Favorite Characters On Television

To celebrate the return of our favorite scripted shows, Scooter asked a few bloggers to name their current favorite characters on TV (only on shows since last summer so no Veronica Mars or Arrested Development). The characters have to be from scripted shows from the current television season, but this is not an acting award, it is to be more about the entertainment value of a character, those that make you laugh and/or cry, than how good the actor is portraying him or her.

I seriously struggled way more than a busy person should have spent time on. I posted the resulting final 10 favorite characters that I chose after the jump and I included all my alternate choices I was humming over since what I may have submitted as my choices were the ones I had at that particular moment. Seriously, I think I could have replaced half my list with any of my alternates. (I also personally kept it a rule to choose only one character per show, because if not, it would be a character list from Friday Night Lights).

Here's what Scooter's tabulating ended up with for the bloggers Favorite Current Characters:

1. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace (Battlestar Galactica)
2. Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights) (photo above)
3. Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)
4. Benjamin Linus (Lost)
5. Dexter Morgan (Dexter)
6. Coach Eric Taylor (Friday Night Lights)
7. Landry Clarke (Friday Night Lights)
8. Dwight Schrute (The Office)
9. Lily Rush (Cold Case)
10. Omar Little (The Wire)
11. Gaius Baltar (Battlestar Galactica)
12. Olive Snook (Pushing Daisies)
13. Shawn Spencer (Psych)
14. Sheldon Cooper PhD (The Big Bang Theory)
15. Dr. Juliet Burke (Lost)
16. Michael Weston (Burn Notice) (photo below)
17. Captain Jack Harkness (Torchwood)
18. Dr. Miranda Bailey (Grey’s Anatomy)
19. Chuck Bartowski (Chuck)
20. Brenda Leigh Johnson (The Closer)
21. Emerson Cod (Pushing Daisies)
22. Ned “The Piemaker” (Pushing Daisies)
23. Liz Lemon (30 Rock)
24. Stephanie Lane (My Boys)
25. Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)

Also receiving multiple votes: Desmond Hume (Lost), Major John Casey (Chuck), Jack Donaghy (30 Rock)
Voters: Dan, Ducky, Jo, Kate, Sandie, Scooter McGavin, TVFan, Vance

I do wonder. How the hell did Stephanie Lane get in there? I love My Boys but really? I didn't realize bloggers loved her so much.

Here's the 10 that I submitted as my picks for the Best Current TV Characters:

1. Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights) (above at top of post)
2. Michael Weston (Burn Notice) (directly above)
3. Ned (Pushing Daisies)
4. Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)
5. Peggy Olson (Mad Men)
6. Justin Suarez (Ugly Betty)
7. Jack Donaghy (30 Rock)
8. Joy Turner (My Name Is Earl)
9. Jim Halpert (The Office)
10. Lloyd (Entourage)

So, that was my list. Who should I have added? Who should I have left out?

My top 5 was a definite for me:

Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)
Michael Weston (Burn Notice)
Ned (Pushing Daisies)
Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother)
Peggy Olson (Mad Men)

Here were the other characters I considered:

Betty Suarez, Amanda Tanen, Marc St. James, Justin Suarez (Ugly Betty)
Patrick Bachelor, Sara (Men In Trees)
Dan Humphrey, Serena Van Der Woodsen (Gossip Girl)
Dr. Gregory House (House)
Liz Lemon, Jack Donaghy (30 Rock)
Raja, Fran Tolchuk (Aliens in America)
Kevin Walker (Brothers & Sisters)
Matthew (The New Adventures of Old Christine)
Joy Turner (My Name Is Earl)
Juliet Burke, Ben Linus, Locke, Sayid, Sun, Hurley, Kate (Lost)
Christina Yang, Miranda Bailey (Grey’s Anatomy)
Chuck Bartowski (Chuck)
Dean Winchester (Supernatural)
Jim Halpert (The Office)
Celia Hodes, Nancy Botwin, Justin Botwin (Weeds)
Lloyd, Eric Murphy, Turtle (Entourage)
Cappie (Greek)

Here's a really short blurb on why I chose who I chose, and usually because they were the heart and charm of the show.

1. Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights) - TOTALLY the heart of the show.
2. Michael Weston (Burn Notice) - Smart, sexy, stern and smoldering, he's Veronica Mars meets MacGyver.
3. Ned (Pushing Daisies) - Deliciousness with bumbly charm.
4. Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother) - Defines why we need a riot act.
5. Peggy Olson (Mad Men) - Fascinating as the girl making it in the man's world, by using her brains and her naive charms.
6. Justin Suarez (Ugly Betty) - This was a toss up between many of the characters from this show, but Justin was written so well, so unapologetically, and so fabulous that while Amanda and Marc get more attention and America's Betty is simply superb, Justin might just be my all around fave.
7. Jack Donaghy (30 Rock) - Liz might be too close to what Tina may be in real life, and Kenneth might just have came out of nowhere to charm our ways into his weird page world, but I've never seen an exec like Jack Donaghy.
8. Joy Turner (My Name Is Earl) - And I've never seen white trash like this either. Brash, loud, obnoxious, yet utterly funny and lovable.
9. Jim Halpert (The Office) - A toss up between half the characters on this show too, and it came close to Pam, but we sort of see the world of this office through Jim and by reflection, I have to vote for him, because, it's me (ha).
10. Lloyd (Entourage) - Speaking of me...