Characters you love to hate and hate to love

In my opinion, a television series is made by the characters in it. Often times, it only takes one character to make me love it. Or, at the very least, continue to watch it. Call me easy to please, but I prefer to think of it as being loyal to my fictional soulmates. I have hated shows that I watched because I couldn't give up on my favorite character. So I thought it would be nice to kick off 2011 by paying homage to those selective few who have a special place in my heart. To you guys.

1) Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) - Gossip Girl
I'll admit I only started watching Gossip Girl recently (11 days ago, in fact, while I was dog sitting), but it only took one episode to get me hooked to this conniving, manipulative, gorgeous piece of man. He kicked off his appearance in the pilot by making sexual reference to almost every girl in the cast of the show, and he's just gotten worse and worse every episode since (or the first season and a half that I've watched, at least). I love him because I can't believe the things he says and does to people. He knows what he wants and he'll stop at nothing to get it, no matter who he has to step on to get it. Perseverance is something I have a great deal of respect for. And, I love a man that doesn't waste his time pretending to be something that he's not. It's quite refreshing. If Chuck Bass were a real person, I would marry him, sexual references and all. So please, Chuck, don't change a thing about yourself.

2) Brian Kinney (Gale Harold) - Queer as Folk
Queer as Folk is my favorite television show of all time, but mainly because Brian Kinney was so irresistible. His motto was always that he believed in sex and not love, which is pretty much the opposite of what I believe in, but again, I can respect a man with values that he sticks to, and not believing in love is pretty much what characterized Brian throughout the series. He was opinionated and outspoken, and often he was a total asshole, but he was never really wrong. He called the other characters out on their bs and they remained his friends because of it. He didn't believe in apologizing or regretting anything, which is something I think everyone can gain a few things by believing in, as well.

3) Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni) - OZ
My mother raised me to love prison shows, and I learned to love them well from her. And if you're going to watch a show about prison, you want the characters to be really despicable. I do anyway. Keller was one such character. He fell in love with another man and because he loved him so much, he helped to break almost every bone in his body, and then somehow managed to get that guy to fall back in love with him. That 's charisma I can envy. He even got the nun to fall for his tricks, which is nothing short of genius. He was remarkable and I know there are people in the world just like him, which is remarkable, as well. He's certainly someone I would want on my side if I ended up in prison for some reason.

Basically, I could go on and on for days talking about characters I love in television shows, but no one compares to these three. They've made my television experience all the better with their presence. Let's see if they can be dethroned in 2011. Good luck, gentlemen. May the most dubious reign victorious.