Pajiba

I'll go with an easy one:

Jason Alexander - George Constanza (Seinfeld)

Lee Tergesen - Tobias Beecher (OZ)

David Cross - Tobias fucking Fünke. The worlds first analyst/therapist.

Kyle Chandler/Connie Britton. I didn't choose between them last night, and I'm not choosing between them now.

Michael Cera. Arrested Development - What? Someone was going to say it. It might as well be me. Of course that was tough what will all the kick ass talent on that show.

IF I might throw in a second, I would also add Woody Harrelson in Cheers.

OK, that kind of makes it seem like I didn't choose between them when thinking of whom I should fantasize about. They were one of my choices in the "best performance in a movie" thread, because following the rules are for FOLLOWERS.

Andre Braugher's "Frank Pembleton" from Homicide: Life On The Streets.
One of the most complex characters ever written for TV and the man brought it all in every episode.

Oh crap, sorry folks!

If it's just one, then I would go with:

Peter Falk as Colombo.

Donald Faison in Scrubs.

Though he kind of seems like an ass in real life, I've got to go with Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane. If only for the sheer longevity of the role.

Boys: Selleck as Magnum.

Girls: Jessica Simpson in Newlyweds and every fucking thing from there on. She is a phony, but a real phony.

Andre Braugher seconded.

Also, Lauren Ambrose on Six Feet Under.

And everyone on Carnivale, though it sadly died young.

I'm voting for Selleck again, to stack the deck.

And Ian McShane was on Magnum, P.I., in an ooga-booga, Heart of Darkness kind of role. I still remember it.

Lauren Graham, Gilmore Girls

Remember Shelley Long half-bowing to Sam after the kissy thing, after the doorknob comes off in her hand, handing it back to him, saying, "Your knob..." and walking haughtily out the door?

My god, I nearly died laughing.

Gabriel Byrne: "In Treatment"..makes it look so easy.

Jason Alexander: "Seinfeld"

Rip Torn: "The Larry Sanders Show"

Sam Waterston: "Law and Order"

The entire case of "Malcolm in the Middle"

Steve Carell: "The Office"; especially in non-manic episodes. Check out: "Halloween" and "Bring Your Daughter To Work Day"

Ricky Gervais: "Extras"

The entire cast of "Arrested Development"

Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer: "As Time Goes By"...again, performers who make it look effortless

I think that'll do for now

James Garner - Brett Maverick

Hell, if Mary O'Hoolahan gets to pick more than one then so shall I!

I NEED to add David Tennant as: The Doctor.

I would add these to the already impressive list:
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy.
James Marsters as Spike.
Kristin Bell as Veronica Mars.
Kyle McLachlan as Dale Cooper.
Summer Glau as River Tam.
Chi McBride as Emerson Cod.
Gigi Edgley as Chiana.
Amy Acker as Fred/Illyria.
Michael C. Hall as David Fisher.

And from shows that aren't over so may not yet count as series-long:
David Tennant as The Doctor.
Michael C. Hall as Dexter.
Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester.
Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf.

Generational divides emerging.............

William Shatner as Kirk.

My votes go to:
1)The entire Monty Python crew
2)John Rhys Davies as The Professor on Sliders (It's where I first saw him and the image of him as The Professor has stuck with me, even when he was playing a dwarf in LOTR and the wizard guy in Krod Mandoon)

Best of all time? Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, clearly.

Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock.

I'm sorry kio, but Geller's not an actress. Look what she's done after Buffy... on second thought, don't look. I can't even admit it, I love Geller too much, damn you for taking her Freddy Prince Jr.

John C. McGinley, Scrubs
Alan Alda, M*A*S*H (Loretta Swit and Harry Morgan are pretty close, too)
Jessica Walter, Arrested Development
Michael C. Hall, Six Feet Under (haven't watched much of Dexter yet, but I have a feeling that performance would be on here too)
Sam Waterston, I'll Fly Away.
Everyone on The Wire is great, I guess if I had to choose, I would say Robert Wisdom (Bunny).

Kyle MacLachlan's Agent Dale Cooper.

"DAMN good coffee, and HOT!"

I rest my motherfucking case....

Seconds/thirds/what-have-yous to: Kevin McKidd in Rome, Colbert as Colbert, and Andre Braugher as Frank Pembleton.

Wow. Ummmm ... first three come to mind:

Andre Braugher/Frank Pembleton.

Carroll O'Connor/Archie Bunker.

Lucille Ball/Lucy Ricardo.

Now I'll look at the comments ...

Yes yes yes to Peter Falk/Columbo

Also William Daniels, but as Dr. Mark Craig. He was a son of a bitch doctor before House was House.

Can you tell I haven't had HBO etc. for ages?

Good God, I forgot the shout-out to my homeboy. Can't believe nobody mentioned:

Don Knotts/Barney Fife.

Oh, and Ian McShane.

The series is still in progress (2nd season) but I'm casting my vote for Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad. I thought I would hate it as it was literally described to me as Weeds with the goofy dad from Malcom in the Middle. I would like find the chucklefuck who told me this and show him how motherfucking wrong he was.

All the way to here without Gillian Anderson for The X-Files? Really?

Fourthing (or whatever it is at this point) Andre Braugher.

Agreeing with James Spader for Boston Legal and John Spencer for The West Wing.

Mary, Ed, Gavin, Betty, Ted, Cloris and everyone else on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Lance, if I were gonna give it to anyone from Star Trek, I'd give it to Leonard Nimoy.

In fact... Leonard Nimoy, in Star Trek. Without him, that show would be nothing.

"Fascinating."

Gillian Anderson & David Duchovny in X-Files
Kristen Bell in Veronica Mars
Ellen Degeneres in Ellen
Danny DeVito, Andy Kaufman & Christopher Lloyd in Taxi
Rainn Wilson in The Office
Stephen Colbert in The Colbert Report (for all you right wingnuts reading this, yes he's acting)
The entire cast of Rome.

Have not seen either the Wire or Arrested Development BUT I have both entire series on DVD waiting to be watched. I've heard nothing but good stuff about both shows so I can't wait.

And the ENTIRE CAST of Sports Night -- this is one case where it simply HAD to be all of them. And goddamn the executives at ABC to a flaming pit in hell for canceling this show.
Posted by: Maryscott O'Connor at June 2, 2009 9:17 PM

In fact... Leonard Nimoy, in Star Trek. Without him, that show would be nothing.
"Fascinating."
Posted by: Maryscott O'Connor at June 2, 2009 10:38 PM
___________________________________________

Hence, my love for Maryscott.

Alison Janney, hands down- to stand out in such a strong ensemble take astonishing talent
I'll second Michael C Hall as Dexter but throw in Erik King as Doakes, for so perfectly twisting the cop/villian dichotomy.

Toby Huss- Artie the Strongest Man in the World from The Adventures of Pete and Pete.

Setting a standard of glorious weirdness for an eager generation.

Pipe!

Lauren Graham as Lorelei Gilmore

She killed it week after week episode after episode. Let's just forget season 7 ever happened ok?

And I second your KC on Friday Night Lights nomination!

Adam Baldwin as Adam Baldwin in Chuck and Firefly.

Y'stole mine Diablo. Black as midnight on a moonless night.

Alan Alda on M*A*S*H* was the first thing to come to mind.

Also, not necessarily great performances alone, but there's no denying the awesome chemistry of the performances together of James Roday and Dule Hill on Psych.

Although Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler OWN Friday Night Lights, the younger actors deserve more recognition. Gaius Charles and Zach Gilford as Smash Williams and Matt Saracen, respectively, completely live in their characters.

I second (third, fouth, fifth?) Michael Emerson as Ben Linus.

I am also going to agree with Jason Dorhing as Logan Echolls. I hated that character. I mean, fucking hated him. I never wanted Logan and Veronica to be together, and definitely didn't see how he made everyone's panties wet...but Dorhing was amazing. I love Kristen Bell, but it seems like she was just playing a funnier, smarter, more clever version of herself most days. Logan was the character you couldn't take your eyes off of.

Finally, Chloe Sevigny as Nicolette Grant-Hendrickson in Big Love. She can bring the crazy!

Because Arrested Development doesn't have enough recognition, Will Arnett as Gob.

Also, Patrick Warburton as Brock Sampson. A character who's supposed to be the biggest badass on TV is voiced by the guy born to voice badasses. Awesome.

Diana Rigg as Mrs. Peel, The Avengers

Kevin McKidd for Lucius Vorenus times a million. I could go on and on about this one.

And although it may be bourgeois, Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Elaine Benes... although that's mostly a "womyn" thing, a "wow, check out that female comedian completely handing all those male comedians' asses to them" thing.

Alayna: The reason Steve Carrell would be mentioned for The Office is not because of "playing the asshole". That was Gervais' schtick, which was great for him, but the Carrell role isn't really an asshole. It's a guy who wants tremendously to be liked but has absolutely no capacity for determining appropriate behaviour. He's vulnerable and pathetic and you can't hate him despite his buffoonish behaviour.

Frances Conroy - Six Feet Under
Katee Sackhoff and Mary McDonnell - BSG
All four of The Golden Girls

I second Je Nais Se Twat and Matt on Cranston. Somehow, Malcolm reruns will never feel the same, and I believe it's an incredible (and rare) thing to pull off.

Ones that haven't been mentioned yet:

Tyne Daly as Maxine on Judging Amy. Seriously my hero.

John Corbett as Chris in the Morning on Northern Exposure. He was always the finishing touch to an episode, giving pseudo-philosophical musings into the night.

Cranston in Breaking Bad. He is unrelentingly raw and real. It's hard-to-watch TV.

The problem with Hugh Laurie in House is that the writing has gone to shit. Laurie is an accomplished actor, but we are left with a show that spins its wheels trying to over-do the last over-hyped "can't miss" cliffhanger. He gets shot! He's in an accident! He kills himself (three times now is it?) Jeesus, there's enough interesting diseases to go with that you don't have to have every episode happen whilst the hot chick is defusing a nuke with her nipples. Moreover, his treatment of his colleagues has grown tiresome. They all have substantial egos, and they would have walked out by now.

West Wing had good acting, but again, the writing got so bad for a while ther that it dragged the whole operation down. Resigning and then un-resigning? come the fuck on! WHY do you think you have to delve into the absurd to make a show about the most powerful man on earth interesting??

Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker from the insanely great The Thick of It. If you haven't seen it, watch it NOW.

I tried to pick one, but could only narrow it down to my three favorite AD alums: Will Arnett, David Cross and Tony Hale (gotta give some love for Buster).

Also Polly Walker (Atia in Rome) and Clancy Brown (Brother Justin in Carnivale.

And the entire fucking cast of Oz.

Shit. I might as well cancel everything but HBO...

And a warm fuzzy honorable mention to Woody Harrelson as (who else?) Woody. Though knowing what we do now, maybe he wasn't in character but just really baked.

Oh come on. All Ed Westwick does is squint and whisper his lines like he has a bad cold.

Mandy Patikin - Dead Like Me
Billy West (as Fry) - Futurama
Terry O'Quinn - Lost
James Roday and Dule Hill - Psych
Adam Baldwin - Firefly

The entire cast of the West Wing - I'm with figgy on this one, where the hell is the love for the WW cast?? John Spencer, Alison Janney, Brad Whitford, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, Dule Hill, Martin Sheen - with the exception of Moira Kelley, the original WW cast rocked, and continued to do so all the way up to the finale despite being saddled with some seriously awful writing to work with at times.

And I don't know if voice actors count, but if they do, then Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman/Bruce Wayne and the Joker respectively in the Batman Animated Series; they were both consistently brilliant (and Hamill managed to create an even more menacing alternate version of the character in the Batman Beyond movie, Return of the Joker.)

Al Swearengen
Edith Bunker (Archie almost as good)
Bubbles
Lorelei Gilmore
Dr. Sam Beckett
Dr. Robert Hartley
Jodie Dallas (almost went with Benson DuBois but didn't want to get confused with Benson)

This is kind of random and makes me feel old but for some reason Mandy Patinkin while he was on Chicago Hope popped into mind.

Ling: (ok I don't know how to make that lovely and bold)

But it's so completely the opposite! David Brent is by no means just an 'asshole'; he is deeply, deeply pathetic and desperate in the way you describe, but in a way you have met with before. Cringe-worthy, hilarious, but never falsely sympathetic.

Gervais does so much with a single gesture (most of all his furtive glances) - so much that I've never seen in 'Michael Scott'. Honestly I haven't seen enough of the American re-make to argue the point (and perhaps his character has developed since my last viewing), but I must say that Carrell - and the show, for that matter - reminded me of one of those un-funny comedians who yell all their jokes to compensate (and not in a clever or ironic way).

PS: what is it with American television producers and their false belief that anything can be Americanised without being fundamentally compromised and becoming unwatchable? Is a foreign accent really all that bad?
c.f. Life on Mars, Kath & Kim

PPS: HAS NOBODY SEEN PEEP SHOW?!?!?

Wentworth Miller- Prison Break

I used to be against series and never thought much of them. I always went for watching movies but once my bro got some Prison Break DVDS home and I was hooked! It's totally awesome and I just can't look away. I'm in love with it. Pity Prison Break is going to be stopped.

It has given me a new perspective on T.V series though and I have already started searching for something cool to watch after I finish the Prison Break series. I think I'll be going for Arrested Development.

frances conroy : ruth fisher/six feet under
anyone on the west wing
joanna lumley - patsi/ab fab

Peter Krause in Six Feet Under. Even though the majority of the actors were simply outstanding in how good they were, Krause's character, Nate Fisher was consistently excellent, funny, sympathetic and heartbreaking. Every time I watch those final episodes, it shatters me in that I feel like I've lost my brother or my best friend. Powerful stuff.

Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey in The Shield. The man issues such raw fury in this role it's fightening.

You beat me to it FabMax.

Thank you Louise!

Gillian Anderson from The X-Files no ifs, ands or buts.

Alison Janney in West Wing, hands down. Watching it the first time round, Josh was always my favourite. Now he strikes me an asshole (albeit brilliant), even with Whitford's genius performance. Leo and Toby were amazing too, but I just saw Janney on Broadway in 9 to 5 (she sings and dances!), and I'm kinda sorta madly in love with her now.

Runner-up: Tom Baker in Doctor Who. Listen, he's not even my favourite, but show some respect. The man defined the role.

I have to agree with everyone who said Peter Falk in Columbo, and Shatner and Nimoy in Star Trek. I can't imagine Star Trek without either of them. Shatner because he will always be Kirk to me, and Nimoy because I think I have a thing for Vulcans.

clocker, I can't believe I forgot Coltrane! Mirren's fabulous too, but I've always preferred Cracker as a show. Only knowing him as Hagrid before watching that blew me away. There's a line he says in that, about suicide: "It's a bomb under the kitchen table," meaning no one in the family is safe from the effects. Something about that delivery - very few things in art have ever struck me so much.

The show was/is a bit shit, but Billie Piper as Hannah/Belle in Secret Diary of a Call Girl kind of knocks me out. Mostly because I manage not to think of her as Rose in it and that's a pretty big achievment considering how many times I've watched Doctor Who

Given that, David Tennant sort of goes without saying...

- Hugh Laurie as Greg House
- James Spader and William Shatner as Alan Shore and Denny Crane
- Victor Garber as Jack Bristow
- Matthew Perry as Matt Albie
- Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer

and last but not least, Hugh Jackman as Nicky Fontana in Viva Laughlin. (Too soon?)

The cast of MASH. Although I'd single out Alan Alda for Hawkeye.

Posted by: Mrcreosote at June 2, 2009 9:10 PM

I agree whole heartedly.

Brad Whitford, Allison Janney and John Spencer on THE WEST WING

Ian McShane on DEADWOOD

Lauren Ambrose on Six Feet Under

Hugh Laurie on HOUSE MD

Alec Baldwin on 30 ROCK

H. Jon Benjamin on HOME MOVIES

The casts of Friday Night Lights (especially Saracen) and Arrested Development (especially Buster), obviously.

Also:
-Claire Danes as Angela Chase of MSCL (When I first watched the show it felt like she was playing the character of, well, me.)
-Jason Segel as Nick on Freaks and Geeks
-Krisin Chenoweth as Olive on Pushing Up Daisies (especially when she was paired with the aunts, or Emerson Cod)
-Enrico Colantoni as Keith Mars...and Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls (I love how they gradually were able to flip his character from one you hated to one you are really rooting for)...and Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars...actually, just the whole cast of VM I guess.

BENJAMIN Motherfucking LINUS. Why Michael Emerson hasn't been given every Emmy available and a gold plated pony for this role I will never understand. It's pure genius.

I'm desperately late to the party here, but have to weigh in with Dennis Franz as Andy Sipowitz...absolutely brilliant, hands down - the writing on NYPD Blue never faltered and he played that character with total conviction. I loved Ian McShane as Al Swearingen, and suspect, if Deadwood had run as long as Blue, he'd have been a strong contender, but Franz gets my vote.

Not that there weren't other gems in this show, but these two really deserve special mention:

Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari (Babylon 5)
Andreas Katsulas as G'Kar (same)

And because I can't help my girl-crush...

Claudia Black as Aeryn Sun
Claudia Black as Vala

Two very different characters, both given such life by that splendid woman.

I'd say the whole cast of BSG and of Firefly, but...I still haven't seen all of the former, and the latter might not have been long enough to qualify as long-running. :P

mightygodking: Okay, so I am going to show off for a minute here. I know and am friends with the person who authored the "in case of emergency" amendment; he also created Title IX and got the voting age lowered to 18. He is an amazing man and a key mentor for me - and we joked about how silly WW had gotten when it pulled that whole shenanigans. Not necessarily from the strict legal side, but from the political side.

Several of us who were here in DC during Clinton (and are back now, yeah!) joked that none of us could afford to dress as well as they all did on WW, but we certainly thought we were just as smart ;).

There's enough real craziness at the White House and Congress that you don't need to go off the rails.

Clancy Brown as Brother Justin in Carnivale and Michael K. Williams as Omar in The Wire. You could pick two or three people from The Wire.

jane krakowski on 30 rock. so underrated.

and the entire cast of arrested development, but if i had to pick a favorite i'd go with tony hale as buster.

I've got your back on Peep Show, Alayna

And, in the BBC spirit, I'll also nominate Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge. Simply brilliant.

kristen wiig on snl. is nothing without her

FUCK RIGHT the Golden Girls.

And I know it wasn't on for that long, but Bill Paxton in Big Love- he always looked exactly what a dude with three wives and 4.2 million children SHOULD look: tired, rumpled, and desperate. AND he showed his heiny, like, all the time. (YAY BILL PAXTON'S HEINY!)

Big Ups to whomever said Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. For reals.

andy griffith as matlock

barry corbin as maurice minnifield on northern exposure