The best and worst TV bosses

We’ll start with the bad bosses, and few are worse than C. Montgomery Burns. Old Burnsy has been running the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant like a tyrant for years, treating “Simpsons” characters like Homer, Carl, and even his loyal assistant Smithers like garbage. Also, one time he blocked out the Sun. He’s cartoonishly evil, but also a hilarious character.

While Michael Scott is a little nicer than David Brent, his counterpart on the original British version of “The Office,” he’s still incompetent as a boss? As a salesman, apparently, Scott was quite successful. However, he’s the “Peter Principle” in action, because Michael is not just a bad boss, but many times a walking HR violation.

Life isn’t great for the crew at the Sunshine Taxi Company. “Taxi” is not an uplifting sitcom – though it is a funny one – and one of the big problems for the cabbies and mechanics is their boss Louie. Played by Danny DeVito, Louie is mean, crass, and rough around the edges. You don’t want to be on his bad side, and he doesn’t seem to have a good side.

We wouldn’t call anybody on “Entourage” likable, but Ari might be the least likable of the main character. Vincent Chase’s agent, Ari is vicious and cutthroat, and we feel terrible for his assistant Lloyd. It feels fitting that Michael Scott loves “Entourage,” and has used Ari as a point of reference for his managerial style.

When you are a spy, you’d really prefer to have a boss who cares about your well-being. That’s not the case for the crew on “Archer.” Mallory doesn’t care if you live or die, and she’ll put you in compromised positions at her whim. Also, she doesn’t want you leaving food around. That’s how you get ants. It’s even tougher to work for Mallory when you are family, like her son Sterling.

Speaking of bosses who deem the life of their employees as expendable, there’s Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth from “Futurama.” When he isn’t building doomsday devices, Farnsworth runs a delivery company all across the universe. This includes sending his crew to dangerous planets, like when he sent humans to a planet of robots that will kill them on sight. Of course, he always announces these terrible assignments with a joyous, “Good news, everyone!”

“Veep” is not exactly optimistic when it comes to politics. Pretty much every character on the show is awful, but Selina is one of the worse of the bunch. That’s especially true of her subordinates. She using vicious, vulgar language that would get a lot of bosses sued, much less removed from their job. In the world of politics, though, Selina isn’t even the worst of the bunch. Well, unless you’re Gary. Poor Gary.

George and Elaine jumped from job to job, and boss to boss, on “Seinfeld,” with some of them being good situations, and others being not so good. Mr. Peterman is definitely on the bad side. One, he’s a blowhard. Two, he seems like he changes his mind on a whim. Plus, he’ll throw you under the bus in the blink of an eye, like if you have been annoying him by shaking Tic Tacs.

The Bluth Company is run by a series of incapable family members, even Michael. However, let’s go with the man who started it all, George. The senior Bluth is a terrible person, but he’s also a lousy boss. He cuts corners, pockets cash, sleeps with his secretary, and also may have committed “light treason.” When George goes to prison, he throws the family and the business into disarray. He probably didn’t even run the banana stand all that well.

We all sort of know at this point that reality shows aren’t entirely real. They are staged, and even sometimes scripted. On “UnREAL,” producer Quinn King took things to the highest level of ethical depravity. She’ll destroy people emotionally and manipulate them to get the television she wants. If you work under her, some of that depravity and ruthlessness is headed your way as well.

Now, let’s move on to the good bosses! Is Lou Grant gruff? Sure, and he definitely hates spunĸ. However, Mr. Grant is also a great boss in many ways. Even though Mary Richards is a little green, Lou always supports her. When somebody needs emotional support, Grant is there, even if he isn’t always comfortable with it. He knows how to run a television network and he’ll stick his neck out for his employees whenever necessary. Sometimes you’ll get a chewing out, but in the end, you’ll be glad to have Mr. Grant in your corner.

Yes, Jack Donaghy from “30 Rock.” Hear us out. Liz Lemon seems like a solid boss to work for as a creative, even if she doesn’t have any real managerial desires. At first, Donaghy exists to be Lemon’s foil and nemesis. However, things change. Jack is always trying to get the best out of Liz. He becomes her mentor, and they both grow from it. Donaghy goes to insane levels sometimes for NBC. He spends an inordinate amount of time with Kenneth, even though he’s a page. We don’t like his politics, but it wouldn’t be so bad to work under him.

Holt may be a serious fellow, but that means he takes his job as a police captain seriously. Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to have a boss with the gravitas of Andre Braugher? As a gay black man, Captain Holt is also attuned to prejudice, which as we know in real life is an issue with many police forces. As a silly sitcom, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” doesn’t go to that well terribly often, but Holt is a supportive boss that helps his charges grow.

Again we could go with Leslie Knope on “Parks and Recreation,” but for much of the show, Ron is her boss as the head of the Parks Department. Yes, Ron hates the government, and he doesn’t want to do any work. However, what he really wants is to be left alone. Did you see how much Leslie got done under him? As long as you let Ron have his peace, he’ll pretty much let you do your thing. Anybody who doesn’t want a ton of oversight on their job would appreciate a boss like Ron Swanson.

We don’t know the full name of the Chief from “Get Smart.” We just know he has the patience of a saint and the ability to clean up so many messes. As the head of CONTROL, a U.S. spy agency, Chief’s job is of vital importance. He also has to deal with Maxwell Smart on a daily basis. The Chief has to handle all of Max’s foibles while also trying to thwart KAOS. Somehow, he manages. Well done, Chief.

Let’s set aside Sam and Diane’s dynamic here because that goes well beyond the workplace. Sam seems to do a fine job of running Cheers, the bar from “Cheers,” even if he often chases women. He’s patient with Coach. He’s understanding with Carla. When Coach dies, he brings in Woody and is patient with him as well. Sam is nice to his regular customers like Norm and Cliff, even when they are annoying. Sam is the one that makes Cheers the bars where everybody knows your name. That’s management.

Lorelei got pregnant with her daughter Rory as a teenager and decided to move to the small town of Stars Hollow to give them a fresh start. She got a job as a maid at the Independence Inn, but is the manager of the inn by the time we get to “Gilmore Girls.” Lorelei has to manage a small-town business and raise a teenage daughter alone. Somehow, she doesn’t let her work slack.

Tate is one of the men running the advertising firm McMahon and Tate on “Bewitched,” meaning he employs Darrin Stevens. It also means often having to deal with the antics caused by Darrin’s witchy wife and her family. Despite this, Tate really cares about appeasing the clients, and also is a friend to Darrin outside of work as well.

Selina Meyer is an awful political boss, but Jed Bartlet from “The West Wing” is on the opposite side of things. He’s caring and loyal, which isn’t always the case in politics. President Bartlet seems like a good President, but he also seems like a really good boss.

If we had to be traveling through space, we’d definitely prefer Captain Picard to Captain Kirk. He seems much less likely to get us killed on some strange planet. Kirk is a hothead prone to risky maneuvers. The dude cheated on the Kobayashi Maru! Picard, on the other hand, is much more levelheaded. We trust that he’d have our best interests in mind.