Nathan Templeton (Donald Sutherland) on "Commander in Chief": This powerful politician's smile is like the gaze of the cobra; it's scary enough to freeze his prey in place as he prepares to devour them. Sutherland's Templeton, who's got President Mackenzie Allen in his sights, is one of the few compelling (and believable) villains on the current TV landscape, and the rocky first few months of the Allen administration should provide many more juicy showdowns with this crafty pol. Kudos to "Chief's" producers for luring this film great to the small screen.

Joy (Jaime Pressly) on "My Name Is Earl": "I'm gon' get me that money": When the scheming Joy, Earl's ex-wife, says that on "My Name Is Earl," you believe her. Earl's lottery winnings are rightly half Joy's, according to her, and she doesn't care what gets between her and the cash. Pressly, like every other actor on this likable show, expertly skirts the dangerous lines between trailer-park stereotype and wickedly funny goofball, and she succeeds in making Joy's demented greed lovable because the actress doesn't condescend to her character. Pressly gets Joy on a molecular level. Joy just wants her dang money, and she wants it now. And Earl, we're betting on her getting it, so watch out.

Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) on "Rome": The genius of this series is not just that it depicts life among Rome's upper crust with such delicious gusto, but that it also uses Pullo and his uptight soldier pal Lucius Vorenus to depict the grunt's-eye view of life in the Roman republic. Pullo's just a regular Roman army dude; a little pillaging, a little partying, some heroic adventures and he's happy. But Stevenson's canny portrayal of Pullo keeps him from being a dumb-grunt stereotype; Pullo may not have been taught much more than how to slay Rome's enemies, but his street smarts have saved him and Vorenus more than once. Pullo's best job perk: getting to bed Cleopatra on the sly.

Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) on "How I Met Your Mother": You either love Barney or hate him, and I'm in the love camp. Barney's a preening, obnoxious loser who thinks chicks totally dig him. They don't. And on some level, he kind of knows that he's a dork (Barney even has a blog, how much more geeky could he be?). Harris' razor-sharp timing is a continual treat, and his wickedly funny portrayal of the would-be suave guy Barney should put his past as Doogie Howser to rest once and for all.

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