Boston Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert has rounded up 14 annoying TV characters. Why 14? Why not?

Lately, I’ve been loving “House.” But every time Omar Epps’s Eric Foreman shows up, I cringe. He just annoys me. Plain and simple. Ditto Katherine Heigl’s Izzie on “Grey’s Anatomy.” She’s a mosquito buzzing around my ear.

We all come across characters who get on our nerves. Not the ones created to irritate — remember Steve Urkel on “Family Matters”? — so much as those who offend our personal tastes. They grate on our sensibilities, sometimes so acutely (David Caruso, “CSI: Miami”) they are dealbreakers. We can’t even watch the show.

Ultimately, it’s highly subjective. So here’s my list of annoying characters, with apologies offered in advance.

-- By Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff