Prohibition is one of the coolest periods of history. The music was jumping. The fashion was hot. And every drink someone downed was another instance of sticking it to the G-Man.
For all of those reasons and more, TV loves depicting Prohibition in one form or another. Some shows are lucky enough to be set that era or can use time travel to transport its characters back to the 20s.
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Other shows have to get more creative about how they can justify alcohol bans and characters talking like wiseguys while wearing feathers, fringe, or pinstripes. When it's pulled off, it makes for a great episode of television.
To make it during Prohibition though takes more than good looks and speaking the password. Who can run a smuggling enterprise, brew and distill intoxicating substances, operate a speakeasy, and possess the grit to take out the competition before they take you down first? Read on to find out.
1. Meredith Grey - Grey's Anatomy
Meredith loves tequila, dance parties and has no qualms about helping friends who run into trouble with the law. She would fight as hard to keep a speakeasy alive as she would for any patient.
2. Lucifer & Maze - Lucifer
What happens when The Devil and his trusted bodyguard leave Hell? They open the hottest bar in Los Angeles, and kind of got bored with it pretty quickly. Good thing they waited for the 21st century because running a bar during Prohibition would have been far too easy for them.
3. Homer & Bart Simpson - The Simpsons
Homer has the determination. Bart has the deviousness. Together they keep Springfield liquored up while Rex Banner is left wondering how the Beer Baron got the better of him.
4. Teresa Mendoza - Queen of the South
Running a smuggling operation takes brains, cunning, daring and you have to be ready to deal with betrayal at the drop of a hat. Teresa Mendoza has all of these traits, which is how she was able to go from being a money changer who barely earned enough to scrape by to the head of a drug empire. All hail the Queenpin!
5. Hawkeye Pierce - M*A*S*H
Keeping a distillery in your tent is definitely against army regulations, but Hawkeye Pierce is never afraid to thumb his nose at authority. Break his still, take it away, it won't do any good because Hawkeye will always find a way to make sure he has a never-ending supply of martinis.
6. Walter White - Breaking Bad
Cooking meth or distilling spirits -- it's all just a matter of chemistry to Heisenberg. If Breaking Bad was set in the 20s, you could bet Walter White would still be the one who knocks.
