It’s time to celebrate all our greatest small-screen figures tournament-style, from bosses like Tony Soprano to millennials like Fleabag, from scene stealers like Tyrion Lannister to wild cards like Michael Scott

March is a month for brackets, so this week on The Ringer, we’re hosting The Best TV Characters of the Century—an expansive, obsessive, and unexpectedly fraught competition to determine the best fictional TV personality of the past 20 years. To help the public make informed voting decisions, The Ringer has contacted some of the people who know these characters best: the actors who played them. Check back throughout the week for more interviews and don’t forget to cast your vote for your favorite characters.

Two iconic characters, Walter White and Michael Scott, entered, but only one could prevail

This thing was destined to end with these two meteors colliding. It’s the one who knocks versus the one who hit Meredith with his car.

There are seven traits that only the Walter Whites and Michael Scotts of the world possess

A chemistry teacher, a wolf, a libertarian, and a regional branch manager walk into a semifinal. It’s Walter White vs. Arya Stark and Ron Swanson vs. Michael Scott—only two will advance.

Writer and showrunner Mike Schur breaks down the science behind Ron Swanson, Leslie Knope, and your favorite ‘Office’ players

Two NBC alums, Dwight Schrute and Ron Swanson, took down the ‘Game of Thrones’ siblings—but Arya Stark still stands among an Elite Eight of towering icons

The actor behind television’s most lovable libertarian talks puzzles, bacon-wrapped shrimp, and what it’s like to be married to "the Mike Trout of television comedy"

Very early on into the second round, it was clear something went wrong—the ‘Arrested Development’ failson had become the subject of some bot-aided magic. Now we move on to the Sweet 16.

From Randy of ‘That ’70s Show’ to Mark from ‘Parks and Recreation,’ these are the characters that added nothing to, or totally derailed, some of the best shows of the past 20 years

The actor behind the magician who couldn’t and the star of ‘Horsin’ Around’ chats about the similarities between his most famous characters, Tobias’s jean shorts, and becoming an oft-used meme

While the Tony Sopranos and Don Drapers of the world have defined the modern era of TV, there’s another trope—outlined by Michael Scott, Kendall Roy, and Gob Bluth—that speaks to our times even better

Cartman scores a big upset, a Baby Yoda–Arya Stark matchup is set, and the Bosses quarter stares down a bloody Day 2

And an admission that you don’t need to fully understand what’s happening in ‘Devs’ to know that it’s a great TV show

The ‘You’re the Worst’ sidekick impregnated herself with a turkey baster, stabbed her husband, and "destroyed" a man. Playing that character was as fun as it sounds.

We spoke to the ‘Mad Men’ star about what her iconic character meant to her, how she grew alongside Peggy, and the television performances that still wow her

The ‘Veep’ actor shares his favorite Jonah episodes, his theory on show finales, and his own favorite TV characters of all time

From Jenna Maroney to Dennis from ‘Always Sunny’ to Paulie Walnuts, here are the best of rest that couldn’t fit into our tournament

It’s time to celebrate all our greatest small-screen figures tournament-style, from bosses like Tony Soprano to millennials like Fleabag, from scene stealers like Tyrion Lannister to wild cards like Michael Scott

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