Rich people are great to watch, but sometimes the staff is even better. While the rich makes fools of themselves, their butlers have to clean up the mess - whether its chocolate sauce all over the living room or a dented Batmobile. These butlers make our lives, the viewers, better for all the work they do…and don’t do.

7. Geoffrey Butler

An accomplished Olympic runner and Oxford University alum, Geoffrey Butler left England after cheating in a race and getting slapped by the Queen. Thus his career in buttling was realized in the sitcom the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, providing the Banks family with much needed sarcasm.

6. Edwin Jarvis

Iron Man’s invaluable butler Edwin Jarvis has become a staple of the Marvel Universe, offering his skills to the entire Avengers and Fantastic Four, helping host alien dignitaries and babysitting super powered children. He’s even served the Avengers for their entire existence, longer even than Captain America.

5. Mr. Belvedere

Not all butlers play have to been seen and not heard. Mr. Lynn Belvedere starred in his own show for six seasons and two movies. The English Belvedere (noticing a trend here) guided the Owens household to being open and loving, which as TV has show, people can’t learn on their own.

4. Lurch

Lurch works as the loyal and lumbering butler to the Adams Family. A distinct homage to the Frankenstein Monster, Lurch spends most of his time moving slow, grunting as if incapable of full speech (even though he is capable), and finding his size hampers his work at times. But Lurch remains a valuable member of the zany family, responding to the summoning sound of his bell in an instant. Seriously, where’s he come from?

3. Benson DuBois

Serving the Tates in the soap opera spoof Soap, Benson epitomized the sarcastic butler that became so favored by sitcoms years later. He especially disdained answering the door, scowling until everyone started at him. He would ask “You want me to get that…?” His years of loyal service earned Benson his own self-titled sitcom that ran almost twice as long as its predecessor.

2. Reginald Jeeves

His name has become synonymous with butlers even though Jeeves himself was a valet, not a butler (valets serve one person whereas butlers serve the household). Jeeves’ employer, Bertie Wooster, states “if the call comes, he can buttle with the best of them”. Jeeves has been featured in dozens of short stories, novels, movies, radio and TV series, and even two failed musicals since 1917. He has proved so popular, the Oxford Dictionary recognizes Jeeves as a generic term meaning his long history has been reduced to that of a search engine.

1. Alfred Pennyworth

Batman’s confidant and right hand man, Alfred Pennyworth not only raised the Caped Crusader, but he functions as Batman’s doctor, mechanic, master of disguise, computer technician, and cook. There is no more resourceful, functional, or bad-ass butler to be found.