No heroes, no good guys, no problem?
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00:00On a long-running television program, it stands to reason that you take the time to, you know,
00:04craft characters who the audience can latch onto. Sometimes, though, TV shows go in the absolute
00:09opposite direction. Not satisfied with generating a few antagonists to be bested by the gallant
00:14heroes, these programs are replete with characters who are not just flawed, but relentlessly bad,
00:20and we love them all for it. I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 TV shows
00:26with no redeemable characters.
00:2810. Peep Show
00:30In life, everyone is either a Mark or a Jeremy to some degree. It's not something we'd probably
00:35like to admit, but the two fragile, selfish husks at the centre of this seminal flat-share comedy
00:41represent modern society at large, warts and all. Over nine seasons of Peep Show,
00:45we witness Mark and Jeremy subject one another to every atrocity imaginable,
00:50while still sharing the same square foot of the London high-rise.
00:54The genius of Peep Show is in slowly illustrating that these two men,
00:58on the surface so different, are actually burdened by the exact same flaws. You know,
01:04things like non-existent self-esteem, overthinking, stubbornness and an eroding sense of morality.
01:10The supporting characters are no better either, from the criminality of Super Hands to the
01:14indecent proposing of Johnson, Sophie's inept stabs at motherhood and even Big Suze's complete
01:20disregard for anyone on a lower social strata than her. The slightly lame finale of Peep Show
01:26illustrated its ultimate thesis perfectly. Mark and Jeremy can by this point barely stand the
01:31sight of each other, but they're doomed to spend the rest of eternity sniping away from
01:35the discomfort of their couch. There's just no changing them.
01:399. Succession
01:40Succession is a show about the 0.001%, a family of mega-rich, influential media tycoons
01:47who only care about preserving and inflating their own wealth and power. It was never going
01:51to be a show replete with heroic figures, but few could have imagined that Jesse Armstrong's
01:56pitch-black satire would reach the depths it has. At its core is patriarch Logan Roy,
02:01played like a monster by Brian Cox. We, the audience, can see from the off that he's done
02:06a number on his kits, but each one of them still takes their turn in the spotlight to demonstrate
02:11the depths of their own depravity. We've got everyone from the younger son Roman,
02:15who seems to become worse with every taste of power he gets, while even the prodigal Kendall
02:20Roy, who looked poised for a face-turn at the end of last season, is still self-serving and
02:24prone to cruelty as much as anyone else. Even the less cruel characters are utterly broken,
02:30from moronic and grasping eldest son Connor to the lovable but parasitic cousin Greg.
02:34The closest Succession gets to a heroic figure is the combative anti-capitalist Ewan Roy,
02:39but even he's a bit of a jerk too.
02:418. Entourage
02:43In theory, the characters in Entourage shouldn't be irredeemable. Indeed, the whole point of the
02:48show was to create a wish-fulfillment telly. You know, tune in every week to watch rising
02:52Hollywood star Vinnie Chase and crew traverse the highs and lows of the movie biz and the
02:57madcap characters within. And for a while, it worked. But then it became amazingly repetitive
03:02and downright grim watching these four idiots get everything they wanted week after week,
03:08with no peril, no drama, no consequence or no growth.
03:11Vincent was a bland lead, but his titular entourage comprised three of the men you'd
03:15least like to share company with. Manager Eric was whiny, hot-headed and stupid,
03:20Driver Turtle was a greedy, barely believable lech, and brother Johnny Drama, while played
03:25with genuine skill by Kevin Dillon, was just plain gross. And then there's Agent Ari Gold,
03:31the show's breakout character whose dialogue is 75% racist, homophobic and misogynistic slurs.
03:38As a result, this once-aspirational show turned deeply depressing by the end.
03:43The British crime drama, recently revived by Netflix and Drake,
03:47takes a far more sensitive look at drugs and gangs than most shows of its ilk. This is,
03:52for the most part, a sensitive and restrained depiction of drug pushers,
03:56customers and the neighbourhoods it affects. To that end, there's a sensitivity afforded to
04:00its characters. These young men selling drugs and carrying guns aren't doing it just for a laugh,
04:06often it's just the life they were born into, and the only opportunity that was afforded to them.
04:10But while the depiction is thoughtful, it simultaneously refuses to shy away from the
04:15horrors it portrays. The two lead kingpins are no psychopaths by any means, but they're obliged to
04:21run their estate with an iron fist, and such gruesome fates befall many characters ordered
04:26by or related to our protagonists. The third season brings in young upstart Jamie, and while
04:31he's similarly motivated by the noble goal of keeping his family fed, we're under no illusions
04:36as to what one must be willing to do in order to thrive in a trade so brutal and short-lived as
04:41this. Top Boy walks a tightrope well, keeping its storytelling exciting and non-judgmental,
04:47while never shying away from the cruelty and blood that fuels this world.
04:53Taking its cues from another sitcom great, which we will definitely get to later,
04:57It's Always Sunny manages to keep us invested in a gang of absolute villains week upon week
05:02by ensuring that the joke is, for the most part, firmly on our main characters.
05:07To varying degrees, the custodians of Paddy's pub are deeply problematic. Each is deeply selfish to
05:13varying degrees, but some prove to be genuine menaces to society by virtue of their unpredictable
05:19triggers, Charlie, their vindictiveness, Dee, undiagnosed psychopathy, definitely Dennis,
05:24or a propensity for gunplay, Frank. And while sensitive Mac has moments of vulnerability,
05:30it has been made plenty clear that even he has no place in polite company, with his wild religious
05:36views and frightening obsessive qualities making him a danger in spite of his more sympathetic
05:41elements. While the show, now a cultural behemoth, is nowhere near at what it once was,
05:45it still has a remarkable ability to dance around difficult issues without doing so for the sheer
05:50thrill of being edgy or button-pushing. You'd never want to know these characters in real life
05:55as they'd most likely ruin your life, but you'd certainly want to watch them from afar.
05:59Number 5, Barry. The characters of Barry are commendably complex creations. The show's concept
06:05that being a reluctant hitman is looking to reinvent himself as an actor might not initially
06:10sound like the most fresh necessarily. I mean, this exact concept is, but the world of wannabe
06:15actors feels as though it's been mined dry. But still, through deeply fleshed out writing and
06:20universally terrific performances, it breathes new life into several worlds. No one, however,
06:26is a particularly good person. On one extreme, of course, you've got the likes of Barry Berkman,
06:31who is Bill Hader's protagonist. He's a scarred and traumatized ex-marine groomed to kill,
06:35and kill he certainly does without flinching. Then there's the de facto villain, Barry's handler,
06:40a man without any scruples either. More subtly irredeemable though are the depictions of the
06:45Hollywood hopefuls. The more we learn of these actors, the deeper we get to the core of their
06:50dishonesty and their naked ambition that trumps everything else. Henry Winkler's Gene is obliquely
06:55self-serving, but even the most vulnerable and damaged characters like Sally are individuals
07:00clearly motivated by their own desires and ambitions at the expense of those around them.
07:05Barry's two seasons thus far have shown amazing ability to dig even deeper into the core of its
07:10creations, and as the show's ambitions rise, no doubt it'll only go further in the future.
07:15The Thick of It US spin-off Veep escapes inclusion on this
07:18list by virtue of Gary Walsh, Selina Myers' laptop assistant, whose genuine sweetness and loyalty
07:24keeps him from engaging in any of the group's more evil acts. The Thick of It though, while a
07:28little less appealing to watch now that we're actually living it in the UK, has no such innocent
07:33characters. The Westminster satire is packed with the types of backbiting, cautiously non-committal,
07:38frightfully ambitious types that fill parliaments and government buildings across the globe.
07:43From the smallest character, everyone has an agenda. The two quasi-protagonists,
07:49Hugh Abbott and Nicola Murray, are by no means evil, but they do see politics not as a noble
07:54calling, but as a means to gain status, power and of course, a lucrative career.
07:58Principles are pretty much just a laughing matter in this world. The operators on the
08:03sidelines are scarier still, particularly the show's finest creation, Malcolm Tucker.
08:08Played with snarling Glaswegian fury by Peter Capaldi, Tucker is a spin doctor first and a
08:14human being second. Every moment he's scheming his way out of another pickle,
08:18his thought process punctuated by an incessant stream of swear words. He's a delightfully
08:24demonic creature, but ultimately bereft of humanity.
08:28Breaking Bad was all about the degradation of an initially mostly decent man. But while it
08:33had its fair share of complex heroes, the likes of Walt Jr, Hank and even Jesse Pinkman could
08:38hardly be said to be irredeemable. Better Call Saul, meanwhile, invests its time in an altogether
08:44nastier and more criminally inclined bunch of characters. Its self-styled moral compass,
08:49Chuck McGill, was by the end fuelled exclusively by petty jealousy. Even hitman Mike Ermantrout
08:55is a decent man willing to do incredibly bad things for his family's security.
09:00Its most fascinating character as well, Kim Wexler, has been on a downfall slide of morality
09:04ever since getting involved with Slippin' Jimmy. Her ultimate fate is still dangling in question
09:09going into the final season, but we can bet it won't be one of sunshine and rainbows.
09:14And then, of course, there's Jimmy himself. It being a prequel, we know he's going to survive,
09:19but viewers of Breaking Bad will have seen the slippery lawyer behaving even worse
09:24in years to come. This one is a morality tale without a hero.
09:28Family Guy. Blending the button-pushing adult content of South Park and the nuclear
09:32family satire of The Simpsons, Seth MacFarlane's animated sitcom overcame a rocky start to become
09:37a genuine sensation, and key to its success is its flexibility. Any one of its characters can
09:43do and be anything from episode to episode. What is consistent, though, is the nasty streak
09:48that runs throughout the show. MacFarlane delights in the edginess of his writing,
09:52and has filled his fictional New England town with everything from pedophiles to sex offenders
09:57to violent anthropomorphized chickens and everything in between. The central family,
10:01of course, is no better either. Comprised of belligerent drunks, master manipulators,
10:06dangerously needy teens, an aggressively pretentious and foul-mouthed dog, and a
10:11worryingly sexual baby with designs of taking over the world and or killing his own mother.
10:16To that end, Family Guy isn't for everyone. It often lacks The Simpsons' warmth and South Park's
10:21ability to juggle storylines cohesively, but if you like your comedy detached, freewheeling,
10:26and often downright mean, then it's the show for you.
10:29Number 1. Seinfeld
10:30While some of these show's characters were irredeemable by virtue of their background or
10:34the writers' incompetence, only Seinfeld set out with a goal of creating a cast of terrible
10:40characters. See, Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld's mantra was always famously,
10:44no hugging, no learning. And over nine seasons, they stuck to this vibe resolutely. So, Jerry,
10:50George, Kramer, and Elaine are by no means evil, but what they are is completely untouched by the
10:55niceties of society. If for some of the most selfish characters ever created, they stick to
11:01one another like glue, having alienated the rest of New York, but are nonetheless ready to betray
11:06one another at a moment's notice should they themselves benefit from doing so. We've seen
11:11the New York Four ruin countless relationships, their own and others', for the pettiest of reasons,
11:16cause the closure of several small businesses, make enemies across town, and cause at least
11:21one death through sheer stinginess. And yet, without exception, it works. The Seinfeld crew
11:27reflect the worst in each one of us, but there's nary a viewer who can't recognise some of their
11:32own behaviour in that of the crew. They can never ever change, but we wouldn't want them to.
11:38So that's our list, what do you guys think down in the comments below? Are there any similar
11:41casts on telly like this? And what do you think of these shows? While you're down there as well,
11:46could you please give us a like, share, subscribe, and head over to whatculture.com for more lists
11:50and news like this every single day. Even if you don't though, I've been Josh,
11:53thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.