Norm Peterson

Norm walks into the bar and the whole place shouts his name — that's practically his job description. A perpetually underemployed accountant with a wife he'd rather joke about than go home to, he settles onto his stool like it's furniture he owns, ready with a beer order and a one-liner before he's even sat down.

The gag could wear thin fast, but Wendt plays Norm with such unhurried comic timing that the entrance, the crack about Vera, the beer — it never feels like a bit repeating, just a man arriving exactly where he belongs. He makes contentment funny, which is rarer than it sounds.