Whether they're in the deserts of Albuquerque, New Mexico or the suburbs of Quahog,
Rhode Island, these iconic shows don't have a single upstanding character in sight.
As one of the earliest examples of lovably irredeemable characters on television, "Seinfeld"
gave us characters who were deliberately flawed, vain, and insensitive. Created by
comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the show ran for nine seasons, from 1989 to 1998.
Jerry Seinfeld plays a semi-fictionalized version of himself as an up-and-coming
stand-up comedian. He acts as the straight man for his eccentric friends,
but that doesn't make him any better than the rest.
George Costanza is Jerry's best friend. He's also a lying, jealous, cowardly loser. A few of
his schemes have included lying about being disabled to get a job, drugging his boss,
and allowing a serial killer to escape from police custody. His chronic cheapness
even results in the death of his fiancée, which he's not-so-secretly pleased about.
"I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I got it all!"
George's only saving grace is that he's not Jerry's neurotic neighbor Kramer,
whose impulsive, callous nature often gets him into trouble. Even Elaine,
the only woman in the main cast, is frequently selfish, manipulative, and cruel.
Thankfully, all these traits make for absurd situations that are played for laughs. In fact,
the cast seemed witty, charming, and likable enough that many viewers took
umbrage with the show's finale, which finally showed them receiving consequences
for their actions. But whether in jail or on the streets of New York,
these are some crazy characters you probably wouldn't want to come across.
One of TV's most controversial programs, "South Park" is teeming with irredeemable characters.
Just like the show itself, the citizens of this small Colorado town push boundaries
and challenge political correctness every chance they get. Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski,
Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick may be eternally stuck in fourth grade,
but there's nothing innocent about these boys. Some lowlights include Cartman cooking his bully's
parents into chili and force-feeding it to him, Kyle repeatedly abusing his brother, Stan ending
a short-lived peace in the Middle East, and Kenny abetting in the murder of Sarah Jessica Parker.
It's not just the boys that have issues, either: other recurring characters are just as bad, if not
worse. Stan's girlfriend Wendy pays terrorists to have the class's new substitute teacher shot into
the sun. Towelie, the living towel, repeatedly offers drugs to children. But Stan's dad Randy
may be the worst of all: he's gotten into fistfights at little league games, persuaded
world leaders into nuking Finland, and in more recent years, he started the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unapologetic absurdity of "South Park" was unlike anything that came
before. It was the first animated series to receive a TV-MA rating and remains
one of the highest-rated shows on Comedy Central.
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" premiered on August 4, 2005 and has been renewed up to
its 18th season, making it the longest-running live-action sitcom of all time. It made waves
when it first debuted for its controversial comedic style and its sociopathic "gang" of
main characters. Charlie, Dennis, Mac, and Dee were responsible for plenty of excellent gags
by themselves, but the show truly came into its own when it introduced Danny Devito as Frank.
"It's my character! I'm the trashman! I come out, I throw trash all over the, all over the ring!"
There's not an ounce of shame or remorse following any of the gang's criminal, immoral antics.
They've kidnapped a bar critic after a bad review, burned down an immigrant family's home, and faked
a funeral for a nonexistent baby to fool the IRS. Dennis is particularly malevolent: he's stolen a
man's identity, stalked and manipulated countless women, and he may or may not be a serial killer.
Of course, one of The Gang's overall greatest sins has been their treatment of Rickety Cricket,
a former priest that they've physically and mentally tortured over the show's
many seasons. Maybe it's the dark comedy or morbid curiosity that keeps viewers
coming back for more, but if there's one lesson we can learn from "Always
Sunny," it's to stay as far away from people like this as possible.
The Gallaghers are probably TV's most dysfunctional family, led by Frank,
the neglectful alcoholic father of six. The oldest child, Fiona,
is left to raise the rest of the kids on her own, but not even she can save them from their
self-destructive destinies. Fiona may have stepped up when Frank wouldn't,
but she's no saint either: on top of being a liar, manipulator, serial cheater, and homewrecker,
Fiona caused the youngest Gallagher, Liam, to suffer a near-fatal drug overdose.
The rest of the kids have their own problems in addition to their petty
criminality. The intellectual prodigy Lip uses his gifts in all the wrong ways,
from taking the SATs for other students to organizing wire fraud. Ian kidnapped a baby
and has sent at-risk youth to jail for his own benefit. Debbie lied about being on the pill
and trapped her boyfriend with a pregnancy. Carl is an outright criminal, selling guns at school
and dealing drugs. There was also the time when all the kids attempted to murder their father by
throwing him off a bridge — although some could argue that he may have had it coming.
What's worse than a dysfunctional family? A dysfunctional family with power. In "Succession,"
the Roys are the owners of the global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo,
and they'll do anything to control public perception and make lots of money doing
so. Led by their vulgar patriarch Logan, they freely and unapologetically lie to
and manipulate others. They cover up scandals like it's a hobby and break
the law like it's going out of style. When they're not destroying the world,
they're destroying each other. Needless to say, they're not exactly the most ethical bunch.
"The Logan Roy School of Journalism. What's next, the Jack the Ripper Womens' Health Clinic?"
Horrible highlights from this family include Shiv manipulating her husband into an open relationship
on their wedding day and cousin Greg covering up a massive abuse scandal by shredding important
documents. Roman sexually harasses women, Logan verbally and emotionally abuses his children,
and most shocking of all, Kendall's recklessness and irresponsibility leads to the death of a
young man. It seems that once you get a taste of power, there's no going back.
Created by and starring Bill Hader, "Barry" is a black comedy-drama about a hitman from the midwest
who falls in love with acting while on a job in Los Angeles. Barry may be a cold-blooded killer,
but he's ready to leave that life behind and turn a new leaf as an actor — even if
he's not very good at it. This proves to be more difficult than he originally thought:
no matter how hard he tries, he can't escape his dark past. Throughout the series, it becomes
impossible for him to juggle his conflicting lives as he becomes more and more unhinged.
Barry's victim count is higher than 15 in Season 1 alone — several of whom trusted
him until the very end. His escapades grow wilder in Season 2, in which he
fights a preteen martial arts master and mows down an entire monastery full of criminals.
The people around Barry aren't exactly saints either. His handler, Fuches, is willing to throw
anyone and everyone under the bus to save himself. His girlfriend, Sally, is narcissistic and
often cruel to others. His acting teacher, Gene Cousineau, is a greedy, absent father. Even NoHo
Hank, the affable Chechen mobster who can't stand violence, isn't exactly a paragon of morality.
"Don't f--- with me Barry… it's not polite."
In Hollywood, it's kill or be killed — and that's doubly so in the world of "Barry."
Walter White is another man trying to balance a double life. In the iconic
crime drama "Breaking Bad," his dark descent from modest high-school chemistry teacher to
ruthless drug kingpin makes for one of the best antihero story arcs in TV history.
Creator Vince Gilligan has suggested that it takes fresh eyes years later to
really understand how irredeemable Walter truly is, telling Variety,
"He was really sanctimonious, and he was really full of himself. He had an
ego the size of California. And he always saw himself as a victim. He was constantly griping
about how the world shortchanged him, how his brilliance was never given its due. When you
take all of that into consideration, you wind up saying, 'Why was I rooting for this guy?'"
"If you believe that there's a hell — I don't know if you're into that — but we're,
we're already pretty much going there, right?"
While it's hard to compare to the villainous nature of Heisenberg himself, his family and
colleagues have often found themselves morally challenged. Walter's partner and former student
Jesse Pinkman helps him cook and sell meth, which means getting caught up in the deaths
of multiple characters. Walter is also to blame for Skyler turning into a white-collar criminal,
as she feels that she has to launder his drug money to keep her family safe. Skyler's sister
Marie is a shoplifter, and while Marie's DEA agent husband Hank tries to be the hero,
his short temper leads him to commit some questionable deeds, like beating Jesse
within an inch of his life. And the criminal lawyer Saul Goodman? Boy, does he have a story.
Before he became Walter White's lawyer in "Breaking Bad," Saul Goodman was known as
Jimmy McGill, a struggling public defense lawyer living in the shadow of his brother
Chuck. In "Better Call Saul," the spin-off to "Breaking Bad," we learn about Saul's
past and how he became the sleazy lawyer that Albuquerque would come to know.
Jimmy spent his youth ripping people off as a con artist, and after some trouble with the law,
he decided to follow the path of his brother and become a lawyer. When that doesn't really work
out for him, he leans back into his scamming tendencies. He falsifies legal documents,
demolishes his brother's reputation, and corrupts Kim with his unethical schemes.
Don't feel too bad for these other characters, though,
because they're not exactly heroes either. Chuck constantly tries to sabotage Jimmy's career,
Kim lies about her identity and causes a man's death, and Mike is simply a cold-blooded killer.
There's no real redemption in sight for these characters — and no happy endings, either.
Before "Breaking Bad," there was "The Sopranos," a popular and critically revered crime drama series
following the Italian mob in New Jersey. This HBO show changed the way we think
of heroes and villains on television, paving the way for a new generation of prestige TV.
"The Sopranos" centers around James Gandolfini's Tony Soprano — a mobster trying to balance his
work family with his blood family. When you're dealing with violent gangsters,
it's only natural to run into some criminal activity — and it doesn't get much worse
than the cold-blooded killings carried out by multiple characters. The dark burden of this
kind of lifestyle carried into the real world, with one former HBO executive telling Insider,
"Tony's struggles not only mirrored [James Gandolfini's] struggles, they
amplified Jimmy's struggles and what Jimmy felt."
It takes a real toll on a person to embody someone as irredeemable, yet complex as Tony Soprano.
It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on
TV — and there's plenty of crazier things than that in "Family Guy." The animated
sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane revolves around the misadventures of Peter Griffin;
his wife Lois; their kids Chris, Meg, and Stewie; and their sentient dog Brian.
The off-color comedy of "Family Guy" takes the Griffin family down some dark paths.
Lois isn't afraid to cheat and steal to get what she wants. The kids aren't alright,
as Chris and Meg are constantly getting into trouble. Even little baby Stewie,
who should be the most innocent of them all, is actually an evil genius bent on world domination.
At least the dog has to be harmless, right? Far from it. Brian has taken advantage of girlfriends,
planted drugs on a coworker to have her arrested, and has killed an innocent man for fun. But the
biggest offender of them all is undoubtedly Peter, who should probably be in prison for
life. He robs banks at gunpoint, commits treason, and abuses his entire family at the drop of a hat.
"Dad, can you crack your window a little bit?"
"I hate you all so much!"
Some role model he is.
Living in a world that has superheroes might seem cool… until your girlfriend
is vaporized by a careless speedster. That's what happens to Hughie Campbell
in "The Boys," sending him down a dangerous path of murder and mayhem.
In this universe, the mega-corporation Vought has a monopoly on Supes thanks to decades of
lies and corruption. Led by the ruthless CEO Stan Edgar, they're responsible for America's greatest
so-called heroes — particularly, the elite team known simply as The Seven. The Seven's
members — like the recklessly homicidal A-Train and the sexual predator The Deep — are far from
role models, but none are as monstrous as their leader, Homelander. With the powers of Superman
and none of his morals, this lab-grown mama's boy is as terrifying as he is pathetic. He prefers
to be loved, but if he needs to be feared to get what he wants, that works just fine too.
That's why it's up to Hughie and The Boys to do whatever they can to take Vought
down — even if their methods aren't much more morally sound. Led by Billy Butcher,
the biggest Supe-hater of them all, The Boys aren't afraid to get down and dirty
with blackmail, torture, and full-blown murder. Hughie, Frenchie, Kimiko, and M.M. aren't quite
as diabolical as Butcher is, but they always seem to end up going along with his plans.
In the world of "The Boys," there are no real heroes — only villains playing dress-up.