10 Exceptionally Written TV Icons

Kicking it off at number 10 is the master of awkward, Michael Scott. This clown with a heart of gold deserved to be on the list because his uncomfortable dialogue is cringe-worthy. He has an uncanny ability to humiliate himself and others, but does it with the sole purpose of making people happy and that makes him completely lovable. Nobody but Steve Carrel could have pulled off the foolishness of Michael Scott. His facial expressions and timing make him a comedic genius and The Office is just not the same without him.

At number 9 is the hardboiled Admiral of the Battlestar Galactica, Bill Adama. Played intensely by Edward James Olmos, Bill lives every day at a time in a constant struggle to keep his fleet alive. It’s the little moments between him and his Colonel, drinking whiskey and talking about their days as young pilots where he shows his true colors. Compare his gray hairs from the first season to the last. Makes you wonder whether it was the age that made that happen or the sheer intense acting that “the old man” underwent on that show. He’s the kind of man anyone would want on their side when up against blood thirsty Cylons.

“Omar comin!” When those words are uttered in the streets, it always ends in bullets and murder. At number 7 is Omar Little from what is easily HBO’s greatest show of all time, The Wire. This murderous, unlikely homosexual outlaw is Baltimore’s very own Robin Hood who steals from the rich drug dealers and gives to the, well, himself. But he does help the Baltimore Police track down the real bad guys, making him an antihero and one of the good guys. His snappy one-liners and foal mouth always makes him a joy to watch. He is almost a phantom superhero, disappearing in the streets and surviving a 30-floor plummet from a building. But what really makes this character is his battle versus his inner self. Omar is a good guy at heart but his actions prove that crime, even with good intentions, does not pay and that street violence is an endless cycle and a war that can’t be won.

At the halfway point is John Locke, from the most inventive TV show of all time and my personal favorite, LOST. Appropriately named after a philosopher, this complex man is the island’s very own philosopher, guardian and everyone’s go to guy for advice. John Locke is a man inspired by adventure and exploration, but when he is robbed of his legs, he is robbed of his ambition and led down a rocky road of daddy issues and lost love. When the island frees him of his paralysis, he is given a second chance and he makes the most of it by turning into something of a Savior, helping every character fight their inner demons. While the others are quarreling amongst themselves, John Locke is busy trying to uncover the mysteries of the island. Everything he does is for the benefit of his friends and his new home and he left his friends with the idea that they were all brought there for a reason, an idea that saved them all in the end.

At number 4 is everybody’s favorite serial killer, Dexter Morgan. Putting aside the cop-out lumberjack ending, Dexter has two wonderfully written voices. There's the quiet and friendly blood splatter analyst for the Miami PD and then there’s the other Dexter, the one that makes himself known within his dark inner monologues, his dark passenger. As a serial killer, Dexter has devised the perfect way to channel his darkness, by following his father’s moral code of killing bad guys. The hard part is sticking to the code when his dark passenger threatens to completely take over. All he wants is a normal life for his son, while keeping his darkness in check. For Dexter, the future will always be uncertain because even though he’s gone this far, how much longer will it take before he gets caught, or gets himself killed? That and he is just such a nice guy.

At number 3 is Tony Soprano. Family man for breakfast, mobster for the rest of the day at The Bada Bing strip club. Tony is a tough specimen. Just when you start to admire him for his loyalty to his men, he cheats on his wife and just when he redeems himself for that, he cheats on his wife again. But there is so much more to Tony than a fat unfaithful goomba. Despite his family crimes, he is the only mobster in New Jersey who plays it fair. Struggling to do business with greedy gangsters, and struggling to live with a dysfunctional family, Tony is always at a tough place so we can forgive him for his screw-ups. We keep seeing the light inside of him and through his therapy, we get a psychological view of what's really going on. When he’s in a coma and all we have is his subconscious, we get to see what Tony is all about. He is a man apart who is just trying to ask us for a second chance. Plus he has that big bear demeanor that makes us just want to hug him.

Getting close to the winner is Al Swearengen from Deadwood. It was a tough draw between him and the number 1. In the end, this lineup is all about writing and this saloon pimp certainly has world class dialogue written for him. Writing is one thing, but being able to breathe life into the pages is another. Ian McShane is a monster. His bulging raccoon eyes translate his emotions, along with his deep whiskey voice that do nothing but draw us in. His absorbing aura steals every scene. When he’s angry, it’s scary. What makes him one of the best written characters in TV is his ability to play both the villain of the show and the lovable protagonist. He’s a murdering gangster sonofabitch who’s got a rivalry with the lawman of Deadwood, but at the same time, he’s trying to build a lawless town and keep it in order. He delivers some of the funniest lines in the show and uses the F word creatively. Not to mention the fact that he has the greatest bitch face of all time.

At number 1, by far the best-written TV character in our age of compelling TV drama is Walter White from AMC’s Breaking Bad. In this show, we watch a pushover chemistry teacher who works par time getting stomped on at a Car Wash, evolve from a softie to a menacing meth cook who is feared across the drug trade. The evolution is crafted in the writing one episode at a time. When you get two unlikely people put into the most extreme circumstances they have ever faced, what you get is pure drama. Walter White does it all for his family. You can say he is always doing the right thing because even though things get heated, he always ends up winning. Using his brilliant knowledge of chemistry, he is able to outsmart the reckless drug dealers that threaten to kill him. And even when he is up against a villain as smart and strategic as he is, Walter still proves the victor. After repeatedly getting screwed over and buried in the deepest holes of failure while coughing out his cancerous lungs, he always climbs out of it because he does it all for love. Walter White’s sadness will make you cry, his clumsiness will make you laugh and his power to beat the bad guys will make you jump out of your chair in jubilation.