The Top 7 Characters of the 2010-2011 Season So Far

Courtesy of Television Without Pity and Zap2it, I learned that No Ordinary Family won't receive 22 episodes for their first season. The show's order has been reduced to 20 episodes and the season (and, quite possibly, series) finale airs on April 5 at 8PM ET. So, Finale season in The Foot is much closer than I anticipated. I have to figure out what to write about every day for 4 months once each show bows out forever or for the summer. I certainly won't be recapping the 2010-2011 television season because I'm sort of doing that each Wednesday.

Right now, 3 shows I currently review aren't locks for the Fall. Luckily, the fall television season looks extremely promising so I doubt I'll struggle to find engaging TV to write about. In case you're wondering, the shows are No Ordinary Family, The Chicago Code and The Vampire Diaries. I know, I know...it seems impossible to get canceled on The CW but, apparently, they view themselves as top competitors to American Idol and the vampire show is getting destroyed every Thursday. But we're 2 months away from these type of decisions. Unfortunately, in 2 months, television will get much more boring.

Last week, I wrote about the top five episodes of the 2010-2011 season so far. Today, I present another list: The Top 7 Characters of the 2010-2011 season so far. Every fan of television has their absolute favorite character. Characters are the most important part of a television show. The large world of Hollywood moviemaking may get away with one-dimensional characters in their stories but fully developed three-dimensional characters make or break a television show. Without Michael Scott, The Office becomes a forgettable sitcom with likable-but-forgettable characters. Without Ari, Entourage is absolutely the worst comedy in television history. With Ari, Entourage is merely bad. A quality show only benefits from the population of many great character. I assume anyone reading understands what I mean through those examples.

Anywho, it's time to count down the best characters from the 2010-2011 season so far.

7. Jules from THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (portrayed by Michaela McManus)

You're damn right I'm including Jules in this list, TVD fans. Jules is a fantastic villain. She's unlikable. I actively cheered against her plans. Best of all, Damon doesn't scare her. She joins a growing list of females who have no problem standing up to the show's most overrated character. My favorite Jules moment occurred in the Mystic Grill when both Damon and Alaric failed to charmingly deceive her. Jules eventually beat Damon's antics by biting Rose during a full moon.

6. Don Draper from MAD MEN (portrayed by Jon Hamm)

Mad Men technically doesn't qualify for the 2010-2011 television season but the latter half of the second season intersected with fall television so I'm including the most famous fictional Ad man in television. Draper experienced a mighty fall during the fourth season. He lost his wife and his family. His alcoholism was out-of-control. He lost his only true friend in the world to cancer. And then he had a mid-age crisis at the end of the season. I doubt Mad Men's as good a show without Don Draper because he's the central piece of the show.

5. Dean Pelton from COMMUNITY (portrayed by Jim Rash)

Without Dean Pelton, Community would still be fantastic. With the Dean, Community's only better. He creates so many of the insane situations at Greendale Community College like the paint ball tournament and the zombie Halloween. It's a wonder how City College hasn't destroyed Greendale considering how the Dean hires teachers who aren't even teachers (Senor Chang), he opts for rancid biohazard food rather than healthy food because of the price difference. Of course, if the Dean didn't do those things, he'd be a less infinitely interesting character. Dan Harmon said he wanted as anti a dean character as possible and he found one in Jim Rash's portrayal of Dean Pelton. Some of the highlights for the Dean in season two are: his role in the zombie outbreak, his Lady Gaga costume, his line about Winger in a coffin and his ridiculous Uncle Sam costume during last week's election episode.

4. Troy Barnes from COMMUNITY (portrayed by Donald Glover)

Troy grew up this season as witnessed in the Troy-turns-21 episode. He accepted his identity as a nerd after he went to the Halloween party as someone from Alien. He and Jeff were involved in the awesome trampoline story. His freak-out two weeks ago in response to the Reading Rainbow guy only made Troy more awesome. Community boasts spectacular characters across the board but Troy will earn the Most Improved Character award by season's end.

3. Steph Dolworth from TERRIERS (portrayed by Katrina Logue)

Her introduction is unforgettable as we see a mysterious figure crawl into Hank's attic. Soon, we discover she's Hank's sister. Maybe the fact she reminds me of River Tam endears me to Steph or maybe she's just a great character. She had a natural relationship with every character. Her condition didn't make her a loose cannon or wild card figure in the show. She was an adult woman, dealing with her issues and she occasionally needed her brother to lean on when things became difficult for her mentally.

2. Caroline from THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (portrayed by Candice Accola)

Caroline was easily the most annoying character during the first season of the show. Once she became a vampire, she became the show's most valuable character. She's been a complete bad-ass, a great friend, a conflicted lover, a hard-to-understand daughter. The character has amazing strength and will. Caroline joined a short-list of awesome supernatural blonde girls this season.

1. Hank Dolworth from TERRIERS (portrayed by Donal Logue)

Oh, Hank Dolworth--what a dark, complicated anti-heroic but heroic character. I won't write much about Hank because I encourage everyone to watch the series at some point. Hank's one of the Great Characters in television history. Anyone who watched the series knows why and anyone who hasn't eventually will once he or she watches the great Terriers.

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