Note: If the character folder does not state what seasons the character was on, that's because it was in all of them as a main character.
open/close all folders
Dr. John Becker
Played by: Ted Danson
"The world is full of idiots, and someone needs to point it out to them or they will never know."
"If you and I were the only people on the face of the Earth, that would be the only thing we'd have in common."
The primary Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist of the show. He is a loud mouthed and opinionated Dr. Jerk who rants about everything. He's also charitable and altruistic towards his patients.Tropes:
- Anger Born of Worry: How he typically shows that he cares about his patients.
- Anti-Hero: An unpleasant Jerkass who's harshly critical of everything and can be extremely insensitive at times. He is nevertheless a caring doctor who is also charitable to his patients.
- Brutal Honesty: He believes in being a good doctor over being a nice doctor, and is not afraid to condemn his patients when it's their deeds that make them his patients to start with.
- The Cynic: His experience with life has left him with a very bleak outlook on life.
- Deadpan Snarker: Whenever he isn't angry. The above quote is a prime example.
- Dr. Jerk: But of course.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric. He's hot tempered, loud and has high standards that no one can live up to.
- Goodis Not Nice: He is a good doctor, despite his furious and tactless outlook on life.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For all his short temper and misanthropy, he's loyal to his friends and genuinely wants the best for his patients.
- Knightin Sour Armor: He will do the best for his patients, even if he has to criticize and cajol them.
Regina "Reggie" Kostas
Seasons 1-4 (main)
Played by: Terry Farrell
"He's not only a doctor but a brilliant one. As far as I can tell, that's his only flaw, otherwise he'd be a perfect ass."
"I don't so much cook as I do defrost and reheat."
A jaded ex-model and the owner and sole employee of the Greasy Spoon she inherited from her father. Has a Ship Tease with Becker and constantly trades barbs with him.Tropes:
- Birds of a Feather: With Becker. They're both jaded washouts who had a bright future ahead of them but were both sidetracked by decisions they made out of love. (Becker works in a poor neighborhood out of love for his patients and Reggie got stuck in the diner because she wanted to help her father.) They're both dismayed with how their lives turned out but at the end of the day, are able to find meaning in it. (Becker and Reggie both help their patrons in some way.) This is probably the reason why they share their deepest thoughts with each other as they know only they will understand. This is perhaps best shown in their conversation at the end of "Panic on the 24th".
- Deadpan Snarker: Generally the best at keeping up with Becker.
- A Degree in Useless: She got an A in psychology, but never practiced it because she got a panic attack from everyone joking how useless the degree was.
- Family Business: The greasy spoon she inherited from her father, at least until it passes on to Chris (who is unrelated to Reggie).
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Melancholic. She's very bitter about the life she's been given and her fall from grace, and her thoughts are usually preoccupied by it.
- Greasy Spoon: Owns and runs one that she inherited from her father.
- Lethal Chef: A notoriously terrible cook. Justified as she was actually a model and had no experience cooking and only came to the diner to help her father. She was then stuck with the diner after her father's death.
- Love Triangle: Between Becker, Reggie and Chris during the four episodes in which both women were characters simultaneously. It's eventually solved in favor of Becker and Chris, with Reggie leaving to Europe.
- Put on a Bus: Leaves due to regretting sleeping with Becker. According to The Other Wiki, "she rings the bar, and leaves a message with a customer for Jake, explaining that she has gone to Europe with some friends from modelling and is reassessing her life and career". (Reggie had been dropped after season 4, which surprised Terry Farrell, either because they wanted to shake things up by not having Reggie on a relationship with Becker, or because of bad blood relating to Terry having supported the cast in claims for a promised pay raise after season three.)
- Parting-Words Regret: She regrets that her last conversation with her father was an argument over something trivial.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's 5'11/182 Cm tall, which is fitting as she is a former model.
- Will They or Won't They?: Eventually, and unlike Chris, they don't, because Reggie regrets kissing Becker. (Also, the creators originally wanted this to happen over a longer period, but they didn't do so because they wanted no comparisons with Sam and Diane.)
Nurse Margaret Wyborn
Played by: Hattie Winston
"Dr Becker also works for me, he just doesn't know it!"
John, you're a good man, but does it have to be a secret between us?!
Becker's assistant and an experienced Nurse. She's the Only Sane Man of the office and is the one keeping the office running. She has a Manchild husband named Lewis.Tropes:
- Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder: To Becker, Linda and Lewis.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Leukine. She doesn't have any overt personality flaws and is generally the most and solid and dependable member of the cast. (Becker and Linda occasionally push her over the line into Choleric, but she'd have to be a saint to keep that from happening.)
- Noodle Incident: Becker and Margaret's husband Lewis despise each other. The only explanation from Margaret is it's something to do with veal piccata.
- Only Sane Man: Of the office. Becker and Linda are both frequently late, Becker is terrible with patients and Linda slacks off all the time. It's up to Margaret to run the office and make sure things goes smoothly.
- Sarcastic Devotee: Is very snarky towards Becker and criticizes his temper and general attitude towards life. She still sticks with him and supports him.
Jake Malinak
Played by: Alex Désert
"Hi, this is Jake. Look out the window. Now look in a mirror. If it's dark outside and you're John Becker, do me a favor. Go to hell. "
Hey, can I drive?
A Blind Black Guy who runs a newspaper stand inside Reggie's diner. Makes snarky jokes about his blindness and is Becker's best friend.Tropes:
- Blind People Wear Sunglasses: Jake is blind and often seen wearing sunglasses. In the episode "Sight Unseen" he is seen dating a woman named Nina, who is also blind and wears shades.
- The Casanova: Relative to Becker, at least (and especially relative to Bob).
- Deadpan Snarker: He gets plenty of these, although he seems less inclined to treat it like a competition than Becker and Reggie do.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Phlegmatic. Definitely the most laid-back of the main cast, and although he gets screwed over when the show requires it, he seems to bounce back pretty well.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Frequently engages in this with Becker and Reggie.
- Odd Friendship: With Becker. He's the calmest and most relaxed person in the cast while Becker is a hot tempered Jerkass.
Linda
Played by: Shawnee Smith
"Ok, so here's the thing..."
You know why we have so many young male patients? Because I have the ass of a 16 year old boy, which for some reason guys like.
Becker's secretary and assistant. Is lazy and hedonistic and avoids work at all costs. She's also a major ditz and a Cloud Cuckoo Lander of epic proportions.Tropes:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Lampshaded with Linda's on-off relationship with Gil, her never-seen boyfriend who's implied to have a criminal past.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: And how...
- Dumb Is Good: Outwardly the nicest of the main characters and, well... she has the occasional moment of insight, but she isn't the sharpest scalpel on the tray.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine. A cheerful and vivacious young woman who nevertheless comes off as very distracted and air-headed most of the time.
- Hidden Depths:
- Speaks fluent Chinese, which proves handy when Margaret is having communication problems with a patient.
- Despite her incompetence with medical work, she is actually very nice and caring to the patients.
- Ms. Fanservice: Typically dressed in revealing outfits. This is Discussed in one of the early episodes where Margaret complains that her fashion sense is unprofessional and inappropriate for a doctor's office.
- Noodle Incident: Becker, when asked about it, explains that apparently the only reason he hired her was because he owed her father a favour.
- Too Much Information: She does this frequently, which can cause some embarrassment and major 'WTF' reactions from anyone who hears.Reggie: I was born and raised in New York, and I've never been to the top of the Empire State Building!Linda: Really? I was conceived up here! Well, actually it was in the elevator.Reggie: [incredulous]
Your parents did it in the ''elevator''!?
Bob Benito
Seasons 1-2 (recurring) and 3-5 (main)
Played by: Saverio Guerra
"Hey losers! Bob's back!"
Look, Bob knows a guy who supplies freezers to the whole east coast. I mean you'll get it for below what my guy gets it from guys who sell it through other guys who wish they were guys who knew guys like my guy!
The gang's personal Zoidberg. Went to High School with Reggie and had a crush on her, he was also bullied a lot. Bob was originally the owner of the seventh biggest restaurant supplier in the tri state area and a Smug Snake, Bob then becomes unemployed and then the super of Becker's apartment. Bob frequently hangs out in the diner to annoy people and stalk women. Bob also also speaks in the third person.Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Reggie definitely considers him this.
- Butt-Monkey: Oh, so much. While the entire cast has their mishaps, Bob probably suffers the most of them all and his existence mostly consists of being insulted by the rest of the cast. Even after he becomes Becker's super, he is widely known as a Lazy Bum and gets no respect from anyone. See Humiliation Conga below.
- Characterization Marches On: His more smug snake habits like speaking in the third person are more subdued in later seasons.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- In his very first appearance in Season 1, he mentions that he has "two perfect kids". These kids are never mentioned again through the whole series though it's perfectly possible he was lying just to get under Reggie's skin.
- Only appeared from episode 6 onwards. Before there was Manny (played by James Lorinz), who was similar but more subdued.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Well, not so much bad, rather annoying, but he is quite fond of her.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine along with Linda. He's very talkative and energetic even if no one wants to listen to him.
- Hidden Depths: One of his few talents is that he is an excellent cook.
- Humiliation Conga: He begins the series as a wealthy restaurant supplier. His wife proceeds to divorce him, take all of his money and he ends up as an unemployed loser who lingers around the diner to mostly be insulted by the gang.
- Lazy Bum: As Becker's super, his daily routine is to mostly take phone calls and tell the tenants who complain to him that they're "on the list". Breaking into Becker's apartment and drinking beer is also one of his most important duties.
- Long Bus Trip: Due to his actor not renewing his contract for season 6. First it's said he went on vacation, then he never gets mentioned again.
- No Full Name Given: His middle name is Benito. We don't know his last name.
- Riches to Rags: Went from being the owner of the seventh biggest restaurant supplier in the tri state area to being unemployed (after his wife cleans him out in their divorce) to being the Becker's super.
- Stalker with a Crush: To Reggie. Shows signs of this towards Linda as well.
Christine "Chris" Connor
Seasons 4 (guest) and 5-6 (main)
Played by: Nancy Travis
Becker's new neighbour who moved to the Bronx after travelling the world. She replaces Reggie in season 5, both at the bar and in her love-hate dynamics with Becker.
- Ascended Extra: Chris was only supposed to appear in 4 episodes. She ultimately largely takes over Reggie's role for the remainder of the show.
- Love Triangle: Between Becker, Reggie and Chris during the four episodes in which both women were characters simultaneously. It's eventually solved in favor of Becker and Chris, with Reggie leaving to Europe.
- Opposites Attract: She was always nice and cheerful, unlike Becker.
- Will They or Won't They?: They do, unlike Becker and Reggie.
- World Tour: What she did before moving to the Bronx.
Hector Lopez
Season 6 (main)
Played by: Jorge Garcia
"Hey, those weren't scams, they were business ventures. Besides I got a baby sister out of it."
Jake's childhood friend who comes to basically take over Bob's place. According to Jake, Hector would do anything to make money, including selling his parents' condoms, to which he responded the above quote. During the last episode he takes over his friend's newsstand.
- Con Man: Hector is said by Jake to have run numerous scams when he was young.
- Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: Possibly his baby sister, if his parents fell for his condom scam.
