The 25 Most Hated Sitcom Characters of All Time

Every sitcom needs a character that everyone can dump on—including the viewer. The 30-minute long, multi-cam comedy, above all things, wants to give you a good time, and the writers understand the value in a little irritated eye-rolling. The characters on the show are annoyed when the next-door neighbor stops by. You're annoyed, too, and when the jokes at that character's expense come rolling in, everyone is happy.

There's a lot to be learned about American culture by looking at the most hated sitcom characters. Like something out of 30 Rock bit, you see that, time and time again, writers' rooms try to create a lot of comic relief via children and women. As for the female characters, it's a larger problem with TV, hopefully one everyone will think about after looking at this list. (Which isn't to say that these characters aren't irritating; they're designed to be irritating. It's the frequency with which women are made to be the irritating foils that is the problem.)

Enough with the theoretical stuff—let's get into the hate.

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As seen on: Saved By the Bell (NBC)
Portrayed by: Dustin Diamond

Screech never seemed to know what was going on, an aloofness that produced some laughs every now and then. But he was in full quirk mode, charged up at a thousand watt, at all times. It got tiresome.

Example Screech-driven Saved by the Bell plot: Screech promises he knows some baller volleyball players, but, in the end, he brings you an 85-year-old woman, a four-year-old girl in pre-school (whom he paid with a lollipop, we didn't make this up), and a dude nicknamed Big Pete who turned out to be, surprise, skinny and fragile. You got us, Screech. Again. Now go work on a science project and stop killing Zack Morris' vibe.

As seen on: What I Like About You (WB)
Portrayed by: Amanda Bynes

You're right to scrunch up your face like that because almost nobody knows this show existed, except us, and, yes, Amanda Bynes' character, Holly Tyler, was as cringe-inducing as it gets. To describe her character in short-hand, Holly's whiny voice shouted every line of dialogue (all of which were atrocious), since the scripts were all exclamation points. You can imagine, though we don't recommend it, how painful this experience gets five minutes into any given episode.

As seen on: Married...With Children (Fox)
Portrayed by: David Faustino

Behind Al Bundy, Bud Bundy is Married... With Children's second-best character. His failures at getting girls are always brutal, crushing, and hilarious—for most of the show he couldn't even score a single date.

Nothing changed when he introduced his still-non-girl-getting alter ego, Grandmaster B. His profile is your worst nightmare: a five-foot-tall, pasty white dude wearing Chuck D gear and rapping like a knockoff Vanilla Ice. Worse, this was inspired by actor David Faustino's real-life mistake in pursuing a rap career.

Predictably, Grandmaster B flopped with the ladies, and with us. Thankfully, the writers eventually made him drop the mic, in the trash.

As seen on: Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS)
Portrayed by: Brad Garrett

This might be contentious because most people who've watched Everybody Loves Raymond have a soft spot for Robert, the big Care Bear of his police department. OK, Robby, your brother, Raymond, is the family favorite and gets all of your overbearing mother's attention and you're jealous. Say, how old are you now? In your 40s, you say? And a lieutenant? Yeah, you should have let all of that go a very, very long time ago.

As seen on: George Lopez (ABC)
Portrayed by: Belita Moreno

Everything about George Lopez sucked, including the titular man himself. But Benny—George's boozing, bitter mother on the show—sucked a little bit more.

You know that machine specfically made to launch high-speed footballs to NFL wide receivers in training camp? Benny was the human version of that, except the writers fed her insults to blitz upon Lopez and his family, minute after minute, night after night. The only direction her character needed was, "Stand on that 'X' over there and let the insults fly."

As seen on: Everybody Hates Chris (UPN)
Portrayed by: Imani Hakim

Everybody Hates Chris is self-explanatory. Based on Chris Rock's childhood, the show features a title character who can never seem to catch a break at home, at school, or in his neighborhood. Tonya accounted for a major portion of his misery, only to diminishing effect. She was Chris' little sister who threatened and blackmailed he and his brother, Drew, from morning to sundown. Between all the telling and non-stop manipulation, she forgot to be any fun at all.

As seen on: Moesha (UPN)
Portrayed by: William Ray Norwood Jr. a.k.a. Ray J

Before he humiliated himself by releasing an outrageous song about doing something first to a certain reality TV star, Ray J first us made us roll our eyes by playing Dorian, a.k.a. "D-Money," on Moesha. D-Money's role was being the prototypical badass (though he dressed like a B2K reject) that couldn't stand being part of a decent family. Ya'll just don't understand, man. Sigh .

He was getting into so much trouble (and so badly on our nerves) that the show's producers sent D-Money to boot camp and the army before the show was over. Still D-Money came back. OK, for a good number of episodes the moody Dorian was searching for his birth mother. We took that into consideration and, eh, he's still annoying.

As seen on: The Steve Harvey Show (WB)
Portrayed by: Lori Beth Denberg

Don't get us wrong, we love Lori Beth Denberg. She was quietly one of the best things about Nickelodeon's All That, and her more recent hot tub cameo on Workaholics brought her back into our lives in the best way. Her role as Lydia Liza Gutman onThe Steve Harvey Show, however, was just aggravating. That's what happens when a character's main purpose is to do two things: brown-nose and be a buzzkill.

As seen on: Moesha (UPN)
Portrayed by: Fredro Starr

"Q" is a nickname reserved for the "intelligent but deeply troubled hood" role. See: Omar Epps' character in the excellent 1992 movie Juice.

On the negative flipside, enter Fredo Starr's "Q" on Moesha. Fredro, essentially playing himself, acts out and scowls, and then Moesha takes him back. That is, more or less, the run of the show's Brandy/Q relationship. After they broke up for the fifteenth time, we turned off the television set and went for a bike ride on a sunny day, for once.

As seen on: The Nanny (CBS)
Portrayed by: Fran Drescher

You know the laugh, and you probably haven't watched a single episode. That's how pervasive Ms. Drescher's glass-shattering laugh is in television history.

The Nanny was her platform. If the children said something she found adorable or ridiculous, that laugh happened. After she delivered a line, that laugh, yes, happened. Leaving The Nanny on in the background leaves you vulnerable to Fran's laugh sending shivers up your spine when you least expect it.

As seen on: Family Matters (ABC)
Portrayed by: Jaleel White

Urkel builds a machine that turns him into Laura Winslow's dream man: Jaleel White. That was the transformation, wasn't it?

We're not totally sure what made Stefan so cool. He only sounded cool because the Urkel voice wasn't burrowing into your ear drums. In that comparison, Stefan probably sounded like Sinatra. What else? He wore baggy blazers (it was the '90s, after all) and, um, he played the piano in one episode. Compared to his alter-ego Steve, Stefan's dullness must have been downright charming.

As seen on: Boy Meets World (ABC)
Portrayed by: Lee Norris

Minkus—a character so epically annoying, he got the one-word treatment. It's not his fault, though, since every teenage sitcom seemed to have the irritating nerd. But you have to admit, Minkus is the Mufasa of television nerd-dom, and that is a bad thing.

We all loved Boy Meets World and still love Topanga (ahem), but we can all admit that we groaned the second Minkus pushed his glasses up his nose and, as arrogant as you please, claimed the class' high score, again.

As seen on: The Office (NBC)
Portrayed by: James Spader

Chances are, you didn't keep watching The Office far enough to meet this awful character. Now, for the few dozen of us here who know what's what, how intolerable was Robert California? With Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) gone, Mr. California assumed the Regional Manager position of Dundler Mifflin's Scranton branch.

The smart majority of us said, "Yeah, no," and moved on; the loyalist, bless their souls, decided to soldier on. After slogging through a season of the unbearably smug, arrogant, and grating Robert California (consequently degrading Andy into an approval-hungry monkey), we had enough. We hoped against hope and, curses, we got Robert flippin' California in return. We were silly for believing in the impossible.

As seen on: Married... With Children (FOX)
Portrayed by: Amanda Bearse

For a whopping 261 episodes, Marcy D'Arcy stuck her freakazoid top into the Bundy family's household to send a monsoon of haterade Al's way. That was the only reason for her existence. A few zingers did land, admittedly, but 300,000 unprovoked insults later, we just hoped the Bundys' front door would stay locked for once. Fortunately, Al always launched his zingers back tenfold. That made us happy.

As seen on: Diff'rent Strokes (NBC)
Portrayed by: Dan Cooksey

Here's one of the most annoying and unnecessary characters ever foisted upon the innocent public in television's history. Sam McKinney was shoved into the Diff'rent Strokes mix in the show's seventh season, years after it had anything left to say and people only cracked a tired, weary smirk when Gary Coleman's schtick was past it's cuteness expiration date.

And so entered whiny, aimless Sam. He got kidnapped in one of the show's desperate attempts to keep folks interested—unfortunately, they brought him back. The cane that was supposed to yank him offstage afterward never arrived.

As seen on: Three's Company (ABC)
Portrayed by: Norman Fell

Wives, right? Stanley Roper was married to Helen Roper on Three's Company, but you never understood why. He played the dozens on his wife (who never seemed to be playing) any chance he got and consistently rejected her advances when he'd run out of ways to joke about how old and unattractive she was. So much so, in fact, that you'd think Mr. Roper wasn't attracted to her at all.

What's the sound of one man cruelly laughing at his wife's expense? A depressing silence.

As seen on: That's So Raven (Disney Channel)
Portrayed by: Bobb'e J. Thompson

Stanley was the short motor-mouthed kid who had to one-up everyone on That's So Raven. It was fun to watch him to terrorize Raven's little brother and his friends, but only to a certain extent. There's a reason why the phrase isn't "Everyone loves a showoff." To put this in Batman terms, Stanley showed people up long enough to become the villain.

As seen on: Family Matters (ABC/CBS)
Portrayed by: Bryton James

You know Richie. Sure you do. You were just always confused by what exactly he was doing on Family Matters, or, straight up, who he was. He was Rachel's son and Harriet Winslow's nephew. Still drawing a blank?

How about this: He was the kid with the sopping, shining Jheri curls who unexpectedly popped up in scenes like a tiring game of Whac-A-Mole. You weren't surprised, just disappointed every time.

Remember all the good times, the timeless laughs you had with Richie. No? Didn't think so.

As seen on: How I met Your Mother (CBS)
Portrayed by: Josh Radnor

Ted Mosby's entire character is eternally sitting on a windy beach at dusk staring at the ocean's waves or the dimming lights of the carnival where his date never met him, and the Violent Femmes' "Blister in the Sun" is playing on loop. You want to punch that guy, don't you? That's Mosby's entire state of being throughout the near-decade run of How I Met Your Mother. Someone save this man from himself, for his, and the audience's, sake. It's about time his gray cloud disappears. It's no longer just sad, it's embarrassing.

As seen on: Full House (ABC)
Portrayed by: Andrea Barber

D.J. Tanner's best friend was Kimmy Gibbler. Your memory might be a little hazy on what she looks like because the second she opened her mouth you squinted and winced until her scenes were over. Her catchphrase, which she said every time she entered the Tanner household, was "Hola, Tanneritos!" Yes, that tiny bubble of rage you feel at the back of the skull is a natural reaction. Hopefully, you've somehow avoided all of the countless episodes in which she shouted that nonsense.

As seen on: Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Portrayed by: Charlie Sheen

Reckless womanizing and alcoholism does not a likable character make. Furthermore, adding a bumbling spineless staight-man and an effectively lobotomized kid does not a show make.

Charlie Harper is not even a character—he is a hungover Charlie Sheen walking on set, glancing at a script, waving away the concerned director and saying, "Got it." Then, a sleep-deprived cameraman stands over the ACME-sized laugh track button and gives a thumbs up, to which the director yawns "Action." And the farce continues to live on today via reruns. We're sure you've witnessed the horror firsthand at least once already.

As seen on: Small Wonder (Syndication)
Portrayed by: Tiffany Brisette

Sometimes being "ahead of your time" is not a compliment. Vicki (V.I.C.I) is an android in the body of a 10-year-old girl who lives with her creator's family. The point of her character, however, was to do quirky robot-like things and exist as the object of experimentation for extremely primitive, ugly, amateur special effects.

Watch Vicki lift a bed with one arm! No, no we won't.

As seen on: Friends (NBC)
Portrayed by: Maggie Wheeler

A blatant rip of the historically insufferable Fran character from The Nanny, Janice was Chandler's screeching ex-girlfriend for a string of episodes. She entered every room screaming "Oh...my...God!" in just that speed, over, and over, and over again. Friends writers did a fantastic job (in the worst way) of distracting the public with the most annoying decoy ever deployed, while they figured out better storylines. It worked—we hate her.

As seen on: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (NBC)
Portrayed by: Daphne Reid

As if it's that uncle at your Thanksgiving table who's on his fifth glass of wine before "Grace" has been said, we pretend not to notice Hollywood's trick of replacing dark-skinned original characters with light-skinned counterparts. It's happened on My Wife and Kids, Family Matters (though, in that case, due to contractual issues with the original Harriet Winslow), and even the early Harry Potter films.

Besides, we just liked the original Aunt Viv better. Janey Hubert-Whitten, the original Aunt Viv, played the role with a certain sharpness and attitude that you instantly recognized. The lighter Aunt Viv, however, lacked any discernible personality traits outside of "Philip Banks' supposedly better half."

As seen on: The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Portrayed by: Johnny Galecki

If you randomly watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory, chances are you will be flung into Leonard's sweaty, clingy nerd pessimissm about Penny—and that's not even the most annoying thing about him. No, his insufferable character trait that seals his fuck-out-of-here deal is how he pussy-foots around best friend/ roommate/psychotic brainiac Sheldon.

Yes, Leonard is the show's straight-man, but even Bud Abbott put Lou Costello in his place on occassion. Whenever Leonard concedes the left-side couch cushion to Sheldon, it's impossible not to want to slap the four-eyed nancy around out of frustration. Man up, son.