10 Best TV Characters of 2024

by Julian Spivey

10. Gaius (Kirk B.R. Woller) - The Chosen

Photo: 5&2 Studios

I admit I initially had no interest in “The Chosen,” an independent drama series by creator Dallas Jenkins that follows Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples. It was a favor to my wife, and throughout the first few seasons, I somewhat half-watched the show. But every time Kirk Woller was on the screen as Roman centurion Gaius I couldn’t help but be intrigued. Granted, the character fits one of my ideal models of an interesting character – one who stands up for what he believes in, even when those around him don’t. Woller plays this role perfectly and has one of his shining moments in the series when he asks Jesus for a miracle in “Calm Before.”  

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9. President Joe Biden/The Church Lady (Dana Carvey) - Saturday Night Live

Photo: NBC

Dana Carvey is a “Saturday Night Live” legend and one of the show’s five greatest cast members, so it’s been lovely seeing him featured in its milestone 50th season since it debuted in late September. Carvey’s most significant focus on the show was portraying President Joe Biden in the lead-up to the Presidential Election. The show has memorably portrayed Biden before, most famously by Jason Sudeikis, as a more rapscallion figure during the Obama administration, but Carvey’s impression playfully and accurately pokes fun at the older, current President in a way that is funny but also respectful. His recent return as The Church Lady was also one of the show's shining moments.  

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8. Derek (Ted McGinley) - Shrinking 

Photo: Apple

Ted McGinley’s Derek is probably the eighth most important character on AppleTV’s hilarious and heartwarming comedy “Shrinking,” and yet it’s such a standout that it’s the one that makes this list this year. Derek isn’t Jewish, but the word that would properly explain him the most is “mensch.” The show has built him up as almost the perfect man and he’s pretty damn close, even if we see in season two how he could be more intuitive in his relationship. It’s such a joyful performance by McGinley, a TV veteran who may end up being most well-known for this role, that’s always good for some of the biggest laughs of each episode. It was a minor role in season one that I’m happy the showrunners/writers have fleshed out more in season two.  

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7. The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) - Doctor Who

Photo: Disney+

This certainly isn’t the first time a “Doctor Who” performance has found its way onto my favorite characters of the year list. The Doctor, being an alien who can regenerate into different looks, allowing multiple actors to play the part and put their spin on the character, allows for it. There’s never been a Doctor like Ncuti Gatwa before. Sure, there have been charismatic, attractive young men who’ve played The Doctor, and Gatwa is undoubtedly that, but he’s both the first person of color and the first non-heterosexual actor to portray the role, and it’s brought some things to the role, that we’ve never had the pleasure of seeing before.  

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6. Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott) - Ripley

Photo: Network

​Andrew Scott gets the naturalistic acting award of the year in television for his ability to do so much without saying anything at all. His performance as the shark-eyed conman Ripley in the Netflix limited series of the same name is one of the steeliest, sleekest, and outright scary performances of the year, as Scott portrays a man who will stop at nothing to take on the identity of his latest target. 

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5. Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey) - We Are Lady Parts

Photo: Peacock

The first season of the U.K. Channel 4 and Peacock collaboration “We Are Lady Parts,” about an all-Muslim, all-female British punk band, was mostly told through the point-of-view of Amina, a brainy microbiology student whose lifestyle doesn’t fit the punk mode. But I became more interested in the band’s leader, Saira, played by Sarah Kameela Impey. Saira became the P.O.V. for the excellent second season, which sees the band grow in appeal and potential and the ups and downs that come with trying to be true to oneself as an artist while also being successful. It was a beautiful performance. 

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4. Joanne (Kristen Bell) & Noah (Adam Brody) - Nobody Wants This

Photo: Netflix

I don’t often go with a duo on this list, but Kristen Bell and Adam Brody’s chemistry on the Netflix romance-comedy “Nobody Wants This” was easily the best I saw on TV in 2024. Bell plays a sex-life podcaster, and Brody plays a rabbi. Neither character seems to have anything in common except for the fact that they fall for each other almost immediately, and every time they’re together on screen, you can’t help but smile at them. It’s the kind of chemistry that makes you want the episodes to go on longer after they end. 

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3. Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd) - Baby Reindeer

Photo: Netflix

Richard Gadd became an all-in-one wunderkind with his Netflix limited series “Baby Reindeer” this year, in which he created, wrote and starred – reminding me of a male version of Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Gadd based the series, which sees a struggling comedian dealing with a stalker and past sexual assault, on incidents that happened in his own life. It’s clear how lived-in Gadd’s performance is. There probably wasn’t anybody who could portray these moments the way he did, which brilliantly all comes to a head in a moment on stage during a comedy competition that may have been 2024’s single best acting moment. 

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2. Sam Spade (Clive Owen) - Monsieur Spade

Photo: AMC

As a fan of the film noir classic “The Maltese Falcon” and Humphrey Bogart, I never could have imagined any other actor portraying the role of author Dashiell Hammett’s private eye Sam Spade as well as Bogart did. However, Clive Owen didn’t take long to assuage my fears in “Monsieur Spade,” a collaboration between AMC and France’s Canal+. Owen seemed like the perfect actor to play Spade, a brash American detective living out his retirement in France, with the brashness coming through when necessary but also finding this quiet contentment in his new life. It’s a performance and show that I feel went unheralded and unnoticed this year, but it is now streaming on Netflix, and hopefully, it will find more viewers. 

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1. Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) - Hacks

Photo: Max

This is the second time in three years (and consecutive seasons) that Hannah Einbinder’s character of Ava Daniels on Max’s comedy “Hacks” has topped this list – and I don’t even like to honor the same character multiple times on these things. Einbinder’s performance and the writing of the character are just that good. Einbinder’s performance as a Gen Z comedy writer having to collaborate with and continue a professional relationship that bleeds into friendship with a boomer comedy legend in Jean Smart’s Emmy-winning Deborah Vance is side-splittingly funny while also probably being TV’s best performance of a twentysomething. Ava’s character took a significant step forward in confidence and dominance in the excellent season three finale of “Hacks.” I can’t wait to see how it impacts the relationship between her and Vance in season four. How has Einbinder not won an Emmy for this show yet?