Our Ten Best: Characters in Animated Sitcoms

Over the past 25 years, animated sitcoms have become a staple on television, slowly replacing standard sitcoms as one of the most popular genres in the industry.

During that time, there have been a plethora of crazy characters to hit the small screen. Nevertheless, only a select handful can be called the best characters ever. Here’s Review Fix’s top 10.

10: Coach John McGuirk: If you’ve failed to ever catch “Home Movies,” you have no idea what you’re missing. If Larry David could somehow be fused with Patrick the Starfish from Spongebob Squarepants, you’d have Coach McGuirk, who consistently gets himself in precarious situations, fueling and adding depth to an unsung animated sitcom.

9: Master Shake: The master of the one liner, Master Shake, voiced by Dana Snyder, is cruel, vicious and incredibly stupid. Only a 13-minute show, Shake’s antics are an integral part of the show, which range from putting kitten in microwaves and eating possessed sandwiches.

8: Stan Smith: Love him or hate him, Stan Smith is hilarious. Hearing his thoughts on politics, even if you’re a republican, can make you cringe, or surreptitiously smile. Bringing out the best and worst in his audience, Smith is as zany as they come, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t lovable.

7: Stewart Gilligan Griffin: Part Bart Simpson with a little Eric Cartman with some Monty Python added in for good measure, Stewie Griffin is an animated sitcom commodity with more memorable moments under his belt than many real actors. Able to smarten up a random show the likes of “Family Guy” or just role with the punches, Stewie makes the show something special.

6: Hank Hill: The reason why Hank Hill is on this list is a simple one: he’s as real as they come. Everyone knows someone like him and as funny as he is, he’s also honest and virtuous. A show that would work without the animation with real actors, Hill’s character proves that animated sitcoms don’t have to be childish or overtly hilarious to be great.

5: Bender: More human than robot, Bender is most important character on “Futurama” because he’s stuck between two worlds. Easily in tune with his life as a robot, but able to feel jealousy and lust, as well as deal with addiction and hatred, Bender is one of a kind. His dealings with the Robot Devil and the Robot Mafia have made him a legend, but his nonchalant attitude and willingness to be his own robot make a pop culture icon.

4: Peter Griffin: Even if you don’t watch “Family Guy,” you know who Peter Griffin is. Sure he may at times be a poor man’s Homer Simpson, but with his signature laugh and off the wall antics, Griffin absolutely deserves a place on this list.

3: Bart Simpson: In the late ’80s, everyone and their mother was wearing something Simpsons-related, usually with Bart on it. His catchphrase, “Don’t have a cow, man,” was synonymous with the generation and even though the show has lost some of its luster over the years, Bart is still a character that has endured. Finding comedy in nearly every situation, Bart is the only character in animation that could turn out somewhat normal, with a father like Homer.

2: Eric Cartman: In one of the commentaries on the many South Park DVDs, Trey Parker and Matt Stone said that when the show started, they tried to associate themselves with Stan and Kyle, but as the show progressed, they realized they were both actually Cartman. Evil to the bone, selfish to the core and as selfish as they come, there’s something undeniably adorable about him. He’s not fat people, he’s big-boned.

1: Homer Simpson: No its, ands or buts about it, Homer Simpson is the most important character in animated television history. Making the cartoon cool enough to maintain a home on prime time for over two decades, without Homer’s antics, you can make the argument that many of the other characters featured on this list would have never existed.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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