Relations

One of the things that I've been noticing a lot lately are the stock characters that populate me favorite TV shows. So I've assembled some of my favorite sets here.

*NOTE* I decided to only go with shows that are currently on the air. If I wanted to fish back into the cancellation zone, this list would be far too epically long.

Andy Dwyer (Parks and Recreation), Finn Hudson (Glee), and Marshall Erickson (How I Met Your Mother)

These three have truly been cut from the same midwestern doofus cloth. Sure, Marshall has risen above the other two, after all he's a top corporate lawyer in New York. And while Finn is still in high school, let's be honest, he's probably not going to get past mid level insurance agent. And Andy is a shoe shine boy at a tiny city hall. But there's something that all three of them have in common, they're adorable, funny, and unfailingly sweet. OK, Finn not so much lately, what with the whole stealing Quinn from Sam thing, but generally, super sweet.

Chuck Bass (Gossip Girl), Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother), and Ari Gold (Entourage)

Where to begin? The "I am so above you attitude?" Check. The catch phrases? "Let's Hug it Out Bitch?" "Legen...wait for it..." "I'm Chuck Bass!" "DARY!" Check. The deep seeded insecurity that creates the bravado that masks a heart of gold? Check and check! Honestly, this one is what got me thinking about these connections, when my friend Crystan proposed the theory that Bart Bass was Barney's father, and that there should be an epic cross over between GG and HIMYM. (Other storylines include a Serena/Ted hookup, because he reminds her of Dan, but maybe someday I'll outline the entire plot in a post!) Ari comes in for two reasons, like Chuck he is a ruthless business man, and like Barney, he's a pig, but oblivious to it, and therefore still kind of lovable. Also, the suits. Which are really important.

Rebecca Logan (Greek) and Alice Verdura (Hellcats)


These two are quite literally the exact same character. They even look the same. They manipulate their respective systems to stay on top. (Bex the Cyprus Rhodes Greek system and Alice the Hellcats) But when it comes down to it, Rebecca would do anything for ZBZ and Alice would do anything for the squad. That's why we don't want them to go away. That's also why Santana Lopez (Glee) wasn't included on this list. Because as much as I love her, she'd probably sell New Directions down the river if they got too much on her bad side.

Mac (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and Brendan (My Boys)


Aside from the looks again, these two have a few other key characteristics in common. An affinity for tee shirts, they both own bars, they both get caught up in oh so many hijinks. Plus they both have strong sexual tension with their best friend/roommate. Of course it's slightly less dysfunctional in Brendan's case, mostly because PJ is not a sociopath and Dennis is.

Andy Bernard (The Office) and Rajesh Kuthrapali (The Big Bang Theory)



Both men add an element of innocence and happiness to their respective groups. Both are socially awkward and unaware and both belong to distinct social groups. (Geek and Prep) Both are probably my favorite part of both of their shows.

Brooke Davis (One Tree Hill), Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) and Rachel Berry (Glee)

Can't win for trying these girls. Although Brooke finally got married and Rachel finally realized that she needs to focus on her career and well, OK I stopped paying attention to Gossip Girl because it got terrible, but I'm sure Blair will get it together. Last I watched she had just started Columbia. Also, Rachel will never ever be happy until she realizes that she and Puck need to get together unless she ends up with Jesse St. James.

Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory) and Commander Steve McGarret (Hawaii Five-O)



At first sight, maybe not. But then when you think about it, they're both socially awkward, incredibly good at their jobs and dependent on a group of people who are less effecient than them to do their jobs. Which of course leads right into:

Leonard Hoffsteader (The Big Bang Theory) and Danny "Danno" Williams (Hawaii Five-O)


They spend most of their time correcting their brilliant counterpart, in the snarkyest way possible and dedicated to a pretty blond girl. Sure, Leonard it's his ex girlfriend Penny, and Danno it's his daughter Grace, but the idea is the same.

So, those are mine, any to add?

A Surprising Gift from Hell...cats

During my blog hiatus, I got hooked onto a new brand of CW branded crack, right after I kicked my Gossip Girl addiction, unfortunately. But that crack, was the cheerleading themed soap Hellcats. Like One Tree Hill before it, it seduced me with promises of being something vaguely different. It seemed like it was going to be like the original Bring it On movie, but a show. It quickly spiraled into a standard "anything can and will happen to these people but they'll all rally around something innane to get through these nutso situations," kind of show. Just like One Tree Hill, actually.

But really, what I'm grateful to Hellcats for doing is giving us the character of Savannah, played by Ashley Tisdale. First of all, I've always felt that Ashley was kind of underrated. Yes, I did used to refer to her as "That blonde from Zach and Cody with the unfortunate nose." But now she's a brunette and got a nose job, and now that she's dealing with slightly more grown up material, she's doing really well. I'm glad to see it. But it's not just Ashley's bloom that makes me happy about Savannah.

Savannah is a devout Christian, and it's a key part of her character. She's saving sex for marriage, puts her trust in God, and oh, did I mention she's not considered, crazy, weird, preachy or stupid. She's the captain of the Hellcats cheerleading squad, on a scholarship to college, was dating a nice guy, goes to parties and is a normal and functioning human being.

As someone who considers her faith paramount to her identity, and gets increasingly frustrated at how people of faith, particularly women of faith, are portrayed, usually as one of two categories, idiots and hypocrites and they're all shrewish and overly opinionated and set to convert the world. But Hellcats is giving us neither, they're giving us a fully fleshed out character, or as fully fleshed out as anyone on The CW is. Last night's episode cemented it. Because as the rest of the squad whined about how they were going to lose everything when Marty revealed that football star Jake robbed a pharmacy and framed her law professor's client causing him to be convicted of his "third strike" and put in maximum security prison for like ever or something. (See, I told you anything and everything!) Savannah insisted that whatever happened was God's plan and then got on her knees to ask Him for guidance, in the privacy of her dorm room, without pushing this element on any of the other Hellcats. It's too bad that not that many people are watching.