The 25 Funniest TV Characters of 2010
Before Movieline flees for the new year, one last year-end roundup is necessary: a retrospective of 2010's funniest TV characters. Will Community's kooks outrank Modern Family's earnest in-laws? Will Parks and Recreation or Glee supplant 30 Rock for top honors? Join us for our biggest list yet.
25. George Christopher (Bored to Death)
If Ted Danson's character from Damages, the hilariously amoral Arthur Frobisher, were given a proper comic setting, he might turn out like George Christopher: a magazine editor who sleeps around and never breaks from his high-brow monotone.
24. Laurie Keller (Cougar Town)
Busy Philipps' good-time girl makes Cougar Town worthy of the hipster following that's rallied behind Parks and Recreation, but creator Bill Lawrence's series is still waiting to be "cool." A real shame, as Philipps is as good here as she was as the immortal Kim Kelly on Freaks and Geeks.
23. Andy Botwin (Weeds)
Even though Weeds has exhausted every plausible suburban drug dealer mom storyline, Justin Kirk still manages to find laughs in every episode whether he is posing as his dead brother to access a bank account, rechristening himself Randy Newman, performing trailer park baptisms or binge-eating butter sculptures of NFL hall-of-famers.
22. Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife)
The Good Wife remains an unexpectedly great drama, and the Emmy-winning Archie Panjabi played one of the year's most unexpected characters, period. The cynical Kalinda emits the kind of self-possessed sass that gets better as she gets colder. She can be dead serious and dead funny, often in the same breath.
21. Jeff Winger (Community)
The naked billiards duel alone qualifies Jeff for this list, but the Greendale group's detached ringmaster is constantly hilarious. The look on his face during that blissful trampoline romp refuses to leave my brain.
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Comments
I can't help but think you don't watch everything on television (and who could blame you), but, Martha Plimpton and, most definitely, Chloris Leachman, are stand outs on Raising Hope.
And Captain Awesome on Chuck deserves an honorable mention.
NO KENNY POWERS!? WTF MOVIELINE?
WHAT?? No Jay Leno??? Headlines, jaywalking, amazing monologues... Ugh I tried to get through typing this with a straight face but I think I've made myself sick.
No Kenny Posers or Larry David is a pretty bad oversight. But a great list overall. Glad to see Parks & Rec getting some love.
Was going to include Larry David until I realized there were no new Curb episodes in 2010. Next year he'll qualify, no doubt.
Tanya from Hung > all
Charlie Kelly is the funniest character on television and anyone who says differently is dead to me. The fact that he's not on this list is a complete travesty.
"WILD CARD, BITCHES!!!"
Let me guess Louis - you don't really watch much of ANYTHING on cable, do you? Because that's the only explanation for this laundry list of unfunny crap, punctuated occasionally by an actual funny character (usually from a cable show).
No Dan Stark???
You're about ten steps ahead of the game, because you already love your hobby.
It took me an entire week to watch that new Julia Roberts movie.I am not sure if i was really that busy, or i just did not care for it . My favorite Julia Roberts line is..." I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special".
If jim parsons deserves another emmy, why isnt he number 1