The TV Crushes of 2016

I did a post of my favorite book characters from this year and didn't want to neglect my imaginary TV friends!  Below are some of the characters I fell in love with, some admittedly a little more lustfully than others, but all with due respect and affection for how they lit up the small screen!  It's maybe not such an exciting list because they all come from a handful of shows but I still think they deserve some love from me.

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1) Galavant/Joshua Sasse from Galavant

I remember being pretty underwhelmed by the promo photos etc... of Josh Sasse.  He's meant to be the quintessential Fairy Tale hero and I didn't think he really fit that mold.  It took him basically the opening song of the first episode to win me over.  Sure he's hella handsome but he's also got a great singing voice, great comedic timing and nails Galavant's mix of arrogance and romantic sweetness.  He's perfect and imperfect all at the same time. Sigh....

2) King Richard/Timothy Omundson from Galavant

Timothy Omundson plays the deplorable and childish King Richard in Season 1 and he is hilarious but not especially lovable. It takes season 2, to renovate this adorable dragon owner. If Season 1 was Galavant's journey from immature, arrogant hero guy to all around decent and self-aware human being, season two is King Richard's turn.  His bromance with Galavant is adorable and we see his world opening up as he gets outside of his sheltered castle and role as king.  By the end of season two I was more in love with him than Galavant!

3) Princess Isabella/Karen David from Galavant

Princess Isabella is a modern Princess  - well-dressed and beautiful sure but that pales beside her competence, intelligence, kind heart and toughness.  She's tiny, fierce and in all cases braver than the men that surround her.  Karen David captures it perfectly and also has perfect comic timing.  I want to pick up watching Once Upon A Time Again because I heard she was cast as Jasmine!

4) Oliver Queen - Arrow/Stephen Amell from Arrow

Like Joshua Sasse, Stephen Amell didn't make a great first impression with me.  I didn't think he was all that handsome and Oliver was kind of boring even if he was a secret super hero.  By season 2, my feelings about him, on all levels had changed.  I think the character of Oliver was developed more fully and in interesting directions and Stephen Amell really improved in his portrayal of him by the end of that first season.  What I love about this character is that he is seriously flawed and messed up and the way they have written his character arc has been slow, realistic(ish) and really interesting.  And Oliver doing the Salmon Ladder - Oh my good gracious goodness. *fans self*

5) Felicity Smoak/Emily Bett Rickards from Arrow

Unlike Oliver, I fell in love with Felicity immediately.  The writers have not been as kind in her character development as they have been with Oliver but I still adore her and she is my favorite part of the show.  In fact it was a blog post (I don't remember from whom - speak up if it was you!) that compared Felicity to Cress from Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles (nerdy socially awkward IT girl with a heart of gold and mad skillz) which convinced me to try Arrow again this year after stalling out on it early in season one a couple years ago.  She has not disappointed.  Thank you Arrow for elevating this character that was supposed to be very minor to a leading role.

6) Kim Boong Do/Ji Hyun-woo from Queen In Hyun's Man

Kim Boong Do may be my most favorite romance hero of all time much less in K Dramas.  He's a beta hero - respectful, but not in anyway weak, sweet, romantic and kind.  He's also super clever, bad-ass with a sword and has a fantastic sense of humor.  He also happens to be a warrior and scholar from 500 years in the past who gets catapulted into the modern era whenever his life is threatened, so he has all sorts of interesting first-hand knowledge about history.  He ain't hard on the eyes either: ). I love him.

7) Melinda May from Agents of Shield

I so admire, love and envy tough bad-ass ladies who have complete control over their emotions.  This describes Agent May perfectly.  I love how cold and stone-faced her character is but how the show reveals how much she cares in key moments.  If I needed to be rescued from dastardly peril of any kind?  I'd want Melinda May to head up the rescue mission.

8) Clarke Griffin/Eliza Taylor from The 100

Clarke. She is THE BEST.  Possibly my favorite character from my 2016 TV watching.  She is the only character ever that I ship with absolutely everyone (if forced to choose I am probably in the Bellarke camp).  Of course all these people are in love with her...She's Clarke. More coherently, Clarke is a super flawed but super talented and interesting character who takes a leadership role among the Ark teenagers that are sent down to a toxic planet Earth to fend for themselves.  Things are TOUGH but Clarke is tougher while also holding on to her compassion and sense of justice.  She is an absolutely fantastic character and Eliza Taylor is amazing at playing her.

9) Lily Bell/Dominique McElligott from Hell on Wheels

The last two characters on the list are actually characters which I encountered for the first time in past years but I developed a new or more pronounced respect for them in 2016.  I re-watched the first two seasons of Hell on Wheels with the intention of catching up on the several seasons which had been released since then.  This re-watch prompted me to write a whole post about the awesome Lily (SPOILERS AHOY - don't follow that link if you don't want to be spoiled for Hell on Wheels!!).  Lily is awesome, beautiful and accomplished, brought up in a well to do British family she could have had a very comfortable life.  Instead, she chooses to marry an American surveyor and follows him to the Western frontier as he charts a course for the railroad.  Like the other women on this list Lily is intelligent and strong and when things get tough she does what she has to do.  What can I say, I have a type: ).

10) Finn Hudson/Cory Monteith from Glee

I did another re-watch of Glee this year to catch up with seasons 4-6.  It was the first re-watch since the tragic death of Cory Monteith and it made me pay a little more attention to his character of Finn which I'd never really cared about before.  By doing so, I really developed a fondness for the goofy, good-hearted but sometimes judgmentally challenged Finn.  His character development over the first 3 seasons is great and Cory does a really great job playing him.  RIP

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Last post of 2016!  I'm glad it was sharing my love for some very inspiring characters and the talented actors and actresses that play them.  Thanks for the many hours of joy you gave me this year!

What were some of your favorite TV character discoveries this year?