The FINANCIAL -- One of the joys of watching television is seeing characters and over-sized personalities; in fact, one station even has a whole marketing campaign centered on characters.

Each year, new television personalities are added to the list of favorites and others drop off, showing another joy of television watching – it is never the same, year after year.

This year, likely due to her announcement that she will be discontinuing her show in September 2011, Oprah Winfrey is America's favorite television personality, up from No. 4 last year. Brand new to the list and debuting at number 2 is Fox News' personality, Glenn Beck, while last year's number one, Jay Leno drops to number three. One thing to note is that this survey was conducted before the change on NBC, dropping the 10pm Jay Leno show and moving him back to the Tonight Show.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,276 adults surveyed online between December 7 and 14, 2009 by Harris Interactive.

Six Guys and a Girl

The only female on the rest of the list comes in at a tie for fourth place, talk show host and new American Idol judge, Ellen DeGeneres, down from no. 3 last year. The new and maybe improved Dr. House, or rather Hugh Laurie is also tied for fourth, down from no. 2 last year.

Next on the top ten list are The Daily Show's Jon Stewart at number 6, Two and a Half Men's Charlie Sheen (no. 7), NCIS's Mark Harmon (no. 8) and making his own top ten, David Letterman at number 9. Returning to the list after dropping off last year is Fox News' Bill O'Reilly at the tenth spot.

On the Fringe

This year, two news personalities, both conservatives are new to the list. One is making a first time appearance (Glenn Beck) and the other is returning after a one year absence (Bill O'Reilly). This means two television personalities have dropped off the list. One is a fake television conservative, and Daily Show alum, Stephen Colbert who was tied for number 9 last year. The other is also a Daily Show alum, but he plays a bumbling Office manager, Steve Carrell, who was number 8 last year.

Talk Soup

There are different number ones for different groups. Men say Jay Leno is their favorite, while for women it is Oprah. Generations also have their favorites. Echo Boomers (those aged 18-32) are about to be disappointed as Conan O'Brien is their favorite, while for both Gen Xers (aged 33-44) and Baby Boomers (aged 45-63) it is Oprah. Another talk show personality is tops for Matures (aged 64 and older) – Glenn Beck.

There are definitely some partisan differences. Glenn Beck is the favorite for both Republicans and for Conservatives, but, interestingly, also for Independents. Oprah Winfrey is number one for Democrats and Moderates, while Jon Stewart is the favorite for Liberals.

While there may be different favorites for different groups, there is one consistent theme. Of the ten on the list, seven of them are talk show personalities. Just one is a sitcom star and two are from dramas.

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