Everyone Is Arguing About The Best HBO Characters Of All Time
So this tweet was making the rounds last night and it sent people into fits of rage arguing back and forth over their favorite HBO characters ever. Look – it’s all opinion here. All answers are subjective. There are no right and wrong answers.
But at the same time I’d be remiss to not mention that it’s a gross miscarriage of justice that my personal favorite HBO character of all time was hardly mentioned at all by the Twittersphere. We’ll talk about him later, but first let’s break it down:
Honorable Mention:
Ari Gold, Johnny Drama, Paulie Walnuts, Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Major Richard Winters, Larry David, Omar, Rust Cole
All could be deserving of a top 3 spot. I think Entourage kinda sucks now that I’m 30 and not a college douche bag, but Ari and Drama were great characters nonetheless. That and there’s no denying the show’s popularity.
Paulie Walnuts was just hilarious and a perfect sidekick for Tony. Loyal as can be.
Jon Snow and Arya were a TOUGH call for me. Jon was kinda a bitch so he lost out and Arya was a little too stoic to make my top 3. I loved her unconditionally but she wasn’t one of many words. Just a badass.
Richard Winters was also GROSSLY misrepresented by the people. Band of Brothers is one of the most gut wrenching portrayals of WWII and Damian Lewis was incredible in it as Major Winters.
Larry David is obviously up there as is Omar, though I never finished The Wire.
Rust Cole was probably the hardest for me to leave out of the top 3. Matty McConaughuey MURDERED his role in S1 of True Detective. Truly one of the greatest acting jobs I’ve ever seen in movie and/or TV. But… it was just one season, so he just misses the cut for me.
3. Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones:
I say this sincerely, I thought Peter Dinklage was by far and away the best actor on the show. It was a well-acted show as a whole, but Peter Dinklage took home the gold for me. Obviously that last season completely sucked, but Tyrion Lannister going from getting domed up by a hooker in episode 1 to more or less inventing democracy in the final episode was fantastic television. The scene where he was on trial for killing Joffrey was masterfully acted by him. I really do think if he could have killed the entire “jury” he would have.
2. Tony Soprano, The Sopranos
RIP to one of the true GOATs, James Gandolfini, who won three Emmys and was nominated for 5 more for his role as Tony Soprano.
Tony Soprano is arguably the best character in TV history. Modern day mobster, husband, father, boss, friend, adulterer, murderer, and everything in between. Quote machine. His emotional outbursts about the most mundane things were always hilarious too. “OH! WHO ATE THE LAST PIECE OF PIE!”
I also kinda hated how The Sopranos ended, much like GoT, but it’s still one of the great shows of all time. Could have gone down as the GOAT, but I am of the opinion that Breaking Bad nosed it out because of their ending.
1. Kenny Powers, Eastbound and Down:
I live every day of my life hoping I can one day be half the man Kenny Powers is. Funny, athletic, charming and devastatingly handsome. He’s the total package in every way, shape and form.
But… real talk. I saw season 1, episode 1 of Eastbound and Down when it aired live. I was cooped up in a hotel room in Atlanta while my shitty D3 team was there for a spring trip. I assumed it was going to be the dumbest show ever, but I was bored and had nothing else to watch. Within 30 seconds I was pissing myself in laughter. To this day I subtly drop K fucking P quotes all the time and always love when people recognize his greatness. Just totally stupid, yet TOTALLY entertaining television. Him doing lines of blow with Kleg in the back of the bar after meeting Tracy is one of the funniest scenes in TV history, I will take that to the grave.