Most Underrated TV Characters of All Time

by Kurt

Posted: 14 years ago 12 replies

OFF TOPIC

There's two characters from My Name Is Earl that should be classics...I guess the show didn't last long enough.

Not only is Jaime Pressly really hot, she's a great comedic actress and won an emmy for playing "Joy Darville Hickey Turner"..

The other actor is Nathan Suplee as "Randy". He should have won an emmy.

"Oh Snap!"

YouTube - Cake - Short Skirt Long Jacket...

YouTube - my name is randy

And for "honarble mention"...Norm McDonald did a great Burt Reynolds immitation as "Little Chubby"...(Burt Reynolds played "Big Chubby", Norm's dad on the show)

Any other Earl fans? I think the entire show was really underrated. It was funny and always ended "happily ever after", which is actually rare these days.

Who else is/was under-rated?

Steven Wagenheim 14 years ago

Kurt, this is a really tough one as underrated is a rather subjective thing
in itself.

Is it if the show wasn't a big hit or the show AND the actor playing the
character wasn't successful in anything else?

IMO, most people who were really good DID get some recognition. How
much is enough is such a subjective thing.

I'd really have to think long and hard to come up with anybody who I
truly believe fits this classification.

Let me get back to you on this.
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ThomM 14 years ago

It's still on around here.
I don't watch it religiously, but when I see it flipping through the channels I watch.
I liked the concept.
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Kurt

14 years ago

Hey Steven...I'll give ya a hand...The probably weren't the star of the show and when you think of the most popular TV characters of all time, they wouldn't be on the list...But they still added a lot to a show.

IMO, Burt Cambell is an all-time comedy character that isn't as popular as Archie Bunker or Al Bundy, but just as funny (if not funnier).

YouTube - Soap first Season Bert Campbell chokes...

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Steven Wagenheim

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

Ah, yuh see...I considered Bert one of the stars of Soap, which by the
way is one of my favorite comedies of all time.

In fact, when I think of Soap, I think of 4 people.

Richard Mulligan (Bert)
Katherine Helmond (Jessica)
Cathryn Damon (Mary)
Billy Crystal (Jodie)

They were, IMO, Soap.

If I want to think of an underrated character from Soap, I'd think of
somebody like Jay Johnson who made ventriloquism cool again. Chuck and
Bob were a scream but nowhere near the main characters of the show
and not even on that much in comparison to the big stars.

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Kurt

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

I love Soap. In many ways, Soap and Earl are similar...They have probably my favorite collections of characters of any shows.

I'd add the Chester/Jessica/Benson triangle as something I think of when I think of Soap...Bob and Chuck are as funny as anyone and another all-time favorite of mine is the Colonel. (Jessica's dad)

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KimW

14 years ago

Kurt,
I agree with your first post.
And like Thom said, My name is Earl still plays.
I never watched it when it was first on,but I have to tell you it is agreat show.
The other character on that show that deserved recognition was the crabman?darnell, but for the times he was his Witness Protection Program character.

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Steven Wagenheim 14 years ago

OT...You know what's sad?

I just went to Amazon to pick up the series. Well, the whole series set
is butchered. Shows edited and all kinds of other crap.

So I went to each individual season and while seasons 2 and 3 are good,
1 and 4 were handled badly.

Wow...how can you do this to such a great show?

I really want to get it for my wife because I know she loved it as much as
I did, if not more, but I'm afraid she'll be very disappointed by all the cut
episodes...that's if she even remembers. It has been a long time.

I'm kind of torn because I haven't seen this show in so long. In fact it's
been almost 30 years.

Still not sure what I'm going to do, but I'm really disappointed at how
badly this set was handled.
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- Steven Wagenheim 14 years ago
  
  Okay, here's my contribution to this thread.
  
  Inspector Henderson from Superman. This isn't the best clip in the world (the
  episode where he was being setup for taking a bribe really showed how well
  he could act) but it's something.
  
  He really was a very underrated character on that show.
  
  YouTube - TAG!
  
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  Steven Wagenheim 14 years ago
  
  Another one (can't find any videos) was Phil Tead who played Prof
  Pepperwinkle. He was only in 6 episodes, but he was such a great character
  with just the most unusual style...a joy to watch.
  
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  Steven Wagenheim 14 years ago
  
  Another one from Superman, John Eldridge who was in 4 episodes. He
  was really a great character actor and appeared in one of the best
  Superman episodes ever, Crime Wave.
  
  And maybe this is more a testimonial to some of the great character actors,
  some of whom were really not well known, who helped make some of these
  great shows as great as they were.
  
  Many of the villains from Superman were really something to watch and
  never really got the recognition that they deserved.
  
  And this can be said about so many shows with guest "stars" who really
  weren't big names but made those shows so memorable.
  
  Most recently, take Criminal Minds and the guy who played "The Reaper"
  
  I have no idea who he is, but it was one of the most gripping episodes of
  any TV show in the last 30 years.
  
  Point is, there are a lot of people who you don't think about who don't get
  nearly the credit they deserve.
  
  Here is a clip from Crime Wave. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the whole
  episode. This is said to be one of the best of the series.
  
  YouTube - "Adventures Of Superman" (Crime...
  
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  TimPhelan 14 years ago
  
  Jethro Bodine ( Max Baer Jr ) was a good character. So stupid he made Jed look like Einstein.
  
  YouTube - Jethro Bodine - Double Naught Spy
  
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Kurt

14 years ago

Originally Posted by KimW

Kurt,
I agree with your first post.
And like Thom said, My name is Earl still plays.
I never watched it when it was first on,but I have to tell you it is agreat show.
The other charactor on that show that deserved recognition was the crabman?darnell, but for the times he was his Witness Protection Program charactor.

Hey Kim...

I didn't start watching Earl until about 8-9 months ago and only started watching in reruns too.

I agree, it really is a great show. It's funny and has as much heart as any show ever. There's so many original characters and they are really well acted.

Crab Man seems so simple, but he really may be the most complex character on the show. Not sure why, but I laugh just hearing him say "Mr. Turtle".

And you have to respect any show that has a "day-time" hooker whose mom is Betty White.