Perhaps even more than your average movie, a TV show lives and dies by how good its characters are, simply because most ask viewers to spend so much time with these fictional people. It’s easy to get attached when you dedicate numerous hours (or years, really, if you experience a show in real-time) to watching characters grow, change, or become worse, and as such, writers have the potential to realize some amazing character development through the television format.

However, TV shows also have far larger casts of characters than movies tend to have, and so the potential for great characters to get lost in the crowd becomes more of a possibility. The following all demonstrate this, to some extent. Certain characters below tend to get forgotten when the shows they’re in are discussed, while others are well-liked, but arguably deserve even more praise/attention. They're all underrated, to some extent, and are ranked below, roughly from great to greatest.

20 George Mason

'24' (2001-2010)

When they weren’t being killed off in droves, many of the characters of 24 could be very endearing, despite their flaws. Much of the time, this could be blamed on stress, because everyone in 24 goes through a lot before (usually) dying. With more than 200 episodes, if you include 2014’s 24: Live Another Day, many of the characters from the earlier seasons run the risk of being forgotten, to some extent, George Mason among them.

He's originally something of an adversary to protagonist Jack Bauer, particularly in season 1, when he’s an authority figure who doesn’t believe in Bauer (there are many such characters found in 24) and stands as the human equivalent of red tape. But he’s given a chance to shine in season 2, with a character arc that humanizes him greatly, and by the time he exits the show, viewers will likely feel sorry for him, as well as sorry to see him go.

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19 Barry Zuckerkorn

'Arrested Development' (2003-2019)

Henry Winkler is an actor who’s appeared in his fair share of iconic shows across numerous decades now. It’s probably safe to assume that he’s most well-known to people over a certain age because of his role as The Fonz in Happy Days, and being most well-known to people under that same certain age for his role as Gene Cousineau in Barry.

But between Happy Days and Barry, Winkler was also featured as the most frequently recurring character in Arrested Development who wasn’t part of the main cast: Barry Zuckerkorn. He’s a hilariously incompetent attorney who represents the Bluth family as an attorney, getting a great deal of work because many Bluths are often in hot water (not the ham kind), legally speaking. He’s always a reliably funny scene-stealer, and it’s easy to see why the character kept getting brought back time and time again.

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18 Gerri Kellman

'Succession' (2018-2023)

Just as the Bluths shine and dominate much of the action in Arrested Development, so too is Succession mostly about the members of the Roy family. Both families are equally dysfunctional, and both shows are incredibly funny (Succession admittedly being more of a dramedy, though), and it’s easy to see why characters like Kendall, Roman, and Logan often make the biggest impression throughout Succession’s run.

But over four seasons of Succession, there are also plenty of side characters who make an impression, mostly through being associated with the wealthy and troubled Roy family. Gerri Kellman is one of the most noteworthy, often not standing out intentionally, as she feels like one of the smartest and most cunning characters in the show, knowing how to generally avoid getting on other people’s bad sides (well, her odd relationship with Roman might’ve been risky, but it made for uncomfortably great TV at least).

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17 Jet Black

'Cowboy Bebop' (1998-1999)

Cowboy Bebop has a pretty small main cast, all things considered, with a total of five characters appearing in the majority of episodes, and everyone else being recurring or one-off characters. Spike, as the protagonist, naturally feels like a dominant presence. Faye probably gets the most emotional of backstories, and then Ed and Ein shine on account of being comic relief characters (that are nevertheless essential to solving many obstacles throughout the show).

So it’s Jet Black who emerges as the most underrated of Cowboy Bebop’s core main cast, being the team muscle and generally having episodes centered on him that are a little weaker than most in the show’s run. Of course, this is Cowboy Bebop, so those “lesser” episodes are still pretty great, and serve to gradually add complexity to Jet, revealing his tortured past and the core of who he is beneath his rough and physically imposing exterior.

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16 James Hurley

'Twin Peaks' (1990-1991)

More over-hated than underrated, Twin Peaks’ James Hurley has long been something of a punching bag among the show’s fans, and sure, he is a little goofy at times. The latter half of season 2 certainly doesn’t do the character many favors, but that’s more a consequence of the show as a whole losing the plot a little following the resolution of the Laura Palmer murder storyline, with James’ arc getting particularly melodramatic.

But James is deeply sympathetic in many ways, and is shown to be particularly affected by the death of Laura, and some backstory being explored in the prequel/sequel movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. He also shows up in 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return, and becomes further endearing here, even if some might not agree with the notion that James was always cool. He was, at least, always over-hated.

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15 Steven Gomez

'Breaking Bad' (2008-2013)

Poor Steven Gomez, or “Gomie” to his friends. He’s one of many characters in Breaking Bad who goes through a lot; arguably, too much. After all, Walter White’s actions end up affecting just about everyone in the show, be they people he knew before he began cooking meth or people he runs into as a result of his building his eventual criminal empire. In most cases, people are affected for the worse.

Gomie is a reliable sidekick of sorts to Walt’s brother-in-law, Hank, and as a result, he ends up appearing in a surprisingly high number of Breaking Bad episodes, especially considering he was never made part of the main cast. He’s always endearing and has a great buddy kind of dynamic with Hank, and his exit from the show (plus the fact that it happens off-screen) is ultimately very tragic.

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14 Calamity Jane

'Deadwood' (2004-2006)

Ensemble casts don’t get much bigger or better than the one found in Deadwood, a show with an astoundingly large number of characters considering it only ran for three seasons (plus a TV movie finale in 2019). To this historical/Western/drama series’ credit, most of those characters were great, but it still feels like many needed more opportunities to shine. Admittedly, the show’s cancelation was a huge roadblock, as far as this was concerned.

Calamity Jane makes a strong impression, especially in Deadwood’s first season, being particularly gruff and foul-mouthed, even in a town filled with people who love proclaiming profanities prominently. Robin Weigert absolutely disappears into the character and makes the most of every scene she’s given (there aren’t enough, particularly in seasons 2 and 3), being very different from Doris Day’s 1953 take on the historical figure in Calamity Jane.

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13 Lane Pryce

'Mad Men' (2007-2015)

In a show filled with tragic characters, Mad Men’s Lane Pryce stands out as being particularly pitiful. He’s present throughout seasons 3 to 5 of the show, which also happened to (arguably) be when the legendary drama series was at its best, given it took a little while to build and hit its stride, and perhaps stumbled a little in its penultimate season before the seventh and final one ended things strong.

Anyway, Pryce is something of an outlier among the main cast in Mad Men, being a British man living in New York City. He becomes a founder of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, which splinters off from Sterling Cooper, and is a valuable member whose past nevertheless catches up with him, resulting in tragedy. He breathes life into the show for a while before exiting it dramatically, upping the stakes for Mad Men overall as it enters its final couple of seasons.

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12 Tara Maclay

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1997-2003)

Only becoming a member of the main cast during the show’s most controversial season briefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Tara Maclay is nonetheless one of its most beloved and sympathetic characters. Really, the only thing that puts her in under-appreciated territory is the fact that her character wasn’t given as many episodes to shine as some of the other main characters, but these episodes were nevertheless made to count.

In season 6 of Buffy, everyone was falling apart to some extent, but Tara remained surprisingly grounded, and was also one part of the rather groundbreaking lesbian relationship the show depicted, between her and Willow (much less common in the late 1990s and early 2000s). Tara was perhaps too pure for the rather cruel world of this iconic show, but she shouldn’t be forgotten when it comes to assessing the best characters who appeared in the show.

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11 Benjen Stark

'Game of Thrones' (2011-2019)

Of the members of House Stark in Game of Thrones, Benjen probably isn’t the most overlooked or commonly forgotten about, owing to the fact that Rickon exists. Still, even those who remember Rickon probably don’t view him super favorably, given he’s just there. Benjen, on the other hand, appeared infrequently throughout the show, but always made an impact whenever he did appear.

Benjen’s the younger brother of Eddard Stark, and shows up in season 1 of the show before disappearing for a long period of time, said to be somewhere north of the wall. When he starts showing up again in seasons 6 and 7, it’s almost always to do something heroic, and so it’s hard not to be drawn to him. In many ways, he feels similar to his brother, only the show never really gave him the same opportunities to be in the spotlight.

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10 David Puddy

'Seinfeld' (1989-1998)

Seinfeld was a critically acclaimed and award-winning sitcom, and one that overall holds up surprisingly well to this day, despite the fact that it finished airing more than a quarter of a century ago. It’s centered on four core characters above all else, with all the other characters in the show being recurring or one-offs. It’s an approach that works, given how consistently entertaining George, Kramer, Elaine, and Jerry (arguably in that order) are.

David Puddy is one such recurring character, appearing throughout multiple episodes as a bit of a doofus (not of the hipster variety) that Elaine nevertheless dates for an extended period of time. He brings an offbeat and unique energy to the show, feeling both extreme and oddly grounded at different points throughout Seinfeld. To the credit of actor Patrick Warburton and the show’s writers, it definitely feels like he’s a presence in more than just 11 episodes, which is, in actuality, the number of episodes he appears in.

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9 Artie Bucco

'The Sopranos' (1999-2007)

Praise has never stopped being heaped upon The Sopranos, which seldom had any misses, as far as individual episodes were concerned. Its six seasons are celebrated as representing the Golden Age of Television at its most golden, with Tony Soprano’s inability to change or better himself as a person (be it in his work or family life) making for shockingly great television, with its run on HBO lasting almost a decade.

Few people would consider Artie Bucco, the restaurant-owning friend of Tony Soprano, to be one of the best characters in The Sopranos, but he is kind of amazing, when you step back and think about it. He’s pathetic and frequently used for comedic relief, and yet is also somehow kind of tragic and relatable, consistently being on the outside, and thereby viewed as a loser by Tony and his fellow gangster pals. The fact Artie feels somehow believable and real is just icing on the cake that is his character.

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8 Lionel Hutz

'The Simpsons' (1989-)

There are many reasons why The Simpsons is considered one of the best sitcoms of all time, but one of the most obvious is the fact that the show constructed an entire town’s worth of characters, with many of them being highly memorable. Of course, with great quantity comes great capacity to be overlooked/underrated, and indeed, Lionel Hutz is one such character who’s admittedly loved by the show’s older fans, but might not be as known by younger ones.

This could be because the character was retired following the tragic death of his voice actor, Phil Hartman, in 1998, so Hutz hasn’t appeared in a speaking capacity in 25+ years. But of the episodes that Hartman did appear in, the chaotic and shady lawyer frequently stole the show, being central to some of the show’s funniest and most iconic gags.

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7 Charles Winchester

'M*A*S*H' (1972-1983)

Given it ran for so long (indeed, more than three times longer than the war it was set during), M*A*S*H had some cast members come and go over the course of 11 seasons and 250+ episodes. Between the end of season 3 and the beginning of season 6, three main characters departed the show, with M*A*S*H writers making the choice of replacing those characters, instead of merely recasting the characters directly with fresh faces.

This worked to M*A*S*H's benefit, because the new characters generally added extra complexity to a show that continually became more dramatic and focused on serious issues as it went along, emphasizing the “dram” more than the “edy” when it came to being a dramedy from around seasons 3 and 4 onwards. One such replacement character was Charles Winchester, who was a far more nuanced individual than the still-entertaining Frank Burns, and someone who genuinely became more endearing and ever so slightly less stuffy as his time on the show went along.

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6 Richard Splett

'Veep' (2012-2019)

Most characters on Veep are genuinely terrible people with remarkably foul mouths, but that’s also something that makes the show so much fun to watch. It’s about as cynical a take on politics as is possible, following a Vice-President and her staff as she aspires to become the full-on President of the U.S., no matter what she has to do, nor how many people she inevitably has to step on.

Standing out as one of the few characters who isn’t a monster, morally speaking, is Richard Splett, defined by his seeming inability to be bothered by any of the sociopathy and abuse happening around him. Splett continues on throughout the show on his own path, not exactly being smart but nonetheless surviving in a cutthroat world as a campaign aide/assistant… that is, before the show’s finale reveals that he actually becomes President (deservedly so, some might say) in 2040.

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5 Sister Peter Marie Reimondo

'Oz' (1997-2003)

Like the aforementioned 24, Oz was a show that accumulated a large number of characters throughout its run on account of it killing and replacing many of them as the episodes wore on. The entire series takes place in a vicious high-security prison, and one that’s shown to be intensely dangerous for all who are kept there, as well as many of the staff members who are employed there.

Sister Peter Marie Reimondo is one of the few characters in Oz to appear in all six seasons, and she’s also the only female member of the main cast (which doesn’t feel too jarring, given it’s set in a men’s prison). Played by the legendary Rita Moreno, Sister Pete brings some much-needed humanity to a depraved and vicious show, being both a nun and a psychologist, and someone who was able to persevere while working in such a heinous environment.

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4 Ted Buckland

'Scrubs' (2001-2010)

A definitive 2000s sitcom, Scrubs aired for eight largely great seasons and concluded with a ninth that some people might prefer to pretend never really existed. It followed a group of young doctors starting out as interns at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital, showing how they grow as people and progress in their careers.

Scrubs was primarily a sitcom, but nonetheless was willing to get very real and dramatic at times, feeling like more of a dramedy in its more serious moments. One of the more prominent supporting characters, Ted Buckland, was tragic and pitiful in many ways, though the sad sack nature of his character was played for laughs, generally speaking. Somehow, it worked without ever feeling too cruel (the heightened world of Scrubs helped lessen the severity, when the show was focused on being funny), and he was a continually hilarious – and somewhat under-appreciated – presence throughout the show’s multiple seasons.

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3 Lester Freamon

'The Wire' (2002-2008)

The Wire may have only run for five seasons, but it arguably had enough characters to sustain 50. Not only was quantity emphasized when it came to how many characters were in the show, but so too was quality, somehow, because just about every character in The Wire feels real and memorable, to some extent. Just about everyone’s perfectly cast, and utilized expertly throughout a show that’s borderline perfect from beginning to end.

Everyone in The Wire has their fans, but to focus on those characters who were in every single season, it feels like Lester Freamon doesn’t quite get the love he deserves. Certainly, he’s less bombastic than say McNulty, Omar, or Clay Davis, but it's his cool-headedness and extreme intelligence that makes him a quietly great character, not to mention an invaluable yet still under-appreciated member of Baltimore’s Major Crimes Unit.

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2 Donald 'Jared' Dunn

'Silicon Valley' (2014-2019)

Mercilessly satirizing the people and culture of the titular area, Silicon Valley was oftentimes one of the funniest shows on the air, while it was there, having a pretty consistent six-season run throughout the 2010s. It succeeded as a comedy, sure, but it also got surprisingly tense at times, with a scrappy/underdog tech company facing off against larger adversaries and competitors, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and defeat from the jaws of victory in equal measure.

A character who was a little quiet and unassuming by the show’s standards was Jared, but make no mistake: he’s one of the most reliably funny in Silicon Valley. Bringing a unique nervous energy to the whole show, Jared is awkward, endearing, sometimes clueless, sometimes cunning, and ultimately surprisingly likable, even while most of the other characters around him become more selfish as the series goes along and the stakes are raised.

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1 Lorne

'Angel' (1999-2004)

There’s a case to be made that Angel as a whole is one of the most underrated shows of its era, consistently living in the shadows (perhaps a bit like a vampire) of its parent show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Following the titular character after he left Sunnydale/Buffy, Angel ran for five seasons and just over 100 episodes, at its best often being as compelling as – albeit a bit more grim than – Buffy.

With an underrated show comes naturally underrated characters, and really, Lorne is one of the best TV characters of all time, no matter how you slice it. He’s consistently funny, an oddly useful member of the core team in Angel, has a darker side, gradually reveals an interesting past, and is also just so wonderfully odd, given his ability to read people’s futures… but only while they’re singing. He brings a certain spark to the show upon his entrance in season 2, and remains a pivotal part of why Angel is so good up until the very end, standing as arguably the most underrated TV character of all time (yeah, let’s go there… why not?).

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