Our Favorite TV Bosses

Don't you wish your boss were more like the bosses on TV? You know, wise, kind, smart, respectful ... oh, actually, never mind. TV bosses may not always be the best managers around, but at least they're entertaining. In honor of Boss' Day, here are 13 bosses who liven up the TV workplace, for better or (very often) for worse.
-- By Patricia Chui and Andrew Scott

Michael Scott, 'The Office'
He puts the "dunderhead" in Dunder Mifflin -- in fact, by some standards (brains, common sense, efficiency), he may be the worst boss we've ever seen. But he does have that World's Great Boss mug, so maybe we're all wrong about him.

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Jack Donaghy, '30 Rock'
The VP of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming for GE is insanely egotistic, adores Nixon and isn't good at dealing with anybody on the 'TGS' staff. Yet weirdly, he's a terrific, even affectionate mentor to Liz Lemon. Nixon would be proud ... we think.

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Patty Hewes, 'Damages'
She's ruthless, manipulative, and honestly, a major beyotch. But she's fascinating to watch -- one of the toughest broads on TV, and something of a role model (if you want everyone to fear and hate you, that is).

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Dr. Lisa Cuddy, 'House'
Even if she does try to stop House at every turn, somebody has to play straight man to the arrogant genius, right? Plus, not that deep down, we know Cuddy is simply putty in House's hands.

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Roger Sterling and Bertram Cooper, 'Mad Men'
Don Draper is the boss everybody wants to have, but partners Sterling and Cooper are the bosses everybody does have. A barefooted eccentric and a semi-reformed womanizer who marries a much younger secretary? Oh, the tough, tough life of an ad exec.

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Wilhelmina Slater, 'Ugly Betty'
Her constant scheming violates nearly every code in the book. But when was fashion ever about inner beauty?

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Agent Phillip Broyles, 'Fringe'
The head of the Fringe Division at Homeland Security is stubborn, dedicated ... oh heck, who cares? He's Lance Reddick, aka Lt. Cedric Daniels of 'The Wire,' and ergo, awesome.

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Henrietta "Hetty" Lang, 'NCIS: Los Angeles'
The operations manager of the Office of Special Projects is petite, but she's steely and almost scary, in a no-nonsense kind of way. In fact, if ever it came to a throwdown between her and Chris O'Donnell's character Callen, our money's on Lang.

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C. Montgomery Burns, 'The Simpsons'
Depriving Springfield of sunlight? Bad. Keeping Homer on staff, even after he almost caused a nuclear meltdown? Excellent.

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Ari Gold, 'Entourage'
Arrogant: check. Rude: check. Mean to his assistants: check. Yet Ari's also fiercely loyal and -- shh! -- a pussycat at heart (he finally promoted Lloyd!). Don't worry, Ari, we won't tell anyone.

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Assistant Chief Will Pope, 'The Closer'
The buck stops with Pope, who stands up for his team and is dedicated to catching bad guys. He's such a stand-up boss generally, we'll forgive him the occasional extramarital affair and inappropriate office behavior with Brenda.

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Dr. Richard Webber, 'Grey's Anatomy'
It's not easy running a hospital like Seattle Grace, especially when one of your doctors is the daughter of the woman you had an affair with. For all his mistakes, though, Dr. Webber's always on his staff's side ... and we're always on his.

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Kelly Cutrone, 'The City'
MTV's very own Anna Wintour, Kelly Cutrone may run a cutthroat ship. But anyone smart enough to fire Stephanie Pratt and call Roxy "stupid" is OK in our book.