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I'd hang out with you: TVs top 10 sidekicks
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Xena (Lucy Lawless) and Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) from Xena: Warrior Princess
It’s a classic piece of the television equation. For every main character, there is usually a sidekick. A sidekick can be someone to watch every move the main character makes with advice, guidance or mockery. A sidekick can be someone that is always in trouble, who the main character has to save. A sidekick can be someone who is learning from the main character. A sidekick can be a mixture of all of those things. THOSE are the people who make a show worth watching, and most of the time out shine the main character. Most of the shows you find on this list have several other characters, but its THESE that make the show funny. It’s these that make the show worth it.
10.) BRENDA MORGENSTERN (“RHODA”) 
Back in the 1970s, another sidekick got her own spinoff. One of the most charming things about the television hit RHODA came with the character of Brenda. Brenda (played by Julie Kavner, most known otherwise as Marge Simpson from “The Simpsons”) was the 21 year old sister of the 33 year old character of Rhoda. Brenda was very reminiscent of the Rhoda character we came to love on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Brenda was self deprecating, weak, spineless, and lovable all at the same time. Brenda gave Rhoda the nurturing role, something that Rhoda needed from her best friend Mary Richards. Brenda had her great moments. She dated a third cousin, who had a thing for feet, named Lenny. She longed to be like her sister Rhoda, but Brenda was charming all in her own way.
19.) JOHN BOSLEY (“CHARLIE’S ANGELS”) 
Angels come and go, that seemed to be the trend on the hit 70s television show, “Charlie’s Angels”. It started with Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Farrah Fawcett. Three cast changes in the shows five year run introduced us to Cheryl Ladd, Tanya Roberts and Shelley Hack. Other than Charlie, and Kelly Garrett (played by Jaclyn Smith), there was one character who could withstand all five seasons, John Bosley (played by David Doyle). Bosley was the man who was behind the Angels. He was the man who had the husky voice, the connection to Charlie, and was the stick in the mud. Bosley was always complaining about the cost of everything the Angels needed for either their covers or their stakeouts. However, this lead to some funny circumstances for Bosley throughout the shows five year run. In one episode, Sabrina (Jackson), Kris (Ladd) and Kelly (Smith) were undercover in a traveling circus. They brought Bosley along on their undercover sting. The result? Bosley finds and admirer when Tinklebelle, the resident “little person” seems to fall for him. Bosley is the perfect comedic foil for whichever three ladies he was working with that season. Sadly, David Doyle passed away in 1997.
8.) Paige Clark (“Ellen”) 
Before she was a dancing maniac on her talk show, Ellen DeGeneres had a small little sitcom which launched her to stardom. The show was originally titled “These Friends of Mine”, and focused on four characters: Ellen (DeGeneres), Adam (Arye Gross), Anita (Maggie Wheeler) and Holly (Holly Fulger). In its second season, Wheeler and Fulger were gone, and replaced by Joley Fisher, who came on to play Ellens lifelong friend, Paige. Paige was the perfect counterbalance to the character of Ellen Morgan. Paige was ditzy, where Ellen was book-smart. Paige was impulsive, where Ellen was logical. Paige was aimless for a while, where Ellen had the bookstore. Paige was man crazy, where Ellen was...not so much. Mix in Paiges love affair with Ellens cousin Spence (played by Jeremy Piven, who came on after the departure of Gross), her job later on in the series as a movie executive, and Paige supporting her best friend when she came out of the closet, Paige was funny, sexy, smart and a great sidekick.
7.) Renee Radick (“Ally McBeal”) 
“Ally McBeal” was a dramedy about a delusional, yet hopeful attorney, who saw dancing babies, imagined swimming through her office when stressed, constantly saw her friends and co-workers singing in hallucinations, and envisioned having sex with her ex-boyfriend in a cappuccino, only episodes before making out with his wife to scare off a potential suitor. It was only natural that her best friend/roommate be a logical, no nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is kind of a woman. Enter Lisa Nicole Carson as Renee Radick, the district attorney with a big heart, a big mouth, and a mean right hook. Renee was always there to listen to Ally (played by Calista Flockhart), and shake her back into reality. It was Renee who kept reminding Ally that Billy (Gil Bellows) was in fact married, and it was also Renee who helped Ally seek revenge on a man for one night standing her by seducing him into dropping his pants and forcing him to chase her around with his pants around his ankles (which they called “The Penguin”.) In the shows fifth season, we saw an exit to a few cast members (including Lucy Liu and Peter MacNicol), but the absence of Carson as Renee really seemed to take so much out of the show. Renee was the best friend we wish we had, and wish we were.
6.) Gabrielle (“Xena: Warrior Princess”) 
When you think sidekick, one of the first names to come to mind is that of Gabrielle, played by Renee O’Connor, of “Xena.” She started out a bard, traveling with the warrior who was on her quest for redemption. She became that voice of reason for her best friend. Gabrielle represented purity, where Xena (Lucy Lawless) seemed to represent darkness. Gabrielle learned from Xena, taught Xena, and grounded Xena in goodness. The two went to Heaven, Hell, Hades, Olympus, the Elysian Fields, India, Greece, Egypt, China, Rome and 20 years in the future. Through it all, the two stuck together. A lot speculate that Xena and Gabrielle were more than just friends. To that, a lot just respond that it’s a TV show, and we work with what we are given. Gabrielle stuck by Xena to the very end, and it was sad to see her have to continue on after Xenas death (sorry if it ruins an ending). Gabrielle has to be mentioned in a list of sidekicks.
5.) Willow Rosenberg (“Buffy...the Vampire Slayer”) 
Willow, played by Alyson Hannigan, was the nerdy best friend to slayer Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Geller). Willow was good with computers, and research. She was one of the most caring characters on the show, but for the first three seasons was a character who didn’t come into her own as much. It was in the fourth season that things began to get more interesting for Willow. She had started practicing witchcraft in high school (for which she was nearly burned at the stake...or giant pencil), and in college she dove deeper into that. She discovered she was a lesbian when she met Tara, played by Amber Benson. Willow got deeper when she was given an addiction to magic, and she nearly destroyed the world after Tara is shot and killed. She was always there to aid Buffy, and even helped her save the world in the finale. The best thing about Willow is her wit. She’s got this innocent vibe to her, always believing in so much good, when Buffy is dealing with so much death. Willow became a powerfully ally, and she became who she is on her own, all while helping her best friend.
4.) Barbara Jean Hart (“Reba”) 
Most women do not set out to be the best friends with the ex wife of their husbands. Most women are not Barbara Jean Hart, played by Melissa Peterman, on the sitcom “Reba.” Barbara Jean got knocked up by Reba’s (Reba McEntire) husband while having an affair with him. He left Reba, and married Barbara Jean, but it was Barbara Jean’s quest in life to claim Reba as her friend. She truly, in her heart, believed that the two could be friends. When Barbara Jean had martial trouble, she always went to Reba, much to Rebas lament. She even cut her hair to look like Rebas. Barbara Jean was so in desperate need of being around Reba, that she drove Reba to insanity quite a many time. But when Barbara Jean separated from Brock, or when she needed Reba the most, Reba was there. When Reba needed someone, as much as it pained her, Barbara Jean was there. Barbara Jean’s sheer determination, perkiness, and ability to create laughter in a situation where it is necessary, makes her number 4 on this list.
3.) Ethel Mertz (“I Love Lucy”) 
Before Laverne, before Shirley, there was Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ethel (Vivian Vance), on the 50s hit “I Love Lucy.” Ethel was Lucys landlord, and she and her husband Fred (William Frawley) became Ricky (Desi Arnez) and Lucy’s best friends. Ethel was always there when Lucy got into trouble. The most classic example is when the girls and the boys bet they could each live each others lives. So the girls had to get jobs, while the boys had to stay home. In the classic scene, Lucy and Ethel are sent to a chocolate factory, where they are expected to package chocolate. When it begins to move too fast, the two begin to eat the chocolate, throw in on the floor, put the chocolate pieces down their clothing and in their hats. Ethel and Lucy stole John Waynes footprints from Hollywood. Trouble always seemed to find Lucy and Ethel, and the best part was the hilarity that ensued when the two had to find their way out of trouble. Ethel is the quintessential sidekick
2.) Maryanne Thorpe (“Cybill”) 
Karen Walker is a great character in television history. Her abuse of alcohol, and her limitless boundaries have created a character with such potential. Before Karen, however, Maryanne Thorpe was created. Played by Christine Baranski on the hit 90s sitcom, “Cybill,” Maryanne was the crazy best friend, who had all the money in the world, was always drinking, and stalked her ex-husband. Her brutal humor set her apart from the rest. When Cybill read a letter she had written to herself 30 years prior, when she was in high school, she discovered that she thought her future laid in the star football player. After reading the letter out loud, Maryannes response was, “That’s so cute. Why didn’t you just kill yourself?” What made her the most infamous, however, was the stalking of her ex-husband. After cheating on her for years, Dr. Richard Thorpe (nicknamed Dr. Dick), left her for another woman. Maryanne proceeded to exact revenge, over and over and over again. After he remarried, she set a, inflatable pool up in her living room and tied a barbie and a ken doll to the top of a remote control boat. She flipped it over while singing a variation of the “Gillian’s Island” theme song. She sang, “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, when Dr. Dick and his brand new bride...DIE ON A SINKING SHIP.” Maryanne is a classic sidekick, one of the ones who had the ability to outshine the main character in certain situations.
1.) Rhoda Morgenstern (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) 
The number one best sidekick is Rhoda Morgenstern ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show"). Rhoda was introduced as the complete opposite of Mary. Mary was midwestern, Rhoda was a New Yawker. Mary was timid, while Rhoda was big mouthed. Mary was considered the beautiful one, Rhoda was the funny best friend. Rhoda was the classic New Yorker, seen as the abrasive crude foil to either Marys sweet midwestern ways, or Phyllis' controlling perfectionism. Rhodas humor, as well as her beauty, made her stick out as the one to watch. She was even given her own television spin off, where she moved back to New York. Rhoda is one of the most well known sidekicks, and well as one of the most developed. Not many sidekicks can handle a spin off, but Rhodas character had the back story and ability to do it. Rhoda went from being the chubbier best friend (which lets face it...if Valerie Harper was chubby...uh-oh), to being the center of her own tv show, with her own sidekick in the form of her sister Brenda (see number 11). Rhoda is the best there is. Marys loss, and Minneapolis' loss, was New Yorks gain. "New York...this is your last chance."
