45 replies to this topic

[mweb08]

Seinfeld?

Does it count when one is playing themself?

[BobPhelan]

Tyrion Lannister Jack Shepherd John Locke Danny Tanner

[You Play to Win the Game]

Jack Bauer

Ari Gold

Dexter

Barney (How I Met Your Mother)

Gregory House

Michael Scott

Dwight Schrute

 

Not sure that any of these are on the level as Tony Soprano though... maybe Jack Bauer and Michael Scott are closest... though Steve Carell has done so many movies at this point, that people can easily identify him with some of his other roles. So that leaves Keifer Sutherland for me. I think anyone and everyone would look at Keifer and say, that's Jack Bauer.

[glenn__davis]

Zack Morris.

 

Actually, in terms of "iconic", Screech or Mr. Belding might be more appropriate.

 

I was trying to think of one for Scrubs or MASH, two of my favorite shows, but was coming up blank.  I know someone mentioned Hawkeye Pierce already, but those shows were great because they had so many great characters, not just one that you identified with.

 

Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor.

[Mackus]

A bunch more that haven't been mentioned (may be stretching the term iconic, here):

 

Maxwell Smart

Johnny Drama

Mal Reynolds

Al Swearengen

GOB (kind of tough to pick one iconic character from ensemble casts, could say the same for anyone from Friends)

JD Dorian

Larry David

Eric Taylor

Columbo

Will Smith

 

 

Not many ladies on these lists.  Is that because most of us are dudes or because most great characters are men or both?  Only ones that really pop to my mind that haven't been mentioned:

Buffy

Liz Lemon

[glenn__davis]

Not many ladies on these lists.  Is that because most of us are dudes or because most great characters are men or both?  Only ones that really pop to my mind that haven't been mentioned:

Buffy

Liz Lemon

 

Someone else mentioned Lucy Ricardo, that's an obvious one.

 

Roseanne probably is one, but I couldn't stand that show so I refused to mention her.

 

I think June Cleaver probably counts.  Actually for that matter, I think the entire Cleaver family probably counts.

 

Carol Brady

[SportsGuy]

Lots of good names here.

 

Now, if you were to say, who are the icons of the icons, who would you go with?

 

To me, Tony Soprano is the greatest character ever and if he's not, he is on the short list of guys/gals whose name should be mentioned.

 

So, who would you say are the top 5 or so?

[glenn__davis]

Someone mentioned Cliff Huxtable - I'd put Claire Huxtable in there as well.  She kind of became the iconic working mom, who still managed to maintain total order in the household.  She was kind of a symbol of change for the way women contributed to society not just in the house but in the workplace.

 

I mentioned in my earlier post about the Cleaver family all being icons, and I really think it's true.

 

Ward Cleaver, the stern but loving father who provides for his family and always wants what's best for his kids

June Cleaver, the professional mom who runs the house and acts as a buffer between the kids and dad when needed

Wally Cleaver, the older brother who loves his kid brother but isn't unwilling to pick on him at times as well

And Beaver, the mischievous younger brother who has a heart of gold but can't always keep himself from getting in trouble

 

So many future TV characters based off of that cast.

 

Rob, I tried to pick a top 5 and quickly gave up.  Just too many to choose from.

[SportsGuy]

I think all the guys from the Office, the guys from shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, etc...they were all great characters...But I wouldn't call them iconic.

 

For example, I don't watch Mad Men...I had to look up who Don Draper was.  I think a lot of people would be that way.

 

But if you said, Tony soprano, everyone would know who that is.

 

In other words, you don't have to watch the show(or didn't have to) to know who they are, to have heard of them, etc...

[Markus]

Gilligan?

[SammyBirdland]

Bugs Bunny

[DJ MC]

In my mind, the most iconic TV characters have a couple of things going for them beyond simply being great characters.

 

First is the quality of the acting. You truly cannot picture another actor in the role. This story has been going around with the James Gandolfini remembrances, but there was another actor who was a finalist for the role of Tony Soprano, and even at the time David Chase could see that choosing that person would completely change the tone of both the character and the series.

 

Second is relevance. As Rob said, there are plenty of great characters now and in the recent past who, even if enough of the population recognized the name they wouldn't be able to tell you a thing about that character.

 

Third is longevity. It isn't enough to be a shooting star on the pop culture scene like Steve Urkel. The character has to resonate over time, both on his or her own terms as well as through the characters modeled on those roles.

 

Fourth is uniqueness. There will always be archetypes that can be used to categorize even iconic characters. However, there must be something that makes them different then anyone you've seen before.

 

Here would be the beginning of my list:

 

Lucy Riccardo

Ralph Kramden

Archie Bunker

Hawkeye Pierce

J.R. Ewing

Cliff and Claire Huxtable

Fraser Crane

Al Bundy

Tony Soprano

[Mackus]

I think all the guys from the Office, the guys from shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad, etc...they were all great characters...But I wouldn't call them iconic.

 

For example, I don't watch Mad Men...I had to look up who Don Draper was.  I think a lot of people would be that way.

 

But if you said, Tony soprano, everyone would know who that is.

 

In other words, you don't have to watch the show(or didn't have to) to know who they are, to have heard of them, etc...

 

Soprano might be one guy that crosses that line, but most people, if you haven't watched the show, aren't going to know who most characters are.  There are very few characters who are known even to most people who don't watch the show.  Especially very recent or currently airing shows.  When you get into older shows, you can know about a character better without having to watch, since people talk about it over years and years and there are other references to a character in other shows and movies.  I couldn't tell you one character from Desperate Housewives or Sons of Anarchy or Big Bang Theory, but that doesn't mean the characters are definitely not iconic.  They just weren't / aren't shows I watch even if a lot of other people do.

[DuffMan]

James T. Kirk

[SportsGuy]

Soprano might be one guy that crosses that line, but most people, if you haven't watched the show, aren't going to know who most characters are.  There are very few characters who are known even to most people who don't watch the show.  Especially very recent or currently airing shows.  When you get into older shows, you can know about a character better without having to watch, since people talk about it over years and years and there are other references to a character in other shows and movies.  I couldn't tell you one character from Desperate Housewives or Sons of Anarchy or Big Bang Theory, but that doesn't mean the characters are definitely not iconic.  They just weren't / aren't shows I watch even if a lot of other people do.

I think most people would tell you that they know who Captain Kirk, Tony Soprano, Homer Simpson, Lucy ricardo, Archie Bunker, Seinfeld and some others are..even if they didn't watch the show.

 

Movies are the same way...You may never have seen Star Wars but you know who Darth Vader is.

[Mackus]

I think most people would tell you that they know who Captain Kirk, Tony Soprano, Homer Simpson, Lucy ricardo, Archie Bunker, Seinfeld and some others are..even if they didn't watch the show.

 

Movies are the same way...You may never have seen Star Wars but you know who Darth Vader is.

 

Sure, but very few characters.  I think if "most people, even if you didn't watch the show, knows who they are" is your criteria, then you're going to have a very short list of iconic characters.

 

I think Omar Little is absolutely a great and iconic character, but a lot of people won't know who he is.

[SportsGuy]

Sure, but very few characters.  I think if "most people, even if you didn't watch the show, knows who they are" is your criteria, then you're going to have a very short list of iconic characters.

 

I think Omar Little is absolutely a great and iconic character, but a lot of people won't know who he is.

But when breaking it down to the most iconic of the icons, this is part of the criteria IMO.

 

There has to be something that seperates the list.

[DJ MC]

Sure, but very few characters.  I think if "most people, even if you didn't watch the show, knows who they are" is your criteria, then you're going to have a very short list of iconic characters.

 

I think Omar Little is absolutely a great and iconic character, but a lot of people won't know who he is.

That's why I didn't put Omar on my list, and he might be my favorite TV character of all.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Walter White?

[Russ]

Dr. Mark Greene George Jefferson Alex P. Keaton