Some very big names just missed out…

While we love a good dramatic boxset like The Wire or The Shield, or anything else with The… in the title that features maverick cops, our real viewing passion is watching sitcoms, preferably in clusters of about four or five episodes at a time. Many a happy weekend has dissolved like disprin in a sea of Seinfeld, Spaced, Curb Your Enthusiasm, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Friends, Peep Show, The Office, Father Ted etc… So we thought it high time we doffed a collective Interestment cap in the direction of our four favourite ever sitcom characters…

1. George Costanza, Seinfeld

The greatest angry underachiever of them all, and the perfect foil to Jerry Seinfeld’s relatively cheerful main character. His presence in the top four is enough to give Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm the boot, because essentially they’re both the same character – Larry David. He also keeps other great supporting characters like Niles from Frasier, Baldrick from Blackadder, and Hank from The Larry Sanders Show off the list. Our number one.

2. Father Ted Crilly, Father Ted

It’s hard to get the balance right as the main character in a sitcom, but Father Ted managed to be the ultimate straight man, contrasting with the stupidity of Dougal and the aggressive alcoholism of Father Jack. He pips Blackadder and Basil Fawlty to the second spot, simply because Blackadder is a little bit too smug four our tastes, and Fawlty has been quoted so often by unlikeable work colleagues that we can’t tell if he’s funny any more. The same thing goes for David Brent.

3. Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock

For those yet to see it, 30 Rock is a brilliant US sitcom – probably the rightful heir to the Seinfeld and Friends crown, as the one to watch for the next decade or so. And Alec Baldwin’s Jack Donaghy is the best thing in it, playing the head honcho, who is part bad guy/part good guy. He keeps the equally massive egos of Alan Partridge, Frasier and Mr Burns out of the running.

4. G.O.B, Arrested Development

Every sitcom has a bumbling fall guy – George in Blackadder, Manuel in Fawlty Towers, Kramer in Seinfeld, Gareth in The Office, Ross in Friends. The list really is endless. Or endless-ish, but in Arrested Development there are about four decent fall guys to choose from, with G.O.B (pronounced “Jobe”) marginally beating off stiff competition from Tobias, Buster and George Michael. It’s his dazzling magic shows that did it.