The 7 Most Annoying Characters In TV History

Just as so often happens in real life, certain people on television simply tend to rub us the wrong way.

Whether looking at their infuriating personalities, frustrating character traits, or altogether selfish motivations, these characters end up bringing viewers’ blood levels to a boil through their annoying habits and unfavorable presentations. Rather than winning over audiences’ sympathies, these characters instead cause audiences to reach for the remote every time they wander on-screen, annoying almost every viewer who tuned in to watch the original series they appeared within.

From flamboyantly-dressed high school students to sadistic boy-kings ruling fantasy empires, here are seven of the most utterly annoying characters we’ve seen on TV yet.

Screech (Saved by the Bell)

Following in the larger-than-life footsteps of Family Matters’ Steve Urkel, practically every family-friendly TV series in the 1990s had some sort of stereotypical nerd in its main cast. Case in point with Saved by the Bell’s Screech, the resident egghead of Bayside High School’s student body. The Jar Jar Binks of NBC’s popular teen sitcom, Screech fulfilled the same basic function as Urkel before him, complete with awkward attempts at humor, cheesy catchphrases, and cringey interactions with his fellow students. The only problem is that Urkel was, if nothing else, a definitive trailblazer, in spite of his irksome characteristics and oft-quoted one-liners. Screech, in comparison, was just another tired, two-dimensional class clown who appeared as a comic relief stock character: another knock-off Urkel in an age of middling Urkel recreations.

Alan Harper (Two and a Half Men)

To be fair, a serious argument can be made that Jon Cryer carried Two and a Half Men on his back following Charlie Sheen’s abrupt departure from the series in 2011. Yet with each passing season, Alan Harper steadily grew into a less and less likable character, transforming from a struggling single father into a selfish cheapskate living off his brother’s generosity. Often described as a “parasitic leech” by Charlie, his mother, and pretty much everyone in the show who came into contact with him, Alan’s miserly personality became more grating as time went on, leaving little reason to wonder about Charlie’s hostility towards his younger, penny-pinching sibling.

Kim Bauer (24)

In terms of her personality and relationship to her father Jack, 24’s Kim Bauer has always remained a perfectly genial character. It’s only because of her inability to avoid a dangerous situation that this industrious CTU agent can prove grating to some viewers. Like Robin of DC Comics or Daphne of Scooby-Doo, the character’s main function always seemed rooted in her being captured or targeted by Jack’s shadowy enemies, forcing the veteran agent to save her time and time again. We’d say that’s mostly a product of poor writing, but no matter how you explain it, you almost feel like yelling at the screen every time Kim finds herself in the hands of some shady drug dealers or a vengeful terrorist group.

Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother)

Next to Friends’ Ross Geller, there’s seldom been a sitcom protagonist as polarizing as How I Met Your Mother’s Ted Mosby. A lovesick architect searching for a meaningful relationship in the Big Apple, Ted’s romantic escapades regularly come at a dire cost for the many women he dates throughout the show, often leading the character to selfishly prioritize his own needs at the expense of his partner’s. If that weren’t bad enough, his on-again, off-again relationship with Robin is enough to make any longtime viewer roll their eyes, especially as they witness their eventual reunion in one of the worst series finales of all time.

Skyler White (Breaking Bad)

We’re not going to make any excuses for Walter White’s monstrous behavior in Breaking Bad. But we’d also be lying if we didn’t say Skyler’s choices weren’t sometimes irritating in their own right. Above all else, Skyler’s scandalous relationship with Ted may be one of the most unflattering character arcs we’ve ever witnessed on the show. Not only did she flaunt the relationship in front of Walt as a means of revenge, she also seemed to have little scruples about sleeping with a man every bit as cowardly and immoral as her husband. If nothing else, you can simply say her taste in romantic partners leaves much to be desired.

Janice Litman-Goralnik (Friends)

It was a competitive toss-up between Ross and Janice in terms of the most annoying Friends character, but by a very thin margin, that dishonor has to go to Chandler’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. A shrill-voiced, ultra-clingy prima donna whose selfishness literally knows no bounds, Janice’s nasally voice alone could have justifiably earned her spot on this list. Coupled with that is her unhealthy attachment to Chandler, culminating in her cheating on her husband and ultimately forcing Chandler to flee to Yemen in order to escape from her needy clutches. When all is said and done, Ross may be bad, but Janice is far, far worse.

Joffrey Baratheon (Game of Thrones)

Reportedly, Game of Thrones’ original creator George R.R. Martin slipped a note to Jack Gleeson after filming the series’ pilot, in which the author said, “Congratulations… Everyone hates you!” Watching Gleeson step into the role of the bratty king of Westeros, it’s hard to refute the writer’s summary of Gleeson’s performance. A whining, sniveling, spoiled man-child with a severe god complex, Joffrey appears as one of the few GoT characters that possesses little to any redeemable qualities. While he was always designed to serve as one of the series’ central antagonists, audiences nevertheless can’t help but wince in annoyance whenever Gleeson strolls into a scene, ordering others around like they were his personal property (which, given his monarchical status, they technically are).