2015 In Review: TV's 28 MVPs

At the risk of hyperbolizing, Steven Weber was everywhere in 2015. From supernatural series like Helix and Sleepy Hollow to comedies like Community and The Mindy Project, the Wings vet was inescapable. But Weber left his most lasting impressions playing polar-opposite characters — iZombie's unapologetically villainous Vaughn Du Clark and Chasing Life's heartbreakingly human George Carver — proving that you couldn't box the guy into a single category if you tried. (You could, however, wrap him in a fetching wig and scarf, as evidenced by his role on The Comedians.)

Though Under the Dome went out with more of a whimper than a bang in 2015, Vogel gave his strongest performance of the series this summer, as Barbie became the villain instead of the hero in Chester's Mill. The actor took on another ambitious, sci-fi project this year in Syfy's event miniseries Childhood's End, bringing heartache and strength to his everyman intermediary between the human population and the alien Overlords.

With Hart of Dixie's swan song earlier this year, Bethel bid adieu to his small town playboy-turned-family man Wade Kinsella, reminding us of what a heartfelt and funny charmer the actor can be. Bethel went on to play a supportive, progressive husband on Astronaut Wives Club and then turned in a charismatic performance on Blood & Oil.

Playing two complete opposites — as Claire's devoted husband Frank Randall and the sinister "Black" Jack Randall — Menzies' yin/yang performance during Outlander's freshman season was truly impressive. Venturing to yet another extreme, the actor also showed off his comedy chops with a small but memorable guest gig as a blunt OB-GYN on the U.K. comedy Catastrophe.

This year, Morris played his innate charm to the hilt in two wildly different roles: New Girl's eager-to-please teacher Ryan and Hand of God's eager-to-succeed preacher Rev. Paul. In the Fox comedy, Morris was so sexily likable — and such a natural fit with the ensemble —that we were bummed when things didn't work out between him and Jess. As the Amazon drama's flawed, fly-by-night pastor, the actor continually made us question whether Paul was a serious man of the cloth or a shady charlatan... and why we couldn't take our eyes off him, either way.

If we can't have another Happy Endings, at least we had its Coupe on some of our favorite shows throughout the year. Laughers like The Mindy Project, Casual and Superstore were squarely in her comedy wheelhouse, but the funny lady switched it up with her late-in the-year debut as Ryan's ex-wife/current FBI partner in the ABC drama Quantico.

Noble's booming bass came out of the mouths of three very different characters in 2015. First was Ichabod's orphaned (and bitter about it) son Henry on Sleepy Hollow, who attempted world domination but ended up dead at Abbie's hand. Noble followed that series regular role with a quick guest spot on Forever and a more permanent gig as Elementary's oft-discussed but heretofore unseen Papa Holmes.

Whether she was serving up southern-fried sass (with a side of venom) as Revenge's Penelope Ellis, or making sure "zheveryone" felt comfortable as a Mindy Project preschool director, Carolyn Hennesy's unique, and always dependable, brand of upper-class snark served her well in both arenas.

Unlike her bumbling-yet-lovable Scream Queens character, Niecy Nash was always there when we needed her in 2015. And while she kept us in stitches as security guard-turned-police chief Denise Hemphill, it was her role as nurse Didi Ortley in the final season of HBO's Getting On — for which she nabbed a 2016 Critics Choice Award nomination — that truly made our year. The show may be over, but will we still think about Didi for years to come? "More than you can imagine."

Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Sgt. Terry Jeffords pulled double duty as host of both Fox's World's Funniest and the 2014-2015 season of the syndicated game show Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Plus, who could forget his Lip Sync Battle victory over Mike Tyson?

After completing more than 80 episodes as CSI nightshift supervisor D.B. Russell, Danson and his character made the move to tech crimes in Season 2 of CSI: Cyber. The spinoff probably helped the Cheers vet prepare for his most recent role: Police Sheriff-turned-potential emoji inventor Hank Larsson on the FX anthology series Fargo.

Whether Lindhome was canoodling with Fozzie Bear on The Muppets, trying to massage away Jessica's stress on Fresh Off the Boat, lending her voice to Adventure Time or rocking a Swedish accent during a visit to Brooklyn Nine-Nine, her infectious daffiness shone through. Our favorite Lindhome role this year? Her scene-stealing as turn-of-the-century airhead Beatrice Downsy on Comedy Central's Another Period.

Save for the occasional SVU stop-by, the Alias alum had kept pretty quiet after Brothers & Sisters abruptly wrapped in 2011. That changed starting in April with a Good Wife gig, followed by double duty this fall on Limitless (where he recurs as Brian's father) and Gotham, where he popped out from under a hood to portray the nutty leader of the Order of St. Dumas.  

Not only did King earn an Emmy for her compelling portrayal of Islamic convert Aliyah Shadeed in American Crime, she made The Leftovers' sophomore season relocation from Mapleton, NY, to Jarden, Texas, a trip worth taking by turning new neighbor Erika Murphy into a character who was every bit as compelling as our old favorites Kevin and Nora.

Call him the Wizard of Oswalt. In addition to wrapping his memorable runs as Justified's Constable Bob and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Koenig, the character actor served as chief of staff to Veep's Andrew Doyle, stopped by both Maron and Drunk History, served as Battle Creek's mayor and lent his pipes to The Goldbergs (where he serves as narrator), BoJack Horseman, Axe Cop and Rick and Morty.

It was the poor unfortunate soul who didn't catch the Alias alum in one of her many TV roles this year. She followed a Backstrom guest spot with ongoing gigs on the ABC Family weeper Chasing Life, the Fox comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine as well as, yes, her splashy turn as evil Ursula on ABC's Once Upon a Time.

Before his time as Getting On's supervising nurse Patsy came to an end, Rodriguez had already booked another series regular role as one-time Body Locker Todd on Fox's Last Man on Earth, the sometimes-best friend of Will Forte's Tandy. During the Fox comedy's freshman run, Rodriguez also turned up on Better Call Saul, as Jimmy McGill's former partner-in-crime, Marco (may he rest in peace).

Does Pellegrino have some secret bucket list that includes every series that ever aired on television? Because 2015 went much like 2014 (and 2013, and 2012, etc.) for the actor: He played a lot of roles on a lot of shows. This year's tally included Chicago P.D., Supernatural, The Returned and Quantico. 

The Playing House mama returned for Season 2 of the USA Network comedy she co-created and still found time to be Review's bad decision maker Mrs. Greenfield and Selina's extreme yes woman (and foil for Amy) on HBO's Veep.

The Broadway star continued her TV career with a recurring role as country crooner Sadie Stone on ABC's Nashville. And while she got a few good hits in during her brief Music City sojourn — "Gasoline and Matches" comes to mind — scheduling (and a soapy send-off) soon saw Sadie heading out of town. She resurfaced a few months later in the outta-this-world dual role of Kara's loving mother and scheming aunt in CBS' Supergirl.

Steenburgen committed to a number of terrific TV roles this year, including Last Man on Earth survivor Gail, Togetherness free spirit Linda and Orange Is the New Black's Momma Pornstache. The actress also turned up in the HBO tennis spoof 7 Days in Hell alongside Andy Samberg and Kit Harrington, and concluded her role as Justified badass Katherine Hale in a bloodied fight to the death.

If you can't find Keegan-Michael Key, he's probably somewhere taking a nap. After all, he had another busy year as Key & Peele and Parks and Recreation wrapped for good and Playing House went full-tilt with his rom-com storyline; he also appeared in Hulu's The Hotwives of Las Vegas. Still, when President Obama requested that his anger translator be on hand for the White House Correspondents Dinner in April, Key was there to make sure Luther kept everyone in line.

The Greek grad played UnREAL's grieving, bulimic bachelorette Anna, then switched things up with a move to the FBI academy. There she became Quantico's Shelby, a poor-little-rich-girl turned steely federal agent who may have been involved in a major terror attack.

Zimmer has been pretty ubiquitous since late spring, when she followed up a Maron visit with her debut as UnREAL boss lady Quinn King. Concurrent with her run on the Lifetime hit, she found time to check in on Jason O'Mara's assorted Complications. Then, just as UnREAL served up its freshman finale, news broke that Zimmer had landed a choice role on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where for nine episodes she vexed and charmed Coulson as ATCU head Rosalind Price.

Coming off a 2014 in which she paired a major role during White Collar's final season with the onset of her Jane the Virgin run, the never-idle Legend of the Seeker alum this year juggled the second half of her arc as Jane's sinister Sin Rostro with a second villainess — Agent Carter's undercover nemesis, Dottie Underwood — while fitting a Good Wife visit somewhere in between.

After finishing up a recurring role on Parks and Rec as government employee/Tom's Bistro sommelier Craig Middlebrooks, Eichner became one of Hulu's Difficult People. Meanwhile, Billy On the Street moved from Fuse to truTV in October, with A-list guests such as Julianne Moore, Chris Pratt and Sarah Jessica Parker. He also continued lending his voice to Fox's Bob's Burgersand helped Conan O'Brien join Grindr in one of TVLine's favorite late-night moments of 2015.

The Parks and Rec scene stealer couldn't be stopped following the NBC comedy's farewell season. Ansari went on to sell out two shows at Madison Square Garden (which were documented for a Netflix special) and write and star in the critically acclaimed comedy Master of None. (The comedian also lent his voice to Bob's Burgers and Adventure Time, guested on Kroll Show and The League and portrayed former presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal in a series of Tonight Show segments.)

Hard to say which was the baddest of Feldshuh's 2015 roles: Flesh and Bone's unsympathetic Ivana, The Walking Dead's ride or and die Deanna, Blue Bloods' secretive Sylvia or Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's neurotic Mrs. Bunch. (We're going to go with Mama Bunch, who can belt out a catchy tune and verbally eviscerate her daughter in the same breath.)