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The 100 Greatest TV Characters of the 21st Century
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<blockquote data-quote="Ome" data-source="post: 259890" data-attributes="member: 2"><p><h2>30. Eve Polastri (<em>Killing Eve</em>)</h2><p>[ATTACH=full]25543[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Played by Sandra Oh</strong></p><p>A villain as terrifying and electric as the psychopathic killer-for-hire Villanelle needs an opponent equally as dynamic, and <em>Killing Eve</em>'s Eve Polastri, the MI5 paper-pusher who, in a series of unlikely events, is tasked by British intelligence with hunting Villanelle down and exposing her crime syndicate, is such a character. Played with a few generous shakes of Sandra Oh's trademark acid humor (with an assist by co-creator and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Eve is as brilliant as she is obsessive, her best intentions to stay sensible clouded by the desire she feels to get deeper inside the psyche of her quarry. The perpetual tango between Eve and Villanelle is one of the most thrilling relationships on television, their constant slingshotting around each other even more delightful than a classic will-they-won't-they romance. What's great about Eve is that she's just as odd (if not quite as bloodthirsty) as her counterpart, able to stand her ground and trade barbs with Villanelle even as she's losing her absolute shit at being in the same room as an international assassin. <em>-- ES</em></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><h2>29. Joan Clayton (<em>Girlfriends</em>)</h2><p>[ATTACH=full]25544[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Played by Tracee Ellis Ross</strong></p><p>In a quick scan of this list (or considering the vast majority of TV, really), not many characters jump out as the "role model" type, but Joan Clayton fits the mold -- not that it's a prerequisite or even necessary to come off as lovable. But there is a dearth of "good people" on TV. In Tracee Ellis Ross's breakout role on the UPN/CW series <em>Girlfriends</em>, Joan ticks off a bunch of boxes: She's driven, compassionate, positive, adventurous, funny, and, perhaps most importantly, imperfect, full of neuroses and anxiety that made her beautifully human. She was the glue of her girl group. At first, it was a toss-up whether we should include Joan or Ross's character Dr. Rainbow Johnson from <em>Black-ish</em>, but in the end it was a no-brainer: Without the success of <em>Girlfriends</em>, Tracee Ellis Ross might not have gone on to be the endearing, bubbly star we know her as today. <em>-- LB</em></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><h2>28. Selina Meyer (<em>Veep</em>)</h2><p>[ATTACH=full]25545[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus</strong></p><p>In the fourth season of <em>Veep</em>, Amy, an underling to then-President Selina Meyer, has a breakdown. She gets in her boss's face and says, "The fact that you are a woman means that we will have no more women presidents because we tried one and she fucking sucked." It would have been easy to throw one of <em>Veep</em>'s many hilarious supporting players on this list. Amy is a good candidate. So is human punching bag Jonah Ryan, whose rise over the course of the series is as damning as any of its indictments of American politics. But in the end, it had to be Selina herself. Amy is right; Selina fucking sucks. She's a corrupt leader, a mean mother, and just an all-around asshole. Thanks to a masterclass by Queen of TV Comedy Julia Louis-Dreyfus, she turns insults into vulgar poetry. Selina is also depressing to watch, as she sheds more and more of her humanity in pursuit of power. But that was <em>Veep</em>'s ultimate point: Politics is a game for schmucks who are so consumed by their own ambition that they stop caring about anyone or anything else. -- <em>EZ </em> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><h2>27. Prince (<em>Chappelle's Show</em>)</h2><p>[ATTACH=full]25546[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Played by Dave Chappelle</strong></p><p>Given his current place in pop culture as the Mark Twain Prize-winning, Netflix-special-releasing stand-up elderstatement, it's easy to forget that Dave Chappelle is also a gifted sketch comedy performer. On Comedy Central's short-lived-yet-influential Chappelle's Show, he created a number of vivid, hilarious original characters (Tyrone Biggums, Clayton Bigsby, Chuck Taylor) and skillfully lampooned a number of celebrities (Lil' John, Samuel L. Jackson, P. Diddy), often with an archness that helped sell the premise of the sketch. In the "True Hollywood Stories" segments, which debuted with an often quotable Rick James adventure, writer Charlie Murphy would share personal tales of encounters with celebrities in the '80s, narrating with a winning dryness and vulnerability. The show's portrayal of Prince, filtered through Murphy's memories and performed by Chappelle, is both mystical and relatable: He floats after dunking during a late-night basketball game and gets really competitive when challenged. He'll embarrass you and then serve you pancakes. There are funnier and more satirically piercing Chappelle's Show sketches, but the show's joyfully strange (and reportedly true) version of Prince might be its greatest achievement. -- DJ</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><h2>26. Veronica Mars (<em>Veronica Mars</em>)</h2><p>[ATTACH=full]25547[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Played by Kristen Bell</strong></p><p>Rob Thomas' teen noir may have one of the most elegant pilots of all time, mainly because it presents such a fully formed picture of its heroine. Veronica Mars could have easily been reduced to her sassy quips, but Thomas and actor Kristen Bell were deeply invested in showing a young woman whose life is rich with trauma even as she reinvents herself into a hardboiled snoop. Veronica is more than just a teen detective: She's a grieving friend, who lost her closest ally in a grisly murder; she's a rape survivor, who is also determined to seek justice for herself; she's a loving daughter, whose relationship with her father is one of the most touching ever put on screen; she's an outcast, who refuses to let her peers' jeers hold her down. It's sort of stunning how complete Veronica is from episode one, and while the rest of the series may have been always trying to recapture the magic of the first season, it was consistently a pleasure to let Veronica and all her foibles and attraction to misery enter our lives. <em>-- EZ</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ome, post: 259890, member: 2"] [HEADING=1]30. Eve Polastri ([I]Killing Eve[/I])[/HEADING] [ATTACH type="full"]25543[/ATTACH] [B]Played by Sandra Oh[/B] A villain as terrifying and electric as the psychopathic killer-for-hire Villanelle needs an opponent equally as dynamic, and [I]Killing Eve[/I]'s Eve Polastri, the MI5 paper-pusher who, in a series of unlikely events, is tasked by British intelligence with hunting Villanelle down and exposing her crime syndicate, is such a character. Played with a few generous shakes of Sandra Oh's trademark acid humor (with an assist by co-creator and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Eve is as brilliant as she is obsessive, her best intentions to stay sensible clouded by the desire she feels to get deeper inside the psyche of her quarry. The perpetual tango between Eve and Villanelle is one of the most thrilling relationships on television, their constant slingshotting around each other even more delightful than a classic will-they-won't-they romance. What's great about Eve is that she's just as odd (if not quite as bloodthirsty) as her counterpart, able to stand her ground and trade barbs with Villanelle even as she's losing her absolute shit at being in the same room as an international assassin. [I]-- ES[/I] [HEADING=1]29. Joan Clayton ([I]Girlfriends[/I])[/HEADING] [ATTACH type="full"]25544[/ATTACH] [B]Played by Tracee Ellis Ross[/B] In a quick scan of this list (or considering the vast majority of TV, really), not many characters jump out as the "role model" type, but Joan Clayton fits the mold -- not that it's a prerequisite or even necessary to come off as lovable. But there is a dearth of "good people" on TV. In Tracee Ellis Ross's breakout role on the UPN/CW series [I]Girlfriends[/I], Joan ticks off a bunch of boxes: She's driven, compassionate, positive, adventurous, funny, and, perhaps most importantly, imperfect, full of neuroses and anxiety that made her beautifully human. She was the glue of her girl group. At first, it was a toss-up whether we should include Joan or Ross's character Dr. Rainbow Johnson from [I]Black-ish[/I], but in the end it was a no-brainer: Without the success of [I]Girlfriends[/I], Tracee Ellis Ross might not have gone on to be the endearing, bubbly star we know her as today. [I]-- LB[/I] [HEADING=1]28. Selina Meyer ([I]Veep[/I])[/HEADING] [ATTACH type="full"]25545[/ATTACH] [B]Played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus[/B] In the fourth season of [I]Veep[/I], Amy, an underling to then-President Selina Meyer, has a breakdown. She gets in her boss's face and says, "The fact that you are a woman means that we will have no more women presidents because we tried one and she fucking sucked." It would have been easy to throw one of [I]Veep[/I]'s many hilarious supporting players on this list. Amy is a good candidate. So is human punching bag Jonah Ryan, whose rise over the course of the series is as damning as any of its indictments of American politics. But in the end, it had to be Selina herself. Amy is right; Selina fucking sucks. She's a corrupt leader, a mean mother, and just an all-around asshole. Thanks to a masterclass by Queen of TV Comedy Julia Louis-Dreyfus, she turns insults into vulgar poetry. Selina is also depressing to watch, as she sheds more and more of her humanity in pursuit of power. But that was [I]Veep[/I]'s ultimate point: Politics is a game for schmucks who are so consumed by their own ambition that they stop caring about anyone or anything else. -- [I]EZ [/I] [HEADING=1]27. Prince ([I]Chappelle's Show[/I])[/HEADING] [ATTACH type="full"]25546[/ATTACH] [B]Played by Dave Chappelle[/B] Given his current place in pop culture as the Mark Twain Prize-winning, Netflix-special-releasing stand-up elderstatement, it's easy to forget that Dave Chappelle is also a gifted sketch comedy performer. On Comedy Central's short-lived-yet-influential Chappelle's Show, he created a number of vivid, hilarious original characters (Tyrone Biggums, Clayton Bigsby, Chuck Taylor) and skillfully lampooned a number of celebrities (Lil' John, Samuel L. Jackson, P. Diddy), often with an archness that helped sell the premise of the sketch. In the "True Hollywood Stories" segments, which debuted with an often quotable Rick James adventure, writer Charlie Murphy would share personal tales of encounters with celebrities in the '80s, narrating with a winning dryness and vulnerability. The show's portrayal of Prince, filtered through Murphy's memories and performed by Chappelle, is both mystical and relatable: He floats after dunking during a late-night basketball game and gets really competitive when challenged. He'll embarrass you and then serve you pancakes. There are funnier and more satirically piercing Chappelle's Show sketches, but the show's joyfully strange (and reportedly true) version of Prince might be its greatest achievement. -- DJ [HEADING=1]26. Veronica Mars ([I]Veronica Mars[/I])[/HEADING] [ATTACH type="full"]25547[/ATTACH] [B]Played by Kristen Bell[/B] Rob Thomas' teen noir may have one of the most elegant pilots of all time, mainly because it presents such a fully formed picture of its heroine. Veronica Mars could have easily been reduced to her sassy quips, but Thomas and actor Kristen Bell were deeply invested in showing a young woman whose life is rich with trauma even as she reinvents herself into a hardboiled snoop. Veronica is more than just a teen detective: She's a grieving friend, who lost her closest ally in a grisly murder; she's a rape survivor, who is also determined to seek justice for herself; she's a loving daughter, whose relationship with her father is one of the most touching ever put on screen; she's an outcast, who refuses to let her peers' jeers hold her down. It's sort of stunning how complete Veronica is from episode one, and while the rest of the series may have been always trying to recapture the magic of the first season, it was consistently a pleasure to let Veronica and all her foibles and attraction to misery enter our lives. [I]-- EZ[/I] [/QUOTE]
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The 100 Greatest TV Characters of the 21st Century
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