LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) The spirit of those who fought for U.S. independence has lived on in many television characters.

Sometimes, their actions may belie the genuine heroism of men and women who rank among the home screen’s good guys, but the pursuit of life and liberty still remains their prime motivation. In this week of the Fourth of July, here’s a rundown of some brave home-screen standouts, past and present.

# Clark Kent, "Smallville": OK, he isn’t U.S.-born and -bred to the absolute letter - he didn’t even have a visa with him when he landed on Earth from Krypton — but this superpowered farm boy embodies every criterion of "truth, justice and the American way." Living in Kansas brings out even more of his down-home appeal, and even if his youthful adventures seem pretty localized, anyone who knows the rest of the story realizes Clark eventually will grow up to defend America (and, for that matter. the world) at large.

# President Josiah Bartlet, "The West Wing": With current headlines and broadcasts dominated by bitter and partisan political bickering, this series provides a tiny yet hopeful oasis of an America in which everything is overseen by this avuncular, compassionate, fair, wise and flawed yet courageous chief executive. Would that it were really so easy to resolve almost any world crisis in 40-odd minutes (plus commercials).

# Tony Almeida, "24": Jack Bauer is supposed to be the hero here, but Tony overcame dating a mole to run the Counter Terrorist Unit, and eventually went to prison to save his wife. When Jack called for help, he shook off lethargy and threw himself — and his little beer belly — fearlessly into the fray.

# Napoleon Solo, "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.": It’s a given that any agent of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement would be a hero, since the job required defending humanity from villains who had all sorts of grandiose schemes for world domination. That Solo consistently did it with such unyielding panache, often in the face of seemingly imminent death (Tied beneath a pendulum about to slice him in two? Not a problem) puts him even higher on the hero scale.

# Buffy Summers, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer": Her tombstone on the series said it best: "She saved the world/A lot." And she did it at a tremendous personal price, not because there was something in it for her, but simply because she understood that’s what she had been put on Earth for in the first place.

# Dana Scully, "The X-Files": Brave, tough, resourceful, logical and appropriately dressed (OK, the heels went up a bit in later seasons), Scully was one of the few professional women on television who seemed like a real person. Even with her beliefs under constant assault, Scully still kept it together and never screamed like a girl.

# Angus MacGyver, "MacGyver": What is more traditionally American than using sheer mind power to get out of tight scrapes? And who had to do that more often than troubleshooter extraordinaire MacGyver? He had us at "hello," especially since in the show’s pilot episode, he used an average chocolate bar to prevent a nuclear facility’s complete meltdown.

# Dr. Hawkeye Pierce, "M*A*S*H": The wisecracking, irreverent Korean War surgeon seemed to have few sacred cows. Yet he rarely hesitated to rail against the insanity and appalling human waste of war, while doing anything he could to help save the young lives thrust into harm’s way by "statesmen" living safely half a world away.

# Capt. James T. Kirk, "Star Trek": Despite series creator Gene Roddenberry’s protestations that in his version of the 23rd century humans had become more enlightened, Kirk remained a red-blooded, independent thinker who was not afraid to kick the Prime Directive to the curb if he thought it was the right thing to do.

# James T. West, "The Wild Wild West": The Old West counterpart to James Bond was an American hero through and through, since in his role as a government agent, he often had to protect the nation’s founding fathers against big-thinking enemies like diminutive Dr. Loveless. Moreover, his wickedly cool arsenal suggested that secret-agent-friendly inventiveness wasn’t necessarily cornered by British weapons master "Q" and his forerunners.

# Constable Benton Fraser, "Due South": Paul Haggis, writer-director of the current critical hit "Crash" (and screenwriter of "Million Dollar Baby"), created this handsome and unfailingly polite Chicago-transplanted Canadian Mountie who proved consistently that kindness and courtesy will usually get you what you want far more efficiently than either rudeness or force will.

# Lucas McCain, "The Rifleman": This widowed New Mexico rancher was a virtuoso with his modified Winchester rifle when bad guys forced his hand. The rest of the time, though, Lucas was far more intent on instilling a strong sense of right and wrong in his motherless son, Mark.