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TWoP 10: Worst Fictional Politicians on TV This Season

by Rachel Stein February 17, 2012 6:00 AM
TWoP 10: Worst Fictional Politicians on TV This Season

Scripted television is currently filled with many evil, greedy and downright incompetent politicians. In the spirit of President's Day (and, of course, our real-life election year), we take a look at the legislators for whom we have the least amount of respect, if not downright hatred. Some of them are villains that we're supposed to despise, while others are just plain annoying. We demand a recall of all of them.

10. Brittany Pierce (Glee)
First of all, can we start a petition right now to stop including her middle initial when we talk about her? That'd be great. Otherwise, this unicorn of a class president has done nothing since taking office. And considering her running platform was basically that she'd show everyone her boobs, consider us sorely disappointed.

9. Tom Kane (Boss)
The corrupt Chicago mayor is about as slimy as they come, thanks to his odious personality and his love for illegal drugs. Still, we'll throw him a bone because of that pesky degenerative brain disorder.

8. Duane Bailey (Modern Family)
Better known to most viewers as "David Cross's Character," Bailey is incredibly grating. Sure, we appreciate his call to action about allowing private parties to have more than eight dogs, but that's literally the only thing he's done since taking his City Council seat. Not that we actually want Claire Dunphy to get into politics.

7. Bobby Newport (Parks and Recreation)
This out-of-touch Sweetums heir has no chance of winning the Pawnee City Council seat he's gunning for, but an enemy of Leslie Knope is also an enemy of ours. Lucky for him, it's extremely enjoyable to say his name in a serious, smear campaign-y tone, just like Ben, Jerry and Tom did.

6. Tripp van der Bilt (Gossip Girl)
Nate's older Congressman cousin has always been a total pain and conniving little jerk, manipulating everyone around him and cheating on his wife with Serena (and then expecting her to be his mistress). But the reason this creep makes our list now is because he tampered with the brakes on the limo (originally meant for Nate) that ended up hospitalizing Chuck and Blair and causing her miscarriage.

5. Peter "The Hammer" Florrick (The Good Wife)
Where do we even begin with this Cook County State's Attorney? He abused his position and used state funds for prostitutes when he was married. Then, when he got out of jail, he ran a sleazy manipulative case to expose his opponents' wrongdoings, then blew their blunders way out of proportion... all while faking being religious to win favor with the public eye. Worst of all, he used his power to try and take down Will, when all the guy did was fall in love with the wife Peter is only technically still married to.

4. Bob Little (Parenthood)
Formerly "Bobby," this baby-faced 28-year-old has clearly wasted a tremendous amount of money for a mere Berkeley City Council seat, not only on his enormous campaign staff but also on a trip to the Small Business Owner's Association meeting in Sacramento, which, the last time he checked, is not part of the city of Berkeley. Though we can't quite tell yet if he's creeping on Amber, if he genuinely likes her or what the big deal is for a grown, unattached man to be romantically interested in a consenting 19-year-old woman, we do know that he landed this spot on our list the minute he let Kristina (who drove three hours round trip, by the way) stop his eminent hookup. Grow a backbone, dude.

3. The Evil Queen/Regina Mills (Once Upon a Time)
Queenie is, you know, completely evil. She screwed over her hubby, King Leopold, then entrapped the Genie into a self-serving magical mirror. Maybe it's not entirely her fault that she can't have true love, but that doesn't mean we forgive her for what she did to Graham or her own father. Meanwhile, in Storybrooke, she's icy and vindictive as the town's mayor. We know she's the show's antagonist and that we're supposed to hate her and all, but we really, really loathe her.

2. William Walden (Homeland)
The Vice President of the United States and former director of the CIA is a Machiavellian jerk, who, by the way, is terrible at covering up scandals. He gave the go-ahead for a drone strike in an area that he knew was populated by children and other innocents (R.I.P. Issa), which turned a P.O.W. Marine against him and America. If the terrorists win, it's totally Walden's fault.

1. Burt Hummel (Glee)
Mechanic-turned-United States Congressman Burt Hummel has absolutely no business in national office. We have no idea how a write-in candidate won his seat by a landslide to begin with, especially considering that he was a last-minute nominee whose campaign manager was also a full-time Spanish teacher and glee club advisor at a local high school. What's worse is that Burt's never even at his job, choosing to spend his time back in Lima, Ohio attending to such important matters as early-bird dinners hosted by his stepson's fiancée's parents.

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13 Comments

February 17, 2012 7:50 AM
Jules
Reply

Wow. Way to give misogynistic reasons for Brittany's inclusion on this list. Jesus.

February 17, 2012 11:39 AM
lana
Reply

The queen didn't 'entrap' the Genie, he made a choice. And let's not forget the children she CONSTANTLY sent into the blind witch's house just so she could screw over one person. And doesi t bug anyone else that Angel just kinda breezes through her raping Graham?

February 17, 2012 11:59 AM
Kenny
Reply

Is Burt a congressman at the state or federal level? I thought it was the state level, which means it's no-where near as far-fetched that he could win, and he'd spend much more time in Lima.

February 17, 2012 12:46 PM
G-Dawg
Reply

Can we expand President's Day to include Josiah Bartlet?

February 17, 2012 1:46 PM
Kristen
Reply
replied to comment from Jules

I don't watch Glee, but including her for breaking a campaign promise (and also not doing anything at all since gaining office) doesn't sound misogynistic to me. Anyway, if she's the one who promised to show her boobs for votes, she brought it on herself.

So chill out, is what I'm saying.

February 18, 2012 6:49 AM
Casual Viewer
Reply

Sure, he's just a cartoon, but "Diamond Joe" Quimby is a venal, philandering slimeball so I think he merits inclusion in your list. Plus I dig his "Mayor" sash.

February 18, 2012 9:23 AM
Nina
Reply

The whole Burt Hummel nonsense is due to TV drumming up the propaganda that some nice home-town guy should and will always win an election and then everything will be good. In reality this brings tea partiers into office and they drive the country off of a cliff. Because Americans want their nice white neighbour to make laws, not someone who's actually qualified. Because it works so well on TV and isn't that just like real life? This country... I can't even...

February 18, 2012 2:46 PM
Gin
Reply
replied to comment from lana

Regina is horrific and I HATE how some people gloss over her repeated raping of Graham, but it was Rachel who wrote this not Angel.

February 19, 2012 12:56 AM
amandajane
Reply
replied to comment from Kenny

I also thought Burt was just a state senator.

February 19, 2012 10:25 PM
Brad
Reply
replied to comment from Nina

Yeah, America sucks, don't it?
(I assure you the colloquial use of 'don't' here was intentional.) Next time, you should leave the "u" out of neighbor if you really want to sound like a disgruntled native son or daughter.

February 19, 2012 10:59 PM
pucklady
Reply

I nominate Mayor Carol Lockwood and Sheriff Liz Forbes of Mystic Falls (Vampire Diaries) Their whole purpose is to cover up crime and conceal bodies, not keep the citizens safe.

February 20, 2012 9:08 AM
Lauren
Reply
replied to comment from Nina

It's just so terrible to envision an America where someone with opinions can share those opinions and be elected to office by majority vote..

Let's all be really upset about it and turn this list into a political rant instead of entertainment about, well, entertainment.

Especially considering, hilariously, this is a rant against the right about a show that clearly and obviously has leaned left for its entire run. Jeez. Leave your politics at the door. You are just asking someone to post a list of all the reasons why what you said is silly.

February 20, 2012 2:36 PM
Aisha
Reply

Peter was clearly guilty of sleeping with prostitutes, but he was never round guilty of using state funds to pay for them.

You never know with our political system...And Nina's post isn't silly because it's about politics. It's silly because you disagree with it's placement on this post.

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