Jezebel 
Enter your username and password.
-
posts about #menontv more → 
Five Great Men On Television
New York, 3:57 AM
Thu Dec 3
63 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
| Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Dodai Stewart
| Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor:
Tracie Egan
| Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Anna North
| Twitter
Sadie Stein
| Twitter
Reporter:
Irin Carmon
| Twitter
Editorial Assistant:
Margaret Hartmann
| Twitter
Contributors:
Rich Juzwiak
Email | Twitter
Latoya Peterson
Email
Jenna Sauers
Lizzie Skurnick
Interns:
Katy Kelleher
Twitter
Weekends/Commenter Moderator:
Hortense
| Twitter
| posts about #menontv more → |
Five Great Men On Television |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
10/31/09
If we're including troubled men of the law like Stabler, I would offer Seth Bullock from Deadwood as well. While he definitely has some anger management issues, he was one of the only civilizing influences that made it safe for women and children to live in a very rough camp without fear of being hurt or exploited.
Rube from Dead Like Me. Funny, has a heart of gold, always knows what's going on with his people and does what he can to take care of them in the most understated of ways. #menontv
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/31/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
The people who know and love boys would be lucky to have them grow up to be Mal Reynolds, Giles, Picard, or Keith Mars, but each one of those men serves as a good illustration of how hard it is to be a good, mature, effective man. I wonder if the hypothetical boys in question wouldn't prefer to take the easy route and grow up to be charming man-children, taken care of by their various mates?
I hope not, but I worry. #menontv
10/30/09
he's no man-child - he's an adult. #menontv
10/31/09
10/30/09
I like that Stabler was included on the list - he's terribly flawed but he's still a full-fledged 3-d character, a great person. #menontv
10/30/09
10/30/09
Educated, protective and caring, stands up for good and decency, sings, awesome Brit accent, enjoys tea, handy with a stake and a bit of a terror in his younger years.
Seriously was my father figure crush for a good 5 years. #menontv
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
A decent number of male characters mentioned in the comments are people who are responsible and caring- they're charming jerks.
For reasons I can never quite understand, audiences often like horrifically mean or selfish male character. #menontv
10/30/09
Who exactly is a douche bag here? Doesn't that denote there's something particularly bad about him, above and beyond typical human behavior? Is he an asshole who's held up as a role model (you know...on purpose, not in the eyes of really fucking stupid audience members who are probably douche bags without a damn SATIRE to play off of)?
For the record...I like to think most people can appreciate that something funny or interesting when it doesn't affect you or the real would be hideous if it took place in real life, that the "charming jerks" aren't necessarily supposed to be role models.
I think the TV/movie douche bag has genuine value if he's used for satire/comedy or is redeemable and the writing/acting is good, but again...maybe I'm just easily pleased.
I CAN think of some real TV douche bags who serve no purpose. At least half of the Gossip Girl characters are douche bags....and yet I still watch. It's like a vacation to a glossy, beautiful Manhattan, like Sex and the City (which had it's own problems, but was still enjoyable) with much, much weaker writing. The characters aren't just douche bags--the assholery that's supposed to make them intriguing or soapily entertaining is kind of dull after a while, but what else have they got? It's a weekly show about good-looking little brats who are so rich they can open they're own night clubs at age 18 and anoint themselves "Queen Bee" in high school.
Cougartown is another one...celebrating an obnoxious concept with grating, dumb characters and weak jokes/plotlines. Probably half a dozen shows on ESPN or Spike or some shit that are awful in and of themselves...and then you wonder who actually WATCHES this crap.
I guess Don Draper is a prime example of the "charming jerk"...I pity Betty and I sure as hell wouldn't want to be a woman during the 1960s, but is Don a purely unsympathetic asshole for cheating on her? If we were talking about a real person, some how I think I'd be more offended, but on a show...well, it's a fictional world where the writers try to make him partially sympathetic, and I guess I'm persuadable enough. That, and I really like Jon Hamm.
Does cheating always make someone a jerk, end of story, regardless of what the marriage is like? #menontv
10/30/09
10/30/09
Though going too far in the opposite direction is also bad which is why I never cared for Dr. House. #menontv
10/30/09
10/30/09
Joan Holloway on the ever popular Mad Men has her jerky moments.
Sopranos is full of people, both male and female, who were jerks but very sympathetic to the audience. Meadow and Carmela were good examples.
Atia on "Rome" was a great one. I know a lot of people who loved her but man, she could be cruel. Servilia, too, though I think Atia inspired more love.
I think the lesson here is (for the most part) seek out HBO for good character development. #menontv
10/30/09
10/30/09
I can't say I condone his blackface, but from Ingalls Wilder's writing, it appears that he attempted to be fair and neighborly to everyone, despite the rampant racism of the time. And he was good to his daughters. #menontv
10/29/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
@pengcat: that is a delightful bit of imagery. may i borrow it for my gloomy days? #menontv
10/29/09
10/29/09
The top of my list would be Uncle Iroh though.
[en.wikipedia.org]
10/30/09
10/30/09
Most of the "good guys" in that show would be good picks for the list - Aang, Sokka (after he discovers that ladies are not weak, which is right at the beginning anyhow), and tons of side characters all showcase good examples of maleness. I really like how "unmasculine" Aang is. He makes jewelry for fun, is a vegetarian, likes to dance, answers to the name "Twinkletoes", and if I remember, cries fairly regularly.
<3. I love that show. #menontv
10/30/09
10/29/09
David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, duh. #menontv
10/30/09
I think mainly my feminist issues with Doctor Who stem from the way Russell T. Davies has dealt with the companions' mothers. Can you name one season-long companion whose mum you didn't find grating or irritating? No? Ex-actly. #menontv