The Best Character on TV: Creed Bratton

In my world of obsessive TV watching, with endless favorite shows, I believe that I have finally pinpointed who is quite possibly the best (and most underrated) character on television: Creed Bratton of NBC's The Office.

Stop laughing, I'm being serious. Yes, I realize Creed sees about twenty to thirty seconds of screen time per episode but next time the show decides to have a clips show, maybe it should be a half an hour of all these clips one after the other. I guarantee you will never laugh so hard.

So who is Creed Bratton? First of all, the actor's name is actually Creed Bratton, originally born William Charles Scheider. Which explains this lovely scene in which Creed and Michael have a heart-to-heart about filing for bankruptcy:

Creed Bratton: Creed Bratton has never declared bankruptcy. When Creed Bratton gets in trouble, he transfers his debt to


[holds up fake passport]

Creed Bratton: William Charles Scheider.

I like these little random hidden jokes in the show. Furthermore, Creed works in Quality Assurance, but he can't remember his job title due to heavy drug use in the 60s. In addition to his drug use, the Office has implied that Creed may have been involved in many other crimes, including religious cults: "you have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader."

I'm not sure you can say that what he has are "one liners" because they aren't really jokes. They are just the bizzare thoughts of a man in his 60s who has no business being in Corporate America.

The biggest mystery surrounding this man is, in my opinion, brought up in the episode Chair Model

He can't wait for Michael to get a new chair when Pam gets Michael's old chair and he gets Pam's. Then, Creed will have two chairs and will have "only one to go."

I hope someday to know what this means.

As a closing argument, he looks a lot like John Locke. Keep up the good work Creed!