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| We need more female friendships on TV. |
When I was 13, all I had were my girlfriends. We had slumber parties all the time. (Always with a copy of Now and Then.)
Please help me add to this list...
1. Laverne and Shirley - Laverne and Shirley
1. Laverne and Shirley - Laverne and Shirley
One of the best all-time TV female friendships. They lived and worked together and did whatever it took to get by, having an absolute ball in the process. Some of my best times in life were when I was dirt poor and living with some my roommates. So not only was the show comedy gold, it taught a good lesson.
2. Thelma and Louise - Thelma and Louise
Sure they were a touch dysfunctional. But they stuck together.
3. Lucy and Ethel - I Love Lucy
2. Thelma and Louise - Thelma and Louise
Sure they were a touch dysfunctional. But they stuck together.
3. Lucy and Ethel - I Love Lucy
No matter how wacky things got, Lucy and Ethel also stuck together, and Ethel always supported Lucy. No matter how harebrained the scheme.
4. Romy and Michelle - Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion
4. Romy and Michelle - Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion
Sometimes being around someone you know so well makes it safe for your weird side to emerge. This can lead you further down the path to being yourself and discovering what you want to do with your life.
5. Troi and Crusher - Star Trek: The Next Generation
5. Troi and Crusher - Star Trek: The Next Generation
What are the two female members of a Federation Starship bridge crew to do? Bond of course. They exercised together, hung out in Ten Forward, and shared all the dish on their personal lives. Friendship in space...where your best friend can always hear you scream. (Or laugh. Or cry.)
6. Carla and Elliot - Scrubs
6. Carla and Elliot - Scrubs
My favorite thing about their friendship is how different they are as people. Carla is so stable and Elliot is so frequently untethered.
7. Kate and Allie - Kate and Allie
Remember this one? It was sort of like the odd couple, but for single women with children. I experienced it entirely through reruns as a kid, and though my memory is a bit rusty...I recall some heartwarming moments.
8. Cagney and Lacey - Cagney and Lacey
Solving crime. Together. Enough said.
9. Faith and Kate - Only You
This is as close to a female "road trip" buddy picture as I've ever found. The writing is funny, the women in the film are unique and interesting, flawed and clumsy. Delightful.
10. Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia - The Golden Girls
My friend Jen emailed me a good comment that I wanted to share, it's also good for me to keep suggestions right here where I can keep track of them. Sorry for all the problems with the comments section.
ReplyDelete"My pick is for the Gilmore Girls. Both the mother/daughter friendship at the center of the show, as well as the best friends each have individually with Lane and Suki. Is that a show you've ever gotten into? I really think you would like it and appreciate the awesome female characters--they read books, have excellent taste in films, music and pop culture in general, they eat like pigs, they have life goals outside of landing a man, and they are undeniably smart, funny and flawed. You really need to watch it if you've never see it. I want to be a Gilmore Girl when I grow up."
i love this show
ReplyDeleteWhat about Roy Barraclough and Les Dawson as two elderly women, Cissie BraithwaiLes and Ada Sidebottom who, having worked in a mill in their youth, spoke some words aloud and mouthed others--particularly those pertaining to bodily functions and sex; they also repeatedly pushed up their bosoms, in pantomime dame style.
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The Sex and the City ladies - Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha
ReplyDeleteHow about Bev and Faye in Riding in Cars with Boys. That is friendship, they even got pregnant at the same time and their kids are together too.
ReplyDeleteI love this, and am in agreement with you! There's just something incredibly endearing about sets of good girlfriends. In fact, I like the "buddy" genre so much in general that I actually maintain my own personal lists of the best examples.
ReplyDeleteMANY of these are books, but I'll stick mainly to things that are primarily known as films, since most of those would be far more likely to be recognized by others (and that's the topic of the post, anyway. I think you've basically covered the best from TV.)
In fact, the explosion of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"'s popularity is beginning to make the idea of a "girl buddy" show seem more appealing, I believe--particularly to men.
First of all, while I'm a girl who's fully comfortable with having male friends (one of my two VERY closest friends in the world is a guy...although, because he's gay, it sometimes almost feels like having another girlfriend...), the majority of mine happen to be female. I can't imagine having grown up without them.
Next, to comment briefly on your choices so far:
Laverne & Shirley, Lucy & Ethel, Beverly & Deanna, Thelma & Louise, and the Golden Girls are some of my ABSOLUTE favorites...total classics, and perfect examples of this type of awesome, empowering, desirable relationship. (Well, okay, maybe Thelma & Louise *were* a bit too dysfunctional to make great role models, entirely...but still, they are SO iconic and worthy of the list.) A wealth of beautiful, hilarious, memorable, quotable, and touching moments and lines can be gleaned from those girls.
I also really like Romy & Michelle, Faith & Kate (big Bonnie Hunt fan as well), and some of the others.
Now, for my additions...oh, yeah, definitely the Sex & the City quartet! :D Hopefully I'll have a lot of duos, but I know that there will also be larger groups in my list.
*Steel Magnolias: M'Lynn, Ouiser, Clairee, Truvy, Annelle, & Shelby
*My Litte Pony: Friendship is Magic: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie
Pie, Fluttershy, & Rarity
*Now and Then: Sam, Roberta, Teeny, & Chrissy
*Leaving Normal (similar to Thelma & Louise): Marianne & Darly
*Fried Green Tomatoes: Idgie & Ruth
*Bonneville: Arvilla, Margene, & Carol
*Beaches: CC & Hillary
*Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: Vivi, Caro, Teensy, & Necie
*The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacy, Mallory, Jessi, & Dawn
*Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Tibby, Lena, Bridget, & Carmen
*The Craft: Rochelle, Sarah, Bonnie, & Nancy
*Mamma Mia!: Donna, Tanya, & Rosie (Donna & the Dynamos)
*Bad Girls: Cody, Anita, Eileen, & Lilly
*The First Wives Club: Brenda, Elise, & Annie
*Mad Money: Bridget, Jackie, & Nina (two in a row with Diane Keaton!)
*The Joy Luck Club: Suyuan, Lindo, Ying-Ying, & An-Mei; Jing-Mei (June), Waverly, Lena, & Rose
*The girls of St. Trinian's
*Whip It: Babe Ruthless, Smashly Simpson, Maggie Mayhem, & Iron Maven
*The Last Best Year: Jane & Wendy
*Waiting to Exhale: Bernadine, Savannah, Gloria, & Robin
*Spice World: Geri, Mel C, Emma, Victoria, & Mel B (Come on, the Spice Girls will always be an icon for this, too! I LOVE that movie.)
*Crossroads: Mimi, Lucy, & Kit (For a Britney Spears film, this was actually awesome in my opinion...of course, I've got a major affinity for road movies...)
*Foxes: Annie, Jeannie, Dierdre, Madge
*The Women: Mary, Sylvie, Edie, & Alex
*Triple Dog: Chapin, Eve, Liza, Cicely, Sarah, Nina, & Eve
*Girls Just Want to Have Fun: Janey & Lynne
*Sucker Punch: Babydoll, Sweet Pea, Rocket, Blondie, & Amber
*Foxfire: Legs, Maddy, Rita, Goldie, Lana
*Grease's Pink Ladies: Sandy, Rizzo, Frenchy, Marly, & Jan (Stephanie, Sharon, Rhonda, & Paulette from Grease 2)
Will continue in second comment...
Continued~
ReplyDelete*Nine to Five: Violet, Doralee, & Judy
*Sleepover: Julie, Hannah, Yancy, Farrah
*Winx Club: Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, Tecna, Layla, Roxy
*5ive Girls: Alex, Mara, Cecilia, Leah, Connie
*Coyote Ugly: Violet/Jersey, Zoey, Rachel, Cammie, Lil
*W.I.T.C.H.: Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin
*Milky Way & the Galaxy Girls: Milky Way, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto (Only a concept created by Lauren Faust, who's responsible for MLP:FiM)
*Bratz: Chloe, Jade, Yasmin, & Sasha (Yes, the live-action movie actually impressed me. I was shocked.)
*The Cheetah Girls: Galleria, Chanel, Dorinda, & Aquanette (Gah, I feel kind of bad including that one, but I do want to be thorough...and I did SORTA like some of it.)
...and I thiiiiink that should about do it for now. ;)
I am waaay late to the party, but the article was really cool, and I definitely agree. (Golden Girls and Lucy FOREVER)
ReplyDeleteNow for my suggestions. I know these guys weren't in the real world, per se, but how about Xena and Gabrielle? I just started watching Warrior Princess on Netflix and they have a pretty strong and dynamic friendship. Currently airing, there's also Bo and Kenzie on Lost Girl. Bones and Angela, although that takes a bit of a backseat to her friendship with Booth. And seconding the new My Little Pony series: all the characters are strong and multi-dimensional.
Well, you can tell my tastes are firmly in the fantasy world, but I don't think the messages are diluted at all. All hope is not lost!