The slogan of the network is "Characters Welcome," but after last week's premiere of Necessary Roughness, we're thinking they might want to change that to Characters Unwelcome. While there are some decent things about the show, including a supporting cast that includes Buffy's Mark Blucas and True Blood's Mechad Brooks, the lead is utterly annoying and off-putting. Irritating characters are often the norm on other networks, but USA has built their brand on successfully creating quirky characters who may be tough, but are also completely charismatic. Until now.

It's always a challenge for an actor to play a well-known part on TV and then to start over on a new show as someone entirely different. Audiences will always be tempted to see them as that first character, leading to typecasting and premature cancellations of new projects. However, recently, actors like Ray Romano have turned this theory on its head. After nine (nine!) seasons on Everybody Loves Raymond, he's deftly crafted a new persona on Men of a Certain Age that, for all intents and purposes, is the anti-Ray Barone. As the second season comes to a close tonight on TNT (and as we count down to the return of Breaking Bad), we take a look at other performers this summer who moved from a career-defining role to successfully portraying its polar opposite. (Yes, we know Sons of Anarchy isn't really a summer show, but we couldn't resist.)

With another Fourth of July upon us, it's time to celebrate our freedom, and for us TV junkies, that means freedom from crappy shows and, more specifically, certain awful characters. Some of these people were on blissfully canceled shows, while others were recently ousted from halfway decent programs. Let's toast our independence from these most dreadful creations:

The recent announcement that Christopher Eccleston may be joining the cast of Game of Thrones has only increased our anticipation for Season 2. So we grabbed our tattered copy of the second book, A Clash of Kings, and started thinking up casting suggestions for some of the other major new characters. See our gallery of who we think best fits each role and then let us know which choices do you agree with and which actors did we overlook in the comments.

Happy Friday, everybody! Time to discuss this week's horrible human beings. Will it be one of those idiots on The Bachelorette? One of those trashcans from the Real Housewives franchises? A bitchy aspiring Food Network star? Let's get in there and figure this out!

With another regular television season coming to a close just in time for the Memorial Day weekend, we'd like to hold a memorial of our own for all of the characters and other elements that we'll miss the most from this year's ridiculously robust round of cancelled and concluded shows. Important note, however: This list is just about shows from the 2010-2011 season, so no putting, like, Firefly people or whatever in the comments, please. We know you'll want to, but just try to resist.

The House finale ended Season 7 in a manner that was very much representative of this problematic year as a whole: with an entire hour devoted to House obsessing over Cuddy in increasingly destructive ways, and she silently appeasing him until House did something awful. It's been a terrible year for the show, but it's arguably been the worst for Cuddy, who was reduced to an ineffectual doormat and mere sex object since the shippers got their way and Huddy was realized in September. And even before I saw last night's episode, I didn't blame Lisa Edelstein in the slightest for up and quitting the show (yes, I know money had something to do with it, too). Now that I have watched what is presumably her last appearance on the show, I'm downright ecstatic for her. Let's review the ways in which the writers' hatred Cuddy hatred was manifested in the season-ender, shall we?

Last night's Brothers & Sisters Season 5 finale may or not have been a series finale -- despite the show's sagging ratings, ABC is reportedly considering bringing the show back (possibly without Kitty, possibly not) for a shortened sixth season in the fall. But that's all rumor at this point, and considering the quality of the show over the last two seasons, I'm really hoping that final season is already behind us. The following are just a few reasons why I can't deal with a sixth season of this show.

It's finally Friday, and as usual the week has been full of ghastly people behaving terribly on reality shows, so let's do this thing: Five horrible nominees, one trash king crowned at the end. As always, feel free to play along in the comments.

ABC debuted its new spring show Body of Proof last night, and as far as crime-solving procedurals go, it's perfectly fine. It's not edgy or breaking any new ground, but it's got some interesting ideas and characters forming, and at least it isn't yet another Law & Order/CSI/NCIS spinoff. And I tend to like Dana Delany, even when she is portraying a mix of Dr. Gregory House and Dr. Temperance Brennan. If anyone can make that work, she can. And since both House and Bones are annoying me for different reasons right now, a show that falls somewhere in between the two might actually be watchable.