A.A.C. Puryear STAFF WRITER

As both an aspiring actor and novelist, part of the reason I watch a variety of different TV shows is to expose myself to examples of great characters. In 2008, a number of them have caught my eye. Like Alexandra’s Top 10, they may not necessarily be the overall best of the year just because I haven’t watched every TV show that has aired this year, but I’d like to this list is a decent judge of character. Here are my favorites:

10) Zachary Quinto’s Sylar in Heroes: Much like Footloose’s Ariel Moore, “I’m holding out for a hero” to save this show after what happened this fall, and I’m pretty sure that hero will be Sylar. Despite every crazy plot switch that the character was put through in the past few months, Sylar was believable for the entire run. He went from a villain telekinetically slicing heads open to a struggling hero on the trail of redemption to believing he was a monster created at the hands of others. Quinto pulled it off well, leaving me to believe that Sylar can be many things. I’m really looking forward to see what he’ll do when the show returns in February. Rumor has it that John Glover, who retired from his Smallville role as Lex Luthor’s dad about 8 months ago, will be playing the villain-hero-monster’s father, so expect Sylar to go on a hunt for his biological parents after he recovers from having shard of glass stuck in his head. I’m optimistic about Heroes.

9) Tracy Morgan’s Tracy Jordan in 30ROCK: Easily the most ridiculous character on television. With his burly entourage of Grizz and Dot Com flanking him on either side, Tracy reached a new level of crazy this year when he decided he would leave his sons a legacy by creating the first porn video game, thus leading to the paranoia that his boys would kill him to inherit the money he made from it. And we can’t forget how he helped Jack and the Committee to Reinvade Vietnam by starring in a commercial to convince black people not to vote. The guy’s a hoot. I can’t wait to see what crazy shenanigans he takes on in 2009. Maybe he’ll convince Barack Obama to throw a rave in the White House.

8) Joshua Jackson’s Peter Bishop and John Noble’s Walter Bishop in Fringe: A recent discovery for me in the past week or two thanks to iTunes and an elliptical. Walter, a fringe scientist who has spent the past 17 years in an insane asylum, can only legally be in the outside world to help the FBI with the help of his grown son Peter, a sarcastic poker-player who’s gotten himself in plenty of trouble around the world. The exchange between these characters is golden. Plus, I’d love to see Hollywood make a movie where Leonardo DiCaprio and Joshua Jackson play the same character a la the Olsen twins in Full House, because I guarantee we’d have a hard time figuring out who is who.

7) Tyler Labine’s Sock in Reaper: The ultimate slacker, epitomized by comments like “No shame in community college! I almost went!” Sock is hilarious and carefree; the type of friend that will get on your nerves, but you can’t help but love him anyway for who he is. And whether he’s making out with rebel demon chicks or napping at the Work Bench, Sock always comes through when it counts. He’s been there plenty of times to save Sam and Ben from renegade souls, and he agreed to stand by Sam’s side, even if he just might be the Devil’s son. Personally, I’d love to see the guy get some cool powers in 2009. We saw him get adrenaline spurts that gave him temporary super-strength last spring. Imagine the pranks he could pull at the Bench with that type of power permanently.

6) Allison Mack’s Chloe Sullivan in Smallville: If she were real, I would either try to marry her, tell Jeff to hire her for PopSense, or both. Witty, beautiful, and a loyal keeper of Clark Kent’s super-power secret, this year Chloe proved that she was no damsel in distress using her own talents to save Clark on a couple of occasions and even go toe-to-toe with Superman baddies Lex Luthor and Brainiac, which both cost her her job at the Daily Planet and risked her own personal safety. Despite being a loyal friend and able to protect herself, Clark decided towards the end of the year that her knowing his secret put the female hacker in too much danger, so he got Chloe’s memory reset so that she wouldn’t remember he was a super-powered alien from Krypton anymore. Poor Smallville fans, and poor Jimmy Olson too. His bride is currently in the clutches of the nefarious Doomsday at the dark Fortress of Solitude. Chloe’s fate in 2009 looks grim.

5) Ken Leung’s Miles Straume in LOST: The show had plenty of characters already. Yet, the writers made a gutsy move to bring four brand new characters aboard via the freighter, and I am so glad they did. My favorite among the four has to be ghost-whisperer Miles. He’s not afraid to speak his mind or be a total smartass, and he’s lightened up a little bit since his Island arrival to laugh and enjoy himself at the everyone else’s expense (To Charlotte: “What do I know?”). And of course, we still have yet to figure out why he wanted 3.2 million dollars. When he returns in late January, he’ll probably pull a Hurley and talk to some dead people possibly Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez is supposed to make a guest appearance). And we’ll laugh as he continues to push Sawyer’s buttons.

4) John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer’s “Jam” in The Office: Yes, I believe Jim and Pam are worthy of a combined name. When Michael Scott goes on the warpath with his awkward antics, there are times when this show can be unbearably painful to watch. However, these two save The Office on a weekly basis. Whether it was Jim dropping to one knee to ask Pam if she would… wait for him while he ties his shoe, Pam teasing Jim for not getting a bonus because he “spent too much time flirting with the receptionist”, or the marriage proposal at a rainy gas station, the couple supplied fans with laughs and “aw”s. They show us all that love doesn’t have to be complicated and that working at an office can actually be a blast.

3) Naveen Andrews’ Sayid Jirar in LOST: Sayid’s been awesome the past few years. His training as a soldier (even for the bad guys) has led him to protect his fellow survivors and even be willing to die for them. Also, he gives Muslims everywhere a good name, negating American stereotypes by being devout in his faith without being a violent extremist. But where we see Sayid shine is in his heart. In the past year, we saw him reunite with the woman he loved, marry her, and grieve her death, which prompted him to become Ben’s assassin to get revenge. We’ve seen him try to find supplements for his lost true love, only to almost get himself killed in the process. Sayid is the quintessential tragic hero, and he’s gonna be great to watch in 2009. I stand by the theories I posted months ago that Sayid will come to question his duties when he is assigned to kill Penny Widmore. Sure, he has a broken heart, but would he want to bring that on his innocent friend Desmond?

2) Jason Segel’s Marshall Eriksen in How I Met Your Mother: While others may rank Neil Patrick Harris’ Barney Stinson higher than Marshall, I will not. Sure, he may not be as quotable as his suit-wearing friend and colleague, but Marshall provides heart and humor to every episode. His belief in all things supernatural brings happy chuckles when he quips examples for why miracles exist (one involved a pencil bouncing a table and going up Barney’s nose) and convinces his wife Lily that their apartment is haunted by a ghost Confederate soldier to hide the fact they have crooked floors. And he has more than just a comedic side. Marshall has had to put his dream job of using his law degree to work for the Natural Resource Defense Council on hold because he has to help Lily pay the bills by signing on with other companies that pay more money. A devoted friend to all, Marshall gets better every week. My favorite Marshall moment: At a Canadian-themed bar with Robin, he uses the karaoke machine to sing “Let’s Go to the Mall”. HIMYM fans, you know why this is hilarious.

1) Michael Emerson’s Ben Linus in LOST: In the past, he was Herny Gale, he was the leader of the Others, and he lied and manipulated as much as he could to trick people into doing what he wanted. He could get under someone’s skin or offer him or her exactly what one wanted in exchange for a favor. We had all come to learn that when Ben Linus is talking, someone’s in trouble. This year, he gave us depth. While he continued to be a chronic liar, Ben also proved he could be a badass (taking out bandits in the desert with a retractable nightstick) and a tragic hero at the same time. Yes, he continued to give us laughs as he toyed with and aggravated characters like Locke and Sawyer, but I really started to pity the guy when Keamy murdered his daughter right in front of him or that it appeared destiny was cutting him a raw deal in general. While he did occasionally lose his cool and stab a man to death, causing a freighter to explode, Ben still remained the man with a plan despite the hardships brought on him. What we saw from him this year is just enough to keep us guessing: Is he the show’s protagonist, antagonist, or neither? While he did once remark, “We’re the good guys”, you can never tell whether or not Ben Linus is telling the truth…

Want to keep up with these characters and more in 2009? Here are the shows on AAC’s TV and when and where you can tune in:

LOST: ABC Wednesdays 8 pm, premiers January 21st

How I Met Your Mother: CBS Mondays 8:30 pm, returns January 12th

The Office: NBC Thursdays 9 pm, returns January 8th

Smallville: The CW Thursdays 8 pm, returns January 15th

Reaper: The CW Tuesdays 9 pm, premiers March 17th

30ROCK: NBC Thursdays 9:30 pm, returns January 8th

Scrubs: ABC Tuesdays 9 pm, premiers January 6th

Heroes: NBC Mondays 9 pm, returns February 2nd

Fringe: Fox Tuesdays 9 pm, returns January 20th

Friday Night Lights: NBC Fridays 9 pm, premiers January 16th

And if you’re like me and don’t have time to watch TV when it actually comes on, most (if not all) of these shows are available for a small price on iTunes and for free on each network’s website.

Editor's Note: READ MORE ARTICLES FROM THIS CULTURAL ANALYZING BEAST!