MeeVee’s TV’s Top Lovable Losers

GMMR’s good friends over at TV with MeeVee pulled together this fun list of TV’s most lovable losers. They were kind enough to share it with me so I could pass it along to you. So make sure to head over to TV with MeeVee and thank flyingpuck for pulling this together. And take a look at the list. Did they get it right? Anyone left off?

They don’t have charm. They don’t have looks. They don’t get many dates. But they do have a special place in our hearts. They’re television’s lovable losers. They make us all feel better about ourselves and sometimes teach those dumb jocks that there’s more to a person than a pair of thick glasses and an overbite.

Here are TeeVee’s Top Twenty Lovable Losers of All Time

Gomer Pyle – As one of TV’s classic losers, the dim-witted but endearing Pyle gave his drill instructor fits and generally brought down the Marine Corps’ average IQ single-handedly. This is one jarhead who doesn’t fit the profile.

Paul Pfeiffer – Kevin’s nerdy sidekick on The Wonder Years was the skinny, little, big-nosed kid we all knew growing up. He sat in the front row in math class. You threw stuff at him when the teacher wasn’t looking and then he got in trouble when he turned around and yelled at you. Shame on you. Paul was allergic to everything and lost his virginity to his cousin. That’s about a nine on the loser scale.

Laverne DeFazio – She dated sailors, drank milk and Pepsi, and embroidered a big “L” on all her sweaters. She was the outspoken yin to Shirley’s yang in Laverne and Shirley. Laverne was a goofy tomboy who turned a goofy TV character into a darn successful directing career. Not too shabby.

Steve Urkel – Urkel made this list based on sheer determination. He wasn’t even the main character on Family Matters (he was only supposed to be on the show for one episode), but he defined the show season after season. I think it ran for 84 years. I’ll have to look it up. Urkel grew about 4 feet during the course of the show, but never gave up the suspenders and flood pants.

Milhouse Van Houten – Milhouse is so much more than Bart Simpson’s spineless best friend. He’s the animated version of all the other classic losers on this list. He was hopelessly in love with Lisa (classic loser scenario), and despite looking nerdy, he did make the very astute observation, “I’m not a nerd, Bart. Nerds are smart.”

Kathy Griffin – She went from Suddenly Susan sidekick to the queen of the D-List. Kathy’s willingness to knock herself down a peg (or three) makes her quite a lovable loser. She’s also funny as hell and masochistically unafraid to burn bridges in Hollywood. She even loses in real life. She caught her ex-husband stealing money from her.

Matthew Brock – NewsRadio was a hard show to stand out on. It had a great, well-balanced cast and almost flawless writing. So when the zany screw-up Matthew (Andy Dick) stole scenes left and right, it was quite an accomplishment. Perhaps Matthew summed it up best while away from the office one day: “No, no kind sir, you cannot fire me for I do not work here… I did bring my resume though… ”

Screech Powers – Much like Urkel, Samuel “Screech” Powers may have been more parasitic than lovable on Saved By The Bell. He got under our skin because we saw him soooo much. He became like that annoying cousin that you eventually learn to live with at family reunions because it’s more effort to ignore him than just let him into the conversation. Screech even made the jump to Saved By The Bell: The New Class.

Moe Szyslak – As the owner of Homer Simpson’s favorite watering hole, Moe proves to us that the lovable loser isn’t always nerdy. He can be a creepy loner as well. Moe’s a sleazy, bitter, pathetic excuse for a human who just couldn’t be more fun to watch. Moe did get a brief taste of the good life thanks to plastic surgury, but thank goodness it was just temporary. With no ability to edit his thoughts before they become words, Moe is full of gems like, “Call this an unfair generalization if you must, but old people are no good at everything.”

Bill Haverchuck – A lot of us are still mourning the loss of Freaks and Geeks. The show had arguably the best group of high schoolers ever created for television. Realistic. Funny. Touching. What a show. And our favorite Geek was, of course, Bill. He looked like a Far Side cartoon come to life. Look up awkward adolescent in the dictionary (or wikipedia) and you should see a picture of Bill Haverchuck. He watched Dallas with his mom and dressed like the Bionic Woman for Halloween. Here’s just a taste of his brilliance. “Remember that time in civics when I had to fart, and it came out, well, a poop? And I had to flush my undies down the toilet? Do you think I wanted to tell you that?” You rock, Bill.

Jan Brady. Witness the torture of being the middle child! Nothing came easily for Jan on The Brady Bunch. She felt invisible no matter how large her bell-bottoms grew. The only time she got the attention she so badly craved was when she screwed up, like that time she rode her bike into the garage and accidentally broke that groovy portrait the kids were going to give mom and dad for their anniversary. Oh, Jan!

Waldo Geraldo Faldo. He may have played second fiddle to Steve Urkel, but Waldo still stole his fair share of scenes on Family Matters. Waldo summed it all up in his reaction to Eddie’s plan to cheat on a test: “I, for one, am appalled… I may get F’s, but by God, I earn them.”

Meatwad. Even superheroes can be losers. Of course, the boys in Aqua Teen Hunger Force barely qualify as superheroes, since they stopped fighting crime, like, three episodes into Season One. But even so, Meatwad is a loser. He’s dumb even for a meatball. He makes your average ravioli look like a genius.

Mr. Furley. Don Knotts was born to play the lovable loser. He did it as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, and he kept on doing it as the landlord on Three’s Company. Furley was clumsy, awkward, and completely oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t God’s gift to the ladies. Apparently, the leisure suit doesn’t make the man.

Lenny and Squiggy. Laverne and Shirley had two of the best neighbors ever. Lenny and Squiggy proved that no amount of hair grease could overcome a bad case of uncool. These two knuckleheads simply refused to admit that they were losers, and for that we love them.

Byron “Buster” Bluth. Arrested Development was chock-full of goofballs, but Buster took the cake. He was wonderfully unstable; feared both open and closed spaces, and despite an expensive cartographic education, mistook the blue states on a map of the U.S.A. for water. Buster did manage to get it on with various women and a robot, though.

Dr. George O’Malley. Grey’s Anatomy’s favorite goofball is one of those losers with a lot of potential. After all, he’s a doctor (surgical intern, technically). He’s that non-threatening, childlike guy who isn’t blessed with any street smarts, but houses a heart of gold. Just don’t ask him about women’s panties.

George Costanza. Seinfeld’s best buddy makes us all feel completely free of neuroses by comparison. He’s stingy, a pathological liar, and famously horrible in relationships, yet he makes us laugh. George admits, “I know less about women than anyone else in the world.” We believe him.

Cpl. Walter “Radar” O’Reilly. What would M*A*S*H have been without good old Radar? He was short, he slept with a teddy bear, and he made a pretty crappy clerk at times. On the other hand, he was always fun, and had the innate ability to hear an approaching helicopter long before any other human being could. Not too shabby.

The Entire Cast of Futurama (featuring Zoidberg). Futurama is like a nature preserve for lovable losers. Fry, Leela, Bender, The Professor, Hermes, Amy: all losers in their own unique way. Captain Brannigan and Kif: also giant losers. But Doctor Zoidberg… now that’s a loser. Standing out as pathetic in a group like this is quite a feat, and Zoidberg deserves every bit of recognition that comes with such an honor. How many inept, needy, and annoying crustaceans do you know? Yep. Only one. Just don’t invite him over for dinner.