Kate Flannery

Flannery came up through theatre before television found her, and what television found her was Meredith Palmer on The Office, a supporting part in a show already crowded with them. Meredith is the character the writers reached for when a scene needed something genuinely disreputable: the drinking, the total absence of shame in a workplace comedy built on embarrassment. Flannery played her without a wink, which is the only reason the character was funny rather than cruel, and she shared in two Screen Actors Guild ensemble awards with that cast.

Her voice has had a second career of its own. She is Barb on Steven Universe, Carol on OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Agnes on Kiff, and the same flat Philadelphia warmth carries all of them. In live action she works the independent comedy circuit: Charman in Cooties, Karen in 4th Man Out, Siobhan in Dial a Prayer, Loretta in The Prank.

She also does something most character actors avoid, which is appear as herself constantly. The credits here include The Soup, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Name That Tune, The Wheel and Celebrity Name Game, and beyond them a run on Dancing with the Stars and a top-prize win on the celebrity version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Game shows are usually where a sitcom career goes to be embarrassing. She has turned it into a format she is good at.