Awesome

Joss Whedon, in response to this rather hilarious list by screenwriter James Gunn, comes up with his own list of the 25 most awesome tv characters of all time. Top stuff, and not only because Whedon reveals his Josh and Donna West Wing love:

5) Josh Lyman from the West Wing. Another 'throw a stone, hit a favorite', but Josh has a thing. That thing is called Donna.

He also nominates Logan from Veronica Mars, because he's "Smirking his way into TV history." Classic!

In a later post, James Gunn responds to questions about his own list, including, "Why are all the characters from the last few years?" I thought his answer was dead-right:

That's an easier question to answer: TV is better now than it ever has been before. Film was better in the '70's, but TV is at its prime right now (or at least starting with Larry Sanders and Buffy), and with HBO and great creators like Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, Ricky Gervais, and so forth, you have shows that have characters with a depth that wasn't previously possible. And if you're on Deadwood you can say "cunt." That always helps.

I can't stand Deadwood, so I don't really care that you can say "cunt" on tv now, but everything else he says is absolutely and utterly correct.