1. Abed Nadir (Community)
Getting back to more modern shows, Community began its run as a look at the weirdness of Community College by focusing mainly on the character of Jeff Winger. But then Danny Pudi pulled a Deadpool on everyone, and very quickly began leaning so heavily on the Fourth Wall it bent under the weight of how entertaining he was. While the show's other characters attribute his meta jokes and fourth wall breaking to his bizarre personality, his portrayal of Abed had audiences loving the guy who seemed to be giving them a direct wink/nudge as if to say "Yeah I think this is all as loopy as you folks do." It can be arguably claimed that Pudi is a major reason why Community has survived so long as a show always teetering on the verge of cancellation. This is by no means a definitive list, so feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments as to who you think qualifies as the surprise breakout star of your favorite shows. We now return you to yelling at Master Chef.
What do you think? Agree or disagree? Can you think of any more? Feel free to comment?