Real Lives

Friday April 24, 2009

They don’t do dictation

By G. Nair

In conjunction with Secretaries … sorry, Administrative Professionals Day, here's a list of well known secretaries and personal assistants we have come to know from the comfort of our own living rooms. (Note: we didn't say they were the "best".)

10 Notable Secretaries/PAs on TV

10. Marlene (Yeardley Smith), Dharma and Greg

Marlene takes the number 10 spot for various reasons. She is Greg's legal secretary, and although not seen in the TV series that often, she is certainly not one of the best assistants a boss can have. In the show Greg fires her, only to re-hire her later. Marlene is snide, rude, and a bad secretary in general, though a better "lawyer" than Pete (Greg's colleague and best friend.)

9. Karen Walker (Megan Mullally), Will and Grace

Karen, assistant to Grace (Debra Messing), is often seen talking on the phone, reading magazines, filing her nails, etc. She has even admitted that she only took the position merely for entertainment purposes and to get away from her husband and kids. She never answers phone calls, and hardly takes any messages for Grace. Despite all this, Grace and her are still good friends.

8. Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinne), The Drew Carey Show

With her weird makeup, gruff voice and extremely unpleasant character, Mimi Bobeck takes the number 8 spot. She is secretary and assistant to her boss Nigel Algernon Wick (Craig Ferguson). Mimi may be extremely unkind and loves making fun of the main character in this show (Drew Carey), however she still is good at her job and is a pretty decent assistant to Mr Wick.

7. Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini), The King of Queens

Judged mainly by her characteristics in her role as a good and loving wife to Doug Heffernan (Kevin James), Carrie is also a legal assistant. She is very sarcastic and has a sharp tongue but is very hardworking, thus we are sure without a doubt she makes a great assistant to her bosses Mr Kaplan (Carrie's former boss) and Mr Kaufman (Carrie's most recent boss in the show).

6. Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer), The Office

Pam takes the number 6 spot in our list. She is the friendly but often frustrated receptionist at the Scranton branch of the paper distribution company Dunder Mifflin. She can seem shy or hesitant to speak her mind, but enjoys chatting with her fiancé and best friend at work, salesman Jim Halpert (John Krasinski.) She often helps Jim play pranks on his colleague Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson). Her boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) often asks her to do strange tasks, and mocks her about being a receptionist.

5. Elaine Vassal (Jane Krakowski), Ally McBeal

Elaine Vassal is the eccentric assistant to lawyer Ally McBeal (Calista Flockhart). She is often seen trying to pursue her dreams of being a performer and singer more than caring for her job as Ally's assistant. She can always be seen singing at the bar the gang frequents. She takes our number 5 spot still, as she's also more of a friend to Ally than just a colleague / assistant.

4. Margaret Wyborn (Hattie Winston), Becker

Margaret is the head nurse and also office manager at the clinic run by Dr John Becker (Ted Danson). She often is mother figure to both Linda (Shawnee Smith) and John, solving their problems and always keeping the office from falling apart what with all the quirky patients that come in daily. She easily takes our number 4 spot as assistant, nurse and friend to Dr Becker with her kind heart and smart thinking.

3. Claude Casey (Sarah Rue), Less than Perfect

This red haired beauty is number 3 in our list. Claude initially was the assistant for news anchor Will Butler (Eric Roberts) and then went on to be assistant to Lydia (Andrea Parker) after Roberts left the show. Claude's two best friends are Ramona Platt (Sherri Shepherd) and Owen Kronsky (Andy Dick). She is a great assistant and is always seen as the sane one amongst her friends and superiors. She runs errands efficiently, is at work on time, and often goes out of her way to help those in trouble.

2. Waylon Smithers, The Simpsons

You have not seen an assistant more loyal than Smithers, the only male assistant on this list! Smithers is loyal, trustworthy and reliable. He may only be a cartoon character, but anyone would love to have an assistant like him. We shall not question his undying love for (or obsession with) Montgomery Burns even though it has come out very obviously in some episodes of the animated sitcom.

1. Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), Ugly Betty

America Ferrera

Who other than Betty Suarez could take top spot here? Betty works for one of the most powerful and famous fashion magazines around, but she also wears thick glasses, braces, has bushy eyebrows and is a few pounds heavier than the models in the magazine. The only reason Betty was hired was so that she wouldn't be a source of temptation to her philandering boss Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius). The two soon create an unlikely team with Daniel relying on Betty to solve all his little (and big) issues. Despite all her struggles, quirks and mixed-up romances, Betty is definitely a top-notch assistant, and will probably remain at the top of this list for a long time.

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