8) Erin Hannon – The Office
Everyone knows that The Office (the US version) went irrevocably downhill in its later seasons, but not everything that came out of the series’ second half was all bad. Take Erin Hannon, for example, a rare perky face at Dunder Mifflin who brightened up the show whenever she was on screen.
Played by future Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Ellie Kemper, Erin turned up late in season five as basically a replacement for Pam as the office receptionist. Despite that, she was still her own character (and was also not based on any character from the British show).
She sparked brilliantly with Ed Helm’s neurotic Andy, with the pair’s up-and-down relationship a fixture of later seasons. Andy himself could also be a contender for this list, as he arrived in the show’s third season.