The always-reliable Onion A.V. Club has posted a list of television’s most loathed characters. There are plenty of gimmes (Scrappy Doo, Cousin Oliver), a few built-in debates (Buffy’s sister, Dawn, pictured? Urkel, but no Screech? And, c’mon, Livia Soprano?), and two that hit close to home.
I speak of Coy and Vance Duke, the scab beefcakes brought in to replace Bo and Luke during a season-long salary dispute. During this dark period in American history, I was too young to understand what a salary dispute was. I remember thinking that maybe Coy and Vance WERE Bo and Luke, in disguise. Or maybe there was something wrong with the camera. Several pints of innocence were lost that winter. (It would be several more years before I grasped the significance of the Stars and Bars.)
Any-hoo, peruse the list. There’s plenty to delight and infuriate. And as for your personal Most Hateds, well, that’s what the comment boards were made for. Burn ‘em up!
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to a salary dispute, Brown and Slezak will be replaced by two adorable kittens who will pad over the keyboard, batting a ball of twine, their precious paws striking random keys in the process. This will probably result in a better blog for everyone, so don't expect to see the boys back anytime soon.]
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Joey from Full House … just awful. Cut. It. Out. Definitely annoying.
I think Kimmie Gibbler is at least as annoying as Joey. (Now that I think about it – almost every character on Full House was annoying).
Why is Ross from Friends on this list? HE was high-maintenance? HE was whiny? I beg to differ… RACHEL was the most annoying thing about that show. SHE was the most indecisive, spoiled, self-centered, bougie, annoying, daddy’s girl to ever be scripted. If she were on a reality show, she’s be “Rich Girls” + “My Super Sweet 16″ + “the Simple Life”. Ugh, I hated her. And by the way… they WERE on a break!
Wow, most of the list was right on, including Ross Geller (sorry, ceej, but at least Rachel had some endearing qualities). I have to quibble with the Barney entry, though – although dumb and irritating, he is nowhere near as annoying as his idiot kid friends who mug and showboat their way through the show. As the mother of a 3-year-old, trust me, I know from all-too-painful experience.
The entire cast of Blossom?
I love to hate on Wesley and Scrappy do, and have a whole game premised on hating Ross from Friends. The list had my faves. Most glaring ommission is Tony Soprano’s sister Janice. As bad as the mother was, Janice has them All beat as the most annoying character on tv today.
Michael on Good Times. While he could occasionally lob a feisty insult at Kid DY-NO-MITE, his mere presence usually guaranteed that at least one ham-fisted lecture on racial inequality was coming to suck the humor out of a scene, thereby undermining all of the more subtle battles on that front that the show had been waging more successfully through wit,empathy,and less-speechifying characters.
Thank you for bringing up Kimmie so true. I also think the whole cast of 7th Heaven could be put on there as well.
What about Ana Lucia “I-Never-Make-the-Same-Mistake-Twice-But-I-Always-Seem-to-Screw-Up” Cortez? Michelle Rodriquez is a painfully bad actress, and Ana Lucia was a painfully stereotyped “tough girl!” That’s a double whammy of badness.
Thank the Others she’s dead!
The EDITORS note had better be a joke – SLEZAK IS THE ONLY REASON I VISIT THIS PLACE!! Well, not the ONLY, but he is a major part of it.
I would only be able to list “reality” people but here goes:
*The entire cast of “Laguna Beach” and any of it’s spin-offs.
*ANYONE that appears on “My Super Sweet 16″
*Jonathon & Victoria from “The Amazing Race” (and the God-els and that annoying family from the Family Edition of the race)
*Richard Hatch and that “Fairplay” guy from “Survivor”
*The majority of the people that appeared on “Big Brother”, “The Swan”, “Temptation Island” or that show that took place on the boat.
*Jade and Robyn from “America’s Next Top Model”
*Santino and Wendy Pepper from “Project Runway”
*Anyone how has EVER appeared on “Jerry Springer”.
Remember Dr. Benton’s Alzheimer’s-ridden mother on the first seasons of E.R.? Every scene with her was a downer. I wanted Eriq LaSalle to call Dr. Kevorkian, quick.
Honorable mention: That magician guy (was it Max?) who ran the diner where the Saved by the Bell kids hung out. Only on T.V. would those kids find that guy cool in any way. Lame.
Finally somebody shares my feelings about Ross Geller! He’s too whiny and a little crazy, I fear for Rachel.
I think Ana Lucia is the most hated character in the 2005-06 TV season.
nothing against Michelle T, she’s a sweet girl, but her character Dawn was a Cousin Oliver times 10…ick…didn’t dig it…boo…
The mother from 7th Heaven deserves the most annoying title simply for her performance in the “series finale.” Did anyone see her ridiculous reaction to three of her children announcing they were having twins? She looked like Macauley Culkin in the aftershave scene in Home Alone.
Thank the lord that I wasn’t alone in my hatred for Dawn on Buffy. I was a devoted fan of Buffy till the introduced Dawn and the whole show went to hell from there. She totally ruined my life!!!!
hello, alf???
all the kids from 7th HEAVEN!!!
what about chrissy seaver! SO ANNOYING!
randy jackson on AI – what purpose does he serve?
lastly – elaine from ally mcbeal (and throw in vonda shepard, the lounge singer – as soon as I heard her voice – I cringed!)
What about Janice with the annoying laugh from Friends? She can best be described as a slightly younger Fran Dresher with a Rosanne-esque guffaw. Way more obnoxious than any other character from that show!
I’m one of the few Buffy fans who doesn’t hate Dawn (or Riley). Yeah, she was a little annoying. That was kind of the point, and also, if you were 15 and had a superhero older sister, and then found out your entire life was a lie and you didn’t even really exist, wouldn’t you be a little irritable? I sympathized with her and enjoyed her Season 5 arc and her progression through Seasons 6 and 7.
The only Buffy character that should be on this list is Kennedy. Talk about no redeeming quality.
I think one of the more hated recent characters is Marissa on The O.C., though it personally takes a lot for me to not like someone so have no problems there or with Dawn. I do think they should have included an example of a boorish slob type, like Jim from “According to…” (just compare him to a well-done character like Dan from “Roseanne”)
The entire cast of Small Wonder (except Edit McClurg). One of the most crap-tastic sitcoms I’ve ever seen.
The new Kaitlin Cooper on “The O.C.” drives me up the wall. Not only was it unnecessary to revive the character, but she also sounds as if she talks through her teeth. I realize that Willa Holland is only 14, but she could use voice lessons!
1. Kate and Jack from LOST
2. Pepe the Prawn from the Muppets (although he wasn’t on the original Muppet Show, but he’s in all the new movies and was on Muppets Tonight…. and he’s not real)
3. Wilmer Valderama in anything.
4. Ditto for Max from SBTB.
5. Steve Sanders… and then later, Kelly Taylor. 90210 you were at your best when everyone was in high school and Donna was virgin.
i loved small wonder! i just HATED the girl who played HARRIET!!!
i also could not stand Johnny on the OC – awful. when an actor can’t even match up to Marissa – that’s just sad.
1. NOOO! Scrappy is so cute.
2. I was never a big Brady fan, so I don’t know.
3. Dawn never had a chance with her weird entry into the show. I kept waiting for that Goddess chick to snatch her.
4. Can’t say.
5. Annoying to adults, yes, but the kids love him for some reason. If raindrops were gumdrops…
6. Ok, but Urkel was the best part of the show. He sucked when he turned into Stefan.
7. PEEEEEEK-A-CHOOOOOOOO!! Yeah the who phenomenom was annoying.
8. Pat has a loyal fanbase, like Scrappy. There are plenty of other who don’t and are equally annoying.
9. I agree that Rachel was the more annoying out of the group.
10. Come on! The show went downhill from the time she left. That whole show was about the Brenda and Dylan thing.
11. I was too young to watch this when it was on, so dunno.
12. Never watched.
13. Never watched.
My noms: *That chick that Logan dated this season on VM cause she was standing in the way of some LoVe. *Donna from 90210. *Anyone on a MTV reality show, the only exceptions being if they appeared on Real World or Road Rules more than 5 years ago.
*The twins from full house.
*Billie Jenkins, the blonde girl from the last season of charmed.
*The blonde replacement of Suzanne Summers, on Three’s company.
For anyone who is old enough to remember…Sam, the red-headed stepchild from Different Strokes. Another case of “Oliver Syndome”….his bowl cut, southern accent and occasional fits of honky-tonk dancing were annoying to me, even as a nine-year old.
Ditto Jack from Lost. Except I like Kate. Well more so first season
I disagree about Ross. It was funny as he got more and more unlikable and the joke soon turned into how neurotic and pathetic he was. By the end Ross was probably my favorite character. At least he wasn’t one note like Joey.
If I can include reality TV people, then the most irritating, loathesome, want-to-punch-in-the-face person has gotta be Jonathan Antin from Bravo’s Blow Out. Oh. My. God. I have never seen someone so into themselves when he can only do THREE different hairstyles. He is way too pretentious and has no reason to be because he is still in the service industry! You cut hair! Now get over yourself.
1. Scrappy-Doo, Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo
Hell, no. Scrappy made Scooby-Doo bearable. I’m sorry if I’m of the minority, but Scooby-Doo sucked.
2. Oliver Martin, The Brady Bunch
Definitely.
3. Dawn Summers, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Never watched Buffy.
4. Livia Soprano, The Sopranos
Never got into the Sopranos.
5. Barney, Barney & Friends
Sorry, but if you want an annoying children’s character, one word: ELMO. Barney was at least tolerable compared to that red menace from Sesame Street. Any pupper that addresses themselves in the third person and has a need to shout all the time deserves to be on this list.
6. Steve Urkel, Family Matters
“Did I do that?” Need I say more?
7. Pikachu, Pokémon
Cute but not annoying.
8. Pat, Saturday Night Live
Oh, yes! Absolutely. Talk about a one-note character…
9. Ross Gellar, Friends
I had a co-worker once that had a crush on him. I felt she needed her head examined. Ross is not cute, just plain annoying.
10. Brenda Walsh, Beverly Hills 90210
Brenda was bitchy, but Donna belongs on this list more than her.
11. James Hurley, Twin Peaks
Never saw the show.
12. Coy and Vance, The Dukes Of Hazzard
The whole show was stupid to being with, but Coy and Vance made it worse.
13. Wesley Crusher, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Never saw the show.
~Ditto Kaitlin Cooper. Awful.
~What about Cody on Step by Step? He was a doofus.