Studio 60 may have been a bloated, self-important version of Sports Night, but it still had a lot of things going for it, most notably head comedienne Harriet Hayes.  Harriet is clearly an Aaron Sorkin woman: she’s intelligent, strong-minded, and sharp-tongued, but, in an unlikely twist, is also a devout Christian.  She doesn’t bludgeon the audience with it, nor is she preachy or irritating or villainous.  She’s not a zealot or a wingnut.  She’s an adult who can embrace her faith, speak about it intelligently, and even have a sense of humor about it.  It’s just a shame we didn’t get to see her do more.

My Favorite Moment: Despite headlining a comedy show, Harriet slowly comes to realize she doesn’t know how to tell a joke. (Episode 110, “B-12”)

But Don’t Forget About: Dolphin Girl! (Episode 113, “The Harriet Dinner, Part 1”)

Toby Zeigler is not exactly a cheerful man.  He’s a sardonic sort of funny, but not someone who gets invited to lots of parties.  He dresses in dull grays and dark browns.  Toby is sober and dour and he hates making speeches (which is doubly ironic because he’s the White House Director of Communications).  At one point, he’s even told that he’s simply “too sad” to be around.  However, he is a man with deeply rooted values and a firm moral code.  He has no problem speaking his mind to the President, especially if he disagrees with him.  If Bartlet is mad at someone, it’s usually going to be Toby.  More than anyone else on the President’s senior staff, he is the conscience of the White House, even on the days when nobody wants to hear it.

My Favorite Moment: Toby’s learns about the President’s condition. (Episode 218, “17 People”)

But Don’t Forget About: Toby and Josh coming to blows over Josh’s backing of a long-shot candidate. (Episode 616, “Drought Conditions”)

Not to put too fine a point on it, but Jeremy is on this list because he’s the ultimate geek.  He’s fascinated with topics like the weather and lights up when he’s talking about obscure facts and complicated statistics, even if no one else seems to care.  Jeremy is interested in the game behind the game: how things work and why.  He does have an ego and a tendency to insist he’s right about everything, but it never overshadows the fact he’s truly a good guy.  Just kind of a dork.

My Favorite Moment: Too embarrassed to tell his coworkers that his new girlfriend is a porn star, Jeremy instead pretends she is a choreoanimator.* (Episode 217, “Draft Day, Part 1: It Can’t Rain at Indian Wells”)

But Don’t Forget About: when Jeremy thinks the show needs a ninth-inning rally, but he can’t make anyone understand that he’s not being metaphorical. (Episode 123, “What Kind of Day Has It Been?”)

* Someone who makes up dance steps for cartoon characters.

To pull a word from a different show, Claudia Jean Cregg is smoky.  Classy.  Impressive.  Sexy.  Plus, as White House Press Secretary, she gets to make all the good speeches.  She has a quick wit, incredible ability to spit out facts, and an ease with people that is marred only by her self-consciousness about everything from her too-tall height to her too-absent love life.  CJ is also perhaps the most open about her struggles between her professional responsibility to the party and her personal responsibility to her own feelings, which makes her all the more interesting to watch evolve and develop.

My Favorite Moment: In a rare moment of celebration at the Bartlet White House, CJ lip-synchs to Ronny Jordan’s “The Jackal” in front of the staff. (Episode 118, “Six Meetings Before Lunch”)

But Don’t Forget About: CJ and Big Bird sharing an awkward moment while Sesame Street visits with the First Lady. (Episode 516, “Eppur Si Muove”)

You knew he’d be on this list somewhere.  Colonel Jessup has only three scenes in A Few Good Men—a flashback to his office at Guantanamo Bay, an interview with Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, and his famous testimony at the movie’s climax—but his presence dominates the film.  Even when he’s not onscreen, Jessup is the focal point of nearly every conversation.  He fills this movie.  He is a man that wears his opinions proudly and speaks them without regard for any who might disagree.  In fact, he almost wants you to disagree, just so he can smack you down in his rebuttal.  You’ll notice that his picture up there is a little different than everyone else’s. That’s because Colonel Jessup isn’t shown in medium shots.  He gets closeups and extreme closeups only. It’s the kind of performance that reminds you why you fell in love with the movies and if you haven’t seen it, you need to.

My Favorite Moment: Jessup’s courtroom speech while on the stand (You were expecting something else?).  “You can’t handle the truth!” gets all the praise, but, personally, I’m partial to, “You want me on that wall.  You need me on that wall!”

But Don’t Forget About: Jessup’s lunch interview in Cuba.  It’s always clear he has no regard for Lt. Kaffee or Lt. Cmdr Galloway, but he keeps up a friendly pretense until the very end of the meeting, when he drops the charade and lets his nasty, smug, mean-spirited self hang open.

Josiah Bartlet is many things during his eight years as President of the United States.  He is pompous and bullheaded to the point of destructiveness.  He is a liar to his staff, his friends, and the American people.  He is self-centered and vain, putting the entire country at risk to appease his ego.  He makes decisions that render him both a criminal and a killer.  He even talks in the movie theater.

He is also a good man.  And at the end of the day, despite all his faults, this is why he will beat out Nathan Jessup on my list any day of the week.  He is compassionate and strong in his convictions.  He is intelligent and decisive.  He genuinely likes to hear what people have to say when they talk to him.  He takes joy in little things like old books and the Butterball hotline.  He takes pride in his encyclopedic knowledge of all things obscure, from state parks to the history of the fjords.  Yes, he has all the blemishes and foibles that should make us hate him, but he also has all the humanity that lets us recognize him instantly.  He is your weird uncle or your bizarre high school lab partner.   He’s the clerk behind the counter who talks to you for just a little too long after he’s given you your change.  He’s not perfect, but he is us.  Or at least, I think, who we hope we would be.

My Favorite Moment: The President decides to run for reelection.  There wasn’t really any doubt that it would happen, but it’s a stunning moment that caps off the show’s best episode. (Episode 222, “Two Cathedrals”)

But Don’t Forget About: Bartlet’s final ride on Air Force 1 as he is flown home after the inauguration of the new President. (Episode 722, “Tomorrow”)