21 Most Iconic Classic TV Characters of All Time

You remember them, don’t you? These are the TV characters who made shows around which dinner hours were scheduled and bowling nights rearranged. Television-made men and women for whom dates were canceled and bedroom wall space was reserved … and make-believe moms and dads who made us feel much better about our own burned casseroles and dinky raises.

They’re the folks who made you laugh, made you mad, made you think — the 21 characters we think are the most unforgettable in television history. Our initial list was long, and not everyone could make the cut, so we agonized and argued and arrived at the list that follows, ranked in no specific order.