Favorite TV Supporting Characters

clarkgriswold

clarkgriswold

Well-known member
We've had some good TV and movie discussions on here recently and I thought this might be a good one. Tell us your favorite supporting characters. Not Tony Soprano, Don Draper or Walter White, but the "lesser" characters. Many of them, while "supporting" were so good they become the highlight of the show.

Some of mine are:
Boyd Crowder- Justified
Mike Ehrmantraut- Breaking Bad
Charlie Nutter- Deadwood
Chalky White- Boardwalk Empire
Richard Harrow- Boardwalk Empire
Roger Sterling- Mad Men
Paulie Walnuts- Sopranos
Kevin- The Office
Andy Botwin- Weeds
Lip Gallagher- Shameless
Crazy Eyes- Orange is the New Black
Dar Adal- Homeland
Ms. Abbott- Vice Principals
Judy Gemstone- The Righteous Gemstones (also Edi Patterson)
 
 
First of all - WOW - you have seen way more shows than me.

I agree with Mike from Breaking Bad and Kevin from The Office. I would also include:
Andy Dwyer - Parks & Rec (Chris Pratt)
Monte Burns and Ralph Wiggums - The Simpsons
Tobias Funke - Arrested Development
Negan - Walking Dead
 
Lt. Norman Buntz - Hill Street Blues (he did well enough to have his own short-lived spin-off)
Dr. Frasier Crane - Cheers (see above)
George Costanza - Seinfeld (might be considered a step above "supporting" on the show)
Frank Costanza - Seinfeld
David Puddy - Seinfeld
 
Mr. Slippery said:
Lt. Norman Buntz - Hill Street Blues (he did well enough to have his own short-lived spin-off)
Dr. Frasier Crane - Cheers (see above)
George Costanza - Seinfeld (might be considered a step above "supporting" on the show)
Frank Costanza - Seinfeld
David Puddy - Seinfeld
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Dennis Franz played both Norman Buntz and Sal Bededetto on Hill Street.

I loved Mick Belker on Hill Street too.
 
In two iconic 80's movies, I felt a couple of the supporting characters absolutely made the movies hilarious...

Caddyshack...the focus tends to be on Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield...and they played funny parts...but to me, Ted Knight's performance as Judge Smails steals the show.

Same with the Mike Damone character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
 
cjb56 said:
In two iconic 80's movies, I felt a couple of the supporting characters absolutely made the movies hilarious...

Caddyshack...the focus tends to be on Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield...and they played funny parts...but to me, Ted Knight's performance as Judge Smails steals the show.

Same with the Mike Damone character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
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agree
 
cjb56 said:
In two iconic 80's movies, I felt a couple of the supporting characters absolutely made the movies hilarious...

Caddyshack...the focus tends to be on Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield...and they played funny parts...but to me, Ted Knight's performance as Judge Smails steals the show.

Same with the Mike Damone character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
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Caddyshack is my all time favorite comedy and Ted Knight made that movie roll. I ask anyone to watch it again and focus on the fact that he is the glue.

I say the same abut Seinfeld. The show started out with Jerry being the majority of the comedy in an outright fashion. Once they figured out that he simply needed to be the glue and concentrate on all of the talent around him is when it took off.
 
clarkgriswold said:
We've had some good TV and movie discussions on here recently and I thought this might be a good one. Tell us your favorite supporting characters. Not Tony Soprano, Don Draper or Walter White, but the "lesser" characters. Many of them, while "supporting" were so good they become the highlight of the show.

Some of mine are:
Boyd Crowder- Justified
Mike Ehrmantraut- Breaking Bad
Charlie Nutter- Deadwood
Chalky White- Boardwalk Empire
Richard Harrow- Boardwalk Empire
Roger Sterling- Mad Men
Paulie Walnuts- Sopranos
Kevin- The Office
Andy Botwin- Weeds
Lip Gallagher- Shameless
Crazy Eyes- Orange is the New Black
Dar Adal- Homeland
Ms. Abbott- Vice Principals
Judy Gemstone- The Righteous Gemstones (also Edi Patterson)
Click to expand...
Great list. Especially those I have highlighted.

The Office and Seinfeld have almost too many to list.

George's dad (Jerry Stiller)
Peterman
George's mom
Whatley (Bryan Cranston)
Newman
Creed
Todd Packer
D'Angelo Vickers
James Spader
Jan
to name a few...
 
mcm.1019 said:
That actually made me laugh out loud...man, the crap we used to watch as kids.
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Lol! I have seriously been watching it on youtube. That was a very incredible show to watch when you were 7/8 yrs old. Yea..poorly done, but still awesome. And seriously bad actors. Cha Ka was a stand out!
 
Opie (Ryan Hurst)-Son of Anarchy
Tig (Kim Coates)-Sons of Anarchy
Paulie (Tony Sirico)-The Sopranos
Red Forman (Kurtwood Smith)-That 70's Show
Buddy (Harris Yulin)-The Ozarks
 
Granny - Beverly Hillbillies
Barney Fife - Andy Griffith
Rooster - Baretta
The Reverend Jim "Iggy" Ignatowski - Taxi
Randy Marsh - South Park
Lester Freeman - The Wire
Roger Sterling - Mad Men
 
Auggie said:
Granny - Beverly Hillbillies
Barney Fife - Andy Griffith
Rooster - Baretta
The Reverend Jim "Iggy" Ignatowski - Taxi
Randy Marsh - South Park
Lester Freeman - The Wire
Roger Sterling - Mad Men
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Forgot about Jim Ignatowski. That's an outstanding one. People remember Latka because of crazy Andy Kaufman but Jim was a much better character. Roger Sterling was one of the greatest TV philosophers ever.
 
Possibly the best new thread on Yappi. Lots of good ones on here, but I forgot about Hill Street Blues and Taxi. Great call outs on Norman Buntz and Jim Ignatowski. And Latka Gravas also on Taxi. Great stuff!
 
wolves82 said:
First of all - WOW - you have seen way more shows than me.

I agree with Mike from Breaking Bad and Kevin from The Office. I would also include:
Andy Dwyer - Parks & Rec (Chris Pratt)
Monte Burns and Ralph Wiggums - The Simpsons
Tobias Funke - Arrested Development
Negan - Walking Dead
Click to expand...
100% agree on Andy Dwyer. Lots of great characters from Parks & Rec in general, even the one or two-off characters.
 
wolves82 said:
First of all - WOW - you have seen way more shows than me.

I agree with Mike from Breaking Bad and Kevin from The Office. I would also include:
Andy Dwyer - Parks & Rec (Chris Pratt)
Monte Burns and Ralph Wiggums - The Simpsons
Tobias Funke - Arrested Development
Negan - Walking Dead
Click to expand...

Tobias Funke. Outstanding. A therapist AND an analyst. Who could ever forget his business card.

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clarkgriswold said:
Bailey Quarters was okay too. Kind of a Ginger/MaryAnn thing going on there.
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I don't recall Bailey becoming the media darling that Marlowe became. I guess I was going off the "so good they become the highlight of the show" moreso than the personal favorite. No doubt there was a looks thing going on. I chose Anderson because I thought she did great with the "I know you think I'm only looks but I'm really the brains of the outfit" role. That was fairly new back then, now a trope. Bailey on the other hand was given the background of being intelligent and was handed the keys to the car.
 
Go WAY back
Eddie Haskell. Scenes became more interesting as soon as he walked into them. The 50's family man's Crowder.
Arnold the Pig. Meant to be the post rehearsal lunch, became a media darling.
The Fonz
Spike
Barney Stinson

That I'm bad but not really seems to be a theme. I don't know that I would call any of them my personal favorite but I think they fit the bill of supporting characters that became a highlight. Have to think more on MY personal favorite. Stinson might make the cut.
 
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