Every sitcom needs a dislikable character or two to create conflict, and humor, or to give fans an idea of who to root for. While some characters are intentionally insufferable, sometimes a character created with good intentions can backfire, becoming a target for the ire of viewers. A character can even start out being liked but then spark resentment.
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There are some characters who play up their objectionable roles, and some who are supposed to at least be sympathetic. Even the protagonists of some sitcoms can unintentionally rub people up the wrong way. Ultimately, the most unlikeable characters are often familiar faces from favorite sitcoms.
Diane created a lot of conflict in Cheers. Her friction and fractious romance with Sam is particularly memorable. While this created plenty of material for Cheers' storylines and was a big part of what made Cheers so successful, fans were turned off by Diane's loquaciousness and holier-than-thou attitude.
Carla made no bones about how much she disliked Diane, and was, in many ways, a voice for fans who shared the sentiment.
In a time when it wasn't yet cool to be uncool, Screech Powers was a famous face on Saved By The Bell. Screech Powers was Zach Morris's lackey, and his high-pitched voice and odd mannerisms made him an unpopular character from the show's inception. Worse, he wasn't uncool because of his passions, but because of his habit of betraying his friends and principles.
Even the actor who played Screech, the late Dustin Diamond, didn't like him. He cited his portrayal of the Lisa-chasing dweeb as the reason he was unable to develop his acting career, which just goes to show what a great job Diamond did with the character.
There are a number of reasons why Leonard Hofstadter was not the most likable character on The Big Bang Theory. While he proclaimed himself as the king of nerds, he did not wear this honor proudly, wearing t-shirts of his favorite superheroes hidden under shirts, hoodies and jackets.
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Leonard's jealous, obsessive behavior throughout his relationship with Penny was difficult to watch at times. He also slept with one of his best friend's sisters and cheated on Penny with Mandy Chow on a boat in the middle of the North Sea.
While enjoyable to watch in the first few seasons of Arrested Development, Tobias Fünke, portrayed by David Cross, suffered from an unlikable character arc. Seasons 4 and 5 weren't kind to Tobias. He became less caring and more selfish and silly as time went on, and fans found him increasingly annoying and idiotic.
Tobias still has fans out there, but by season 5 they were leaning heavily on the goodwill Tobias built up in seasons 1-3.
It's understandable that fans didn't like Kenny Bania in Seinfeld because he wasn't written to be liked. He was an annoying wannabe standup comedian who latched onto Jerry like a leech, trying to further his comedy career. His dress sense, the cheap comedic tricks, and that irritating, almost provoking grin were all parts of what made Bania insufferable.
While Newman was Jerry's nemesis, Bania was like a bad rash with a punchable face.
While Michael Scott could rub people up the wrong way, he had a charm and innocence that made him likable. He was such a big part of The Office that when he left, whoever replaced him had big shoes to fill and was going to find it hard to be liked by fans of the show. When Will Ferrell's star power isn't enough on its own, you know the job's a hard one.
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Deangelo Vickers, Michael's replacement, didn't appear to have any redeemable qualities. All he seemed to do was create a sense of unease around the office. Though he also made Andy Bernard his prank monkey.
Plenty of characters on TV shows are supposed to be disliked but are also charming, funny, and even paradoxically likable. Viewers love to hate them, or enjoy their personalities if not their opinions.
Simon Moon from Frasier is not one of these characters. Daphne's burdensome brother is supposed to have a twinkle-in-the-eye mischievousness. Unfortunately, he comes off as an obnoxious moron. Fans from the UK had even more reason to dislike Simon thanks to his less-than-convincing "British" accent.
As the 'I' in How I Met Your Mother, viewers got to know Ted Mosby very well, and seeing him in a multitude of situations gave fans plenty of reasons to dislike him.
Aside from the fact that he chose to include the sordid details of his love life when telling the show's story to his children, he was also hypocritical, entitled, a cheater, and a birthday dumper (twice). Some characters grow on fans over time, but Ted simply wore out his welcome.
Cheryl had to put up with Larry's idiosyncrasies in Curb Your Enthusiasm. Because of this, Cheryl was often caught up in awkward situations that Larry caused. Perhaps because of her exhaustion with his behavior, she didn't defend Larry very often, if ever, even when he was clearly the wronged party.
She also derided his perceived laziness post-Seinfeld even though she didn't work. When Larry temporarily died in The End, Cheryl wasted no time asking about what was going to happen with his will. This behavioral mess and perceived lack of loyalty helped land Cheryl in fans' bad books.
Monica Geller's geeky older brother Ross, portrayed by David Schwimmer, is known for his nerdiness, social awkwardness, and multiple divorces. In spite of his positive attributes, no matter how funny, kind, or charming Ross was throughout Friends, a lot of fans felt his character couldn't be redeemed after he cheated on Rachel.
Sometimes all it takes is one unforgivable mistake. By betraying one of the show's fan favorites, Ross garnered a lot of well-deserved distaste from the show's fans.
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