A few days ago I started a thread on cliches in children's TV. In a way this thread is about the opposite: Great memorable and original characters.
Let me introduce you to Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread).
He is a depressive tin loaf from our public children's TV channel. While so much kids TV presents an ever-cheerful yet vacuous idyll, here we have a perpetually grumpy co-presenter of an infomercial-in-a-show hating his job. Bernd's stated hobby is staring at the wallpaper in his apartment. One of his catch phrases is "My life is hell."
It is a great award-winning show that teaches kids valuable lessons about the full range of human life, personal integrity and tolerance. As a bonus it encourages a little critical thinking about the messages of television.