As a woman, I tend to lean towards the male characters of any television show I watch. While I enjoy watching women with moxy such as Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," or Ziva David and Abby Sciuto of "NCIS," the thing that draws my attention to any television show is the "eye candy" I find on them. While that is not the only reason I watch the television shows I do, or the reason I love the characters, it makes me start watching the show so that I begin to fall in love with the characters themselves.
The writing and acting found on each and every one of these shows is the main reason I am drawn to them. The characters are not memorable, no matter how good looking the actors portraying them are, if they aren't brought to life through great writing and wonderful acting. The character also has to be multi-dimensional - someone that will make you laugh one minute and cry the next. With great writers behind them, these actors have managed to take the characters they portray, add a little of themselves and give you a person that you are interested in. Someone that makes you want to tune in each and every week to see what is happening to them and being a part of their lives for at least on hour. That being said, here are my top 10 television character picks.
Jeremy Bolt of "Here Come the Brides"
Okay, now I am telling my age. Even though I was only 9 years old when Bobby Sherman hit the television screens as Jeremy Bolt, I immediately developed a major crush on him. Even today, I watch the old DVD's of this show and wonder how women could not instantly fall in love with this character.
Jeremy Bolt was the youngest brother in the logging family of this show. They were three young men who had lost their parents and worked hard each and every week to keep their business going and to make sure that they did not lose their legacy - Bridal Veil Mountain to the sneaky Aaron Stempel.
In the first season, these three brothers made a deal with Aaron Stempel. They promised to bring 100 eligible brides to Seattle and keep them there for at least one year. Not an easy feat, since Seattle, at this time, was an underdeveloped town with no doctors, hospitals or any conveniences of city living. While Jason and Joshua, the two older brothers, were ready to lie about the conditions of Seattle and make it into something it was not in order to get the women to sign on, Jeremy refused to be a part of their plot. He wanted them to be honest upfront, making Jason tell the truth. Still, they managed to accomplish their task and also managed to keep the brides there for one year, thus winning their bet with Stempel.
In the second season, there were the usual perils of living in the wilderness. As a lover of western based type shows, I fell in love with this one. However, the thing that kept me tuning in was watching Jeremy Bolt grow up. His struggle to be heard by his older brothers, who felt that even though he was an asset to the team, he was not ready for the big issues. Jeremy worked hard to make them respect him and proved that he was a voice that should be heard.
Jeremy started out as a shy, insecure boy who hated to talk because he had a stuttering problem due to the loss of his mother. He struggled for quite a while to get rid of the stammering, which he finally did through the love of his family and one Ms. Candy Prewitt, the love of his life. Some of the sweetest moments on the show was watching Jeremy struggle with the embarrassment of his stuttering, especially in front of Candy. When he first talked to her on the ship, he announced, "I s-s-s-s-tutter." She replied, "I bite my nails." They both laughed and love blossomed almost immediately.
As the show progressed, Jeremy became more confident. He had the morals of a good man, he loved with all his heart and was very compassionate. Jeremy never tried to hide his compassion and his love, which is rare in a lot of men who believe that you have to be macho in order to be noticed and that showing these traits seem to make them "weak." And while Jeremy showed all of these traits, he also proved that he was strong and could protect himself and his loved ones if the situation arose.
Jeremy proved that he could be a "man" while still wearing his heart on his sleeve. He proved he could not only be caring, but that he could be tough and strong if given the right situation. Jeremy was all about loyalty, trust and family and that is what ended up making this character so memorable to me. He was definitely the type of man that I wanted to marry - and actually did.
Byron "Sully" Sully of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman"
"Sully," as he was known by everyone, was a friend to not only the indians, but to some of the townspeople in Colorado Springs as well. After losing his first wife, Abigail, who died in childbirth, Sully was a loner until the headstrong Michaela Quinn, M.D. came to town. After a time, Sully found himself falling in love with Michaela. They eventually married and had a daughter together while still raising Michaela's adopted children - Matthew, Colleen and Brian.
What made Sully such an interesting character was the fact that even though he had a rough exterior, he was a marshmallow on the inside. A very caring and kind man who "adopted" Matthew, Colleen and Brian even before he and Michaela were married. A man who lived by his beliefs, never compromised his morals and who never jumped to conclusions about someone - let alone whether they were guilty or not of crimes that were supposed to have been committed.
If Sully disagreed with anyone, especially Michaela, about anything, he tried to be fair and see their side of the argument. And even if he still did not agree with the person, he agreed to disagree. Sully was very kind, however, he could be ruthless if anyone dared to try to hurt his family. Sully was strong but sensitive - a great combination in any character.
Tom Hanson of "21 Jumpstreet"
Who can forget Johnny Depp's first role on television? Johnny was an unknown when he took over the role of Tom Hanson, a young man who wanted to be a policeman like his late father, yet looked too young to be one. Thus, he became a great undercover cop who haunted the hallways of high schools, busting kids for anything from drugs to murder.
Tom was the straight man to his partner, Douglas Penhall (portrayed brilliantly by Peter Deluise), yet he could be funny himself. Tom was the type of policeman that wanted to help everyone and found it hard to realize that he just couldn't do that. He was a good looking man who did not seem to know just how good looking he really was or the effect he had on the females in his world. Tom had strong morals and was loyal to the ones that were close to him. He wanted to make his late father proud, and having lost my father at a very early age, I could understand that and bond with him.
Wesley Wyndham Price of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel"
Wesley was memorable because he was a character you loved to hate on "Buffy," yet became the character you were impressed with and loved on "Angel." When Wesley first arrived in Joss Whedon's world, no one, including myself, wanted to like this man. He was going to try to take over Giles' job and all Buffy fans loved Giles. Thus, they begrudged the fact that Wesley was even there. Add to it the fact that he was a prissy, self-involved, know-it-all man who tried to act like a bigshot but was a coward and you can understand why most fans did not like Wesley. Even the fact that Alexis Denisoff, portrayer of the character, was handsome did not seem to help his popularity.
Fast forward a few years later to "Angel" and Wesley once again appears in Joss' world. This time, while he still is a bit of a coward, Wesley is more lovable and fun to watch. He was put on the show to replace the late, great and very well-loved actor, Glenn Quinn - not an easy task by far, but Alexis managed to do it by doing a great job of portraying the "new and somewhat improved" Wesley.
Over the years on "Angel," Wesley did a lot of growing up - not only fighting the supernatural creatures that tended to try to kill him but also emotionally as well. Wesley's father was an overbearing lout of a man who expected only perfection. Wesley, in turn, tried to act as though he was perfect. However, on "Angel," Wesley finally came to terms with the fact that he could not be perfect and decided to be happy with the way he was. Yes, Wesley made some mistakes - especially when he chose to kidnap Connor, Angel's son to keep him from harm instead of confiding in his friends and co-workers about the mysterious prophecy that made him believe Angel would kill his own son. This major mistake made Wesley lose his friends for a time. When he returned to the fold, Wesley was a changed man. While he still had compassion and love for his friends, he was hard core. Wesley did what he had to do in order to save the world, no matter what the cost.
John Clark, Jr. of "NYPD Blue"
Being Andy Sipowicz's partner and earning his trust was never an easy thing for any of his four partners, however, it seemed that John Clark, Jr. would never achieve any of this, let along be his partner. Why? Seems Andy and John Clark, Sr. hated each other's guts. Neither was thrilled with the fact that Johnny was helping Andy during a drug case, much less being reassigned as Andy's partner. Poor, Johnny, caught in the middle.
Andy had lost two partners and his third was missing when he and John met. His first partner, John Kelly, withheld evidence in a murder case and resigned after he was found out. Bobby Simone, Andy's second partner and best friend, died due to a heart problem. Danny Sorenson, his third partner was missing during a drug investigation when Andy and John first met. Andy had doubts about John, did not want a new partner and was even less inclined to work with John when he found out who his father was. However, while working together on the drug case and murder of Sorenson, Andy came to respect the young cop more when he was shot saving a civilian during a shootout. Despite the tension between Andy and John, Sr., Andy came to like and respect John - to the point where he considered John a surrogate son.
John not only earned Andy's love and respect, but he went through a lot in the 3 years he was on the show. His father, John Sr., never made it easy for John to work at the 15th Precinct. He interrupted a get together where the members of the squad were remembering Danny and John, Jr. was trying to get to know everyone while he paid his respects to a fellow officer. Later on, John, Sr. told John, Jr. that he would disown him if he chose to continue to work with Andy. John, Jr. stood his ground, telling his father he could live his own life and chose to work with Andy.
Life with John, Sr. did not get any better. John was investigated in a prostitute's murder because his name was found in her little black book. However, the name was actually for his father. John never gave his father up, staying loyal to him even though John, Sr. continued to cause problems for him by turning up drunk all the time in the squad room. Andy had a little chat with the older John which resulted in him confessing that the name in the book was his and not his sons. However, Sr. flipped on other cops in order to keep his pension.
This caused more problems for John, Jr. who ended up in the boxing ring with one of the men. Although Laughlin fought dirty, John managed to win the bout with Andy cheering on from the side. Then Laughlin planted drugs in John, Jr.'s car and he was arrested. John, Sr. was angry because his son wanted Andy's help and not his, thus causing another showdown between father and son. John, Jr. eventually walked in on his father after he had committed suicide by blowing his brains out all over the wall.
As if that weren't enough to deal with, later on down the road, John's girlfriend, who had bouts of manic depression ended up in a mental hospital. She escaped and committed suicide as well, causing John to go off on a drinking tangent of his own which led to lots of destructive behaviour before Andy managed to settle him down.
By going through all of these things and earning Sipowicz's respect, John earned mine as well. Another reason this character was memorable to me, besides all of the drama, was the fact that the portrayer - Mark Paul Gossalaar - proved to me that he could do dramatic acting. Who would have ever thought that Zack Morris, aka Mark Paul, could really sink his teeth into such a pivotal and versatile role and do well with it? I was pleasantly surprised.
Dean Winchester of "Supernatural"
If ever there were a character who epitomized family loyalty and love, it is Dean Winchester. Dean very seldom, if ever, questioned his father about anything. He followed blindly, believing his father knew everything about the demons, ghosts and monsters that they fought in the "family business." Dean never had a childhood, spending all of his time helping his dad fight the supernatural or taking care of his younger brother, Sammy when his dad was away.
When his father died, Dean was devastated. Not only did he lose his hero, but he felt guilty since his father traded his life in order to save Dean. Later on, Dean did the same thing when Sam was killed. He made a deal to give up his soul in one year if they would bring his brother back to him. When the year was up, Dean went to hell but miraculously was brought back by angels.
Even after his ordeal, Dean's main concern is for his brother, Sam. He tries not to talk about his time in hell, knowing it would only upset Sam. Dean is loyal to a fault and has to be admired for his love of family. He is also a very funny character to watch and sometimes uses his sarcastic wit to ease the tension of a bad situation. Jensen Ackles does a great job of portraying Dean and making you fall in love with the character.
Spike of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"
Spike has to be the most uncharacteristic vampire that has ever graced any television or movie screen. Played by the sexy James Marsters, Spike's character is definitely memorable for many reasons. Outwardly, Spike is not dark and deadly like most vampires. Instead, he has a "Billy Idol" appearance, although he insists that Billy Idol stole his look from him. With his bleached blond hair, chiseled cheekbones, beautiful blue eyes and cocky swagger it is no wonder he has lured so many victims to him, both female and male alike. And just like his appearance, his personality is just as alluring.
Spike is unlike any other vampire. He seems to have retained a lot of his "human persona." When Spike first appeared on "Buffy," he was portrayed as a very deadly vampire who had already killed two slayers and was looking to make Buffy his third. But Spike wasn't that simple. While he was deadly to the human race, he had a soft spot for his beautiful and crazy sire, Drusilla. His loving and caring side came through when he was with her. He was faithful and loving to Dru for over 100 years despite the fact that she wandered from time to time - whether it was with her own sire, Angelus or some other creature.
After Spike was "chipped" by the Initiative and could no longer harm humans, Spike reluctantly hooked up with Buffy and her group of white hats. Over time, Spike supposedly fell in love with Buffy and did everything in his power to keep her and her family, whether blood related or friend, safe so that she would not be hurt by the loss of a loved one. Since Whedon and crew had already done the "vampire falling in love with a slayer" routine with Angel, I felt the "Spike falling in love with Buffy" ploy to be a badly regurgitated plotline. I prefer to believe that Spike became obsessed with Buffy because after being chipped, he could not kill her like he had the other two slayers. He turned that obsession into what he thought was love.
Whatever the reason, Spike became an integral part of the Scoobies. With Buffy, Joyce, Dawn, Tara and Willow, you saw the sensitive and sometimes caring side of Spike. With Giles, Angel and Xander you saw the annoying Spike. Anya, who at one time was a vengeance demon, and Spike spent several moments commiserating over what it was like to be able to torture and kill humans and how they had hated humans until they met up with the Scoobies - in particular, Xander and Buffy. And with other demons, you got to see the viscious and deadly side of Spike.
No matter which side of Spike you were watching, you could always know that you would be entertained. And while most fans of "Buffy" enjoyed the Spike/Buffy relationship, I enjoyed the Xander/Spike interaction the best. Never has there been two characters on the same show that could snark at each other better than these two and having you laugh till you cried.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs of "NCIS"
Mark Harmon does a wonderful job of bringing Leroy Jethro Gibbs to life. Gibbs, as he is known by his colleagues, is a mysterious and complex man. He seldom talks about his private life, to the point where even his closest friends did not even know about his first wife, Shannon and their daughter, Kelly until Gibbs was almost killed during an explosion. Both were killed in a car accident after the agent assigned to watch over them after Shannon witnessed a murder was shot and killed while driving the car. Gibbs went after their killer, using his sniper skills to take out the man who had caused him so much pain.
Gibbs has had 3 ex-wives since Shannon, never finding true happiness with any of them. In fact, one went after him with a baseball bat while another split his skull open with a golf club. As bad as Gibbs is at relationships with women, he excels at being an NCIS Special Agent and Team Leader. He has won seven awards, although he has never shown up to receive any of them. Instead, he has let his Senior Field Agent, Anthony DiNozzo accept the awards for him. Gibbs has no need for awards. Helping other people and trying to keep them from feeling the pain he has gone through with the death of his true love and their child is reward enough for him.
Gibbs expects nothing but the best, not only from himself but from his co-workers as well. While he is a hard core, ex-marine sniper, he also has a soft side which is often evidenced when he is around his long time friend, Ducky or his forensics expert and surrogate daughter, Abby Sciuto. And while he is hard on the rest of his team, he cares deeply for each and every one of them, especially Tony who is like the son he never had. Gibbs sees a younger version of himself in Tony and this has been mentioned in several episodes.
Gibbs is the boss from hell and hard to work for but he is also loyal, loving and the kind of man that you would want watching your back if you worked in the kind of profession that they do. He expects the same type of trust and loyalty from his team and has earned it many times over. Gibbs is extremely intelligent, yet lacks any knowledge of the technological aspects of the job. He is sarcastic, funny and a father figure to his team. Head slapping aside, who wouldn't want to work for him?
Xander Harris of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer"
On a show where everyone had special powers that ranged from being a vampire slayer to a witch, who couldn't help but remember the one normal person in the group? The one normal person among a group of heroes that would throw himself in front of these superheroes in order to protect them, knowing that he didn't have any protection himself? Nicholas Brendon was brilliant in showing the normal side while bringing out the qualities that made Xander Harris so memorable.
Xander was loyal and loving to a fault. While there were times when his friends would tease him about being the normal guy or would downplay what his role meant to their group, thus hurting his feelings, Xander would never walk away. Instead, he was always there when they faced a crises, be it emotionally or physically. Xander threw himself headlong into every fight even though he was scared. When Buffy started college and began to doubt herself, it was Xander that made her see how special she was by telling her that she was his hero. When Willow lost the love of her life and tried to destroy the world, Xander was the only one that actually got through to her and saved the world.
While Xander, for the most part, was a great guy he had his faults as well. That is what makes us all human, right? He was stubborn, opinionated and had a temper when he was riled up. Still his good points far outweighed his bad and he was definitely a white hat as Angelus dubbed him.
Some of the most memorable moments of this great show were the moving speeches Xander would give to his friends or about his friends. When Dawn thought she was a potential slayer, only to later find out that she wasn't, she was very confused about her feelings. Xander understood her feelings, both while she was freaking out about being a potential and later on, when she was disappointed because she wasn't one. Why? Because as he told her, "They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie. To be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary." Xander brought Dawn to tears and us viewers along with her.
When Buffy rashly decided to storm the vineyard with the Potentials, despite Giles' and Xander's protests that it was possibly a trap, Xander still took up for his friend over a potential when she questioned Buffy's decision. When she stated that the plan was trouble and that Buffy didn't care how many people she put in danger, Xander immediately interrupted her, despite his own concerns. "Let me tell you something about Buffy. I've been through more battles with Buffy than you all can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her. She's laid down her life literally to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times and she's still standing. You're scared. That's smart. You got questions - you should. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy's all about the kill, then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart, and this time not literally. And I'm telling you right now that she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it." Again, Xander brought Buffy (who walked in unnoticed), Dawn, Andrew and the viewers to tears with his love and loyalty for his friends.
Sadly, after this moment, Xander had his eye put out by the evil preacher man, Caleb while trying to rescue some of the potentials. These potential slayers were supposedly stronger than human men, but there was Xander, trying to protect them even though he barely knew them. That is the moment that everyone realized just how integral to the group Xander Harris truly was. Everyone fell apart. Potential slayers began to doubt Buffy. Even her own sister and friends began to doubt her. Why? Because Xander had gotten hurt. The First knew what everyone else was just beginning to see. Xander Harris was the heart of the group. Any enemy knows that if you take out the heart, you take out the group. Luckily, thanks to Spike, Buffy rejoined her friends and they defeated the enemy once again. The show ended after this, but not the memories of the special character known as Alexander LaVelle Harris.
Anthony (Tony) DiNozzo of "NCIS"
My favorite and most memorable character is one that you will either love or hate. There is no in-between for Anthony (Tony) DiNozzo. Tony, played by the sexy and handsome Michael Weatherly, can be obnoxious, rude, immature and annoying. He can also be charming, sweet, caring and funny.
Tony is the Senior Field Agent on Team Gibbs. He loves to pull rank on the rest of the team when the need arises, however, when offered his own team in Rota, Spain, Tony turned it down. He did not tell anyone about the offer even though McGee basically said he didn't feel Tony could handle his own team.
This was a surprising turn of events since Tony loves to discuss his personal life with his co-workers. He is very open and honest about what he did the previous night or what he is thinking and he expects his colleagues to be the same way. If they do not open up to him, Tony has no problems snooping through their things (such as desks, cell phones or PDA's) in order to learn their deepest, darkest secrets. If caught, he points out that he is just "honing my investigative skills."
Tony equates almost everything in life, especially cases, to movies that he has seen. He loves to do impersonations - most often Sean Connery or Jack Nicholson. While these traits are annoying to the others, they often help solve the case they are working on.
Tony can be immature, usually getting a head slap from Gibbs when he is, but Tony can also be serious when the need arises. He is also very intelligent and streetwise. He catches many things the others do not and comes up with ways to find the criminal on many occassions. When Tony does get into trouble, through no fault of his own, he knows how to take care of himself and to bide his time until help comes along.
Whether Tony is trapped in a steel box with his partner, Ziva David, being held hostage in a room in the sewers with a man close to death or chained to an escaped prisoner when his GPS signal goes dark, Tony always manages to come up with a way for Gibbs and the rest of the team to find him in time. Tony never doubts that Gibbs will appear to save the day as he is very loyal to his boss and actually hero-worships the man. Tony thinks of Gibbs as his father and the feeling seems to be reciprocated as Gibbs treats Tony like a son. Tony also tries to be the big brother to McGee, Abby and Jimmy while trying to come to terms with his feelings for Ziva. Ziva is the only woman who has ever truly intimidated Tony, although he will never admit it to anyone.
Tony is a womanizer since he has commitment phobia. He is rarely with any one woman for more than a few weeks. The only woman he has ever been with for months was Jeanne Benoit. That relationship was doomed from the start as Tony was working undercover to help Jenny bust Jeanne's arms running father. By the time the case was over, Tony had fallen in love with Jeanne for real, but she insisted he choose between her and his job and NCIS family. Tony ended up burning her note, thus choosing his NCIS family. Of course no one every doubted he would choose the team, since he is loyal to his family and hates being away from them for any length of time.
Tony is definitely the kind of person I would love to work with or be friends with. Not only is he great to look at, he is also very funny and charming and I would never have to worry about him having my back in a bad situation. Tony always tries to look out for his co-workers and would die for any one of them. He is loyal to a fault and strong in his convictions. Tony has so many layers, just when you think you've peeled them all back, another one arises. And Michael Weatherly plays each layer brilliantly. That is why Anthony DiNozzo is my favorite and most memorable character.
So there you have it. My top 10 memorable characters and why. You may have figured out by now that I tend to remember the men who know how to take care of themselves. are fiercely loyal and protective of the ones they love, are charming and funny and know how to take care of themselves. Whether they are men who supposedly lived in the 1800's, cops, supernatural beings or those who fight them - they will always be remembered in my heart, even when the show they were on is long gone.