12 Excellent TV Series Featuring Unlikable Protagonists

      Here are 12 TV shows we enjoy featuring lead characters we don’t care for: They demonstrate that you don’t have to like someone to love watching them.

      On television, being entertaining is often more important than being likable.

      Let’s dive in.

      **Veep**

      Julia Louis-Dreyfus shines as the unpredictable, self-serving, and cowardly Selina Meyer in HBO’s *Veep*.

      The real humor in *Veep* comes from watching her and her inept yet competent staff scramble to maintain their status while shying away from any courageous actions that might actually benefit others.

      It mirrors the often disheartening reality of how government operates, making it gratifying to see it unfold on screen rather than in secrecy.

      **Breaking Bad**

      The creator of *Breaking Bad* promised to transform Mr. Chips into Scarface, and he certainly delivered. Walter White (Bryan Cranston) initially gained our sympathy in the gripping pilot, where a series of unfortunate events made us cheer for him: his financial troubles, demanding students, career disappointments, and the bullying of his disabled son.

      By the last season of *Breaking Bad*, Walter had risen to the top of the Albuquerque drug scene and felt invincible.

      Even if one could rationalize his killings of rivals, forgiving him for the countless lives he ruined—particularly children—through his meth operation was another matter entirely.

      He also starred in one of the best series finales ever.

      **Curb Your Enthusiasm**

      In HBO’s *Curb Your Enthusiasm*, Larry David plays a character named Larry David, who epitomizes unlikable lead characters. He’s a self-absorbed, rude, and wealthy man who will argue over trivial sums of money or petty annoyances instead of just appreciating what he has.

      Yet, strangely enough, he’s often in the right. Society expects the well-off to exhibit dignity and grace, and his pettiness consistently brings us laughter.

      Though we wouldn’t choose to spend time with him, we enjoy watching him and are big fans of his newer show, *Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness*, which ranks highly among our current favorites.

      **Dexter**

      In Showtime's *Dexter*, Michael C. Hall portrays a character whose main issue is not even being a serial killer. Dexter is a moral serial killer targeting other killers.

      His struggles lie in his uncomfortable demeanor and lack of emotional depth. When his wife, Rita, was killed, for instance, he merely sent her children off to live with their grandparents.

      Though it benefited the show—no one wanted to see him balancing murders with fatherhood—it felt decidedly strange.

      It's no wonder Showtime keeps reviving him.

      **The Idol**

      Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd portray the unlikable leads in HBO’s *The Idol*.

      While we didn’t warm to either character, a small group of us really appreciated the show itself. We were not meant to like Tedros, the sleazy cult leader, nor did we find much admirable about Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), the pop star he targeted, who ultimately seemed to hold control all along.

      Both characters had grimy, selfish ambitions, and we were indifferent to whether they succeeded. Yet, we loved the show for its extravagance and willingness to explore darkly absurd scenarios, realizing that Depp and The Weeknd were commendably open to playing unsympathetic yet intriguing roles, allowing others like Suzanna Son’s Chloe, Troye Sivan’s Xander, Rachel Sennot’s Leia, and especially Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Destiny to shine.

      It’s unfortunate that HBO ended the show after just one captivating season.

      **Schitt’s Creek**

      In *Schitt’s Creek*, Annie Murphy and her co-stars portray wealthy individuals who become unlikable characters when they face dire financial setbacks.

      The Rose family’s smugness, ineptness, and overall helplessness made rooting for them difficult, yet their misadventures were captivating.

      The comedic genius of father-son duo Dan Levy and Eugene Levy, along with co-stars Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy, made it all work.

      **The Phil Silvers Show**

      Phil Silvers may have been the first unlikable lead character on TV with his role as Sgt. Bilko on CBS’s *The Phil Silvers Show*.

      It’s no wonder Larry David has cited this character as an influence. He has credited Bilko with “saying and doing things that no one else would say and do, nasty things—being unlikable and deceptive.”

      **All in the Family**

      In CBS’s *All in the Family*, Archie Bunker, created by Norman Lear and played by Carroll O’Connor, broke new ground with his unlikable nature, as Lear allowed him to expose the ignorance of his narrow-minded views.

      The dynamic between Archie and his family, particularly his