2021 In Review: 29 Of Our Favorite Scene Stealers From WandaVision, Grey's Anatomy, Ted Lasso And More

TV's big stars can take the spotlight all they want — but we also have our eyes on the supporting characters around the margins.

This year in television has blessed us with a bumper crop of standout supporting characters — the ones who, while they may be limited in screen time, make us grin every time they enter a scene. As part of TVLine's ongoing Year in Review extravaganza, we're looking back on our favorite scene stealers of the past 12 months, from a witchy neighbor on WandaVision (who comes with one heck of a theme song) to a charming bank robber on Money Heist to an elderly grandma on Riverdale. (Yes, they do have those on that show, if you can believe it.)

Read on to see which supporting characters caught our eye in 2021, including fan favorites from Grey's Anatomy, Ted Lasso, Succession, Wynonna Earp and Hawkeye, just to name a few. And when you're done with our picks, feel free to shout out your own preferred scene stealers from the past year in the comments.

Still ahead in TVLine's 2021 in Review: TV's Coolest Scenes, Best Needle Drops, Dumb Things TV Did, our Performer of the Year winner and much more!

If there's one thing we love more than Adam's (often unintentionally) hilarious contributions to conversations — who would have guessed he keeps up with the Kardashians?! — it's his slow but steady emotional growth, which hit new heights in Season 3. Whether he was training his pup for an agility competition (!) or attempting to write poetry for Eric (!!!), Adam found increasingly endearing ways to surprise us this year... even when poop was involved.

"Oh, this is gonna be a gas!" Agnes proclaimed in WandaVision's very first episode — and boy, was it ever, thanks to Kathryn Hahn's delightfully campy take on the nosy neighbor-turned-powerful witch. With Agnes impervious to Wanda's mind control over Westview, her sitcom characters were over-the-top in the best way, giving us — among many other standout moments — the exaggerated Episode 3 wink that became a go-to meme, and the fourth wall-breaking "Agatha All Along" song, which ended with a flawless line reading and all-out cackle from Hahn.

His mother may have ruined the show within the show — and more than once, boss Nick would hasten to mention — but if you ask us, "P.A." stands for "profoundly amusing" where Tim Lyons' harried alter ego is concerned. Surrounded by absolute chaos — not to mention Scott Foley doing some of his career-best work — Alan never failed to walk away with any scene that wasn't nailed down. Also, some that were. Heck, he even managed to upstage Monica while she was high as a kite — no mean feat, that.

Harlem is one of our favorite new shows this year, and Angie is a key reason why. We loved her confidence, unfiltered opinions and excellent comedic timing — every scene felt that much livelier, funnier, and more enjoyable with her in it. The rising singer might not be ruling the charts yet, but she's queen of our hearts.

Tariq's Stansfield roomie never knows when to keep his mouth shut, which makes him a) eminently watchable and b) a less-than-ideal partner in 'Riq's campus drug biz. Oops! Don't get us wrong: Brayden is 100 percent a kinda lazy rich kid seeking kicks by dabbling in illegal pharmaceutical sales. But he also makes us laugh on the regular, so we'll allow it.

With her icy cold, precisely witty appearances as the mother of Kendall, Roman and Shiv, Dame Harriet Walter reminds us that it took two vipers to breed the basket of snakes that is the Roy siblings. Caroline can effortlessly weave an insult into everyday small talk, and with that gut-punch confession to Shiv that she thinks she shouldn't have had children, she gave us a big hint as to why her kids never want to see her. We wish we saw her more, though, if only for the laughs.

Though she started off as a member of Capt. Terrance's avaricious crew (and therefore someone John B and Sarah should avoid), Cleo soon revealed herself as a resourceful and clever operator whose wickedly sharp sense of humor immediately made her one of our favorites. Even more importantly, her fundamentally good nature proved clutch toward the end of the season, when she helped John B & Co. escape a grim fate aboard the cargo ship — earning her instant citizenship in Poguelandia.

As Patience, Colo.'s resident bartender, D'Arcy Bloom's questionable life choices gave actress Alice Wetterlund plenty of space to flex her comedy muscle. With her whiskey-soaked wit and blunt, rambling tendencies, we could always count on D'Arcy to provide a unique perspective and beautifully timed quip.

At first glance, Theo Rossi's super fan, aka "Behind the Scenes Gene," ventured into Adam Sandler "Herlihy Boy" territory because of his blind and goofy devotion to Kid. But Rossi, who normally plays stoic tough guys, brought a lot of heart and soul to the role and made us feel for the lonely-but-harmless stalker as he proved to be even more trustworthy and loyal than Kid's own brother Carlton.

Mi-neyo (played by Kim Joo-ryeong) would absolutely kill on Survivor or Big Brother. From the moment we first got to know her — stealing a smoke in the loo, where she helped Sae-byeok climb up into the vents — it was clear she'd operate in a very grey area. And her aggressive "courting" of the gangster Deok-su was a bold, if ultimately clumsy, play to align with the heaviest hitter. But as overt as her strategy may at times have been, her final play — taking Deok-su down with her — was as cunning as it was selfless.

The Fruit Ninja-obsessed Helen was overly stubborn and opinionated, but that's exactly why we loved her. Jean Smart perfectly accentuated the character's sharp edges, pointed dialogue and occasional drunken pratfalls, proving that Mare's mom was far more than just a supporting character; she was one of the actress' best roles to date.

AFC Richmond's center back (played by David Elsendoorn) is "not being rude, he's just being Dutch!" (Sam's words, not ours!) Easily the club's most frank recruit, Jan Maas quickly became one of our favorite players for his uncanny ability to offer his two cents at the worst possible moment.

Netflix's college comedy centered on Sandra Oh's misadventures as the chair of a prestigious university's English department — but our eyes were constantly drawn to TV veteran Holland Taylor and her hilarious work as feisty old professor Joan. With the university ready to cast her aside, she vigorously fought back, even going after a student for giving her a poor evaluation. We'd gladly sign up for another semester in Joan's classroom.

Kyle Richard's big sister may not have held a diamond this season, but that didn't stop her from shining. The matriarch of the Hilton family is so out of touch with reality, it should probably be infuriating, yet it's somehow... delightful? From her confusing phrases ("I'm literally ready to have a gorilla!") to her playful jabs ("Peeping Thomasina!"), everything that came out of her mouth was pure gold. We knew we loved her the moment she asked "Who is Hunky Dory?" and everything after that has been, well, hunky dory.

Whazzup? The always smiling, always chilled-out lunkhead played by Josh Segarra is a welcome sight anytime he ambles on screen — even if Brooke is often disgusted by him. Between his pearls of space-cadet wisdom and his ridiculous shoe design ideas, Brooke's ex offers plenty of giggles per minute of screen time. We didn't want to see him cheat on his girlfriend with Brooke... but then again, we kinda did, just so we'd see more of him.

In Season 2 of the revival series, Josie Totah continued stealing the limelight with her hilarious antics and razor-sharp delivery and timing. But she didn't only provide comedic relief. Through her relationship with Jamie and her effort to rewrite the school play (to help "solve transphobia the way Hamilton solved racism"), we saw there was more to the layered Lexi than meets the eye. 

Yes, we know that the ABC drama's recording star is moving toward going by her given name, which is Lauren. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy her in her Lil Muff persona, which is outrageous, eminently quotable and heavily bewigged. Plus: When a character has a jeweled unicorn horn surgically implanted in her forehead, we defy you not to stop and take notice.

London Brown, the actor who skillfully brought Marvin to life in the Power prequel's premiere season, describes his character as "ride or die to a fault." And that's exactly what Kanan's favorite uncle was. Did he crash one too many Benzes, shoot wildly, and conflate lesbian with Lebanese? Of course! But Marvin also brought much-needed levity to a very heavy series, and for that, we love him, warts and all.

The fact that Brian Jordan Jr. is the only male series regular on Sistas tells you all you need to know about the importance of his character. While Jordan's comedic timing tickles fans' funny bones, rare moments of vulnerability have helped make his portrayal endearing and relatable in Season 3. Now that Maurice has survived the crap storm Q brought into his life, here's hoping he finds the true love he so richly deserves.

Simply said, you never knew where Mercedes, played over three seasons by Dani Kind, would pop up next. The Syfy drama's farewell run alone found her flinging knives across the Earp homestead, helping the heroes rifle through Nedley's suspect couch and performing a cabaret at The Glory Hole (under the name Portia-control). In the end, and in the name of a greater good, Mercedes let herself be turned by Doc so as to help save the day, and you have to think that she will forever put the "vamp" in vampire.

Amid a cast of taut young twentysomethings, Barbara Wallace's elderly Blossom family matriarch stands out — even though she's usually sitting down. Every appearance by Cheryl's grandmother adds an eerie, supernatural edge to the proceedings, and we love listening to the ominous declarations that come out of her lips. Long live Nana Rose!

It's hard not to root for Rodrigo de la Serna's sardonic Dali-masked marauder Palermo. From his blind determination to dress formally to present plans for the greatest robbery of all times at 5 am to his heartbreakingly unrequited love for Berlin, Palermo is an underdog worthy of kudos and adulation. Bella ciao, indeed!

Truly, any member of the CBS comedy's talented ensemble is capable of stealing the spotlight (and often has with just one perfectly delivered line of dialogue). But Román Zaragoza is so deadpan sarcastic in his performance as the Native American ghost that we're almost blindsided by his one-liners.

From the moment that he rolled up to Blue Valley in his '67 Jaguar, we knew that Richard Swift had a certain style. And in conversations/confrontations with Barbara, Pat and then the JSA at large, his calm demeanor and English accent further set him apart from previous ISA alumni. Jonathan Cake gave the frenemy an undeniable flair, all of which made his (apparent) demise inside the movie house such a (temporary) heartbreaker.

Gossip Girl may have her eye on the sexed-up youngsters of Constance Billard–St. Jude's School, but we're far more obsessed with the woman behind the moniker — and we're not talking about Kate. Tony Award winner Julie Halston is a force to be reckoned with as Sharon, a woman so iconic she doesn't even need a last name. Her attitude towards her students ("F–k 'em all!") is even more inspiring than her kind words to her coworkers. ("It's so cute how you're still eye level when you stand.") We would follow her anywhere.

The combined forces of darkness have nothing on the diminutive nun, who takes on both religious misogyny and the Devil's minions with the same fearless bravado. Often, David's self-appointed exorcism mentor says more with a look — or a forceful scrubbing of the floor — than other characters say in an entire monologue. Holy moly, we love her so much.

What we feared would be a shoehorned, hackneyed cameo by Florence Pugh's vengeance-seeking Black Widow character instead proved to be an instant and huge highlight of Hawkeye's six-episode season, when the Russian assassin came bearing gifts in the form of savory mac-and-cheese and tart zingers. Oh, Kate Bishop, your frenemy is funniest!

Marcus' funniest (and most reliable) friend always kept it a hundred with him, offering his perspective as a committed family man. Our appreciation for Chris Powell's character grew tenfold when he called Marcus and Kian out on their s—t during a weekend camping trip, having tried and failed to get a moment's peace before he returned home and resumed his dual role as husband and father.

Laughter being the best medicine and all, we're extra glad that the long-running ABC drama has upped our dosage of the surgical resident whose wit is as sharp as his scalpel. Zander is a breath of fresh air at a time when we're all still waiting to exhale. Now if only Levi would look past Nico's abs and see that right beneath his nose is a more appealing potential option...