TV Meme, Day 14: Favourite Male Characters

Sometimes I just get lazy and I can’t choose just one, hence for a few of the days to come I’ll be singling out a bloc of favourites eventually reaching the #1. Really, the question of asking for a favourite male character in all of TV is a difficult one – and it can’t be taken lightly. Let’s look at my top 5.
           
#5: Elmo (the Monster)

Show: Sesame Street

Actor: Kevin Clash

Trade Marks: Irrepressible glee and laughter, reworking of the “Jingle Bells” melody at his whim, devotion to Dorothy – his fish, learning through fun, cutness

Turn Offs: Dullness and silence

Why I Love Him: No character on Sesame Street is as iconic as Elmo. He’s red, he sings, he dances and he’s easily the most fun part of the show. I remember looking forward to his few minutes on the show… (…yesterday). Moreover, the celebrity guests really seem to love him and he’s just so personable.

       
#4: Robert Goren

Show: Law & Order: CI

Actor: Vincent D’Onfornio

Trade Marks: Making weird facial expressions, creepy voices, general freakishness, finding the murderer, sticking by his partner

Turn Offs: Murderers, deadbeat dads, doing things the usual way

Why I Love Him: Because he’s only the most badass detective in the entire Law & Order series. No one can stand up to his unorthodox investigating style, and his chemistry with Kathryn Erbe (who’s no slouch, herself) is just excellent. He’s always adding a little more to the character, sometimes hamming it but every now and then a nice serving of ham works.

                
#3: Spike

Show: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer

Actor: James Marsters

Trade Marks: Using sarcasm, rocking a leather jacket like nobody’s business, excellent fighting skills, calmness in the face of danger, constant badassery

Turn Offs: Angel, Slayers (save for Buffy), memories of his human form William

Why I Love Him: Spike easily wins for favourite Buffy character. Even after he gets back his soul and the First takes him over he still manages to display a level of coolness that is unparalleled. And then he even saves the world while still maintaining that coolness. What more could we ask for?

                  
#2: Adrian Monk

Show: Monk

Actor: Tony Shaloub

Trade Marks: A predilection for Kleenex wipies, Sharona (or that hack Natalie in later seasons), getting to the bottom of crimes, devotion to his dead wife – Trudy and her murderer

Turn Offs: Dirt, killers, physical contact

Why I Love Him: Because Tony Shaloub is excellent, and even though he held a monopoly on the Emmy race for a number of years – it was well deserved, he was always good. He remains as one of those rare freaky comedic characters that don’t get on your nerves and time after time after time he managed to find the hilarity and the smartness in one of USA’s greatest creations (the network, not the...country).

               
#1:Chandler Bing

Show: Friends

Actor: Matthew Perry

Trade Marks: Use of sarcasm and (often bad) jokes, a certain gay “quality”

Turn Offs: Cross-dressing fathers and lascivious mothers, women with a braying laugh

Why I Love Him: Chandler Bing is Friends. Perry’s ability to make Chandler’s annoying tics interesting and genial is something I’ll always admire him for. As Luke pointed out, kudos to the writers and the actors for making a marriage on network TV last and that has a lot to do with Perry’s ability to be humorous while doing the most rote things. Could he *be* any funnier? 

            

This is part of the month long devotion to TV.
         
What are your thoughts on my choices...any other ideas...?

TV Meme, Day 8: A Show Everyone Should Watch

Picking Friends again would be too easy, and really Friends is not for everyone. When I hear the phrase “everyone should watch” I get nostalgic – because I’m like that. My six year old nephew has made me become reacquainted with so many shows from my childhood, and if there’s one that’s for everyone it’s Sesame Street. An atypical choice? Perhaps.

Sesame Street will forever hold the monopoly on educational entertainment even though it wasn’t my favourite childhood show (more to come later in the series). It’s one of the few (perhaps the lone) children’s show that’s appealing to children without being condescending. It’s difficult to categorise Sesame Street as show, at heart it really aims at educating children but within all the numbers and letters of the day it’s filled with so many interesting characters I can’t help but laud it’s consistency. True, I always find Big Bird a little annoying; but the dynamic between Bert and Ernie is always enjoyable to watch and Oscar the Grouch is an interestingly complex character (well, for a children’s show anyhow), Grover’s narcissism never fails to amuse me and of course Elmo always manages to steal the show – especially when all those celebrity guests come to visit.

I’ve heard persons confess to having learned English from watching Sesame Street, which I suppose shows that at the root of it all it’s really about learning. Still, if I see an episode of it on chances are I’d sit down to watch. What that suggests about my level of intelligence? I don’t know, that’s dubious. But I think Sesame Street is one of those shows everyone should watch at least once. Is there anyone’s who hasn’t?

            
This entry is part of my ongoing meme on TV Moments