TV guide the 60 nastiest villains of all time, The last list from TV Guide that I shared with you guys, showcased their picks for the 60 sexiest couples to ever grace a TV screen. For the most part, I thought that list was okay. I had some quibbles with it, and I know some of you guys did as well, but sexiness is subjective, so no big deal. However, I find myself having issues with the list I'm about to share with you.
Back in the March 25-April 7, 2013 issue, TV Guide shared it's list of the 60 nastiest villains of all time. So when I get the magazine home, I open up to page 14, and expect to be in awe of who they pick. Instead, I'm left feeling a bit cold. I'm not sure what happened, but despite picking some awesome characters, the list seems to be bogged down by "reality" stars and characters, that while they may not be nice, I'm not sure qualify as the worst of the worst. Let me shut up, show you the list, and I'll have more to say on the other side.
1. J.R. Ewing from Dallas
2. Mr. Burns from The Simpsons
3. Gus Fring from Breaking Bad
4. The Borg form Star Trek: The Next Generation
5. The One-Armed Man from The Fugitive
6. Al Sweargengen from Deadwood
7. Alexis Colby from Dynasty
8. Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows
9. Nina Myers from 24
10. Simon Cowell from American Idol, The X Factor
11. Angelus from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
12. Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell from Prison Break
13. Baltar from Battlestar Galactica
14. Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones
15. Mags Bennet from Justified
16. Bob/Leland Palmer from Twin Peaks
17. Frank Burns from M*A*S*H
18. Al Capone from The Untouchables
19. Cartman from Southpark
20. Ben Chang from Community
21. The Cigarette Smoking Man from The X-Files
22. Wile E. Coyote from The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show
23. The Daleks from Doctor Who
24. Louie De Palma from Taxi
25. Russell Edginton from True Blood
26. The Evil Queen/Regina from Once Upon a Time27. Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives of New Jersey
28. The Governor from The Walking Dead
29. Roman Grant from Big Love
30. Victoria Grayson from Revenge
31. Richard Hatch from Survivor
32. Boss Hogg from The Dukes of Hazzard
33. The Joker from Batman
34. Erica Kane from All My Children
35. Klaus from The Vampire Diaries
36. Constance Langdon from American Horror Story
37. Lucifer from Supernatural
38. Lex Luthor from Smallville
39. The Miniature Killer from CSI
40. Clay Morrow from Sons of Anarchy
41. Abu Nazir from Homeland
42. Newman from Seinfeld
43. Number Two from The Prisoner
44. Mrs. O'Brien from Downton Abbey
45. Omarosa from The Apprentice
46. Plankton from Spongebob SquarePants
47. Spencer Pratt from The Hills
48. Puck from The Real World: San Francisco
49. Gordon Ramsay from Hell's Kitchen
50. Red John from The Mentalist
51. Syp Rosetti from Boardwalk Empire
52. Vern Schillinger from Oz
53. Arvin Sloane from Alias
54. The Smoke Monster from Lost
55. Alan Spaulding from Guiding Light
56. Sylar from Heroes
57. Sue Sylvester from Glee
58. The Trinity Killer from Dexter
59. Mona Vanderwaal from Pretty Little Liars
60. Amanda Woodward from Melrose Place
The first time I looked over the list, a few things jumped out at me. First of all, I can't believe they put 7 reality "stars" on the list, including Simon Cowell in the top 10. They aren't villains, at least not what I would consider a villain to be. They are assholes, I grant you that, but J.R. Ewing, who took the number one place on this list, makes all of them look like pussycats. Secondly, I think the list includes way too many current characters, leaving a huge chuck of television history out of the loop. Thirdly, I don't get the inclusion of sitcom villains. You can't tell me that Frank Burns, Ben Chang, Louie De Palma, and Newman, are the baddest of the bad. I don't buy it. And lastly, at least for this paragraph, does Barnabas Collins and other villains, who really turned into the heroes of their shows, really belong on the list of the nastiest of all time?
I like the fact that they included cartoon characters, but these three guys, give me a break. You can't tell me that Cartman, Plankton, and Wile E. Coyote are dripping with evil and nastiness. I like Wile E. Coyote, but if he is on the list, it should also include Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, the Tasmanian Devil, and Marvin the Martian. None of them are true villains. How about Megatron from Transformers, Cobra Commander from G.I. Joe, Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Skeletor from He-Man, or even Gargamel from The Smurfs; they would all make better additions to this list.
Angelus is a bad ass villain, so I was super excited to see him on the list. They could have easily taken a dozen different villains from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or from Angel, and they would have been deserving. Lilah Morgan, Caleb, the Mayor, and Drusilla are just a few that come to mind within a few seconds. I'm brining this up, because it leads me to another point. The list includes two races of creatures, The Borg and The Daleks. Now I'm not that familiar with The Daleks, since I don't watch Doctor Who, but as far as evilness goes, I'm not sure The Borg fit the bill. Yeah I know they are bad ass and like to assimilate people, but they just feel like a generic, scifi construct. The Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the other hand, frighten the crap out of me. When they come to town, they steal the voices away from everyone, so they can't scream. They hover a few inches above the ground and when you hear a knock on your door, don't open it. If you do, they will rip out your heart and nobody will be able to hear you.
I'm also failing to understand how these guys didn't make the list:
If any villain from Lost belongs on the list, it's Ben Linus, not the Smoke Monster. He is a master manipulation and is willing to sacrifice anything and anyone, including his daughter, to make sure he gets what he wants.
I think it's interesting that the list includes some serial killers from different shows; CSI, Dexter, and The Mentalist all have villains on this list. But what about Christopher Pelant from Bones. He has brutally murdered untold people, framed Dr. Brennan for murder, hung a dead body over the bed of Hodgins and Angela before wiping out their fortune, and is just an all around sociopath.
There are a lot of characters that did make the list that have a thousand shades of grey between the the two opposite extremes. Which is why I'm still not sure characters like Barnabas Collins and Erica Kane belong on the list, they were both good and evil, but mainly they were in between those two paradigms. But if they are on the list, so should Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale from The Wire. They were two very complex characters, who despite doing some horrific things, had those morally complex shades of grey swirling around them.
And of all the scifi villains to ever grace a TV screen, how could they leave off Diana, the ultimate bitch queen from V. She was ruthless on her climb to the top of her species ladder, and was willing to slaughter as many humans or visitors it took to cement her upward trajectory.
So those are my thoughts on the list that TV Guide put together, now I'm curious to see what you guys have to say.
Back in the March 25-April 7, 2013 issue, TV Guide shared it's list of the 60 nastiest villains of all time. So when I get the magazine home, I open up to page 14, and expect to be in awe of who they pick. Instead, I'm left feeling a bit cold. I'm not sure what happened, but despite picking some awesome characters, the list seems to be bogged down by "reality" stars and characters, that while they may not be nice, I'm not sure qualify as the worst of the worst. Let me shut up, show you the list, and I'll have more to say on the other side.
1. J.R. Ewing from Dallas
2. Mr. Burns from The Simpsons
3. Gus Fring from Breaking Bad
4. The Borg form Star Trek: The Next Generation
5. The One-Armed Man from The Fugitive
6. Al Sweargengen from Deadwood
7. Alexis Colby from Dynasty
8. Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows
9. Nina Myers from 24
10. Simon Cowell from American Idol, The X Factor
11. Angelus from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
12. Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell from Prison Break
13. Baltar from Battlestar Galactica
14. Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones
15. Mags Bennet from Justified
16. Bob/Leland Palmer from Twin Peaks
17. Frank Burns from M*A*S*H
18. Al Capone from The Untouchables
19. Cartman from Southpark
20. Ben Chang from Community
21. The Cigarette Smoking Man from The X-Files
22. Wile E. Coyote from The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show
23. The Daleks from Doctor Who
24. Louie De Palma from Taxi
25. Russell Edginton from True Blood
26. The Evil Queen/Regina from Once Upon a Time27. Teresa Giudice from The Real Housewives of New Jersey
28. The Governor from The Walking Dead
29. Roman Grant from Big Love
30. Victoria Grayson from Revenge
31. Richard Hatch from Survivor
32. Boss Hogg from The Dukes of Hazzard
33. The Joker from Batman
34. Erica Kane from All My Children
35. Klaus from The Vampire Diaries
36. Constance Langdon from American Horror Story
37. Lucifer from Supernatural
38. Lex Luthor from Smallville
39. The Miniature Killer from CSI
40. Clay Morrow from Sons of Anarchy
41. Abu Nazir from Homeland
42. Newman from Seinfeld
43. Number Two from The Prisoner
44. Mrs. O'Brien from Downton Abbey
45. Omarosa from The Apprentice
46. Plankton from Spongebob SquarePants
47. Spencer Pratt from The Hills
48. Puck from The Real World: San Francisco
49. Gordon Ramsay from Hell's Kitchen
50. Red John from The Mentalist
51. Syp Rosetti from Boardwalk Empire
52. Vern Schillinger from Oz
53. Arvin Sloane from Alias
54. The Smoke Monster from Lost
55. Alan Spaulding from Guiding Light
56. Sylar from Heroes
57. Sue Sylvester from Glee
58. The Trinity Killer from Dexter
59. Mona Vanderwaal from Pretty Little Liars
60. Amanda Woodward from Melrose Place
The first time I looked over the list, a few things jumped out at me. First of all, I can't believe they put 7 reality "stars" on the list, including Simon Cowell in the top 10. They aren't villains, at least not what I would consider a villain to be. They are assholes, I grant you that, but J.R. Ewing, who took the number one place on this list, makes all of them look like pussycats. Secondly, I think the list includes way too many current characters, leaving a huge chuck of television history out of the loop. Thirdly, I don't get the inclusion of sitcom villains. You can't tell me that Frank Burns, Ben Chang, Louie De Palma, and Newman, are the baddest of the bad. I don't buy it. And lastly, at least for this paragraph, does Barnabas Collins and other villains, who really turned into the heroes of their shows, really belong on the list of the nastiest of all time?
I like the fact that they included cartoon characters, but these three guys, give me a break. You can't tell me that Cartman, Plankton, and Wile E. Coyote are dripping with evil and nastiness. I like Wile E. Coyote, but if he is on the list, it should also include Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, the Tasmanian Devil, and Marvin the Martian. None of them are true villains. How about Megatron from Transformers, Cobra Commander from G.I. Joe, Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Skeletor from He-Man, or even Gargamel from The Smurfs; they would all make better additions to this list.
Angelus is a bad ass villain, so I was super excited to see him on the list. They could have easily taken a dozen different villains from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or from Angel, and they would have been deserving. Lilah Morgan, Caleb, the Mayor, and Drusilla are just a few that come to mind within a few seconds. I'm brining this up, because it leads me to another point. The list includes two races of creatures, The Borg and The Daleks. Now I'm not that familiar with The Daleks, since I don't watch Doctor Who, but as far as evilness goes, I'm not sure The Borg fit the bill. Yeah I know they are bad ass and like to assimilate people, but they just feel like a generic, scifi construct. The Gentlemen from Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the other hand, frighten the crap out of me. When they come to town, they steal the voices away from everyone, so they can't scream. They hover a few inches above the ground and when you hear a knock on your door, don't open it. If you do, they will rip out your heart and nobody will be able to hear you.
I'm also failing to understand how these guys didn't make the list:
If any villain from Lost belongs on the list, it's Ben Linus, not the Smoke Monster. He is a master manipulation and is willing to sacrifice anything and anyone, including his daughter, to make sure he gets what he wants.
I think it's interesting that the list includes some serial killers from different shows; CSI, Dexter, and The Mentalist all have villains on this list. But what about Christopher Pelant from Bones. He has brutally murdered untold people, framed Dr. Brennan for murder, hung a dead body over the bed of Hodgins and Angela before wiping out their fortune, and is just an all around sociopath.
There are a lot of characters that did make the list that have a thousand shades of grey between the the two opposite extremes. Which is why I'm still not sure characters like Barnabas Collins and Erica Kane belong on the list, they were both good and evil, but mainly they were in between those two paradigms. But if they are on the list, so should Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale from The Wire. They were two very complex characters, who despite doing some horrific things, had those morally complex shades of grey swirling around them.
And of all the scifi villains to ever grace a TV screen, how could they leave off Diana, the ultimate bitch queen from V. She was ruthless on her climb to the top of her species ladder, and was willing to slaughter as many humans or visitors it took to cement her upward trajectory.
So those are my thoughts on the list that TV Guide put together, now I'm curious to see what you guys have to say.
