20. Ellie Torres (Christa Miller) on Cougar Town 2012-2013 Rank: 15 (-5) Ellie and Jules usually go hand-in-hand on this list, but they are in fact two different people. Since they've dropped and I had to pick one over another, it would have to be Ellie. She definitely makes me laugh more than Jules. Everyone on the show is quite funny, but I don't think I'd be as much of a fan of the show without Jules. |
19. Lindsay Funke (Portia DiRossi) on Arrested Development 2012-2013 Rank: Not On Last Year If feels strange, yet wonderful, to be writing about Arrested Development characters on new TV season rankings. Lindsay is the first of a few AD characters that will appear among my comedy characters of the past year of television. Since the new season focused on one character every episode, I mostly have to rank these based on each characters' one or two episodes. Lindsay was her normal self, scheming to get ahead in society while making a fool of herself. Come to think of it, that's an accurate description of all of the Bluths (except maybe Buster, who just makes a fool of himself). |
18. Jeannie Van Der Hooven (Kristen Bell) on House of Lies 2012-2013 Rank: 20 (+2) The end of the previous season raised a lot of questions for Marty's crew. He decided to start his own consulting firm, but every one of his team chose different directions. After working to make herself more important within the company, Jeannie soon found that staying at Galweather was a bad choice with the return of The Rainmaker. She reteamed with Marty and they finally admitted to their love for each other...just in time for Marty to be arrested for something Jeannie had previously set in motion. |
17. Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) on Community 2012-2013 Rank: 19 (+2) Though NBC completely Britta'd everything by cancelling Community one season short of the Six Seasons and a Movie prophecy, Yahoo has come to the rescue by picking up the show's sixth season. As usual there will be many Community characters on this list and the male characters list. Britta was her usual self, acting as a great supporting character that doesn't blow me away as much as most of the group but still makes me laugh a lot. |
16. Donna Meagle (Retta) on Parks and Recreation 2012-2013 Rank: 18 (+2) With two main characters, Ann Perkins and Chris Traeger, leaving the show half way through the season, secondary characters Donna and Jerry/Larry were able to move up in screen time. For fans of the show, that is definitely a plus. Chris was great, but Ann lost her value after the first two seasons. Donna is incredibly funny, often just with smart ass one-liners and expression-filled looks. |
15. Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti) on Brooklyn Nine-Nine 2012-2013 Rank: New Show Speaking of smart ass secondary characters, Gina might be the best one of all. At first I wasn't sure if I really liked Gina, as she can sometimes be too much. She definitely grew on me more throughout the season. Brooklyn Nine-Nine has such a strong ensemble cast for a new show and top to bottom everyone is worth being there. |
14. Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) 13. Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) 12. Penny (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting) on Big Bang Theory 2012-2013 Rank: 17 (+3), 9 (-4), 13 (+1) This year, I’ve decided to group the ladies of Big Bang Theory together. I feel that unlike in past seasons, the three of them are equals on the show. Penny was getting more of the attention in earlier seasons (especially since the other two weren’t on the show yet), and when Amy came along she was given a lot of focus as well just because of her relationship with Sheldon. I now feel the three of them are equally important and can be utilized in any combination (with the boys as well) for changing storylines. |
11. Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel) on New Girl 2012-2013 Rank: 2 (-9) I know what you're thinking...I must not love Jess anymore since she has dropped so much on the rankings. That is not true, she is still amazing. The problem is more with the show. I felt New Girl was a bit weak this past season. With that comes a lesser excitement for the show's characters as well. Her on and off relationship with Nick was pretty good this season, but the ladies of comedy were just stronger from other shows this year. |
10. Detective Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) 9. Detective Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) on Brooklyn Nine-Nine 2012-2013 Rank: New Show It was difficult for me to rank these two funny women of Brooklyn Nine-Nine against each other. I feel they (much like the Big Bang Theory ladies) provide equally important things to the show. They are very funny in very different ways, which makes it interesting. They are in no way the same people and the show would be less funny without either one of them. |
8. Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) on How I Met Your Mother 2012-2013 Rank: 7 (-1) 7. Robin Sherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) on How I Met Your Mother 2012-2013 Rank: 3 (-4) The final season of How I Met Your Mother finished this past season, and the show spent the entire season showing the hours leading up to Robin and Barney's wedding. For much of the time, Lily did not have Marshall around so she was free to be involved in everyone else's affairs. The first thing she did when they reached the wedding venue for the weekend was get a bartender, Linus, to make sure there was always a drink in her hand. Robin spent the season questioning her decision to marry Barney, but ultimately married him anyway. Then we find out it didn't work out after a few years and Robin ends up going back to Ted (we assume). It was a strange last season but I generally enjoyed it. |
2012-2013 Rank: 6 (-)
I didn't get to watch much of It's Always Sunny this past season unfortunately, Dee will always be one of my favorite female comedy characters on television. She holds her own in a man's world (on the show) and is entertaining in the process.
5. Annie Edison (Alison Brie) on Community 2012-2013 Rank: 8 (+3) Annie is still one of my biggest TV crushes. In fact, she's probably one of my all time TV crushes. Hmm...I should consider making that list sometime. It would of course begin with Kelly Kapowski (Saved By The Bell). Just quickly thinking about it, the only ones I might put in front of Annie are Kelly and Sarah Walker (Chuck). That would be a fun list. This is supposed to be about Annie's last season though. She was great. :) |
4. Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter) on Arrested Development 2012-2013 Rank: Not On Last Year Jessica Walter has been on this list for me over the last few years (for voicing Malory Archer on Archer). Though Archer is still going strong, she also returned to TV (well, Netflix) in the role I first loved her for...Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development. It was a very unique season with the show telling a story multiple times through different people's experiences. Lucille continued her conniving ways to try to return to fortune and moderate fame after the scandal that brought the Bluths and their company down. She did manage to get on a reality show similar to Real Housewives, but taking place in prison. And her feud with Lucille "2" Austero (Liza Minelli) rages on. |
3. April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) on Parks and Recreation 2012-2013 Rank: 10 (+7) I have thankfully seen a lot more of Aubrey Plaza in the last year, thanks to films such as The To Do List and Life After Beth. But it will always be her role as April Ludgate on Parks and Rec that first brought her to my attention. Though she started off as simply a sarcastic intern who didn't really care about her job or anyone around her, she has blossomed into a real person with a real heart...sometimes. She still plays the sarcastic and apathetic girl very well (with some of the best eye rolling on television), but she now has a real job assisting Ron Swanson and is happily married to Andy Dwyer. Of course that's all been going on for a couple seasons already, but still worth mentioning. |
2. Virginia Chance (Martha Plimpton) on Raising Hope 2012-2013 Rank: 4 (+2) I think of all the cute couples on TV last season (i.e. Lily & Marshall, Leslie & Ben, April & Andy, Frank & Charlie, etc) and Virgina & Burt Chance have to be my favorite. They're fairly simple and relatively poor, but they probably live a happier life than anyone. And they do it by simply being there for each other and cherishing their family. I will always remember Virginia as being hilariously simple yet always trying to seem smart. She had a hard time when Jimmy and Hope moved out of the house to start their own family with "Sabriner." But Virgina will always find a way to be happy, thanks to Burt's help. |
1. Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) on Parks and Recreation 2012-2013 Rank: 1 (-) I feel like I have been saying this every year the last few seasons, but "What a year for Leslie!" I think technically I can say "What a few years" as the final scene of the season jumped ahead a few years. Shows sometimes decide to make a jump simply to help refresh their storylines. In this case, Leslie is now working for the National Parks Department in a new office (in the same Pawnee government building) with three toddlers in tow. That's one way to avoid having to cast babies! |
21. Jules Cobb (Courtney Cox) on Cougar Town
22. Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown) on Community
23. Maw Maw (Cloris Lechman) on Raising Hope
24. Maebe Funke (Alia Shawkat) on Arrested Development
25. Hannah (Kerry Godliman) on Derek