About 10 years ago my husband and I decided to watch a new show. It was about a lawyer and a bowling alley and a small town called Stuckeyville.
Yes, I’m talking about Ed. Oh, how we LOVED Ed! We watched every single episode, rooted for Ed and Carol throughout their on-again/off-again romance, and laughed at Ed and Mike’s weekly $10 bets.
And to this day, we still occasionally call that green leafy vegetable you eat in salads, “leh-toos.” (I’m referring to one of those silly bets, and I don’t know why that one in particular tickled us so much, but it did.)
One of the things we loved about Ed was the fact that the main characters seemed like people we’d actually hang out with. We kind of wanted to be friends with them in real life.
Flash forward a few years, and that’s really what drew us to both How I Met Your Mother and My Boys. The characters, quirky as they may be, really were the kind of people we could see being friends with, eating pizza with, sharing adventures with.
As I was thinking about that recently (thanks to a glut of HIMYM reruns on about four different channels), I started wondering what other casts or characters would make good friends.
After all, many of my favorite shows are full of characters that I love watching but would never invite over for dinner (I’m thinking of pretty much every Glee character here.). Here’s my list:
- Ed
- How I Met Your Mother
- My Boys
- Cougar Town: Yes, they drink WAY more wine than I do, but hello? Penny can!
- This one was a toss-up. I’m going to say the kids from That 70s Show for my early twenties (no, I did not sit around in a circle and “smoke,” but I probably would’ve looked the other way back then), and I’ll reserve the ladies from The Golden Girls for a few decades down the road.
- Claire Dunphy (Modern Family): This is probably my most realistic character choice. We’re both moms, but I think I’d like to learn to relax and have fun . . . while still doing my best from Claire and her crazy family.
- Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars): Sarcastic, smart and cooler than any kid in her school? Yes, I believe I’d like to be friends with Miss Mars. She’d probably get me in a lot of trouble, but oh, the stories I’d have to tell!
- Niles and Frasier Crane (Frasier): I know. This probably seems like a weird choice. But think about how often they had tickets to the ballet, the opera or the latest musical! I’d put up with their stuffy ways just for that, I think.
- Liz Lemon (30 Rock): Have you noticed how much Liz loves cheese? Clearly we are a match made in TV Fantasy Heaven.
- Sydney Bristow (Alias): And now for my most unrealistic choice! I’d like to be friends with Sydney in the world where I am the same size as Jennifer Garner and could wear some of those amazing outfits!
Yesterday on Twitter, I asked this question. I got some great (and sometimes surprising) answers!
- @randi094: Friends, Desperate Housewives, Hot In Cleveland
- @JNewellMedia: Friends of course or Modern Family!
- @gitzengirl: Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights. Love her.
- @wendylivsimp: The “7th Heaven” family, especially the parents.
- @HyacynthW: Loralie Gilmore from Gilmore Girls would top my list.
- @amyjbennett: Tami Taylor, of course #FNL
- @amdesimone: Gilmore Girls
- @tiamimi: Shawn and Gus. River Song and the 11th Doctor. The whole NCIS cast minus Director Vance.
I had to laugh at that last one. Shawn and Gus (Psych) are definitely wish-list friends for me, too, but poor Director Vance. Nobody wants to hang out with him! Gilmore Girls is one of my all-time favorite shows, but I actually think I might prefer sweet and stable Sookie over Loralie! And, yes, the cast of Friends is a definite.
How about you? Which cast or character would you like to be real-life friends with?
This post will be linked to Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda.
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