I have been thinking about this and found several strong candidates. Please share your opinion -

maybe not GOAT TV character, but someone who might get overlooked is

Danny from Bloodline



I have never felt so uncertain about a characters intentions or motives. I think Ben Mendelsohn did a great job of portraying the character and really the only reasoned I watched the show was to see what Danny would do next.

George Costanza

Dwight Schrute
Gregory House
Malcolm Reynolds
Stewie Griffin

Boyd Crowder - Justified
Admiral Adama - Battle Star Galactica
John Locke - Lost
Hank Moody - Californication

are obvious picks you didn't list. Vick Mackey (The Shield > The Wire) too.

Cool, another thread that thinks TV started around 1990.

SAM THE BUTCHER

When you do lists like this you have to think

"What TV character if I parodied now on SNL would most people immediately know who it was without telling them their name across all age ranges?"

Also you need to discount anything recent.

This list probably doesn't include the top 10 of all time. Maybe Homer but otherwise it suffers from serious recency bias and many of them aren't that well known.

Barney Fife!

I think that when polls like this have been done in the past (in general, not here), Archie Bunker tends to do well, since his performance was well regarded by critics and it occurred on a popular and groundbreaking show.

roger smith

he's a limitless number of amazing characters in one

Doug Wilson-Weeds

Doug Heffernan-King of Queens

Archie Bunker. Groundbreaking show, groundbreaking character.

#2 probably Tony Soprano

kreiger from archer

Montgomery Burns

No T-Dog from The Walking Dead?

Which one you have in mind?

This guy was pretty classic too...

Heathcliff Huxtable

Agreed. How about:

Richard Kimble
Matt Dillon
Mr. Spock
Archie Bunker
Columbo
Kwai Chang Caine

JR...


OK Omar was a Fav

Just a few more:

Quincy
Jim Rockford
Perry Mason
Matlock
Larry Mondello
Barnaby Jones
Angel (from The Rockford Files)
Kojak

Mr Rodgers

Here's a possible all-time list (in no particular order):

1) Mr. Spock
2) Gracie Allen
3) Lou Grant
4) Hawkeye Pierce
5) Steve McGarrett
6) Ted Baxter
7) Higgins
8) Ralph Kramden
9) Archie Bunker
10) Cliff Clavin
11) George Jefferson
12) Dan Fielding
13) Entire cast of Seinfeld
14) Brett Maverick
15) Hannibal Smith
16) Al Swearengen
17) Omar Little
18) Homer Simpson
19) Al Bundy
20) Roseanne
21) Alex Keaton
22) JR Ewing
23) Howard Borden
24) Maxwell Smart
25) Deitrich from Barney Miller
26) Data
27) Sophia Petrillo
28) Miles Crane
29) Dexter
30) Sheldon Cooper
31) Tony Soprano
32) Samantha from Sex in the City
33) Tobey Ziegler(!)
34) Don Draper
35) Walter White
36) Lucy
37) Josh Lyman
38) Entire cast of Modern Family