The Five: Best characters of 2006

Source: TV Squad

Before you get all... angry... that I didn't include your favorite character on this list, know that this is my list of favorite television characters. You can make your list in the comments.

When I look back at the 2006 television landscape, a few key characters come to mind. This year, I discovered some new characters that have my adoration and I've stuck close to the ones I loved from 2005. Here's my list of the Best Characters of 2006:

5. Michael Scott, The Office While it's no secret that I adore a certain member of the supporting cast, the best character on The Office is definitely Michael. He sucks the fun out of any situation by making everybody uncomfortable, but at least you know what his true colors are. He tries, and does a poor job of covering up his non-P.C. thoughts such as, "How queer! (sees camera) Queer Eye for the Straight Guy-- that's a great show!" He just tries so hard to get people to like him and to be a buddy rather than a boss that you can't help but love/pity the guy. And Jim's right, Michael is the most loyal guy at Dunder Mifflin.

4. Stephen Colbert , The Colbert Report Yes, Stephen Colbert is a character. He uses his real name but on television, he plays a pompous, right-wing nut job. 2006 was really Colbert's year. Fans of The Daily Show all knew how awesome he was after watching his deadpan interviews with clueless subjects... but it took a little thing called the White House Correspondents' Association dinner for the rest of America to understand his awesome-ness. While I am often negligent in my duties to watch him every night, I still adore the Colbert and what he has done for sarcasm.

3. Dep. Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, The Closer The awful JC Penney wardrobe. The sweets. The drawling "Thank You" all make for a terrific character. Brenda doesn't exactly have her personal life together, but damn(!) she's good at getting confessions. This summer, season two for The Closer, showed us that Brenda strives to have traditional, Southern values. She went to great lengths to hide from her mother the fact that she is living with a man outside of wedlock (gasp!). I look forward to the personal challenges that lie ahead for Brenda during season three.

2. Tommy Gavin, Rescue Me How can I like a character who raped his wife?!? I keep asking myself that question. I realize that I don't necessarily like Tommy, so much as I appreciate him. He is one hell of a complex character. He's a bad dude with a gigantic chip on his shoulder and overblown sense of entitlement. He's seriously screwed up because of the job (firefighting) and because of September 11, 2001. He's an alcoholic with anger issues, who hallucinates, and treats women like dirt. Why do I like this guy? I guess it's because there's non-stop tragedy in his life and it's intriguing to watch him try to survive it all.

1. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, Battlestar Galactica This woman rocks. Starbuck is the best female character on television right now. She drinks. She smokes (not so much anymore). She has a terrible knack for self destruction. And she is tough as hell. She is so frakkin' flawed. A few episodes ago, she was an equal match to Apollo in the boxing ring and she laid some other loser flat in the first round. Her mouth runs unchecked and it gets her into a lot of trouble, but she has the respect of everyone on Galactica because they know she's not all talk. Her scenes with the Cylon on New Caprica were astounding. She just kept killing the guy- she wouldn't give up! And, of course, every so often we get a glimpse of her softer side just to remind us that Kara is human. I both fear her and admire her at the same time.

*Honorable mentions: Randy on My Name is Earl, Jordan on Scrubs, Marin Frist on Men in Trees, Barney on How I Met Your Mother.