9 Awful TV Characters We're Supposed To Root For

Though Jim and Pam most frequently earn the ire of The Office's fanbase - what with their insistence on keeping their work friends out of their personal lives, the audacity - a lot of people are completely willing to give Michael Scott a pass.

Michael Scott, a man so consistently racist, bigoted, homophobic, and generally incompetent that you can't find a single episode in the first five seasons where he doesn't do something that would get any real life boss fired several times over, was still meant to be viewed as a redeemable character simply because he's so pathetic.

This isn't just about him being a terrible boss - which he is - or his inability to go more than three minutes without making a crude and/or obnoxious remark - which he can't. This is about the fact that viewers are supposed to feel bad for someone so rampantly rude, lazy, and dishonest simply because he occasionally tries to do something good for someone else. 

Yeah, he went to Pam's art show. He also refused to stop "dating" Pam's mom even though it clearly made her, one of his supposed friends, incredibly uncomfortable...only to later break up with her after Pam gave approval because he now thought she was too old.

And yes, it's sad that Michael doesn't have any friends outside of the workplace, but let's not forget that this is entirely his own fault. Ask yourself: Would you hang out with somebody that persistently childish and ignorant?