10 Sitcom Characters We Love To Hate
Published on January 7, 2016. Updated January 20, 2016Sitcoms are meant to be self-contained puff pieces that can be enjoyed loyally or just by turning on the boob tube and channel surfing. This nugget of entertainment has caught onto the fact that we love hating characters just as much as we enjoy loving them, and they’ve exploited our simplicity brilliantly by giving us just what we asked for. This list takes a look at those sitcom characters we just love to hate!
10. Marcy Darcy from Married with Children
Marcy Darcy was the neighbor on Married with Children. Yep, go figure. An annoying neighbor! Marcy was constantly at odds with Al because of his misogynist bravado, but her hypocritical man-hating ways made her superiority a farce, and her sadistic character (she enjoyed watching Al suffer) was just downright infuriating!
PREMIUM —9. Charlie Harper from Two and a Half Men
Alright, so maybe Charlie Harper isn’t the only ridiculous character on Two and Half Men but when you ask Charlie Sheen to play himself, it’s not really a character! Charlie Harper may have single-handedly put feminism back 50 years with the slew of one-dimensional women he brought home to seduce with his alcoholic charm, and all this while his painfully slow nephew was there to help wave goodbye. Now there’s a role model for ya, son!
©2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc.8. Janice Litman from Friends
Janice Litman was the Fran Fine of Friends. As the on and off again girlfriend of Chandler, audiences’ eardrums were tortured with her nasal complaints and constant use of her catch phrase, “OH MY GOD!” Janice’s character was oblivious to the annoyance others felt in her presence and turned out to be a shallow drama queen. Maggie Wheeler, who played Janice, originally auditioned for the role of Monica. Phew, dodged a bullet there!
Source: imgbuddy.com7. Hilary Banks from Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Hilary was the dull-witted and shallow cousin of Will on Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Her pretentious and snobby character was the stereotypical valley girl and she often baffled her family members by her complete lapses of intelligence. While Hilary’s loyalty to her family was redeeming, she makes this list because “Daddy, can I have $300” still echoes in my head!
Warner Bros. Television6. Stuart Minkus from Boy Meets World
Stuart Minkus appeared only on season one of Boy Meets World, but this annoying little nerd was the bane of everyone’s existence, especially the viewers! He always had to be right and was the teacher’s pet! He disappeared from the show in season 2, but returned in a guest spot in season 5 and has resurfaced to reignite his feud with Cory and Topanga once again on Girl Meets World. In the spin-off he is married to Jennifer Bassett, who once dated Shawn, and runs Minkus International. His son on the show, Farkie, is much like his father, so we get relive Minkus all over again!
ABC
5. Samuel “Screech” Powers from Saved By the Bell
No one could possibly forget Screech, that annoying nerd of Saved by the Bell fame played by the now infamous Dustin Diamond. His brainless schemes were always good for a laugh or at least a playful eye roll that left us saying, ‘get outta the way so Zach can get back to his important cell phone calls!’ The real-life Screech found himself in some hot water after being found guilty of two misdemeanor charges in connection with a Christmas day stabbing. Yikes!
Source: NBC
4. Kimmy Gibbler from Full House
This irritating neighbor was always showing up at the most importune moments with her catch phrase “Hola, Tanneritos!” …because what’s annoying about a repetitious catch phrase? D.J’s BFF was so annoying that we rolled our eyes right alongside Uncle Jesse and Joey! And just in case you didn’t get enough of her, 2016 will see the premiere of Fuller House focusing on the lives of the Tanner/Gibbler clan.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.com3. Newman from Seinfeld
Newman is the infamous rival and nemesis of Jerry on Seinfeld. His character is pompous and he collaborates in many of Kramer’s bizarre schemes. Newman was ranked #1 on TV.com’s list of annoying neighbors and Wayne Knight, who played Newman, realized the contempt people held for his character; when asked to do a spin off focusing on Newman, Knight said, “I think he could show up on Law & Order as a snitch, but as for a weekly dose of Newman, well, I think if occasionally you’re hit in the head with a ball-peen hammer, you might get slightly dazed. But if you were getting hit week after week, you might get pissed off.”
PREMIUM —2. Steve Urkel from Family Matters
“Did I do that?” Yes! Yes you did! Steve Urkel is the quintessential love to hate character that was originally only supposed to be featured in one episode of Family Matters as Laura’s date. The audience loved his annoying antics so much that he eventually became the most popular character on the show and his catch phrases became a staple of ‘90s popular culture. Glasses and suspenders have seemed to make a fashion comeback, but no one did it like Urkel!
PREMIUM —1. Ross from Friends
Ross Geller takes melodrama to a whole new level as he obsesses over every little thing. He makes nerds look bad as he acts condescendingly over the most meaningless of things! Even die hard Friends fans find Ross intolerable! Fans may have been rooting for him to win over Rachel, but we all not-so-secretly knew that she could do better. I mean, he definitely wasn’t winning a father of the year award. His son Ben is barely mentioned throughout the length of the series. He also wasn’t going to win brother of the year, as he constantly poked fun at how fat and undesirable Monica used to be.
Everett Collection / Everett Collection