20 Best Characters in Comedy, Post Friends Era

I have a 10-page paper due Saturday in class and I originally had planned to do it today (Tuesday). Instead, I started thinking about all my favorite comedic characters in television over the past couple years. After minutes of thinking, it occurred to me that this very topic could make for a decent blog. It also occurred to me that I haven't posted a written blog in a couple weeks, and when that happens, the Hambino Hounds tend to go a little nuts. I concluded it's best to keep the Hounds satiated, so I went to work coming up with the best 20 characters in American comedy television, post Friends era. Is it time for me to begin gathering research and formulating ideas for my paper? Probably. Is it time to start panicking? Absolutely not.

I texted my Podcast buddy, Burke, and asked for his input. His response was, I'd have Ricky Gervais's character from the British version of The Office #1 and then he said he'd also have Homer Simpson in the mix as well. I quickly responded, only American television and no animation. I haven't watched a whole lot of British television and I couldn't really include animation because after Futurama, Family Guy and The Simpsons, there'd only be a few spots left on my list. I didn't want to include the British version of The Office (or as they call it in Britain, The Office), because then how would I be able to count out all the other British shows I've never seen? I didn't want to open that can of worms. I didn't want to included animated television either because half of comedy is being able to see the way comedians use their bodies and faces. As someone on my list once said, "I'm sort of a student of comedy." And worms are really gross.

I hope I don't offend people by leaving certain characters off my list. It is important to remember that there's nothing wrong with liking what you like. Personally, I must have a bit of a weird taste in comedies because my two favorite movie comedies of all time weren't able to outgross its production expenses in the box office. Basically, there are no right or wrong answers here.

20) Ray Barone (Ray Romano), Everybody Loves Raymond.

I wasn't exactly sure how to compile my list. I didn't want to just make it my favorite characters of comedy, but I also didn't want to blurt out the 20 most popular actors either. This list is somewhere in the middle. It's mostly my favorite people, and a few other characters who I feel earned it. Like Ray Romano. I never really watched this show, but it was on forever, and I know a lot of people my age who really like it, so he's kicking things off. I got a clip of him here.

19) Jeff (Patrick Warburton), Rules of Engagement.

I think most comedy's on Network or Cable (I've never learned the difference) tend to get a little corny. I can just identify with HBO a little more because they say words like, "fuck" and "prostate." I'm not sure that makes any sense; anyway, I think Patrick has done a nice job on this show, even though I've lost interest in it. I got a clip of him here.

18) Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell), Modern Family.

This show's won emmy's and it's awesome. The cast is great, and I'd recommend checking it out. If the show were a few more seasons in, Mr. Dunphy would be much higher on my list. This was one of my favorite clips when I searched youtube to accompany all of these. I got a clip of him here.

17) Doug Heffernan (Kevin James), The King of Queens.

Dougy-Doug is benefiting from the "Ray Barone Rule." I only ever watched this show in passing, but I think it's pretty decent. He makes the list because he gives me the opportunity to mention SBTB's Stacie Carosi (Leah Remini) playing opposite him. It's hard for me to give Kevin James my full attention because I always find myself thinking about Social Studies whenever I see him. He looks strikingly similar to my 8th grade Social Studies teacher, who concentrated more on Civic's and less on making me laugh.

I got a clip of him here.

16) Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt), Parks and Recreation.

This cat has potential. This clip also made me LOL, where most could only make me GQTM. Andy is prohibited from currently being any higher on my list by the "Ty Burrell Syndrome." I got a clip of him here.

15) Murray Hewitt (Rhys Darby) Flight of the Conchords.

This is probably the one where you're like, "who the hell is that?" Then you'll be like, "Oh, I've seen that guy somewhere... Oh it's the boss from 'Yes Man'." Then you'd be right. He was also funny (playing the same character) in this cult hit. I got a clip of him here.

14) Andrew Bernard (Ed Helms), The Office.

I think the Nard Dog is hysterical in The Office. I really like his pants, too. He wants to have a whole litter of nard pups. I got a clip of him here.

13) Chris Turk (Donald Faison), Scrubs.

In 2006-2007 while in college, I watched at least 4 episodes of Scrubs a day. I got a clip of him here.

12) Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), Parks and Recreation.

Seriously guys, watch this clip and then watch the show whenever the 3rd season premiere's. I can't believe NBC has held Parks and Rec back so they could make the shittastic Outsourced. I got a clip of him here.

11) Buster Bluth (Tony Hale), Arrested Development.

Arrested Development is probably my favorite comedy of all time. Let me think about it. Yup, it's my favorite of all time. I got a clip of him here.

10) Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper), Big Bang Theory.

I've kind of lost interest in this show as well, but Jim won an Emmy for his performance in this series, I believe. He's come a long way from the knight in Garden State. I got a clip of him here.

9) Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet), Modern Family.

The funniest character in Modern Family. I can't decide if his mannerisms are exaggerated, or spot on. I got a clip of him here.

8) Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), 30 Rock.

I'm not exactly sure why I quit watching this show. I believe it premiered on NBC with The Office and Scrubs on Thursday night's. I remember thinking Alec was hilarious in the show, and I have plenty of friends still watching. I got a clip of him here.

7) Tobias Funke (David Cross), Arrested Development.

Nobody could have played this character the way David Cross did. This character was perfectly cast. I got a clip of him here.

6) Larry David (Larry David), Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Larry David is the biggest benefactor of the "Ray Barone Rule." I have only ever seen a few episodes of this show, but I know it's wildly successful among certain audiences and the show has at least 7 seasons, I believe. I got a clip of him here.

5) GOB Bluth (Will Arnett), Arrested Development.

My favorite character from Arrested Development. So many quiet, one-liners from him. Good thing I always watch DVD's with the CC enabled or I would never have caught it all. I got a clip of him here.

4) Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

When this program began in was an incredible show. The first season was 6 or 7 episodes long and they were all on the other side of the politically correct line. As the show progress, the male characters developed and turned into assholes, and so did Sweet D. Danny DeVito was also added to the cast. Charlie isn't my favorite character on the show, but if you were to only watch one episode, he'd be the guy you remember. I got a clip of him here.

3) Dave Chappelle (Dave Chappelle), Chappelle's Show.

I had to break the rules here. I remember watching this show my freshman year of college and it was so groundbreaking. I had never seen anything like it, and it also made everyone laugh so hard. I got a clip of him here.

2) John "J.D." Dorian (Zach Braff), Scrubs.

I couldn't find a clip to do J.D. justice, but I tried. I really do think over the course of his time on Scrubs he played his character brilliantly. Another character who was unique, with quirks and idiosyncrasies which made him so fun to watch. I got a clip of him here.

1) Michael Scott (Steve Carell), The Office.

I've heard Steve Carell regarded as the nicest guy in hollywood. Well, he's really good at his job, too. I've watched episodes of The Office with the director commentary, and they say they have to cut out about 30 minutes of Steve Carell improv all the time. I think Michael Scott is my favorite character of all time, which is strange because he breaks my personal rule of plausibility. I've stopped watching entire genres of movies (horror) because they tend to be so far-fetched, and Michael Scott being in charge of an office is just that, but I love him anyways. I got a clip of him here.

There was a specific show that did not benefit from the "Ray Barone Rule." Can you guess it? It's Two and a Half Men. Can someone explain to me why that show is funny? I guess this is an example of, "you like what you like," and there's nothing wrong with that.

I hope you've enjoyed the list. I know I had fun searching Youtube for the appropriate videos. There are a handful of characters who didn't meet my criteria, but I thought I'd give them a quick honorable mention. One criteria I used was I wanted the characters to be from shows that had run at least 20 episodes, so a few were disqualified due to that. I expect to see some of these guys on my list in 5 years.

Stevie Janowski and Kenny Powers from East Bound and Down. I believe there have only been 13 episodes of this series, but this is really groundbreaking stuff. I've never seen characters like either of these two on television before, and don't kid yourself, Stevie is the funniest character on that show. I don't know if there'll be a 3rd season, my hunch is that there won't since Danny McBride is in a lot of movies now, but who knows, HBO has deep pockets.

Sacha Baron Cohen for his work on Da Ali G show (12 episodes). I've never seen it, but the movies spawned from his television characters have been pretty funny.

Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman), Ray (Zach Galifianakis) and George Christopher (Ted Danzen) from Bored to Death (<20>