The Good-Hearted Character: No Angst, Lots of Lovableness

Bingley played to perfection by

Crispin Bonham-Carter

Every series needs a Bingley--that nice guy who doesn't pretend to be anything but nice and actually is.

About Bingley, I wrote the following notes to A Man of Few Words:

One of the nicer things about Bingley is how completely confident and content he is with himself. Bingley can brag about writing letters quickly, and Darcy can question, "What is laudable in a precipitance which must leave very necessary business undone?" and Bingley can laugh and change the subject: "I assure you, that if Darcy were not such a great tall fellow, in comparison with myself, I should not pay him half so much deference." There's no snideness in that last remark, by the way. Bingley is the ultimate guileless man. For a worrier like Darcy, a friend like Bingley is enormously relaxing.

These guileless sweethearts are great characters! They are rarely the leads (Nathan Fillion as Mal and as Castle comes closest, but even those characters have their dark sides). Yet, without them, any series would be less enchanting.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Wojciehowicz: You spell it the way it sounds.

Wojciehowicz from Barney Miller: Wojo, excellently played by Max Gail, is honest to a fault, good-natured (most of the time), faintly hero-worshipping of Barney, and the quintessential "what you see is what you get" type of guy. Interestingly enough, the writers use Wojo's so-called simplicity to create decent conflict. It isn't only that Wojo creates conflict by his guileless acts (regarding a Russian seeking asylum: "I gave it to him!"). He also questions (and forces others to question) why the nice (if unthinking) act he did was so wrong! 

Goober from The Andy Griffith Show, played by George Lindsey. Goober is Gomer's cousin. I prefer Goober. Gomer was . . . a guy who went on to have his own show. Too much of a particular shtick. Goober, on the other hand, is sweet, innocent, and fundamentally kind. One of my favorite episodes is "A Girl for Goober" where Goober fills out a questionnaire for a computer dating services (yup, they existed before the Internet!). Of course, he answers all the questions inaccurately, stating that he reads "30 books" a month since, after all, he reads "30 comic books" (hey, I would count them!) and that he enjoys "painting" because he is paints fences and barn doors. He ends up with a lady doctor (Ph.D.) who decides, what do you know, it's nice to be with someone nice! 

A hilarious trio: Jerry Van Dyke

really came into his own with Coach.

Dauber from Coach, played by Bill Fagerbakke. Dauber is Coach Fox's perpetual student assistant (he does graduate in Season 3). Dauber leads a wholly comprehensible life--he has been a student so long because he takes courses that are close to home or to the cafeteria: why walk any farther?! This means that Dauber has taken A LOT of courses unrelated to his major. He's a Renaissance Man! He is also utterly lovable with a strong sense of chivalry. This is all the more endearing since Bill Fagerbakke at 6'6" towers over the already tall Craig T. Nelson.