Addicted to work

It's time for our favourite workaholics to emerge to the surface. They are ranked in order of character development and also how badly they are addicted to their work (and by that we mean their occupation, not what they can achieve through it). 

1. Meryl in Trigun. She's one of the best characters ever created, especially considering it's anime. Her journey is a delight to follow; she starts off as a complete workaholic, but then through certain events she comes to find something more important. She's still a total workaholic though as she reinvents her work during the show. 

1. Sam Tyler in Life on Mars. He is sharing #1 because he's just as bad as Meryl. So much so, that he dumps his girlfriend because the work comes first. He also goes through a journey much similar to Meryl's, except he rediscovers what he was missing in his work...which makes him actually worse of a workaholic than Meryl, but she maybe develops more as a character. 

3. Linus Larrabee in Sabrina. He spends so many nights in the office that he has had a bedroom built in there. He practically has nothing else. His work signifies something else than just plain business though, which makes him an intriguing character.

4. Nicholas Angel in Hot Fuzz. He's a caricatured version of Sam, except Nicholas' workaholism is even worse than his, we'd say. He would be a pain in the butt to work with, he even works when he's supposed to relax.

5. Leslie Knope in Parks & Recreation. She's just as much of a workaholic as all the previous four, she just knows how to balance her life better. Part of the reason why she's such a workaholic is because she's ambitious. Pretty awesome, since you don't really see female characters with political ambition who are optimists as well.

6. Ed Exley in L.A. Confidential. He volunteered to work during the holidays, needless to say, he doesn't have much of a life. He has another purpose for being such a workaholic though, which is why he's not in the top contenders. 

7. Walter Fane in The Painted Veil. Once again, Walter seems to be a workaholic to achieve something else with his work (ie. make the world a better place). Also, he seems to work to ignore his problems.

8. Mr. Kralik in The Shop around the Corner. Even when he's fired his last thoughts go to work. He does seem to have more of a life than the others on this list as he has time to write letters and be with his friends (who all seem to work with him....So he's still abnormal in that sense).

9. Dwight Schrute in The Office. We think the picture tells pretty much why he's on the list. Also, check out the performance reviews episode.

10. Niki Lauda in Rush. He seems to be working so hard because he's ambitious, not because the work has some intrinsic value for him. He works very hard though, earning a place here. The movie was totally snubbed the year it came out, may we add. 

11. Mr. Thornton in North&South. He works to provide for his family and to better his town (give jobs etc.) He finds value in his work because of the results it produces, not for the work itself.