ManyTVcharacters naturally take some time to get on board with, given the extended, episodic nature of small-screen shows, with their gently curving narrative arcs and incremental characterizations. There are those rare television characters, though, who manage to make us love them instantaneously, the moment they first appear on the screen.
Some of thebest TV characters of all timeinitially struggled to connect with audiences during their show’s first few episodes, but the 10 names in this list never had that problem. Rather thanhating the charactersat first, as is so often the case with characters who later become fan favorites, we connected with them immediately.
It takesa special kind of fictional TV personality to find a way into our hearts instantly, whether through an endearing and accessible character trait, an uncommonly heroic ability, or an irresistible sense of humor. The following characters each have at least one of these qualities in spades, though, and have us returning to their show especially for them.
10Abed Nadir
Community
When Jeff Winger first met Abed Nadir outside the college building inCommunity’s pilot episode, Abed immediately proceeded to tell him his entire life story. As Jeff put it, “Nice to know you, and then meet you, in that order.” Yet,we couldn’t help but be drawn to Abed’s nervous quirks.
He was far from the most popular person at Greendale Community College, but he’s easily one of the best things aboutCommunity. Our feelings for him only got stronger once he formed his inimitable bond with Donald Glover’s character Troy Barnes.Troy and Abed’s end tagsquickly became a regular highlight of the show.
Even if Abed gradually became a little less lovable and a little more annoying inCommunity’s later seasons, our instant connection to him gave him plenty of comedy credit in the bank. He wasthe true standard bearer forCommunity’s eccentric brand of meta-comedy.
9Jack Shephard
Lost
Lost’s creators originally planned for Jack Shephard to diein the show’s pilot episode, and they must have been glad they didn’t go with that storyline in retrospect. Shephard is one of the all-time great TV heroes, a doctor who did everything he could to save his fellow survivors ofLost’s series-opening plane crash.
Jack’s immediate bond with Kate Austen in the aftermath of the crash, as he talked her through sewing up a gaping wound on his torso, had us rooting for him even more by the end of the show’s pilot episode. What’s more, Jack’s profound meditation on fear, via an anecdote about his medical training, grabbed us directly by the heartstrings.
From that moment on, we felt as though we knewLost’s chief protagonist more intimately than we’d ever become acquainted with most TV characters.We’re hooked into his storyand desperate for him to make it off the island alive.
8Lorna Morello
Orange Is The New Black
Lorna Morello’sfate at the end ofOrange Is the New Blackis utterly heart-wrenching because it couldn’t have happened to a kinder, more genuine character. We got a sense of Morello’s sweet nature from the moment we met her in the show’s pilot, as she was the first prison inmate to show any real care for Piper Chapman.
With her thick Northeastern accent – half-Boston, half-Brooklyn – and warm, unguarded manner,Morello was the best person we could imagine looking out for Chapmanon the inside. It also helped that she was a firm believer in true love, which she thought could overcome whatever barriers the prison system placed in front of couples.
Actor Yael Stone is Australian, and so had to visit Boston and work with a vocal coach to perfect Morello’s accent.
A beacon of hope and good humor in Litchfield Penitentiary, it was impossible not to become attached to Morello from the first episode ofOrange Is the New Black. Even her crime came across as something of a victimless prank, thanks to her general spirit of optimism and somewhat idealistic worldview.
7Schmidt
New Girl
A true icon from the moment he first appeared on screen, Schmidt was a more lovable, less harmful version ofHow I Met Your Mother’s Barney Stinson. Outwardly, Schmidt gave off an air of narcissistic misogyny inNew Girl’s early scenes. But this seemingly repugnant exterior scarcely maskedhis soft underbelly and childlike naivety, which soon revealed itself.
As hard as it is to admit, most of us loved Schmidt right from the off. His excitable, puppy-dog energy around Jess’ best friend Cici eventually gave rise toNew Girl’s best love story. But before that, it was just downright hilarious.
6Nessa Jenkins
Gavin & Stacey
Initially a supporting character inGavin & Stacey, Nessa Jenkins soon stole the show, with her no-nonsense approach to romance, iconic catchphrases, unexpected talents, and bizarre tales of sexual encounters with celebrities. The sitcom’s first episode, which introduced Nessa to the future father of her child, Smithy, set the stage for one ofBritain’s greatest comedy charactersto flourish.
Ruth Jones, the actor who played Nessa inGavin & Stacey, was also the show’s co-creator and co-writer, alongside Smithy actor James Corden.
The cringeworthy awkwardness between Nessa and Smithy, in addition to Nessa’s indifferent, condescending view of Smithy’s apparent disgust with her, was pure comedy gold.It immediately cast Nessa as someone to admire and respect, despite her various idiosyncrasies.
5Adrian Monk
Monk
Adrian Monk’s first scene inMonkhas all the ingredients that made him such a wonderfully lovable character. Adrian was showcasing his ingenious detective skills by identifying clues at a murder scene that the police had missed entirely. Meanwhile, Sharona Fleming, Adrian’sbest assistant inMonk, had to deal with her boss panicking about leaving the gas on at home.
Every time the police officers present asked Adrian a question, he would return to his worry about the gas hob in his kitchen, even though Sharona had already repeatedly reassured him that everything was switched off. The juxtaposition ofMonk’s brilliance as a detective with his trivial neurosis is the essence of what made him so easy to love.
If we were in Sharona’s shoes, Adrian might not have seemed so lovely. But since we’re watching him on television from the comfort of our homes, he’s just adorably funny.
4Peggy Olson
Elisabeth Moss’ Peggy Olson was the new employee at Sterling Cooper advertising agency inMad Men’s first episode. We instantly connected with her, asshe gave us a window into the show’s worldof sanctified corporate hierarchies and outdated workplace sexism.
Peggy was the normal one in an abnormal setting, whose rare talent shone through despite her refusal to kowtow to the cultural norms of Madison Avenue in the 1960s. It wasn’t just us she impressed, either. Even Don Draper andRoger Sterling found themselves connecting with Peggyon a different level from Roger Sterling’s other female employees.
She was the perfect antidote to the environment of backbiting and sleaze that surrounded her. From day one, Peggy Olson wasthe character who providedMad Menwith its scope for moral redemption.
3Gregory House
House
A curmudgeonly medical practitioner who’d be a nightmare to work with in reality, Gregory House was such a breath of fresh air when he first appeared on our screens that we couldn’t help but love him immediately.His introduction to patients inHouse’s pilot episode was so brazenly sardonicthat we simply had to see more of him.
Gregory House’s killer wit was as addictive for us as he found painkillers.
Ultimately, there were someharsh realities about Gregory Houseas a character that we couldn’t ignore. Still, we tried our level best to give him the benefit of the doubt for as long as possible, because his killer wit was simply addictive for us.
2Dorothy Zbornak
The Golden Girls
By the timeBea Arthur leftThe Golden Girls, her character Dorothy Zbornak was already a TV legend. But we didn’t need the show’s seven seasons to fall in love with Dorothy. All it took was the sitcom’s opening scene, in which the first eight jokes were all hers, trademark zingers delivered in her signature droll style.
Dorothy wasn’t justthe source of the show’s best punchlines, though. She was its beating heart, too. In the same opening scene ofThe Golden Girls’ pilot episode, she delivered a short monologue that cut right through the comedy, directly to the sitcom’s underlying theme of growing old as a woman.
This unique combination of biting quips and soul-baring home truths made Arthur’s character a uniquely refined television creation. No one else could be Dorothy Zbornak, yet we all understood her.
1Lisa Simpson
The Simpsons
Lisa’s best episode ofThe Simpsonswould come much later than its Christmas-themed series premiere, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”. Butshe delivered the standout moment of this heartwarming episode, which made us fall for her as a character on the spot.
When Marge’s sister, Aunt Patty, told Lisa that she was “trashing” the little girl’s father, Lisa responded with one of the most moving pieces of dialogue in any Simpsons episode:
“I wish you wouldn’t, because, aside from the fact that he has the same frailties as all human beings, he’s the only father I have. Therefore, he is my model of manhood, and my estimation of him will govern the prospects of my adult relationships. So, I hope you bear in mind that any knock at him is a knock at me, and I am far too young to defend myself against such onslaughts."
Besides being far too complex a sentiment for an eight-year-old to express, this quote cemented Lisa’s position as the moral compass ofThe Simpsons. She was precocious, brave, and forthright, and her staunch defense of Homer, despite his flaws, made her instantly worthy of our affection. Lisa Simpson was aTVcharacter who demanded to be loved from the very beginning.
