Al is a simple man, and forever regretful of the turns his life has taken since the end of high school, when marriage and a broken leg prevented him from playing college football. Al Bundy is married to Peggy. He mistakenly asked her to marry him after he got drunk. He has two children: Kelly, a promiscuous dumb blonde, and Bud, an intelligent but perpetually horny and unpopular schemer named after a brand of beer. Al lives in Chicago and is the proud owner of a Dodge Dart (although the model shown on-screen is always a Plymouth Duster, it is referred to throughout the series as a Dodge Dart). He works as a shoe salesman at the fictional Gary's Shoes and Accessories for Today's Woman in the fictional New Market Mall.

Peter Griffin is an Irish American, who is an overweight blue collar worker with a prominent Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts accent. He's the husband of Lois and the father of Meg, Chris and Stewie. He is the son of Thelma Griffin and Mickey McFinnigan, and is the step-son of Francis Griffin. Peter and the rest of the Griffins live in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island which is modeled after Cranston, Rhode Island. Peter primarily worked as a safety inspector at the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory, until his boss Jonathan Weed choked to death on a dinner roll; he then became a fisherman on his own boat, known as the "S.S. More Powerful than Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and The Incredible Hulk Put Together", with the help of two Portuguese immigrants, Santos and Pasqual, until his boat was destroyed.

Ari Gold is Vincent Chase's neurotic movie agent. He is a product of the public school system. He was an undergrad at Harvard University before earning his J.D./M.B.A. at the University of Michigan. He was also a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. Ari is Jewish and has one brother, Howard, and despite making multiple exaggerations of "a sister" of his that he has referred to as both crazy and a whore, Ari has stated that he has no sister. He was born in 1967, as stated in the episode "Tree Trippers".

Despite his position as one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood, Ari acquiesces to his wife at home (who has a large inheritance from her father), who is able to keep him in check. Despite frequent sexual innuendos, Ari has never cheated on his wife since they were married and "loves a liar, hates a cheater." However in the pilot episode, Ari tells character Eric Murphy during a power lunch that he is having sex with a swim suit model. Eric Murphy is lead character, Vincent Chase's manager.

When first introduced on All in the Family in 1971, Archie was the head of a family consisting of his wife Edith (Jean Stapleton), his adult daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), and his liberal son-in-law, college student Michael "Mike" Stivic (Rob Reiner), (with whom Archie disagreed on virtually everything; he frequently characterized Mike as a "dumb Polack", and usually addressed him as "Meathead" because, in Archie's words, he was "dead from the neck up"). During the show's first five seasons, Mike and Gloria were living with Archie and Edith, so that Mike could put himself through college. (They later moved to their own home, though it turned out to be next door, allowing Archie and Mike to interact nearly as much as they had when they were living in the same house.)

Walter Hartwell "Walt" White is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television drama series Breaking Bad on AMC. He is portrayed by Bryan Cranston and was created by series creator Vince Gilligan. Once a promising chemist who was one of the founding members of the fictional "Gray Matter Technologies," Walter left the company for personal reasons and became an unhappy and disillusioned high school chemistry teacher. Once he is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer, he resorts to manufacturing methamphetamine to ensure his family's financial security when he dies. As the series progresses, Walter gradually grows violent and dangerous.

Homer and his wife Marge have three children: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. As the family's provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Homer embodies several American working class stereotypes: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, clumsy, lazy, a heavy drinker, and ignorant; however, he is essentially a decent man and fiercely devoted to his family. Despite the suburban blue-collar routine of his life, he has had a number of remarkable experiences.

In the series, Tony begins as a capo in the DiMeo crime family during the first season. Between the first and second seasons, he is promoted to acting boss, a title he retains until the sixth season (his uncle Corrado "Junior" Soprano is the official boss up until early on in season 6, but has little or no actual power). Throughout the series, Tony struggles to balance the conflicting requirements of his "two families": his actual family—wife Carmela, daughter Meadow, son Anthony "A.J." Soprano, Jr., and mother Livia — and the criminal organization he heads. He is shown to be a short-tempered, violent sociopath, but also struggles with depression and is prone to panic attacks. Because of this, he seeks treatment from Dr. Jennifer Melfi in the show's first episode, and remains in therapy on and off up until the penultimate episode of the series.

During the course of the series, Frank is seen as stubborn, hungry, outspoken, and rigidly masculine. Although it is briefly mentioned that he has a soft side, Frank refuses to accept it. In episodes like "Pet the Bunny" and "Christmas Present" he indicates that, though capable of kindness and sensitivity, he deliberately cultivates a tough guy image.

He is always seen at Ray and Debra’s house on the black armchair with his pants unbuttoned and zipper open watching sports or at home ordering Marie to prepare his meals while sitting and reading the paper. During his sons’ childhood, Frank was virtually absent and had refused to show any sign of affection and love to either boy. He was constantly at odds with his wife Marie to how the boys were to be raised. He is very opinionated, outspoken, and has no problem insulting family members and strangers out in the open (this applies in particular to his wife, Marie). He calls men names like “Nancy”, “Shirley”, "Peaches", and "Mary" who don’t live up to his standards to what it takes to be a man. His main catchphrase on the show is "Holy Crap".

George's father. Eccentric and very quick to anger. Former cook in the Army and detests removing his shoes in other people's homes. Speaks Korean. Inventor of the holiday Festivus. Co-creator of the manssiere. Hired a lawyer who wears a cape.

During All in the Family, Jefferson lived in a working-class neighborhood in the borough of Queens, next door to the Bunker family, with his wife Louise (Isabel Sanford) and son Lionel (Mike Evans). During the period, between 1971 and 1973, George's perpetual absence was explained as being a result of his refusal to set foot in his bigoted neighbor Archie Bunker's home, although in later episodes relationships between Jefferson and Bunker thawed somewhat. When the spin-off series The Jeffersons began in January 1975, George and his family had moved "to a deluxe apartment in the sky" on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Like his neighbor Archie Bunker, George Jefferson was frequently opinionated, rude, bigoted, prone to scheming and not particularly intelligent in a scholastic sense. Unlike Archie, however, George was more quick-thinking, and usually more clever. Frequently, plots in The Jeffersons revolved around George's usually dishonest schemes, which always ended in comedic failure. In one 3rd season farcical episode {A Case of Black and White}, George schemes to obtain a new client (a mixed-race couple) by inviting them and the Willises (also a mixed-race couple) to dinner. When the Willises realize that George is using them, they leave before the new client shows up. This makes George bribe Florence the maid and Ralph the doorman into pretending to be the Willises. Eventually the Willises return, and by pretending to be Florence and Ralph, they help George land the client, while trapping George into throwing them an extravagant anniversary party.