Image Credit: Will Hart
Tonight marks the fourth season premiere of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. The reality show has introduced us to some of the mid-Atlantic’s most colorful characters, from fiercely protective big sister and mother Caroline Manzo to Fabulicious! table flipper Teresa Giudice (still a contender on this season of The Celebrity Apprentice) and even Cop Without a Badge heroine Danielle Staub. But these ladies aren’t all that Jersey has to offer. The Garden State has been fertile ground for great fictional characters in pop culture. Below, we run down five of our favorite Jersey-born-and-bred characters. (Sorry, Shore fans! Snooki doesn’t technically count as a fictional character.)
Let’s face it: Not everyone on TV can be Victoria Grayson (Madeline Stowe), whose immaculate gown collection on Revenge makes her look like she’s stepped out of a magical silk sea that changes jewel tones at her every whim and envelops her in liquid wealth for every occasion — “breakfast,” for example. Nope, sometimes people on TV just look like crap. I’ve started a list of 2011′s Worst-Dressed TV People below. But it will likely seem as incomplete as Kurt’s ridiculous one-sleeved cowl-neck sweater on Glee, so please add your own suggestions in the comments! 
