12 Of TV's Most Long-Suffering Characters

Almost every TV show has them, the characters who bad things always seem to happen to, but never get any sympathy from those around them.

1. Jerry Gergich (Parks And Recreation)

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The king of the sad sacks, Jerry is the one character in TV's nicest show who almost never gets his just desserts. He just gets desserts smeared over his head. Even when he has a heart attack, Jerry ends up as the object of ridicule by turning it into a 'fart attack'. But, then again, he's got a beautiful wife, beautiful daughters and a happy life (away from work), so who's the loser here? Yeah, it's still Jerry.

2. Manuel (Fawlty Towers)

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As if working a hard job in a foreign country wasn't tough enough, Manuel has to deal with a psychotic boss who shouts at him and physically assaults him from time to time. It sounds a bit like a plot to a TV movie, but instead we all just laugh at him. He's from Barcelona, you see...

3. Kenny McCormick (South Park)

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Kenny comes from the wrong side of the tracks and has died in more awful ways than the entire guest cast of E.R. and Grey's Anatomy put together. What else is there to say?

4. Ann Veal (Arrested Development)

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Poor old Ann. She may not have been the most exciting person in the world, but she surely deserved better treatment than she got from the Bluths. Even Michael remembering that she existed occasionally would have been a step up...

5. Baldrick (Blackadder)

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Ironically, in the first series of Blackadder, Baldrick was the (relatively) smart one, but as the centuries progressed, he gradually got dumber and dumber and more and more ill-treated by Blackadder. All the way to 'the future' and a leather posing pouch. Shudder.

6. Theon Greyjoy (Game Of Thrones)

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This gif says everything you need to know about Theon. At his greatest moment of inspirational leadership, his second-in-command whacked him over the head and handed him over to be tortured for an entire season. And let's not even go into what happened with his sister...

7. Crazy Eyes (Orange Is The New Black)

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She may have developed into one of the most intriguing and emotionally-affecting characters in the show, but that didn't stop Crazy Eyes still ending up as the butt of the jokes. She threw her pie for her Dandelion but never got that swirl she wanted, while her role in the Christmas spectacular didn't go very well...

8. Ned Flanders (The Simpsons)

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A widower who loves God and his family and only ever tries to do the right thing for everyone around him. Flanders gets nothing but trouble from his neighbour Homer, but you've got to admire how little it seems to bother him. You go Ned...

9. Meg Griffin (Family Guy)

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For someone voiced by one of the most desired women in the world, poor Meg generally has a hard time in Family Guy. She's no-one favourite Griffin family member and is disrespected by everyone who comes across her.

10. Marie Schrader (Breaking Bad)

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Sure, there were plenty of characters who had it worse than Marie in Breaking Bad (not mentioning any last season spoilers), but few who were as resolutely irritating to everyone around them as she was. When the thing people remember most about you is wearing purple (and you're not Prince) and 'Jesus Christ, Marie', well...

11. Frank Burns (M*A*S*H*)

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He may not have been clever or (intentionally) funny or kind or decent, but poor Frank Burns surely didn't deserve the hard time he got off Hawkeye and Trapper John, did he? Well, alright he did. He was a loathsome little man wasn't he?

12. Dr Zoidberg (Futurama)

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Zoidberg may be one of the most popular Futurama characters amongst fans (ie, he's the best) but he's nowhere near as loved by his 'friends'. If you could even call them his friends. He's a loner, a weirdo and generally messes everything up. We wouldn't change him for a moment...