Best minor character in TV?

[Mr A]

Nods to the thread in the film forum.

What are some of the most memorable minor characters in a television series? Obviously, Seinfeld will dominate with the likes of Soup Nazi, Ukraine Guy, Newman, and so on. So the real question is, what other TV-series has great minor characters that could compete with Seinfeld's?

[Madbandit]

Jim from "Taxi".

[SI_NYC]

Jim from "Taxi".

Would have to agree with that choice, with Cliff from Cheers as a close second.

[Madbandit]

I also forgot Ed Norton from "The Honeymooners".

[UnequalProductions]

LOST did an excellent job with minor characters. So many to pick from.

[vanpet]

The butler in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

[kmcg]

The bosses in the LAO franchises...

[emily blake]

Mr Heckles from Friends.

[Mr A]

The butler in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Don't think he would qualify as a minor character seeing as he had good screen time in every episode of the series.

[Twofingeredtypist]

Almost every supporting character in Only Fools and Horses. "Trigger" in particular.

[Kandiman]

Mr Heckles from Friends.

Janice would qualify, too...

Also, how about Maris in Frasier? Just because we never saw her, doesn't mean she wasn't a character in her own right.

Drama-wise, Rachel in One Tree Hill was always a favourite - she was a series regular for season four, but she was generally just a recurring antagonist for seasons three, five and seven.

[Signal30]

Kenny from South Park.

[60WordsPerHour]

Might not be minor enough to qualify as minor, but Omar from The Wire is pretty bestest.

[Mr Scribble]

Jubal Early - the bounty hunter that appeared in the very last episode of Firefly. That dude was one cool cat.

[Deion22]

Omar from The Wire, Bubbles from the Wire, Dookie from the Wire, Frank Saboka from the Wire, the Saboka Nephew from the Wire, Prop Joe from the Wire, Brother Muzzone from The Wire.

Pretty much anyone who was in The Wire :0

[The lady green]

Also, how about Maris in Frasier? Just because we never saw her, doesn't mean she wasn't a character in her own right

the callers to the show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNPrlVXeuEA

[Biohazard]

Omar from The Wire, Bubbles from the Wire, Dookie from the Wire, Frank Saboka from the Wire, the Saboka Nephew from the Wire, Prop Joe from the Wire, Brother Muzzone from The Wire.

Pretty much anyone who was in The Wire :0

Cutty from The Wire, Clay Davis from The Wire, and about 55 other people.

[UglyShirts]

Admittedly my love of scene-stealing character actors has almost always outstripped that of the leads they rally around. So while one-off bit players like that which we're mostly talking about are great, I've always reserved most of my respect for the folks who are never able to even count on being in every episode...But are almost always the best thing about the ones they're in.

Which is why I've always adored:

Allyce Beasley - Miss Depesto (Moonlighting)
Gary Burghoff - Radar O'Reilly (M*A*S*H)
Dean Stockwell - Al Calavicci (Quantum Leap)
Jake Johnson and Lamorne Morris - Nick/Winston (New Girl)
Every single cast member of "Chuck" (Especially Vik Sahay, Bonnie Fredericy, Adam Baldwin, and Mark Lawrence).

[tucsonray]

Evelyn "Angel" Martin - The Rockford Files
Gandolph "Gandy" Fitch - The Rockford Files
Gomer Pyle - The Andy Griffith Show

[CthulhuRises]

Manny from Boardwalk Empire.

[Twofingeredtypist]

Roger Sterling -- Mad Men (if minor enough)

[Great White Mark]

come on people...frank costanza, newman, peterman, puddy, steinbrenner etc...

[emily blake]

My favorite current minor TV character is Lost Girl's Vex.

[Mac H.]

It's getting pretty old now - but the next door neighbour in 'Home Improvement' was done pretty well.

I know - the way he was used was a very predictable formula .. but it was done pretty well, and a bit of a change from the usual 'next-door-neighbour in a sitcom' formula, when they are normally a source of conflict instead of a mentor character.

Mac

[Twofingeredtypist]

Creed in The Office is a recent fav.

[Richmond Weems]

A couple of oldies:

Mr. Bookman from Seinfeld:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zePQavforA

and Colonel Flagg:

http://www.bestcareanywhere.net/wavs/flagg.wav

HH

[nic.h]

In The West Wing:

Amy Gardiner
Debbie Fidderer
Nancy McNally
Margaret
Stackhouse (I think that was the guy who did the filibuster episode; anyway, that guy)...

There are so many.

[lache]

Kalinda Sharma --- The Good Wife

Kenneth --- 30 Rock

Sweets --- Bones

Christina Yang --- Grey's Anatomy


if that counts for minor? lol