Some of television’s most memorable and well-loved characters all have one trait in common: they enjoy a nice adult beverage every now and then.
The types range from the man’s man drinker (Ron Swanson, Al Bundy) to the carefree female (Karen Walker, Linda Belcher). We would invite most everyone on this list out for a beer or two after work. Although, some may be more difficult than others (I’m not sure what the rules are for dogs and robots in pubs).
Here are 25 TV characters we love, and they love to drink.
25. Bill Braskey Buddies
Show: Saturday Night Live
SNL’s recurring characters and sketches give viewers something to come back for week after week. The buddies of legendary salesman Bill Brasky are a hard-drinking crew, and hilariously ridiculous. Will Ferrell kills it every time.
24. Calamity Jane
Show: Deadwood
When Wild Bill rolled into Deadwood, he was accompanied by some rough characters. Calamity Jane loved her whiskey and really skimped on bathing. Despite her excessive cussing, she really is a tender soul.
23. Linda Belcher
Show: Bob’s Burgers
The Belchers are such a great family, and Linda is a pivotal part of keeping them together. However, if you had kids like Gene, Tina and Louise, you’d enjoy a few extra drinks every now and then too.
22. Meredith Palmer
Show: The Office
Many secondary characters on The Office had a running gag (Angela and her cats, Kevin and his food, Creed with his creepiness), and Meredith Palmer’s was booze. At one Christmas party, Michael even tries to throw an intervention. It’s eventually revealed that Meredith was going to night school to get her degree, which is why the adult college student partied so hard.
21. Don Draper
Show: Mad Men
As an ad-man savant, Don Draper is also very skilled at tipping brown liquid into his mouth. Does Draper drink because it’s acceptable for the time period? Or does he do it to cope with the ghosts he hides? Drinking is just one aspect of TV’s most complicated man.
20. Peter Griffin
Show: Family Guy
When you hang out at a place called The Drunken Clam, odds are you like to have a few. Peter Griffin’s drink of choice is Pawtucket Beer, and he like’s more than one. The Griffin patriarch is a fat, lovable oaf.
19. Karen Walker
Show: Will & Grace
She was a high-pitched force to be reckoned with on the beloved Will & Grace. Karen had a knack for really cutting people down to size. In hindsight, that might have been the booze talking.
18. Ron Swanson
Show: Parks and Rec
“Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets.”
17. Ders, Adam, Blake
Show: Workaholics
The trio from Workaholics are stuck in this crazy limbo where they still love to have fun, but the real world is nipping at their heels. How much fun is too much fun after college? Ders, Adam and Blake have yet to answer that question.
16. Al Bundy
Show: Married…with Children
Long before Ed O’Neil made viewers laugh as Jay Pritchett in Modern Family he embodied the hilariously inappropriate Al Bundy. Al was a blue-collar American father, equal parts misogynist and haphazard handyman. Besides his family, beer is his greatest love.
15. Bender
Show: Futurama
A foul-mouthed, hard-drinking robot – now there’s one you don’t see everyday.
14. McNulty and Bunk
Show: The Wire
Two of Baltimore’s finest fictional detectives, Jimmy McNulty and Bunk Moreland, like Jameson almost as much as solving a complex case. The scenes where the two hash out the hardships of being a cop over a few drinks are as hilarious as they are heartbreaking. Their friendship is a bright spot in the midst of dark circumstances.
13. Otis Campbell
Show: The Andy Griffith Show
Otis Campbell spends more time in a jail cell than he does at home on The Andy Griffith Show. His role as the town drunk was used for laughs way before anyone on this list. Good old Otis.
12. Jim Lahey
Show: Trailer Park Boys
No one other than Randy really enjoys Mr. Lahey’s company on Trailer Park Boys because he’s not very nice. He’s also not very sober most of the time. His favorite pastimes include making matters difficult for Ricky and Julian and falling down stairs.
11. Lucille Bluth
Show: Arrested Development
The Bluth matriarch rarely needs any fuel for her backhanded slights, but martinis work just fine when she decides to really get going. Her signature stare is as seething as her signature sip. There’s always money in the banana stand and always a drink within Lucille Bluth’s reach.
10. Rick Sanchez
Show: Rick and Morty
When you’re dealing with alternate realities/universes, it’s probably a good idea to lay off the hooch. Then again, where’s the fun in that, right Rick?
9. Frank Gallagher
Show: Shameless
Frank Gallagher certainly won’t be winning Father of the Year anytime soon, but the man can certainly throw back some alcohol. Last season on Shameless, we saw Frank’s debauchery finally catching up to him. Who knows what lies ahead for this degenerate.
8. Roger Sterling
Show: Mad Men
In a show where everyone drinks and drinks a lot, Roger Sterling reigns supreme. One classic episode finds Sterling and Draper squaring off with martinis after the former hits on the latter’s wife. Sterling is bested by the younger Draper, and it’s the first time in the show when viewers see that the silver-haired ad man is indeed mortal.
7. Homer Simpson
Show: The Simpsons
America loves Homer Simpson. In turn, Homer Simpson loves Duff Beer. It’s a complicated triangle, but we make it work.
6. Drunk Uncle
Show: Saturday Night Live
This is my favorite Bobby Moynihan character on SNL, and certainly one of the best Weekend Update guests. Drunk Uncle likes to look back, and there’s certainly no love loss between him and millennials. One of his finest lines: “Stick that in your iPad and smoke it.”
5. Randy Marsh
Show: South Park
Any South Park episode that centers around Randy Marsh is an instant classic. Some fine drunk moments of Randy’s include his endless partying after Barrack Obama becomes president and the badass “I thought this was America” attitude when he continually gets kicked out of Little League games for fighting.
4. Brian Griffin
Show: Family Guy
The Griffin’s family dog, Brian, is a struggling writer, so of course he likes to have a few drinks. Brian enjoys a strong martini almost as much as rubbing his behind all over the family room carpet. We’re all thankful he’s still alive, too.
3. Barney Gumble
Show: The Simpsons
Barney is rarely seen anywhere around Springfield besides Moe’s Tavern. As Homer Simpson’s best friend and barmate, Barney loves belching after a nice swig of Duff. He also might be Springfield’s most interesting man with a resume consisting of barbershop quartet singer, snowplow driver, astronaut, college lecturer and documentary filmmaker.
2. Norm Peterson
Show: Cheers
With a never-ending bar tab and plenty of running gags, Norm might be the best-loved character from Cheers. Life hasn’t been easy for Norm (“It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and I’m wearing Milkbone underwear”), but at least he can always go where everybody knows his name.
1. The Gang
Show: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
For nine seasons, Charlie, Mac, Dee, Dennis and Frank have been on some of the most twisted and misguided adventures in recent TV history. The show’s sixth main character, Paddy’s Pub, serves as the base of operations for this hopeless group. And, without question, they’ve become America’s drunk sweethearts.