TV stars may bring in the bucks and fuel gossip sites, but any fan of The Office or 30 Rock knows it’s the supporting cast that makes a show. This week, we take stock of the current season’s most profligate scene-stealers:

Pamela Adlon, “Marcy,” Californication: Adlon is a revelation as husky-voiced Marcy, though the actor has been kicking around since an ’80s stint on The Facts of Life and she won an Emmy voicing King of the Hill’s Bobby. Highlight: When her husband cheats with his Suicide Girl secretary, Marcy steals his mistress away (before realizing “the female orgasm is 99 per cent mental. Who has time for that?”).  
 
Ray Wise, “The Devil,” Reaper: With his Hollywood tan, Cheshire cat grin and Clintonesque charm, Lucifer is both charismatic tempter and unlikely father figure while still being evil as all get out. The more we find out about the devil, the better: turns out he hates Halloween (“it’s the commercialization of evil!”), he invented therapy so the wicked could justify themselves and he loves blooming onions. Highlight: Actually, it’s almost to the show’s detriment that Wise burns up the screen so brightly.

Kristin Chenoweth, “Olive,” Pushing Daisies: Her love for Ned may be unrequited, but I adore Pushing Daisies’ besotted pie waitress. The Broadway star embodies the show’s balance of whimsy and sorrow, offering a sunny smile one moment and crooning “Hopelessly Devoted to You” the next. And she’s deadpan-funny. Highlight: “I used to think ‘masturbation’ meant chewing your food.”

Rhys Darby, “Murray,” The Flight of the Conchords: It’s not easy to play second banana, much less third, especially when the leads are the fourth most popular folk-parody duo in New Zealand. Darby excels as Murray “Ginger Balls” Hewitt, who offers consistently bad advice as both the band’s manager and as cultural attaché at the New Zealand consulate. The incompetent boob routine has been done before, but rarely as dryly as Darby plays it. Highlight: His music video inspired by The Lord of the Rings.
 
Christina Hendricks, “Joan,” Mad Men: In a man’s world, head secretary Joan parades her pin-up figure about the office and boffs the boss. She’s no feminist, but by using her sexuality to control her own life, Joan lays the groundwork for female empowerment to come. Highlight: Any time she walks down the hall. (Sorry, I’m stuck in 1960.)

Gregg Henry, “Hugh,” The Riches: Character actor Henry sizzles as the gleefully greedy real estate mogul with even fewer morals than the titular grifters. Highlight: Boasting, gun in hand, that his mansion is “modelled on Hermann Göring’s summer place.”
 
Ryan McPartlin, “Captain Awesome,” Chuck: Not just the token jock on a geek show, Chuck’s sister’s boyfriend is not only a doctor, he’s confident and sweet, even teaching Chuck to tango. You’ll be won over by, yes, his sheer awesomeness. Highlight: Dressing up as Adam for Halloween, naked but for a well-placed fig leaf.

Tyler Labine, “Sock,” Reaper:Brampton-born Labine has been playing this role since rooming with Ryan Gosling on Breaker High, but who’s complaining when he plays the chubby slacker goofball so blissfully well? Highlight: A brief, yet still way too long, sex scene with demonic Gladys from the DMV.

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