I heard years ago that TV was going to die very soon, and that Internet will take over every form of entertainment. Well, while internet did earn its very high position in Maslow’s hierarchy , what’s left for TV is that its demise seems to not come anytime soon. In a contrary, we are living the “golden days” of TV entertainment: best TV series ever produced at movie-standards (if not better), and most talked-about reality shows. People go online to watch what was on TV, and to discuss what was on TV, and will be on TV. Come on, isn’t sitting in front of a big LCD and switching from channel to channel a lot more relaxing than sticking eyes onto an endless sea of entertainment but you don’t know exactly where to dive in?
So that I said, there have been best TV series ever produced during the last decade, portrayed by tremendously talented actors. They have built up most interesting fictional characters, something that movies have difficulty to do in only two hours, instead of seasons after seasons. This is like comparing short stories to novels. Well, I’m all for short stories, but here now, just discuss my most favourite TV characters, who would be a sheer pleasure (or not!) to meet in real life.
- Don Draper
Series: Mad Men
Portrayed by: Jon Hamm
He’s handsome and rich, and is a true gentleman, as long as you don’t involve in a romantic relationship with him (in that case, he’d be an asshole). But that’s not why I want to meet him.
It’s because he’s the Creative Director of an advertising agency, and he has won several Clio awards. So let’s say, I walk into an ad agency (whose name must have also been mentioned in Mad Men), waiting to meet the ECD, and there is the moment I wish he would turn out to be Don. Or better, no. Don is actually a pretty bad boss. But isn’t it interesting to just know he exists somewhere? That ad agency must be so interesting.
In the mean time, I already have my Don. And he’s another interesting, yet scary, story.
- Peggy Olson
Series: Mad Men
Portrayed by: Elizabeth Moss
On the first day, I looked around, and tried to match one person in the office with one character on Mad Men: that’s definitely Don; that’s Peter Campbell; that lovely woman must be Joan. Of course there’s nowhere in the world that would be exactly like SCDP, but advertising spirit feels pretty much the same everywhere. It’s a flat world, and a fair game.
So I lay out that map, with the real-life Don, real-life Campbell, and there’s the spot I want to be: Peggy Olsen. I want to be Peggy Olsen. Only that she’s extremely talented (which I’m not), assertive (I’m not either), and daring (I am, hopefully). The other day the ECD told us about some talented “mad woman” he knows and admires, and what came to my mind instantly was “You met Peggy! You met my Peggy!”.
Where are you Peggy? I do need your hugs now.
- Jesse Pinkman
Series: Breaking Bad
Portrayed by: Aaron Paul
There was a time I thought maybe I could date a methhead, as maybe, possibly, he would turn out to be a broken soul underneath, and we would be the couple that are madly in love and elope together. Thank God I’m over that intention, but I still think of Jesse Pinkman as one of the most endearing characters on TV. Who would prepare to fall in love with a loser junkie? Jesse presents everything that could go wrong when a kid gets lost; he could have been better, a lot better, if someone really cares, about what he wants and could actually do, not what they want him to. His parents never know what wrong they did to their son, just like many parents in real life do not know what wrong they are doing to their kids. Aaron Paul made Jesse an iconic character that’s hard to find elsewhere: the “bitch” that now sounds so flattering, and this unforgettable monologue:
“So no matter what I do, hooray for me because I’m a great guy? It’s all good? No matter how many dogs I kill, I just do an inventory and accept?”
Jesse, oh Jesse! Don’t you know thousands of ladies out of the TV box are about to jump into the scene to give you a good hug? His chemistry teacher? Not so much. ( I do love Walt though).
- Aiden Mathis
Series: Revenge
Portrayed by: Barry Sloane
He’s hot. Super hot. Totally boyfriend material. And need I say, he looks just like Lionel Messi, just a hundred times hotter?
That’s just enough. When Revenge writers decided to kill him off, I decided to leave the series forever.
- Chandler Bing
Series: Friends
Portrayed by: Matthew Perry
I have run through many articles and comments on Friends (which is normal, any Friends-obsessed fans are doing that every day), what I have encountered is that Chandler seems to be the most favourite. Most common rank of favourite characters on the sitcom look like this:
Chandler > Phoebe > Joey > Rachel > Ross > Monica
Interestingly, Chandler and Phoebe were both initially planned to be just second characters. I love Phoebe, too, but I’m basically her, so I would love to meet Chandler. (Though it’s not bad to meet Mike, huh?). He’s the best friend one would wish to have: generous, cute, humble, loyal, funny (better be FUNNY), and very smart. He’s the one that would take care of every complicated stuff in your life. He’s the vulnerable friend with childhood scars that needs someone close enough to console. And what I love most is that he quit the career he’d built for 10 years, then at the position of a vice president, to start over. And he starts over with what he actually loves: advertising. Oh yeah, it’s advertising.
How nice the job starts with A, and Monica made an insane alphabetically order!
Da Ly
Da Ly thinks... 
