Crushworthy Men of TV

Runner-up:   

Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider).
From: Parks and Recreation (2009-).
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Mark isn't the most interesting character on the show, but he's the dreamiest.  He's got a good job (city planner) and he's played by one of the handsomest (in my opinion) actors around.

10). Henry Pollard (Adam Scott).
From: Party Down (2009-2010).
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Seasons: One and Two.

Henry is mid-thirties, works as a caterer and occasionally toys with the idea of moving back in with his parents.  Yeah, doesn't say much for my taste in men, does it?  Or maybe it just speaks to the power of his witty banter on the show.

9).   Mark McKinney, various characters.
From: Kids in the Hall (1988-1995).
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Seasons: One, Two, Three, Four, and Five.

Just being a part of the hilarious Canadian comedy troupe is enough to make you crush-able in my book.  But McKinney is the only one who doesn't look better as a woman. 

8). Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel).
From: Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000). 
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Tall and friendly, Nick is probably the kindest of the freaks.  I thought he was super cute up until the point he started to smother Lindsay with affection. 

7).  Eric Gotts (Tyron Leitso).

From: Wonderfalls (2004).   

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Sweet, charming, and oh-so-cute, Eric is every girl's dream bartender.

6). Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård).
From: True Blood (2008-).  
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Seasons: One, Two.

Eric is pretty much the tall, Swedish vampire version of Logan from Veronica Mars.  And what's not to like about that? 

Scene Stealer: Lizzy Caplan

 Lizzy Caplan is probably best known for playing sarcastic best friend roles.  Her break out performance was as Janis Ian in the teen satire Mean Girls.  Janis is easily the best thing about that movie with her mean but funny comments on the general stupidity of high school life.  Anyone who felt like an outcast in high school will relate to her character.  On the HBO series True Blood she played Amy Burley, Jason Stackhouse's V (vampire blood drug) addicted girl friend.  Amy was a ruthless and fairly unlikable character who corrupted the semi-moral but stupid Jason into kidnapping a vampire to get his blood. Caplan's performance as Amy was an interesting departure from Janis Ian.  Amy is a bohemian and pseudo-intellectual, she's selfish and manipulative and yet you can kind of understand why Jason falls for her in the first place.

My favorite role of her's is Casey Klein from the brilliant but canceled Party Down.  Casey is an aspiring comedian working temporarily as a catering waitress.  Casey has a lot of flaws, she's insecure, a disrespectful employee (always taking personal calls while working), and she can be insensitive (like when she leaves Henry to take a job as a comedian on a cruise ship).  But she's also funny, smart and the only person who encourages and believes in Henry's acting career.  Henry and Casey are one of my favorite TV couples.

Lizzy Caplan is frequently compared to manic pixie dream girl extraordinaire Zooey Deschanel.  Both actresses have similarly husky voices, frequently play sardonic characters, and are masters of the side eye.  However, I think Lizzy more consistently chooses believable and complex characters. 

Check out Lizzy in one of the DVDs we have at the library:

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010).
Probably the closest Caplan has come to playing a manic pixie dream girl.  She's the girl John Cusack's character notices the second time he relives his 80s ski weekend.  It's easy to see why the older and more mature Cusack would fall for her instead of his pretty but vapid girlfriend.
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Party Down (2009-2010).
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True Blood (2008).
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Cloverfield (2008). 
Caplan plays Marlena Diamond, who in her typical fashion is a sarcastic outsider.  However, when she and her friends get chased by the Cloverfield monster, Marlena is surprisingly heroic.
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Mean Girls (2004).
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Freaks and Geeks (1999). 
Here she plays Sarah, a disco enthusiast who dates Nick Andopolis (Jason Segel) after his mega crush Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini) dumps him.  Probably one of my favorite TV shows ever and a great place to see all of the Judd Apatow regulars before they were a big deal.
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Favorite TV couples

Cute, happy couples can be annoying to be around. They constantly call each other pet names, hang on each other, patter on with inane conversation ("I love you, babe."  "I love you more, babe."), and do other adorably gross couple things.  I might be bitter or cynical, but I'm pretty sure any one who had to spend twenty minutes alone in a room with a "cute" couple would probably want to poke out their eardrums.

When it comes to TV couples, there can definitely be too much of a good thing.  Once a couple gets together, if there aren't enough obstacles or tension in the relationship, it can be about as enjoyable as hanging out with a "cute" couple.  For instance, I really enjoyed the Office when Jim and Pam were star-crossed coworkers (though I was Team Karen).  Now that they are "soul-mates," I long for more scenes with Dwight.  Unsurprisingly, my favorite TV couples tend to be lovelorn, awkwardly mismatched, and more fond of arguing than baby talk.
 

Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls (Veronica Mars). It's hard to explain the appeal of Logan.  He's a rich kid, a bully, and always getting into trouble because of the sometimes terrible things he does.  Yet he's also very loving and loyal to Veronica, and no one can roll off a sarcastic whip quite like Logan.  He's definitely preferable to Veronica's other love interests- nice but boring jock Duncan and nerdy hipster Piz.  Logan and Veronica start off as enemies and their relationship is very rocky; however, they always have amazing chemistry together and wonderfully sardonic banter.

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Seasons: 1, 2, 3

Buffy Summers and Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer).  Their relationship was trouble from the start: he's a vampire and she is a vampire slayer.  However, its hard not to root for their star-crossed romance.  Angel was an abstinence vampire long before Edward Cullen and he is cursed with having a soul (making killing people for food less enjoyable). He's also the only character on the show capable of matching Buffy's strength and courage.

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Seasons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Adam Scott: Jerk of My Dreams

 Not to be confused with the hunky golfer of the same name, Adam Scott is a character actor who has appeared in several movies and TV shows including Knocked Up, Leap Year, and The Aviator.  Scott is most frequently cast playing characters who aren't very nice guys.  Probably because Scott excels at playing hilariously smarmy characters like the coked-up baseball agent Pat Anderson on the TV series Eastbound and Down.  Scott is perhaps best known for his performance in Step Brothers, where he plays Will Ferrell's biological brother Derek.  Derek is annoyingly perfect in every way, but strangely hostile towards his screw-up brother Brennen (Ferrell).  One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is when Derek and his family sing along to "Sweet Child O' Mine" while driving in their car; there is a YouTube sensation of people re-enacting this scene.

In spite of his propensity for playing jerks, I actually like Scott the best when he is playing straight man roles.  My favorite performance of his is as Henry Pollard from the TV series Party Down.  Henry is an out-of-work actor forced to get a job as bartender with a catering firm.  Like many real life actors, Henry first gained notoriety from a beer commercial, but unfortunately that role didn't lead to much else.  Much to Henry's chagrin, party guests often force him to say his catchphrase from the commercial, "Are we having fun yet?"  Henry and his coworker Casey (Lizzy Caplan) have one of most realistic romances on television, like a less idealistic Jim and Pam before they settled down into smug coupledom.  Recently, Scott has appeared on NBC's Parks and Recreation playing a state auditor named Ben Wyatt sent to Pawnee to deal with the budget crisis in the department.  Scott is signed on to be in more episodes of the show, and I for one couldn't be happier.  Ben seems poised as a love interest for the Parks department deputy director Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), and he's the most exciting prospect she's had yet- except, of course, for her soul mate Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman).  Scott is also appearing in meta-horror film Piranha 3-D out in theaters this summer. 

Watch Adam Scott in one of the DVDs available through the library:

Party Down (2010)*.
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The Vicious Kind (2010).
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Leap Year (2010).
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Eastbound and Down (Season 1, Episode 6) (2009)*.
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The Great Buck Howard (2009).  
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Step Brothers (2008)*. 
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Knocked Up (2007)*. 
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The Return (2006).
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The Matador (2006).  
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Monster-in-Law (2005).  
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Veronica Mars (Episode: "Mars vs. Mars", Season 1, Episode 14) (2005)*. 
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The Aviator (2005).
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*Highly Recommended.