He's not on L&O anymore, but Hill, the actor who played Adam Schiff. I'd always wait patiently through the Order bit, waiting for the law stuff, when you'd hear Adam bitch about a case, or encourage Stone/McCoy to Make! A! Deal!, or his comments after the case was won (or lost).

And, and, and...I must add, the line of judges, making smart-ass comments, bless their souls.

(Defense lawyer talking about old people...judge listening).

Judge: That will be $100,000 dollars' bail.
Defense (irritated and sarcastic): Oh, why don't you make that $1,100,000 your honour?
Judge: SO ORDERED! (All are shocked.) Oh, don't look so surprised, counsellor, I'm kidding. And never say
"The Elderly" don't have a sense of humour!

On the UK version of The Office there's a character named Keith who is simply awesome. He is that guy in the workplace who is so clearly checked out, and who is doing the absolute minimum to get by at any given moment. When asked to fill out an employee self-evaluation, under "greatest weaknesses" he put "eczema."

(Maybe you had to be there.)

Re: Captain Jack on Doctor Who -- everyone seems to love him, and I don't hate him, but I wish I hadn't been inundated with all the hype before watching the show. (It was hard to avoid. I tried.) Dr. Constantine from TEC/TDD was so interesting. Gosh.

It seems like evry episode of Doctor Who (new and old) has at least one cool supporting, never to be seen again, character. I really enjoyed the Steward from "The End of the World." ("What are you doing here? This is a maximum hospitality zone.") And I just recently watched "Talons of Weng-Chiang" (from the '70s) and enjoyed Prof Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago. They really went together well.

Back in the States, I liked Phlox from ST:E, although the rest of the show was crap.

Deadwood certainly has a lot of, um, colorful characters. I LOVE the Doc (Maybe I just love doctors?) and Tom Nuttall. To get really minor, I particularly liked the whole Bummer Dan/Slippery Dan kerfluffle.

In WWE the wrestlers are also "characters", so I nominate ring announcer Lillian Garcia. She's been on the show since 1999, hasn't aged a bit, and every now and then the writers will put her in really random storylines (she's currently in love with a 500-pound wrestler named Viscera, and I'm not doing it justice, but the whole thing is WORKING).

ITA. I love so many of the one-shot supporting characters in Doctor Who, like Nancy in ‘The Empty Child’/'The Doctor Dances’, Jabe in ‘The End Of The World’, and a lot of the ones from the old series, like eccentric Professor Rumsford in ‘The Stones Of Blood’ and Duggan in ‘City Of Death’. I love how The Doctor meets all these cool people and inspires them to help him, even if sometimes it's against their nature, like cowardly Jago and genteel Litefoot. I did read there was almost a spin-off series with those two, and I'm not surprised, they were fun.

Gypsy on Gilmore Girls needs way more screen time. She cuts right to the chase. No messing around for our Gypsy. I would be perfectly happy if she got all of Taylor's and Kirk's time (both of whom have been given too much of a chance).
Speaking of Gilmore Girls, where the hell is Morey? If they don't want to overdo Gypsy, they could use Morey. Anything to get Kirk and Taylor off the screen.

Ditto on both Percy and Larry from Buffy. I always got the feeling that Percy had a thing for Willow. He called her a nerd to his vapid girlfriend only because he was embarrassed by his Willow love. Plus anyone would have been a better candidate for Willow's affection than Kennedy.

I love the minor characters on My Name Is Earl, and the way they keep cropping up, like Patty The Daytime Hooker, Kenny the copy guy (the scene where he's doing the typing tests on behalf of Earl's gang is so cute) and the pageeant mom and daughter. I wish more show runners put as much thought into the minor characters as MNIE does. I think a lot of shows (BtVS especially) suffered when they paid less attention to the people surrounding their protagonists, or just introduced minor characters (like the Potentials in the aforementioned BtVS) who took over the focus of the show and were just mostly annoying in the first place anyway.

The creative forces on "Desperate Housewives" also do a very good job of this; the old ladies on the street are never random but always recurring (Ida Greenberg, Alberta Frome) and random socialites and co-workers will often re-appear. It's the kind of thing that a casual viewer might not notice but is an extra reward to regular viewers that pay attention.

I liked Camryn Manheim in Law and Order when she played defense attorneys. I would watch her get very angry. She would be signing, her hands would be hitting together very emphatically and I was thinking "Whoa! Bitch Ben out in two languages at once!"

I'm so with you here. More Morey. I think we need more Reverend Skinner too.

As a relatively new convert to the X Files, I have to say that one of the coolest minor characters is Alex Krycek. You hate him! But he's hot! He might be helping now! And he's still hot! But he just tried to kill Mulder again! But he's hot! You never really knew which side he was on, or who he was really working with, until Skinner finally realized that Krycek only cared about himself and was always going to be double dealing and worthless. He wasn't so much evil as he was purely self-serving, possibly one of the most sociopathic characters ever. I was kind of sad when Skinner killed him.

Me, too. Because Alex Krycek was unpredictable and fascinating.

Not to mention hot.

Yes, Alex was yummy. I remember when he first came on; I was getting ready to give up on the whole arc/series. And then I saw him and said, "Hmmm. I'll wait a bit."

I definitely agree. Gypsy's awesome and I wish she had more screentime. I think the actress who plays her has been in a few movies lately (like Good Night and Good Luck) so maybe she wasn't available this last season.



Agreed!

And I love Lulu from GG too. I think she's so cute. I wish that she were in it more. She's one of the few characters (including both townies and the main characters) who doesn't annoy me.

Gypsy, Morey, LuLu (who is just plain daffy. She's a little like Georgette on The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Reverend Skinner, and the Rabbi. Especially Skinner and the Rabbi together. They could get screen time that is now taken up by Kirk. Who seriously needs to go away. If he did, then maybe Gypsy and LuLu could fight over Andrew. That would be a love triangle I could get behind.
Have we ever seen East Side Tilly? Is she the old lady we see hanging out with Babette and Miss Patty?

I love all the lab people on CSI, especially the one played by Wallace Langham. He's so smug, and everyone on the show hates him. I'm also a big fan of the medical examiner. The guy with the leg braces. I can't remember his name.

Speaking of awesome minor characters, is anyone cooler than Skoda on L&O? More Skoda. More Skoda. J.K. Simmons makes everything better.

I'd enjoy that triangle as well (certainly more than any other on the show), but just as I believe that Gypsy and Andrew belong together, I kind of believe that Kirk and Lulu belong together (I don't hate Kirk, but if it meant Andrew, Gypsy and Lulu getting more screentime, I would have no problem with his scenes being cut). I'm also really sick of Taylor. I'm also sick of Lorelai, but that's another story.

From a different show, I always loved it whenever Carl Weathers showed up on Arrested Development with his practical money-saving tips.

And from that same show, I have to add Steve Holt! I loved that he ended up being a Bluth. That made his interactions with George Michael, Maeby and Lindsay so much funnier (and creepier). I only wish that he played a part in the four-episode finale.

Miss Steph: I suppose Kirk and LuLu belong together, but I hate him so much. Not as much as I hate Taylor though. God, I have known people like him, and I'm just not amused. As soon as he shows his face, I just want to run out of the room.
Ditto re: Carl Weathers on Arrested Development. The whole thing was so loopy, and it cracked me up.

The system thinks my comments are so awesome it put them in twice.

I love Beverley Leslie on Will & Grace - the interplay between him and Karen was always hilarious. Actually, I liked a lot of the minor characters on the show, like Marilyn Truman (Blythe Danner) and Bobbie Adler (Debbie Reynolds), Will and Grace's mothers, Marilyn being so wonderfully bitchy and Bobbie just being crazy. Oh, and I love Will's friend Larry, who always steals scenes when he appears (Joe doesn't really stand out for me much though). And perky commercial actress Joanne from Jack's acting class always cracks me up. The only recurring minor characters I don't really like on the show are Rob & Ellen, but even so, I think the minor characters on the show were usually a lot more entertaining than most of the celebrity guest stars.

One cool minor character whose absence I regretted was Toni, the sharp female cop on Joan of Arcadia in Season 1 -- for my money, the best sidekick Will ever had. Her disappearance left a hole in season 2; with her gone, we never saw a professional woman painted in a sympathetic light (unless you count quirky science teacher Ms. Lischak). Instead we got Lucy, a bad dream of a character.

Word to those who have mentioned one-shot Dr. Who characters. Professor Lightfoot from "Talons of Weng-Chiang" will always have a special place in my heart, because he was such a thoroughgoing gentleman, a genuinely kind person (as demonstrated by his behavior toward Leela). If he'd gotten killed, it would have broken my heart.

I know someone must have already mentioned the coroner on Law and Order. Heck, maybe I even mentioned her in an earlier post. She is far, far too cool not to have received a mention in this thread. Every time I see her, I wish she had a bigger part, or else had her own show.

I also have a soft spot for Don Cheadle's characters: the underutilized D.A. in Picket Fences (who got pink-slipped much too soon -- after that show had started sliding down hill at an alarming rate) and his Parkinson's-suffering intern on E.R (in one of the last good subplots that show ever had). Maybe it's because Cheadle rocks so much as an actor and never gets anything like the credit he deserves.

MaggieElizabeth: I love the coroner on Law and Order. I'm always happy when I see her name in the credits (Leslie Hendrix, by the way). She has a great little edge to her. I also love all the arraignment judges on the show.

And I have a soft spot for Don Cheadle too. I'm thrilled he is finally getting some well deserved recognition.

She totally won me over in the episode where she's eating a sandwich while the two D's are almost ill from the body.

"You got yourself a stew!"

The first time I saw Leslie Jordan, who played Beverley Leslie, he was one of Murphy Brown's secretaries, one who was a walking disaster machine but how was devoted to Murphy. It was the funniest performance I had ever seen to that point. He's from Chattanooga and Michael Jeter was from Lawrenceburg. I wish I could have seen them do something together.

The late, great Michael Jeter. Jeter and Leslie Jordan? I would have paid big money to see that.

I love Rob and Ellen, mostly because I think a lot of people have friends like that: The boring couple that you never really want to hang out with, but put up with all the time out of a sense of obligation.

Attention, fellow Leslie Hendrix fans -- she is currently appearing in Susan and God, a play by Rachel Crothers, at The Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd St, in Manhattan (212-315-0231). The NY Times says: "The best performance in this elegant production with a winning cast is from Leslie Hendrix as Susan, a role first played on Broadway by Gertrude Lawrence. Ms. Hendrix... bursts onto the stage in the first act with all the determination of a speeding train, her chic red dress blotting out the stately tennis whites of her friends and aquaintances, and commands it from there." The play is running through July 16th. I never manage to get to these things, but I really am going to make an effort this time! Anyone want to join me?
I'm going to cross-post this to the appropriate L&O threads.

I would like to second the Reginald Barclay love from ST:TNG. I really like characters that aren't perfect which was why I preferred DS9 to TNG.

I would also like to nominate Ensign Suder (played by Brad Dourif) from ST:VOY. He was the insane, homicidal Betazoid crew member from the episodes Basics part 1 and 2. I always wish they had gone more indepth on his background and what made him the crazed killer.

Also, one of the coolest defense attorneys ever on Law and Order...Shambala Green.

Ms. Hendrix... bursts onto the stage in the first act with all the determination of a speeding train, her chic red dress blotting out the stately tennis whites of her friends and aquaintances, and commands it from there."
It's great #1: that she's doing live theater, #2: that she got a great review, and #3: that she gets to wear a chic red dress.

Ditto on Shambala Green. I love most of the minor characters in Law and Order. Also the characters the cops interview throughout the first half of the show are almost always off the wall. You know, in a good way.

Do animals count as minor characters? 'Cuz I loved Murry in Mad About You and Eddie in Frasier.

I hope so, because I loved both those dogs. One of my favorite throwaway moments from "Mad About You" was when Paul and Jamie came home, saw Murray on the dining room table in 'show stance' and Paul said, "This is new..."

Murray was much cooler than Helen Hunt could have ever dreamed of being. And Tudor Queen, I love that scene.

bump

Sidney Freedman and Col. Flagg on M*A*S*H

Hank on NYPD Blue

Oh my God, Col. Flagg. One of most brilliantly written,hilarious characters ever on television.
Flagg: I am the wind. (Jumps out window.)
Hawkeye: I think the wind just broke its leg.

Sidney Freedman was a close second.

Sidney Freedman may have been one of the warmest, kindest, most effectual psychotherapists ever shown on a television series. He was a real mensch and a good doctor.

Col. Flagg was simply... hilarious. I still miss Edward Winter.

OK, this is one so minor that - gasp - not even TWoPers will remember/relate, but you gyys haven't let me down yet so here goes:

One episode of Third Watch (discovered the show in syndication so not even sure which season) Doc, the head paramedic had a new trainee, I think her name was Yvette - anyway, really cool, strong personality, just shredded some idiot woman who let her 14-year-old daughter sleep around.

Anyway, she was so cool, so refreshingly strong and smart and funny, and then, next episode she was gone! No explanation, nothing, and I couldn't believe she wasn't a new regular character.

Not that there was very much lame filler on that show; I did like - or enjoy disliking - most of the characters, but one this good you'd think they'd have found a spot for her.

The Bomb Squad Guy from Grey's Anatomy. He had some serious chemistry with Meredith and they had to go and kill him off just as things got interesting. He could have been a serious challenge to McDreamy and would have been a worthier rival than the vet.

I think that's the real reason they killed off Bomb Squad Guy. It seems to me that TPTB at "Grey's Anatomy" have decided that Meh and McSleazy have that Special OneTrueLove, rather than the dreary, sado-masochistic sex thing I'm seeing, and will not allow anyone to interfere with that long-term. Hence the constant humiliation of poor Addison, who deserves better.

This thread has GOT to be named after the coolest minor character of all.....Launchpad McQuack!!

Any thread that mentions Launchpad McQuack must be resurrected.

Also, it's interesting that when this thread was last alive, everyone was bemoaning the loss of Bomb Squad Guy, and now he's back on Grey's (sort of). Great hair.

And to add:
Charlie and Dale on Heroes: It makes me sad when really neat characters are introduced and seem promising and then it becomes clear that they're there solely to feed Sylar's blood lust ten minutes later. I really liked these two.

Mason Drake from Lois & Clark: she was the blonde district attorney who hated Superman but had a huge crush on Clark in season two. It was such a relief to have a recurring character who wasn't blind to the fact that Superman had no personality, but Clark was the hottest thing on wheels. I always wanted Clark to give her a serious chance, not only because I wanted Lois to be jealous, but simply because she was a great girl. Too bad she died and no one cared two episodes later.

Hank Azaria's scientist character on Friends. The way he cleared the lab table passionately had my teenage heart all aglow. I stopped watching the show for the last few seasons but turned back in because I was overjoyed when someone told me he was back from Minsk. I guess (going against the title of the thread) he did get a chance after all!

I liked him there and thought he and Phoebe were terrific together. Sadly, by that time, he didn't really have a chance, because she'd been paired with Mike, who was the "love of her life," but the actor who played Mike and Lisa Kudrow had ZERO chemistry.

Yes, yes, please seat me at the table in favor of Phoebe and David the Science Guy. Hank Azaria invariably rocks, but this character was a particular favorite of mine and I thought he and Phoebe were strange, unexpected soul mates. So seeing her choose dull-as-dirt Mike made for a sad, sad day...

I mourn the loss of Lamb from Veronica Mars. He was an asshat who always brought the snark when we needed some. Damn... I still can't believe they did that.

Jane Barrow on Prison Break. TPTB could have given her a more substantial role, IMO. She had potential (but alas, she got a pilot on another show, maybe that's why they aren't making her a regular). Also, Debra Jean on Prison Break. Of course, they killed off Tweener so she was of no use. BUT if they had kept him on the show, it would have been nice to see him with her. She brought out his good side.

Forget Jane, my favorite one-off PB character was Quinn, the assassin sent to kill Veronica. There's something great about a guy that comes off as a nebbish, mumbling suit but can break your fingers in a split second. I was so pumped up by Michael Gaston's acting in those two episodes that I actually watched "Jericho" up until the hiatus... then I got sick of it, but at least his character won the mayoral election. :P

And I gotta second all Arrested Development love. They had a way of making incredibly funny and even well-rounded characters out of only a few scenes, like Kitty, Bob Loblaw, STEVE HOLT!, J. Walter Weatherman, and... what's her face.

Ann? ("Her?") And I third that.

I think most of The Office supporting cast belongs here- we only get glimpses of Stanley, Meredith, Toby, Creed, Phyllis, Oscar, Kevin, and Darryl, but they're all awesome.

I've always loved Brian on Gilmore Girls- I wish he was more heavily featured.

And I *loved* Nurse Kellye on M*A*S*H- I was so happy when they had an episode focused on her.

Yup. I was trying to pull a Michael there, haha.

I love the Office supporting cast too much to consider them minor characters. I guess Creed qualifies, since he's not technically a cast member. And you gotta love a guy that has four toes, spent his childhood in an iron lung, sprouts mung beans in his desk and can identify a strain of marijuana from a photograph.

Rob and Ellen on "Will and Grace" are two of my favorite minor characters. The funniest episode was the one when Ellen finds out Grace slept with Rob. The scene were she tries to seduce Will was freaking hilarious. Also love Larry and Joe from W&G.

I totally forgot about him! Horrible, I know but that was way back in season one! He was pretty good, ITA that he shoulda stuck around longer. I didn't watch Jericho b/c of him though...I watched one ep and thought it was kind of dumb...

I almost always rooted for Riker in Star Trek:TNG (shut up, I was in my early 20's & stupid) - except in any episode with Barclay. I always wanted Barclay to just smash Riker in the face with everything he had in him because it would have been worth the demotion and then we would have had a decent spin-off. Not anything like Voyager.

Ahem. Not that I've thought a lot about it or anything.

Much love for Ted the lawyer on Scrubs. If I'm honest with myself he's the only reason I watch.

I have so much love for Omar in The Wire. He's funny, sexy, fucking crazy and amazing! It's insane, I know, but the first time I saw him with a shotgun it was... *thud* The epitome of cool, IMO.