Nevermind.

Well, one example of good tv siblings would be Luke and Kevin Girardi from Joan of Arcadia. There's a nice complex relationship there. Kevin bullied Luke before his (Kevin's) accident and paralysis, and showed some tendencies of doing it afterwards. However, Kevin chose Luke to confide in when he thought he was regaining feeling in his legs. He was also the only one in the family to know that Luke's math competition was a tri-mathlon. Luke is jealous of the popularity Kevin had before, but also went to him for guy advice. I like their relationship.

The brother on the Wonder Years. He so much reminded me of my own brother. He constantly abused Kevin and I never saw him do anything nice to redeem himself.

Hands down, Nate, David, and Claire Fisher from "Six Feet Under." When those three have scenes together the show sizzles.

I think the Girardis on Joan of Arcadia have the most realistic sibling relationships - they constantly pick and gripe at one another, but there is that undercurrent of love. There is the Kevin & Luke relationship mentioned above, and I like how they both do the protective brother thing with Joan.

I just hate it when some actors try to reach for the "you're my sister/brother, and I love you" type vibe and end up hitting "Man, the person who plays my sister/brother is hot, I would totally do you."

Worst: Danny Partridge. So... different. So... distant. So... damn strange. Not someone I'd want in my family; the weirdness is too great. (By the way, why do the five Partridge kids have all different hair colors? No, wait, maybe I don't want to go there....)

Best: I'll go out on a limb and say Hoss Cartwright. Heart of gold, good-natured, would do anything for family, and just a big ol' teddy bear. I'd love to have him for a big brother.

Best siblings: Lindsay, Michael, Gob and Buster on Arrested Development. Their relationships are simultaneously absurd and intensely realistic. I love the way they gang up against their mother, and the way they hearken back to shared childhood memories. Plus the general dynamic is just a twisted exaggeration of most families. Okay, maybe just my twisted family. But anyway. In the same vein, I love the Dewey-Malcolm-Reese-Francis relationship on Malcolm in the Middle. They fight, they gang up against each other, and Dewey is sincerely tweaked.

Worst sibling: I, too, hated Kevin's brother on the Wonder Years. He didn't seem to have a single redeeming quality.

Brady Bunch flashbacks anyone?

I like the sibling relationship between Monica and Ross on Friends. I like how they're always there for each other but at times they will just make each other so angry. I love the Thanksgiving episode where they're playing football and their rivalry is at an all-time high. The Gellar cup was awesome.


ITA. The interactions with picking each other and having a small disdain for each other but still love one another is fantastic and these actors play it great.

That's one relationship I didn't like. I just can't stand it when siblings, especially brother and sister, discuss their sex lives in front of each other. To me that's just icky and wrong.

ugh. ITA on that one, squiggles. My brother doesn't even like to ask me if I'm dating!

Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Sure, they're insufferable to each other most of the time, but when they work together, it's genius. And deep down, the really do care about each other.

Frasier and Niles Crane. I thought Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pearce were wonderful, playing off each other. They even looked like they could be brothers.

And The Simpsons was brilliant when they brought in DHP to be the voice of Sideshow Bob's brother.

Sure he did -- "Wayne and Bonnie" & "New Years" -- where Wayne falls head over heels for an older, divorced woman with a baby. Wayne was a completely different guy to Bonnie than to his family, & Bonnie also saw him thru completely different eyes without all the growing-up baggage.

Then she went back to her ex & broke Wayne's heart. At least he was shown to have one!

I know I'm in a definate minority but I always liked Buffy and Dawn. I think that they have great chemistry and act like real siblings do, aside from the trying to Dawn a few times thing.

Speaking of siblings who try to kill each other, Megabyte and Hexadecimal, from Reboot, were also great.

All of the sibling relationships on <i>Everwood</i> are pretty compelling, IMO.

Bright and Amy Abbott fight with each other a lot, but even after Bright spent seveal episodes refusing to speak to her, eventually he gave her the encouragement she needed.

Delia and Ephram Brown: She gets frustrated with her big brother and Madison, and he wasn't happy when she picked a pony over loyalty to him when Andy wanted to move to CO, but the two have shared a lot of sweet moments together.

Harold and Linda Abbott: "Harry" is pretty much King Stick Up His Ass, and he obviously resents Linda for gallivanting around the world, much as their mother did when they were young. But he also desperately wants her to be a part of his life, and alternately reacts like a spoiled child and a supportive man when she decides to leave Everwood once more.

Oh, I liked it too. In S5. Then, IMO, the chemistry was sort of - well, not lost because there were sometimes glimpses of it - but continiously misplaced.

Worst siblings? Ross and Monica. Yet, I cannot blame them in this - those parents of theirs were horrible.

I loved Buffy and Dawn too. I liked how their relationship evolved during season 5.

Sorry. The flood control screwed me up.

I do really like the relationship between the Simpsons siblings. The example that really pops out in my mind is the time when they showed a flashback to when Bart and Lisa were little and Lisa's ice cream fell off her cone. She started to cry, and then Bart gave her one of his scoops of ice cream. It was so cute.

I loved the sibling relationship of Piper, Prue and Phoebe of Charmed. During the first season they were all becoming so close after years of being at each others throats. Piper was closer to Prue and Phoebe was closer to Piper. Piper was the one to bring them all together. It was a shame when Prue died. The loss effected Piper badly.

Then we have the new trio of Piper, Paige and Phoebe. Piper took a while to warm up to Paige but now you can see the love. Phoebe and Paige together are bad for their sanity. They get together and become quite stupid. The trio doesn't have the same closeness as the sisters had with Prue.

Oh, I love Bart and Lisa's relationship. You can tell that they love each other a lot. I just saw the episode where Bart and Lisa started hanging out after Milhouse moved away and realized they were each other's best friend. Then Milhouse came back and Bart sort of dumped Lisa again, but he saw how hurt she was and to make it up to her gave her a bunch of cards that she could redeem for things like help with chores, etc. Right on the spot she redeemed the one that say "one hug from Bart" and they hugged so sweetly. Man, I got a little teary-eyed there.

I love Bart and Lisa too, but Patty and Selma definitely get my vote for the worst siblings.

My vote for worst would be the Huxtable siblings hands down. Even though they all lived in that rather small brownstone, they very rarely spent unforced time together or were shown supporting one another. I only remember 3 times: Theo supporting Vanessa for drum major, Denise making the shirt for Theo and Denise babysitting for Sondra as instances of 1-on-1 sibling support. The fact that I can count the scenes on a show that was on the air for 9 seasons makes my point.

Patty and Selma, worst siblings? I think they're really supportive of each other, and are always doing things for one another. Like how Patty dumped Principal Skinner because it was hurting Selma.

Worst TV Siblings (who really are siblings)-

The Osmonds.
She's a little bit country, he's a little bit rock and roll, and they're both a whole lotta crappy.

The Olsen Twins.
It must be awkward to have America watch you grow up in the public eye. Especially when that growing up is done on some of the worst sitcoms to ever air on TV.

Bryant and Greg Gumbel.
Brian Gumbel is one of the most obnoxious personalities to ever grace a newsroom no matter what network he's on. Greg's okay, but he looks so much like a tubby version of his brother that whenever he's on one can't help but think "Man I hate Bryant Gumbel."

Jessica and Ashlee Simpson.
Ashlee and Jessica seem to have this weird sibling rivalry where they have to compete for having the dumbest reality show on TV.

Michael and Peter DeLuise.
These two corny doofuses ruined SeaQuest DSV! Or at the very least made it much much worse.

All of the Wayans.
At least all of them after the third season of In Living Color.

Okay, I'm probably outing myself as a total loser here, but my unabashed love for Lee Tergesen has led to a kind of pathetic crush on Chett Donnelley of Weird Science.

Yeah, yeah, he's a total screwup and a jerk to boot, but when push comes to shove he always manages to come through and even saves little brother Wyatt's ass on more than one occasion. Kind of like, "I'm your big brother and I'M the only one who's allowed to fuck with you." Plus he made for one adorable singing pirate.

I know, I know. You guys can stop pointing and laughing now.

Snigger.

IMO, I agree with [br]dr gailey[/b]. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe rocked. Martyr Piper, Knock-Me-Up PhoeMe, and Raison D'etre Paige were... bleh.

Can't. Cause then I'd have to point and laugh at myself for wording your post. My mad crush on LT tends to bleed into all the nutso characters he plays including Chett. Plus he was just a crack-up. The singing pirate thing was the best! Man, I miss Wierd Science.

Before I go anymore offtopic, maybe I should get thee to the Wierd Science thread.

But they're both unrelentingly horrible to Marge and Homer.

Laura Ingalls and Mary Ingalls were the best sisters on tv. I also liked the Bradford clan from Eight is Enough.

See, I found Laura and Mary's relationship to be somewhat distant. Yes, they "shared" several warm and fuzzy moments, but I didn't get the sense that they were each other's best friends. Mary seemed to disapprove of most everything Laura did.

My vote for worst TV sibling: DJ Conner. Annoying as a little kid, sucked shit as a teenager.

Little Annie from Nip/Tuck would be a pretty decent sister since she's absolutely never around--what with her probably hacking up bunnies in her closet. Absent children--my favorite!

Simon and River Tam from "Firefly" had a beautiful relationship. A little strange, but beautiful. As the big brother, Simon has broken with his family and left his wealthy privileged life to rescue his little sis from a government experimental facility where she's been tortured and messed with.

So she's crazy and broken--and she knows it--and he's responsible for her, and they're fugitives together. His tender caring never got a chance to get real squicky because the show was cancelled, and her semi-psychic ravings were just getting interesting.

The sibling relationship between them, in my and many other people's opinion (including, FWIW, Joss Whedon, who wrote them, and both actors who portrayed them), was one of the strongest things about the show.

On the other hand, the Firefly fanfic term "CSI," for Crazy Space Incest, wasn't coined for nothin'.

I always loved Rick & AJ on Simon & Simon.

For worst siblings, I would have to say Brenda and Brendan Walsh on 90210. Seriously, I'm closer to my mailman then they are, which is horrible, since they're supposed to be twins.

Nick and Drew Lachey. I lurve them. They seem so close and down to earth. And I always enjoy Newlyweds so much more when they show them bonding.

Best siblings: Lindsey and Sam Weir on Freaks&Geeks. Very realistic, called each other names and had sibling spats but obviously loved each other a lot as well.

The Powerpuff Girls - actually have believeable sisterly relationships (especially for a cartoon)

Worst? James and Jesse of Team Rocket on Pokemon. Just because.

Buffy and Dawn simultaneously get my vote for best siblings and worst siblings. For every great scene they had together, there was one where Dawn was being remarkably annoying and Buffy treated her like an annoyance.

Best: Ya gotta love the Bluths. I liked Michael but couldn't stand Lindsey, GOB, or Buster at the start of the show, but as the series went on, I looked forward to scenes with the four of them together. Twistedness, yay!

Worst: Monica and Ross (in Friends's last two years). By season 9, they became better known as Shrill and Dopey, and theyir brother-sister relationship was non-existent by that point.

But Jesse and James of Team Rocket aren't siblings. There was an episode (yes, I'm embarrassed that I know this, but I have kids so there you go) in which they end up back at James' childhood home. Turns out he was from a wealthy family. Jesse gets ticked that he never told her he came from a moneyed family.

I'm not sure I agree on the Brenda and Brandon Walsh thing. I knew a pair of identical twins way back when who absolutely hated each other. The only reason they spoke to each other at all was because they had to on occasion. But Shannon Dougherty was a pain so it does color the relationship.

Tabbyclaw- that's what I was going for. They may be nice to each other, but they're bad big sisters to Marge (such as the time they told her she couldn't be an astronaut).
There don't seem to be too many only children on TV- wonder why that is?

beltempest, really? I must have missed that episode. That makes their relationship all the more freaky since they dress, talk and look alike. Maybe Jesse's parents adopted her.

Ren and Louis Stevens of Even Stevens had a great little Bart/Lisa type relationship. Enough tension to create some hilarious spats, but not so much that they didn't share some nice moments too. What's weird is that I didn't think either of them had a very strong relationship with their other sibling, Donnie. He was more like an older friend.

This is reaching back to the 70's but I always enjoyed the relationship between Willie and Buddy Lawerence on Family. I remember the Pilot - Buddy overhears a fight between her parents and a reference to her as being "a mistake" and takes off and only Willie knows where to look for her - even though he's like 7 or 8 years older than she is. How many 18 year old brothers would have a clue where their 10 yr. old sister likes to hang out? Turned out she was at an all night movie theater watching - I can't remember what (Laurel & Hardy film festival?). That show always remained very real for it's time.

See they would get my vote for best siblings because there relationships seemed real and natural, IMO. I think the whole supporting each other thing is overblown. I don't need or want my sister to be there for every little thing I do. Personally I can't relate to all of the wishy-washy, I love you moments that most sitcom siblings. I also don't like the relationships where the siblings seem to fight non-stop. Most of time the Huxtable kids were busy going about their lives, which is how it should be.

Besides, I think Rudy was pretty supportive most of the time, unless she was annoying Vanessa.

Yeah, I love the Bluths. They're so fun and weird, and it was cool how they were bonding in "Bringing Up Buster", but it turned out that Buster was complaining about mom just to fit in.



Yeah, they really deteriorated. In the early years, their sibling relationship was much better and realistic, including the fights they used to have over football and such. Too bad it couldn't last.

I have to agree. I'll never forget the episode where Vanessa "borrows" one of Denise's sweaters after Denise specifically told her that she couldn't. The knock down drag 'em out fight they had was way real. I was like 10 when I first saw it and my little sister was particularily annoying and I couldn't wait until she was old enough to pummel.

I hated Danielle on My So-called Life. HATE.

The Camsibs on 7th Heaven have got to be the worst. They do such horrible crap to each other. Simon, Matt and Lucy decide to steal the twins' money and let Mary have it to pay her bills, but then gave her shit for going along with it. Ruthie (who can't possibly be genetically related to the rest of the clan) doesn't give a crap about the twins, (actually, no one really does,) until Mom hires Asslee to help around the house. Then all of a sudden she wants to help out with them, which she does for nearly a whole part of one episode. Matt lectures his sisters on their sex lives (and I want to gag.) There are a lot more examples where those came from! Yet after all that, they get to cash in on "Family Values" cred they somehow have managed not to earn.


The episode where Lisa and Bart are on opposing hockey teams makes me think of my brother and cry like a baby.

Gotta agree that the sibling dynamics in Malcolm in the Middle are well-done. Also, Adventures of Pete and Pete, anybody? Pete and Pete often had separate agendas and fought as well as giving each other tacit, non-sappy support.

Well, I can't relate to the ignoring each other thing. Because I'm only a couple years older than my sister, and she's only a couple years older than our brother - we're very close.

She's my best friend. We used to be mistaken for twins because a) we used to be the same size and b) we were always together. And when we're not getting along great, we're screaming at each other and threatening to open a can of whup ass. But we're not just drifting along doing our own thing.

She and our brother are almost what you describe, (if a little more Darlene/DJ) but he and I honestly get along great. Sorry. We hang out together voluntarily all the time. And we fight less because what do a 20-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy have to fight about?

Of course, for every two or three wishy-washy "I love you" moments, there's one "You little bitch, I'll kill you!" moment. So my vote goes to The Simpsonsand Malcolm in the Middle for realistic family dynamics.

And I like how when outsiders intrude, the siblings in the above shows will close ranks and protect each other. That's how it should be.