boys would team up if there was a dangerous enemy to bring down, allowing Crowder to shed his Wile E. Coyote antics and walk on the righteous path. But he would always stray. With his portrayals of in-over-his-head corrupt cop Shane Vendrell on The Shield, manically petty school administrator Lee Russell on Vice Principals, and tragically spiteful preacher Uncle "Baby" Billy on The Righteous Gemstones, Goggins has emerged as TV's premiere chronicler of charismatic male shitheel-dom, always finding humor and pathos in bad behavior. It must be the twinkle in his eye. -- DJ</blockquote>

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