8 Best TV Sidekicks, Ranked
By Rick Gonzales | Published
8 Best TV Sidekicks
TV Sidekicks come in many different shapes, sizes, and personalities. Many of them can be presented as comedic relief or that moral being that tries to keep everyone in line. Of course, they could also be that kind of person who loves to stir the pot and keep things loose. Whichever way they go, TV sidekicks are an important part of the fabric of a good television series. We have found 8 of the best TV sidekicks, check them out and let us know where they rank for you.
8. Barney Stinson – How I Met Your Mother
Some may think Barney Stinson deserves to rank higher on our list of best TV sidekicks and you may have a point. But here is where he sits for now and making the list is based on how Neil Patrick Harris expertly nails the character. A sidekick to all, it is Harris’s portrayal of Barney Stinson that had many viewers turning in.
7. Ethel Mertz – I Love Lucy
Those of you familiar with the I Love Lucy series that ran for 6 seasons from 1951-1957 know that Ethel Mertz, played by Vivian Vance, was Lucy’s partner-in-crime and involved in just about every bit of shenanigans Lucy could muster up. It often ended up embarrassing both. Vance was the perfect TV sidekick, loyal to a fault, but whose relationship with her best friend was always heartfelt.
6. Barney Fife – The Andy Griffith Show
Don Knotts wonderfully portrayed the inherently incompetent police officer, Barney Fife. Thankfully, crime didn’t exist in Mayberry. Barney is the perfect TV sidekick for Sheriff Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) but it was Knotts ability to play Fife as a high-strung deputy with a gun that is never loaded that makes him one of the best sidekicks on the small screen.
5. Dwight Schrute – The Office
Who doesn’t love Dunder Mifflin’s Assistant Regional Manager (ARM) and sidekick to regional manager, Michael Scott? Rainn Wilson plays Dwight Schrute, the everyman know-it-all, who talks a big game and sometimes even backs it up. He is oftentimes the butt of the many office pranks pulled on him by John Krasinski’s Jim Halpert. But it is Dwight’s loyalty and brownnose-ability to his boss that makes him such a great TV sidekick.
4. Robin/Dick Grayson – Batman (1960s series)
Holy sidekick, Batman! If this is not one of the ultimate TV sidekicks, we don’t know what is. Burt Ward played Batman’s young ward, Robin/Dick Grayson in the campy 1960s Batman series. As the “Boy Wonder,” Ward took his side-kicking seriously, although the series played more for laughs than was intended.
3. Jesse Pinkman – Breaking Bad
When Walter White (Bryan Cranston) needed a true partner in crime, he looked no further than his friend Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). If you can’t count on a friend to help run your profitable (and respectful) meth business, who can you count on? Jesse is the perfect TV sidekick, as he always has Walter’s back, even when the chips are down.
2. George Costanza – Seinfeld
One of the best TV sidekicks ever created, Jason Alexander put neurotic on the map as George Costanza. His schemes pretty much always went wrong, he had some very weird family holidays to deal with (Festivus), and his track record with women was more miss than hit. He was a great friend and sidekick to Seinfeld until he wasn’t. Comedy gold right there.
1. Mr. Spock – Star Trek: The Original Series
Most definitely one of the best TV sidekicks ever to grace the small (and big) screen. Leonard Nimoy played Spock with such ease and smarts that there were many times he even overshadowed Captain Kirk (William Shatner). He was always the brains of the bunch, thinking things out logically, allowing Kirk to use his physical prowess. It was a perfect balance that only became more popular when the cast of the Original Series began to make feature films. Spock always led the way.
