FIFTEEN TV VILLAINS WORTH MENTIONING

WILLIAM SMITH AS FALCONETTI ON RICH MAN POOR MAN

The baddest of all TV bad guys… Matt Dillon’s character in BEAUTIFUL GIRLS calls Anthony Falconetti the most terrifying screen presence ever, and he’s right… Matt gets shot at by William in THE OUTSIDERS and Smith shoots Matt’s brother in RUMBLE FISH… So he should know… But back to RICH MAN POOR MAN and that vicious thug Falconetti – basically the Grim Reaper of the entire two-part miniseries… Yet he's just as cagey and frightened as he is formidable and dangerous… Only a truly great actor could pull off such a layered, intense, and unforgettable character…

LARRY HAGMAN  AS J.R. EWING ON DALLAS

You can't watch (the original) DALLAS without rooting for the bad guy… After all, he's the star of the series... Everything oil tycoon J.R. Ewing wants he eventually gets, but whenever he almost fails it's a nailbiting experience for all... 

KATHERINE MCGREGOR & ALISON ARNGRIM ON LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

The peach didn't fall far from the Oleson tree as Harriet and daughter Nellie wreak havoc on the small quaint town of Walnut Grove, making everyone's life a living hell, that is, expect for the audience: all knowing who the two best characters are...

RUSSELL SCHULMAN AS BUDDY HINTON ON THE BRADY BUNCH

Baby talk, baby talk, it’s a wonder you (Cindy Brady) can walk… To the corner of the street without getting badgered by the blond-haired punk Buddy Hinton, that is...

JACK CASSIDY AS RANDOM HEAVIES AGAINST COLUMBO

The premiere villain of the Columbo series, Jack made several appearances including the pilot directed by Steven Spielberg… He’s everything Columbo isn’t: tall, classy, and (usually) rich… Only he doesn’t know how persistent the short rumpled detective is at tying loose ends...

JACK COLVIN AS YELLOW JOURNALIST JACK McGEE ON THE INCREDIBLE HULK

If THE INCREDIBLE HULK has a villain other than the plethora of bullies that cause mild-mannered drifter David Banner to alter into the big green beast, it’s that snoopy journalist Jack McGee who won’t leave our hero’s trail…

KEN KERCHEVAL AS CLIFF BARNES ON DALLAS

Some say Cliff Barnes wasn’t a villain since he wanted to shut down the operation of a greedy oil tycoon, but like Jack Colvin on HULK, if Cliff got want he wanted, there’d be no show…

LEE PURCELL GIVES LINDA BLAIR HELL IN SUMMER OF FEAR

Stranger in Linda Blair’s home Lisa Trent, played by Lee Purcell, is tall, gorgeous, quiet, soft-spoken, and possessed… But that last part she keeps a secret till the end of this 1978 Wes Craven horror show…

CAROLE ITA WHITE  AS ROSE ON LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY

The red-haired Rose can’t cut Laverne and Shirley any slack whatsoever, which makes her a lot of fun to watch and to even, at times, a bitch to root for…

ED PECK AS KIRK ON HAPPY DAYS

Has there ever been a more villainous cop on a sitcom? Well Fonzie, Officer Kirk’s main adversary, sure doesn’t think so… Either do the neighborhood kids, all victim of Kirk's persistent curfew...

LISA EILBACHER SEDUCES ON LOGAN'S RUN

On the TV series LOGAN'S RUN, an episode titled THE INNOCENT features Lisa as a seemingly docile beauty that turns into a possessed psycho who’ll nab Gregory Harrison’s Logan at all costs…

CINDY MORGAN AS A FEMME-FATALLE ON HUNTER

As a steamy vixen in a HUNTER episode titled HOT PROWL, the TRON and CADDYSHACK beauty plays it tough, sinister and sexy at the same time, and not in that order…

KATY KURTZMAN GETS BOOKED ON HAWAII FIVE-O

She hires a professional to make her mother’s life a nightmare... Katy Kurtzman’s Annie Carter in IMAGE OF FEAR, from the final season of HAWAII FIVE-O, is the youngest perp to get booked by Danno, or rather, Kimo, upon Jack Lord's command...

CHARLENE TILTON DANCES AGAINST COOL ON HAPPY DAYS

And the lovely Charlene Tilton as a conceited cheerleader who challenges Joanie to a dance competition in THEY SHOOT FONZIES, DON'T THEY?

TV VILLAINS LIST VOL ONE BY JAMES M. TATE