Top 6 Television Side Characters

By Jonny Walls

Anyone closely acquainted with me will know that I'm no television savant. There is a handful (a modest handful at that) of television shows that I have ever truly loved. So, obviously, my limited perspective on this topic does not allow for any sort of comprehensive take on the subject at hand.

That said, I do firmly believe that the (relatively miniscule) rabble of shows that I have come to know and love over the years are among the best in existence. Yes, I'm still missing out on a LOT of great stuff, but the shows referenced here are part of, but do not entirely encompass, the cream of the boob-tube crop.

The rules for this list.

-NO main characters. In a show like Frasier, that would include all the Cranes, Daphne, and Roz, not just Frasier and Niles and Martin.

-To be eligible for this list, you must appear at least somewhat regularly. While a list of one-off, single burst characters would also be a fun list, (think Soup Nazi- and yes, he also appears in the series finale', but that doesn't count) this list is devoted to peripheral characters who have a running relationship with the show, but are clearly not part of the main core.

-No touching of the hair or face. And that's it. NOW LET'S DO THIS!

(My) Top 6 Television Side Characters

6. Ted from the show Scrubs. 

Ted could be the single funniest character on this entire show, and that's saying a lot with John C. McGinley and Ken Jenkins running around. The sweaty, pathetic, unsure, downtrodden, trodden upon, divorced, incompetent, A capella singing lawyer garners laughs almost every single time.

5. Barry Zuckercorn from the show Arrested Development

Barry Zuckercorn's hilarious level doubles instantaneously when we see the actor who plays him. This ambiguous, sleezy, shady, perpetually bamboozled lawyer and friend to the Bluth family makes us squeamish and tickles us pink all at once. Oh, and he has the all time greatest in-show reference to one of his past characters.

4. Bebe Glazer from the show Frasier.

Bebe's devious antics are the shot of wild energy that this brilliant show needs every now and then. Bebe comes roaring back into Frasier's life repeatedly and always when we least expect it, bringing her devilish and manipulative charm to every scene she's in.

3. Lucille 2 from the show Arrested Development

I know I've already included AD on this list, but the show is King in the realm of repeating side-characters, and it even seems a crime to limit it to just two. Lucille 2, like Barry Zuckercorn, enjoys an automatic doubling on the hilarity meter from her casting alone. But it's her pitch perfect mix of endearing, vertigo, and slightly crazy that makes her one of the most memorable in a show stuffed to the gills with unforgettable characters.

2. Sideshow Bob from the show The Simpsons

Kelsey Grammar made the list after all. One could do an entire thesis on the greatness of the side-characters contained within the Simpsons universe. Arguably the greatest of them all, however, is Sideshow Bob. Possibly the most loveable villain of all time, this Yale gentleman sees his brilliant and ultra refined treachery thwarted time and again by Bart Simpson. He is also largely responsible for, quite possibly, the single funniest episode of television of all time.

1. Newman from the show Seinfeld

Climbing over such gems as J. Peterman and David Putty, Newman brings a level of Funny to the table that could actually give Kramer a run for his money. Utterly depraved and eternal nemesis to our hero Jerry, Newman does a whole lot of nothing in particular like loving Drake's Coffee cakes, collecting bottles for deposit exchange, and trying to eat Kramer like a turkey. He's merry. He's a mystery wrapped in an enigma. He's the White Whale. He's Newman.

What are your all time favorite television side-characters?

By Jonny Walls