Random TV Shows Where Main Character Is Worst Part (15 items)

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  (#1) Sex and the City

  • Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis

  Sex and the City follows sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw and her friends’ dating lives in Manhattan. At first, Carrie appears to be the type of independent woman most audiences can get on board with. Unfortunately, she begins to become the opposite of that as Sex and the City goes on.

  The show wants to promote a lack of judgment and a free-spirited mentality, but Carrie judges her friends (e.g., slut-shaming Samantha) and believes herself to be above others. Think of all her affairs with Mr. Big and the way she treats her boyfriends deplorably. Calling that behavior "insufferable" is an understatement. 
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  (#2) Orange Is the New Black

  • Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Michael Harney, Michelle Hurst, Kate Mulgrew, Jason Biggs, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, Taryn Manning

  Piper Chapman is an entry point. Orange Is the New Black uses her and her “fish out of water” vibe to introduce us to Litchfield Penitentiary and its wide variety of interesting characters. That said, once she’s sentenced, the show grows beyond her almost immediately.

  Every other inmate seems to have actual issues to deal with - like racism, oppression, and pregnancy - whereas Piper’s only problem is her privilege. All she worries about are her circumstances. From her desire to be in charge to manipulating Alex’s emotions, Piper doesn’t seem to care about others. She’s not an antihero or a villain per se, just an annoying and whiny rich girl.

  Ultimately, the show kept going thanks to its ensemble, not Piper’s pop-star mentality. 
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  (#3) How I Met Your Mother

  • Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, Cristin Milioti

  When How I Met Your Mother began, audiences were on board with Ted Mosby's quest to meet the future mother of his children - that is, until his charming quest turned into a repetitive and melodramatic series of one-night stands and unrealistic expectations, which were derailed time and time again by his obsession with Robin.

  Ted's narcissistic antics take time away from the plot lines involving the more well-rounded members of the group; Marshal and Lily embody true relationship goals while the story of Barney and Robin is better than the one about a girl with a yellow umbrella. And why is the all-around insufferable Mr. Mosby Robin’s backup plan anyway? As proven by Ted’s nine years of shag stories (not suitable for children), there are plenty of other fish in the sea. 
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  (#4) Dawson's Creek

  • James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams

  Is it called Dawson’s Creek because of the stream of tears running down the face of one Dawson Leery? The main character of this show is always crying! All Dawson seems to do is complain. Sure, this sort of thing was popular in teen dramas of the early 2000s, but it hasn’t aged well.

  The best example of this is at the end of Season 1 when Dawson guilt-trips Joey for wanting to spend the summer away from him in France. Why can’t she go see the world, Dawson? Don’t have enough tissues?

  We’re meant to side with Dawson often, but we don’t. Being sensitive doesn't make you morally superior. 
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  (#5) Girls

  • Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, Adam Driver

  Girls’ Hannah Horvath is deliberately written to be self-indulgent, rude, and selfish. She grates on pretty much everyone and doesn’t care at all. Even though she constantly compares herself to other people, she openly admits to loving herself above all else.

  When she starts working at the coffee shop, she acts as if serving people is beneath her. When her dad comes out as gay, she makes it about her rather than supporting him. In fact, she doesn’t appreciate her parents at all. Hannah is over-dramatic about everything, and not in an empathetic way but in a “the world doesn’t understand me" kind of way. No, Hannah, you are not the voice of a generation, but you are one of the worst main characters to ever grace the small screen. 
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  (#6) Gilmore Girls

  • Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson

  When Gilmore Girls begins, Rory is an astute student and admirable friend. As the series progresses, not so much. Near the show's end (and in the revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life), Rory comes off as self-obsessed and frustrating. She has affairs and doesn’t seem to care about the consequences - treating Paul like a carry-on bag she forgot at the airport.

  By the end, you're left to wonder if Rory even deserves someone like Jess Mariano. Her only redeeming quality is that she's surrounded by great characters like Lorelai, Luke, and Richard - though they're partly to blame for her bad behavior because they continue to enable her.
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  (#7) Family Guy

  • Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green

  When Family Guy began, Peter Griffin was just a larger and more pop-culturally savvy version of Homer Simpson. As time went on, Peter became less and less relatable and more and more of a caricature. Without any redeeming qualities (or a moral compass, for that matter), Peter just isn’t as funny or entertaining as the other characters on the show.

  This might sound like an over-analysis of a cartoon character, but Peter is just one-dimensional. In the later seasons of Family Guy, Peter Griffin can be best classified as an unlikable bully that exists purely to elicit the occasional shock-value laugh. 
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  (#8) True Blood

  • Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell

  Bill Compton may not be True Blood’s main character (that honor clearly goes to Sookie Stackhouse), but he certainly has a central role. In fact, it's too central. For someone who is 173 years old, this dude is pretty boring.

  It feels like the writers eventually realized this and tried to rectify it by having Bill go from hero to villain and then back again. However, all of those Civil War flashbacks in Season 6 do nothing to redeem his character or help the audience empathize with him. The amount of screen time Bill receives is one of the most annoying things about True Blood, leaving audiences to wonder what Sookie possibly sees in him.
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  (#9) Lost

  • Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Matthew Fox Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway, Malcolm David Kelley, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim

  Note to self: When stranded on a trippy island with relative strangers, put your hero complex aside. Don’t be Jack Shephard from Lost.

  Jack begins his adventures with the other survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 by being the tough guy. As the series goes on, his inflated sense of importance sees him keep unnecessary secrets, manipulate Juliet, and make ridiculous decisions. He ends up coming off as emotionally unstable, bossy, and unwilling to bend if anyone disagrees with him.

  One point in his favor: Jack's sanctimonious nonsense is certainly a subversion of male protagonist expectations, for better or worse (though, mostly worse).
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  (#10) Westworld

  • Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Luke Hemsworth, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Simon Quarterman, Rodrigo Santoro, Angela Sarafyan, Shannon Woodward, Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Barnes, Clifton Collins Jr., Jimmi Simpson, Tessa Thompson

  Dolores Abernathy is essentially the heart of Westworld. Everything the show aspires to portray begins and ends with Dolores’s experience as a host in the titular park. Her journey from slave to mechanical messiah is compelling stuff; however, she often comes off as a plot device.

  Dolores's motivations don't track from season to season. One moment she’s a helpless farm girl, the next she’s an enraged resistance leader, and, more recently, the master manipulator/savior of humanity. Dolores masquerades as the main character but, in truth, it’s Maeve who steals the show. The latter’s motives feel consistent and relatable (she just wants to be safe with her daughter and loved ones). More often than not, the audience has no idea what Dolores is up to, making her more of a soap-boxing caricature than a well-developed protagonist.
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  (#11) That '70s Show

  • Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis

  There’s several reasons Red Forman is always annoyed or angry with Eric: He’s lazy (wasting his life in the basement), condescending, and wimpy. That last issue makes Eric insecure about his relationship with Donna (who is indeed way too good for him), and further exacerbates his flaws.

  Eric is easily the most unlikable one in his friend group - and that's saying a lot, considering the way Kelso treats Jackie. Maybe this is one of the reasons That 70’s Show was able to go on just fine without him.
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  (#12) Malcolm in the Middle

  • Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, Bryan Cranston

  Similar to Peter Griffin on Family Guy, Malcolm may be the titular character, but he’s not necessarily the main one. As the middle child (even though he technically isn’t), Malcolm helps to ease the comedic landscape for other characters. While this works, Malcolm ends up being the least interesting character, and often comes off as a jerk.

  Malcolm is the definition of an annoying know-it-all; he embraces this as his identity so much that his family is convinced he'll be president of the United States one day. This isn't due to his principles or strength of character, but because he insists upon being the smartest and most successful person in the room - regardless of whether it's true or not.
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  (#13) Mindhunter

  • Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv, Hannah Gross

  When we first meet Holden Ford in Mindhunter, we think it’s nice that he empathizes with, well, lunatics. However, he doesn’t; he just finds psychopaths interesting. Like, very interesting. At times, he comes off as one himself.

  While Holden is highly intelligent and gets results, he’s also a selfish misogynist who always thinks he’s right. It would not be fun working with this guy. If it weren’t for the dichotomy of FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench (who should find another job), Holden would be unbearable. 
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  (#14) Game of Thrones

  • Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

  In Game Of Thrones’ controversial final season, Jon Snow (AKA Aegon Targaryen) is an absolute dunce. Nothing he does makes sense, and though he's meant to seem noble, his choices indicate he's either hopelessly naive or just plain incompetent.

  For instance, Jon could have easily been more tactful with the secret of his lineage and kept Dany from going “mad queen.” He also utters “I don’t want it” so many times that it's graduated to full-on meme status.

  Speaking of memes, while Jon Snow has always "known nothing," he knows even less in Season 8. Of the many characters who could have - and should have - been written better in the series' final chapter, Lord Snow takes the cake. 
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  (#15) The Office

  • Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B. J. Novak, Melora Hardin, David Denman, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, Creed Bratton, Craig Robinson, Ellie Kemper, Zach Woods, Amy Ryan, James Spader

  From his will-they-or-won’t-they relationship with Pam to his tongue-in-cheek comments, Jim Halpert adds an inimitable element to The Office's dynamic. We love him more each time he looks knowingly into the camera. That said, it’s hard not to call Jim the worst because of his horrible treatment of his coworkers.

  Imagine things from their perspective: Jim's work ethic is questionable, he makes Dwight’s life a living hell, and he is basically a bully - not just to Dwight but to Michael, as well. On top of this, in later seasons, he’s not the greatest partner, putting his personal dreams and goals ahead of communicating with and being there for those who depend on him.

  On closer inspection, the lovable Jim Halpert is kind of a jerk. Sure, Michael is also a jerk, at times, but at least he's honest. 

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