There are some TV characters that burrow their way deep into our hearts from the first moment we meet them, and we just can’t seem to get enough of them, regardless of whether they stand on the side of good or bad. They amuse us, inspire us with their growth and development, or even enlighten us as we begin to see a bit of ourselves in them. 🤩😍

Then there are those who make us roll our eyes so far back in our head that we can see our brain. Whether it’s due to poor acting, poor script material, or just something about the way they wear their hair that irritates us, we just can’t seem to find the good in them no matter what they do. We turn into one of those internet trolls who will see a guy run into a burning building to save a puppy and still find fault – ‘Well, he could’ve grabbed the silverware while he was in there. I mean, he has two hands, ya know!’ 🙄🤬

And then there are those who fall into both categories: the ones everybody else seems to love but we simply can’t stand, the ones who inspire heated debates amongst our friend group over drinks at the bar, the ones we patiently wait for the series to kill off (even though we know it’ll never happen) because … Well, because hope springs eternal. 🤷‍♀️😂

So, today we’re going to stir the pot by listing the Beloved TV Characters We Despised. 😏😈

😁

And because we wear our pettiness with pride here at POP, we had a list that went on forever. 🤦‍♀️😬

So, in the interest of limiting this post, we’re going to stick to the Top Ten Main Characters we wished we could kill off a series [in random order, of course] 💀😎

ELENA GILBERT
[THE VAMPIRE DIARIES]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: The Vampire Diaries [S04E26]}

“Was there ever a more annoying heroine than Elena Gilbert? This girl was possibly the most narcissistic character in the history of television. She somehow managed to make every situation about her, a fact which the show’s producers were well aware of given that no-humanity Caroline had to inform Miss Thang that the world doesn’t revolve around her hapless arse. Honestly, I kept waiting for Katherine to eat her so we’d finally be rid of her.”

SUSAN MAYER
[DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Desperate Housewives [S07E07]}

“You cannot talk about annoying TV characters without immediately thinking of this ditzy, accident-prone brunette. It’s a minor miracle that she managed to survive just getting out of bed in the mornings. She was so ridiculous, she made the blonde (Edie) look like a genius! {Evil genius is still genius!} In a show filled with drama and scandal, she was probably meant to be the comedic relief; sadly, her all-too-frequent mishaps just made her seem inept and idiotic.”

MICHAEL SCOTT
[THE OFFICE]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: The Office [S05E08]}

“I have never wanted to punch another human being in the face just for existing more than I did with this clown. He was so over-the-top annoying that he made some scenes absolutely excruciating to watch. If I had this buffoon for a boss out here in the real world, I would definitely quit my job; and probably slash his tires before I left the parking lot. Not only was he a complete idiot with a negative IQ, but the way he managed to make every single situation about him was just tedious.”

PENNY
[THE BIG BANG THEORY]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: The Big Bang Theory [S02E18]}

“Bitchiness, thy name be Penny! I can excuse Sheldon for befriending her because it was established early on that he knows nothing about even basic human interactions – something which he obviously has in common with his neighbor across the hall; but what the hell did Leonard see in that ornery creature? The fact that she’s a hot blonde certainly wasn’t a good enough reason for him to chase her for nine seasons, let alone tie himself down to that woman for the rest of his life.”

BARNEY STINSON
[HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: How I Met Your Mother [S06E01]}

“The few glimpses we get of Barney’s human side aren’t enough to make up for the utter lack of humanity in this character. He’s basically a d!ck with arms and legs! In a cast of mostly stereotypical characters who show no real growth over the course of nine seasons, he is probably the worst. His egotism and narcissism are simply gag-inducing, and his womanizing is so over-the-top that it seems like a sad case of overcompensation; either that, or a desperate cry for help.”

STEVE URKEL
[FAMILY MATTERS]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Family Matters [S03E08]}

“If I were Carl Winslow, I would have moved my family to the opposite side of the globe to get as far away as humanly possible from that annoying little boy! The snort-laughing was bad enough, but his trademark ‘Did I do that?’ after managing to maim or mangle something new in each episode was like fingernails on a chalkboard. It’s truly a testament to Jaleel White’s talent as an actor that he could make Urkel so inherently irritating that I can still physically hate a TV character from a series that ended more than two decades ago.”

SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN
[GOSSIP GIRL]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Gossip Girl [S02E08]}.

“If the devil carried a Chanel handbag, he would be this girl’s twin. Talk about a privileged and self-entitled brat! I can totally see how this toxic circle of frenemies would revolve around this conniving and back-stabbing character – she embodies everything that is vile and despicable about their little group. When she wasn’t plotting something new, she was covering up something old. The saying ‘With friends like that, who needs enemies?’‘ has never been more fitting than when applied to Serena van der Woodsen.”

ROSS GELLER
[FRIENDS]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Friends [S05E07]}

“Rachel may not have been perfect, but she certainly deserved better than to end up with a piece of scum who would lie about something as important as getting their marriage annulled just so he wouldn’t feel bad about himself. I didn’t think it was possible for a character to go further downhill after starting off at the bottom as a whiny and entitled mama’s boy, but each season brought Ross to new lows as he devolved into a textbook narcissist and all-round creep who would try to get with his own cousin.”

RACHEL BERRY
[GLEE]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Glee [S03E21]}

“Spoilt. Selfish. Egotistical. Arrogant. Deceitful. Manipulative. Conniving. There are so many ways to describe Rachel, and none of them are good. Her sense of entitlement and willingness to stoop to even the lowest of lows to get what she wants make her one of the most unlikeable main characters I’ve ever seen. She’s one of those people you actually want to see fail in the most humiliating way, so you can revel in the fact that she’s getting a dose of the comeuppance she so richly deserves.”

KIMMY SCHMIDT
[UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt [S01E08]}

“There is annoyingly over-the-top peppy, and then there is the mind-numbing character Kimmy Schmidt, whose perpetual positivity makes you want to reach inside the television screen and bitch slap her perfectly white teeth right out of her pretty little face. Her naiveté about the world in general can only excuse her unending sunshine so far before she becomes absolutely tedious to watch, and you just want to stuff her back into that underground bunker.”

[DIS]HONORABLE MENTIONS

SPENCER HASTINGS
[PRETTY LITTLE LIARS]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Pretty Little Liars [S01E20]}

“For someone who was supposedly so intelligent and independent, she was probably the flakiest character on the show. She comes across as childishly jealous and pointlessly competitive, and (let’s keep it 100) a bit of a tramp. I don’t know if this was intentional or if the writers simply didn’t know what to do with her character, but she gave me more than a little motion sickness with her frequent weeble-wobbling.”

DIANE CHAMBERS
[CHEERS]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Cheers [S05E12]}

“Between her hoity-toity demeanor and know-it-all attitude, Diane was the most annoying character to ever set foot inside that bar. There is no way a man like Sam Malone would have spent years chasing that hell hound in real life. Most of her character’s comedy came from watching her fall flat on her face, something that wouldn’t have been possible if she weren’t so inherently unlikeable.”

RAY BARONE
[EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Everybody Loves Raymond [S05E10]}

“No, everybody did not love Raymond. The character didn’t really have a personality of his own (unless you count spineless mama’s boy as a trait), but was instead a disconcerting mix of his listless brother and his angry-for-no-reason father. There seemed to be no middle ground with him – he was either overly lethargic or in the middle of a meltdown – which made him absolutely exhausting.”

GREGORY HOUSE
[HOUSE]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: House [S08E21]}

“The absolute worst boss, friend, and boyfriend in the history of television! The guy was a narcissistic douchebag with a God complex who talked down to everyone, including the woman he supposedly loved. I can appreciate the irony of someone who saves people needing to be saved himself, but this character’s personality traits made him just plain unlikeable.”

IZZIE STEVENS
[GREY’S ANATOMY]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Grey's Anatomy [S05E12]}

“Even the worst villains tend to have at least one redeeming quality that helps to make them seem a little more human, but not Izzie. This woman was evil incarnate. Selfish, judgmental, and remorseless, she didn’t care who she hurt as long as she got what she wanted. She’s one of those characters you want to see get unalived in the most gruesome way possible.”

HONORABLE MENTIONS

MOIRA ROSE
[SCHITT’S CREEK]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Schitt's Creek [S01E12]}

“Is there a more exhausting character in the history of television than Moira Rose? I think not! Catherine O’Hara does an absolutely brilliant job with this character, bringing to life a neurotic and self-absorbed woman who has her head so far up in the clouds (or perhaps so far down in the wine bottle) that her outlandish and somewhat delusional antics are actually hysterical.”

COOKIE LYON
[EMPIRE]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Empire [S02E03]}

“This is the definition of a boss b!tch! Cookie may be selfish and power-hungry and more than little cray-cray, but family will always come first with her. Taraji P. Henson outdid even herself when she brought this character to life, creating a badass with a heart of gold who you do not want to mess with.”

NIKLAUS MIKAELSON
[THE VAMPIRE DIARIES / THE ORIGINALS]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: The Originals [S05E07]}

“This is how you do a villain! There was no doubt in our minds that Klaus was one of the bad guys, but Joseph Morgan brought so much depth and range to this character that we could somehow relate to the inner turmoil of a thousand-year-old vampire with both mommy and daddy issues; and it allowed us to continuously excuse his bad behavior.”

VIOLET CRAWLEY
[DOWNTON ABBEY]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Downton Abbey [S06E07]}

“Her tongue was sharper than the most finely-crafted rapier, and she could cut down even the most competent opponent with but a single scathing retort. Dame Margaret Smith made this character her own in the most wonderful way, ensuring that Downton Abbey will forever be synonymous with its acerbic matriarch, the grand Lady Grantham.”

CERSEI LANNISTER
[GAME OF THRONES]

^{Photo credit: IMDB: Game of Thrones [S05E03]}

“When you think psychotic biatch, you think Cersei Lannister. Yet Lena Headey made her so much more than this. She is powerful and ruthless, and she speaks to the inherent desire for revenge that lives within us all, unafraid to make enemies and take them down. Perhaps her one redeeming trait, though, is her unending love for her children which one cannot help but admire.”

Which TV character do you love to hate, or just plain ole hate for the sake of it? Let us know in the comments.

Also, be sure to check out our line of journals and planners -> CLICK TO VIEW

Until next time…

DISCLAIMER
The photos used in this post are not the legal property of POP,
and we do not claim ownership of any of these images.
They have been included under the fair use provision of
the Copyright Act strictly for the purpose of commentary.
[Section 107 of the Copyright Act]

RETURN TO POST LISTING