Hey everyone---I thought this could be a fun new topic for us to mull over while we wait for our favorite shows to return in the fall :) Many of us have been inspired by various TV characters: we've read or written fanfic, thought about how our lives compare to those of our favorite characters and maybe even made decisions about what to say or do based on what we've seen our favorite (and least favorite) characters do on screen.

All things considered, which TV characters have led the lives that you'd most and least want for yourselves? What about their lives (their upbringing, careers, families, friends, romantic lives etc.) do you most and least covet? Would you love to have spent a life slaying vampires and fighting evil a la Buffy, or would her life have been way too dangerous for your tastes? Have you dreamed of spending your nights sipping cosmos in high-priced outfits in between myriad sexual experiences like Samantha from Sex in the City, or does a less glamorous small town life like the ones led by some of the Everwood characters appeal to you more? Do you think poor Jack Bauer has had the most awful, painful life ever that you'd never, ever want for yourself? What does and doesn't appeal to you about the lives of Lorelai Gilmore, Veronica Mars, or even Carol Brady's?!
Anyway, you get the idea! I'll start:

As weird as I realize this sounds, I'd have loved to trade places with Murder She Wrote's Jessica Fletcher. She made a living as a novelist, which was always my lifelong dream. She got to solve a myriad of mysteries which, given the amount of detective stories I read, is kind of a fantasy of mine! She traveled all over the world, enjoyed a wide variety of social and cultural experiences and seemed to have an enormous, close network of friends and family (many of whom got killed but, hey, nobody's life is perfect!). She had a few romantic experiences and cherished memories of a loving husband, but also managed to lead an extremely complete and satisfying life as a single woman. She was also far brighter and more insightful even as an older woman than I was in my twenties!

I realize this isn't exactly realistic, but hopefully it'll lead to some interesting and entertaining discussion.

I would love to be a Doctor Who companion. Sure, you're running from scary monsters a lot of the time, but you get to see all kinds of cool stuff throughout space and time.

Great topic! Thanks, booksrm74! And I agree about Jessica Fletcher. That would be the life, except for all the death, but then again, she was never (or rarely) suspected of the murders, so it wouldn't be so bad.

I wouldn't mind being a fighin' for good Buffy-type. All the angst always confused me (with comic book characters, too). I mean, hey, sure your life is planned out for you, but then again, your life is planned out for you! No wondering about careers and if you're making the right choice. I can see the benefits in that. Also, your life has instant meaning because you're saving people. Then, you don't have to work at a mundane job and wonder if you're contributing anything at all to society. You are! Go with it! Now, I would want to have some sort of special powers --even psychic powers a la Johnny from the Dead Zone. But, I would not want to be Sam and Dean Winchester who have to face the supernatural (hee) with only normal human strength. Massive doses of Teh Pretty, but the demons don't seem impressed with that for some reason.

I would love to become either Captain Frank Furillo of "Hill Street Blues" or Dr. Donald Westphall of "St. Elsewhere." Not sure why, but those are two of my favorite television characters.

Heh---I've had these exact same thoughts, which is also indicative of how satisfying and challenging and worthwile I DON'T find my current and recent jobs! The constant threat of death, though, could get pretty darn stressful :)

I'd love the life of Lorelai Gilmore. She lives in a close-knit, never-a-dull-moment community filled with awesomely fun events and people who love her; she's one of the few people I know who's living out her ultimate professional dream by owning and running her own inn; she has the satisfaction of knowing she (IMO) was one of the world's best mothers despite initially tough circumstances; she has the uncanny ability to always find joy and fun in even the most mundane life experiences, which serves her well no matter what turns her life takes. And, yes, I think she's lucky to have Luke, though I don't think he's quite the 'perfect catch' that most TWoPers do. Lorelai's made a lot of mistakes and taken difficult, twisty paths, but ultimately she always lands on her feet and usually manages to cherish life along the way. Believe me, I could use a big dose of that myself!

I would really, really hate to have Keith Mars' life. His wife was an alcoholic thief who abandoned him; the entire town turned against him and most never really got over it; he and his daughter deal with multiple attempts to harm them. Plus, the one person he could always count on, his daughter, has IMO turned into a selfish, raging bitch who most recently seemed to cost him the one chance he had left at professional satisfaction. Poor Keith.

I want to live in the Federation of Star Trek: the Next Generation. They have every material desire gratified, immediately, by replicator. And by that time even the Star Fleet redshirts are safe, since instead of the Weekly Bad Guy vaporizing one of them, he she or it simply tosses Worf around the bridge for a bit to prove how Bad they are. And when you get bored, you can go slumming on the holodeck.

Of course, I'd really like to live the life of Q. Harass Jean-Luc at the drop of a hat, and transport the annoying Riker and Deanna into certain peril at will. And if they spring for Whoopi in a guest star cameo, I can ask her why she's wearing a giant shoe as a hat. Full of win, really.

edit: forgot to hate. I'd least like to live the life of any character on Charmed. Seriously, just let me take the poison potion, now, rather than have to live through the trite plots, bad acting, and evil fashion nazi wardrobes.

I would love to lead one of the siblings in Brothers & Sisters' lives. They seem to have a great family connection, and enough money and humour to make it work. And I would hate to live Dennis Leary's life in Rescue Me. I don't think I really need to go on in detail about why for that one.

I'd love to be Monica Geller-Bing. She's married to Chandler, nuff said.

Despite her fiancee getting killed, learning that she wasn't really working for the CIA, her mom being an ex-KGB Rimbaldi-obsessed terrorist with two psycho aunts (well, one REALLY psycho and the other just opportunistic with a severe allergy to chocolate), her best friend being a double and the other in witness protection, and losing two years of your life only to learn that your one true love married the bad guy with a really bad British accent despite being originally from Virginia then only to find out that the love of your life lied about his identity, I'd love to be Sydney Bristow.

Oh me too. Plus, Nora Walker as a mom and RoadTrip Sarah. Awesome.

I would HATE to have MeriDEATH Grey's life. Seriously, girl cannot catch a break. Absent dad? Overpowering, top of her career, now early onset Alzheimer patient mother? Love of life was/is married/asshat/distant/etc? Best friends/roomies can be judgmental assholes? TWO NDE in a YEAR? Lose both Mommy and FakeMommy in a matter of weeks? Daddy blames you and slaps you after losing Fake Mommy? Check, check, check, check, and check. Ugh.

I wouldn't mind being Daphne Moon. She had a pretty nice deal for a poor girl from Manchester. She got to live in one of the more amazing television apartments I've ever seen. And sure, she was basically a domestic, but she had quite a lot of autonomy and oodles of free time, and lived with two really nice, completely unsketchy older men (I think Fraiser does an amazing job of having such a situation not be in the least bit creepy) who kind of doted on her. And then she got to marry Niles!!! And live happily ever after in yet another gorgeous apartment. I also covet her hair.

Heroes is a show of woe. But DL takes the cake. Incarcerated for crimes actually committed by your crazy wife, cheated on by your crazy wife, shot by your crazy wife, shot by an evil Santa Claus, emasculated by your own son, no money...

The only character from that show I would want to be is Mr. Muggles. Mr. Muggles leads a particularly spectacular existence.

Most want to lead: Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV. Let us count the reasons:

1. I live in Hawaii.
2. I live rent-free on a massive estate.
3. I live in Hawaii.
4. I get my war buddies to do all the leg work on my cases.
5. I get to drive a Ferrari.
6. I live in Hawaii.

Least want to lead: (Tie) Jack (Boomer) Morrison and Andy Sipowicz. Let's see..between the two of them:

1. Wife dies (Both)
2. Son dies (Sipowicz)
3. Son kidnapped (Both)
4. Raped (Morrison)
5. Two partners die (Sipowicz)
6. Shot (Sipowicz)
7. Family taken hostage by rapist, then 3-year old son shoots rapist. (Morrison)

You forgot to mention the unlimited budget for clothing. But otherwise spot on.

Mr. Muggles totally has the life. I bet Mrs. Bennet spoils him and gives him all the dog treats he wants. lol



Rory Gilmore has the life, man. Everybody loves her (her mom and grandparents in particular dote on her), she has some very cute boyfriends, she's friends with Paris, she's so super smart that despite dropping out for a semester she can still graduate -- from freaking Yale -- on time, she seems like she's a genuinely nice girl, she gets to have basically a dream job right after graduation ... she's basically just perfect in everyway.

I wouldn't want to be Buffy though. I don't think I'd have the strength or courage to fight evil like that. I'd much rather be like a Willow (or a Fred. Or Giles) and help do what I could to fight evil behind the scenes though.



I wouldn't want Veronica Mar's life. Her best friend gets murdered. Her sheriff father is sure something isn't right about it, so he investigates the murdered girl's family. This causes the town to turn against him, and he loses his job. Her mom is an alkie who deserts them. Then she goes to a party to show those 09er bitches that their backstabbing doesn't bother her, only to be accidentally drugged. She gets raped (from which she gets an STD).
And this is all before the show started!
She nearly ends up getting killed a few times, she spends a night thinking her father -- who means everything to her -- was murdered, she gets drugged again, then she gets drugged again and nearly raped, she doesn't know if her father or Jake Kane is her biological father which leads to her thinking her ex bf Duncan might actually be her brother, she nearly gets tatooed and beaten up by the Irish mob, she tries to find her mother and when she finally succeeds all she gets for it is to have her $50k she was going to use for college stolen by her mom, she testifies against the man who killed her best friend (getting branded as a manipulative little slut by his skeezy lawyer) only to see him get off scott free simply because he's a famous movie star, and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.



And word to not wanting to be Meredith from Grey's. The writers just keep heaping all the worst shit they can think of on that poor girl.

Heh---AimingforYoko, if it weren't for having to sport that moustache, I think Magnum might be the near the top of my 'lives I want to lead' list as well!

I realized that earlier I may have chosen the wrong Gilmore Girl when debating whose life to take over. Because as much as I personally love Lorelai, Rory pretty much has it made:

Raised by the 'coolest', most doting and supportive mother in the history of parenthood.
Grew up in a town that borderline worships her and also happens to be one of the most fun, loving places to live on the entire planet.
Is (at least supposed to be) insanely smart in addition to very attractive, well-liked, witty, etc.
Enjoys all the perks of her grandparents' wealthy lifestyle while still being identified by herself and others as refreshingly down-to-earth
Has dated attractive, bright and (mostly) kind young men who all continue to love her years after the relationship has ended.
Is able to do things like sleep with married men and steal yachts with only very minimal consequences.
Drops out of Yale after being criticized, and is not only welcomed back but is unanimously made the prestigious paper's editor-in-chief within weeks of her return. She also still manages to graduate with honors without even having to put in an extra semester to make up for the one she blew off.
Instead of fending for herself after dropping out of Yale, she gets to shack up in her grandparents' cushy pool house and have her cleaning and cooking attended to by servants.
I'm telling you, that girl's life is as charmed as they come!



I posted as you were writing the above post. Glad to see we're on the same wavelength!

I would hate to have Buffy Summer's life. There's a regularly schedule angst fest. Divorced parents. Constantly suspected of being a criminal. Drafted into an impossible, dangerous war that she doesn't want to fight most of the time. Had to send the love of her life to hell. Got a fake sister that she felt the need to commit suicide for. Mother dies when she's very young, leaving her to take care of said fake little sister. Ripped out of heaven by her friends. Has violent sex with a vicious vampire.

I would love Vincent Chase's life of "Entourage" fame. Handsome, rich, and famous. Constantly gets everything he wants from his ideal movie roles, supportive friends, beautiful women. He's constantly happy with his charmed lifestyle.

I would also love to be CJ Cregg (although that's more of desperately wanting her qualties/personality than her money and house like Vince). The minute she's fired from a six-figure salary Hollywood job, she got offered a job as the Press Secretary in Bartlet for America. She works in a supremely optimistic, idealistic, warm, family-like White House. Not only that, but CJ has the best relationship with many of the staffers. There's none of the competition that Josh and Toby have, or the isolation that Leo and Bartlet have. CJ's relationship with all the characters is pretty much always friendly and loving. When CJ is faced with opposition and obstacles, she smacks them down using a forceful personality and lot of wit and cleverness. She was promoted to be COS, giving her not only a wonderful promotion but a chance to do some good on a major level in Bartlet's last few years. Here's the kicker. Once the admistration ended, she took a job based on spending ten billion dollars however she sees fit on any problem. Then, Danny waited for her so she got a wonderful husband built in with the end of the administration.

Pus, I would love to raid her closet. That many gowns and elegant clothes? Seventh heaven for me.

I agree about being a DW Companion - that would be sweet. I think it would also be cool to be the Doctor, despite all his various (and justified) issues.

Would *not* want to be Sydney Bristow, except that I guess she does live happily ever after... or DOES SHE??

I would love to be a crew member on Serenity.

I think I would most like to lead David Fisher's life (on Six Feet Under). True, I'd have a few years of angst and self-hatred. But they would be followed by many happy and fulfilled years -- most important of all, getting to snuggle up (and more) with Mathew St. Patrick every night.

I'm so happy I'm not alone in this!

I'd love to be the Golden Girls. They had such an awesome life together. They were retired, did what they wanted to do, had a cute house, were great friends, hung out, laughed, and lived out their golden years together. As a kid watching this show, I told my mom that I wished I was retired, too. Because that show taught me that old age isn't such a scary thing after all if you have such cool, supportive friends in your life. *sniff*

I would sort of like to be Jack Bristow from Alias. I say "sort of" because I don't want his tortured existence (betrayal by the wife he loved more than anything, having to deal with Arvin Sloane, having everyone trying to kill him and his daughter on a daily basis). I do covet his bad ass behavior, skill, and reputation. I would love for people to soil themselves when they hear my name, the way some of his enemies did. This is a guy who strangled a bad guy to death, revived him, then threatened to do it again if the bad guy didn't cooperate. Awesome.

Aw, this is such a great one. Plus, IMHO being retired will be a hell of a lot better than working, and those awesome women knew how to enjoy themselves: does life get any better than midnight gossip sessions with a large cheesecake?! I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to be Rose, though. Not only are people always laughing at her ditziness, but that town she grew up in and is always talking about sounds downright scary! (And, since I was talking about wanting Jessica Fletcher's life before, I'd love to have seen some sort of Murder, She Wrote/Golden Girls crossover episode!)

I want to be her for her clothes alone.

[Shallow:] I would love to be Barney for How I Met Your Mother. Great wardrobe, snappy wit, legend..wait for it... ary sex life. plus a four close friends who really like me, for who I am.

[Not as shallow]: Hiro from Heroes. Cool power, great friend, fun attitude. Can I time-jump over meeting Charlie, though?

I would hate to be Snidely Whiplash. Constantly beaten by a man with an IQ of a turnip. How sad is that!

I'd want to be Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap. I'd be smart, well-versed in foreign languages, a doctor, and someone who gets to travel around in time. Of course, I'd probably only want to be him for about 5 years. Then I would want to go home.

I'd least want to be Logan Echolls. Sure, I'd be hot, witty, and rich as sin, but I'd also be dealing with an absusive murderer for a dad, a suicidal pill-popper drunk for a mom, and a skeezy famewhore for a sister. And I'd lost my first girlfriend, and then get into this weird off/on thing with my second girlfriend for years.

Well, to be fair, Dudley just got the credit. Most of the time, it was Nell and Dudley's horse who usually foiled Snidely's schemes. I don't know if that's better or worse.

For their awesome powers alone, I'd love to be Hiro Nakamura (time-travel/teleportation) or pre-suicide Eden McCain (persuasion) from Heroes.

But I'd really like to be Summer Roberts from The O.C., just because she's rich, spoiled, and can do whatever she wants! [/shallow]

Since the first day I saw her, I wanted to be Brenda Barrett. At 16, she was like a living, breathing goddess to me, and I never outgrew it. Not only would I get to be The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Prince doesn't lie!), but I would get to hook up with the hottest guys and have a wildly successful career guaranteeing me financial freedom for life. Plus the romance of being in love with the ultimate bad boy mob boss, before he turned all skanky and was ruined by years of horrible writing. Brenda had Sonny back when he was worth having; hot, mysterious, brooding, tortured, and tempestuous. Now he's like "K-Fed: the Golden Years."

The whole getting left at the altar twice thing would probably get to me, though. Bad enough for when your true love does it, but then the guy you settled for does it too. OUCH. Mah poor Brenda, they all fall for her but none of them marry her, except the one who wants nothing to do with her romantically (and in general, too.)

ETA: if they ever recast Brenda, I will rescind all my earlier comments. I only want to be Brenda if Vanessa Marcil is playing her.

I've already mentioned this in the Little House thread, but as a child, I desperately wanted to be Nellie Oleson. Weird, I know, but think about it. You get to have kick ass curls, take those damn goody two shoes Ingalls girls down a few pegs, and since your dad owns the mercantile, you get to eat candy whenever you want... Oh, and most importantly, you get to have the freaking hilarious Harriet Oleson for a mother. Sounds like an ideal life to me.

Plus, you're spoiled as hell and never have to do chores, and your brother is too stupid to be of any real rival to you.

And you get to have a really great rack as you grow up.

Not a bad life, for a girl.

I would NOT want to be a hero in any of the Universe with the lame "No Person Gain" rules. Maybe I'm just really evil, but I so would not want all the crap of fighting monsters every night, losing all my non-superhero friends (if only because I have to lie non-stop to them!), save the world every week, lose family, nearly die at least once a week, NEVER be able to have a normal date, etc... But if I so much as do anything for my self I get bitch slapped by the universe? No thanks! Dammit I want personal gain!

I wouldn't mind having cool powers like in the Heros universe...but then Sylar would eat my brain, or I'd get napped by shady Bennett type people so hmm...maybe not.

I'd LOVE to by a Witch in Bewitched or Sabrina type universes! Other then the not telling mortals you can do pretty much nearly anything you want. Want to zap your self a new outfit? Sure. Want to clean the room with a quick rime? No problem. Want a pony? Stable's already magically built.

Also I agree with who every said, on wanting to live in the Star Trek universe. It's a pretty sweet life for the most part. Unless you're on the front lines, (ie main cast) you got it pretty easy. I still lust after that halo technology.... just think: 3D, interactive, feels warm and human, episodes of House(insert chosen show here)!

Unless you were wearing the red shirt on any landing party.......

Does anyone remember Out of this World? As a child, I always wanted to be Evie. She was pretty, and had the kick ass power of being able to stop time. How handy it would be to be able to do that. Besides never missing my bus or train again, think of all the practical jokes you can pull.

Only in Original Series Trek, though. By TNG, everybody was wearing red, and as I mentioned, only Worf gets whipped up by the bad guys. So... just don't be Worf.

When I was little I would have liked to have been a witch, like Sabrina. Got chores to do? No problem, wave your finger and they're all done. Don't like the clothes you have on? You can get new ones. That bitchy brunette girl at school (whose name I cannot remember) annoying you? Wave your finger and laugh as she trips and spills her lunch all over herself. You get a nice boyfriend. Get to live with a snarky talking cat. And Aunt Hilda seemed like she'd be a pretty fun aunt (especially when you got a little older and she let you drink with her)

Hells yes. Harvey was such a super-cutie. I guess the only bad part about it, for me, would be that I would become the laziest person EVER. Seriously, why get up for the remote when you can use magic to change the channel? Why go work out when you can magic yourself a rocking body? Same reasons why I'm kinda glad I'm not a Jedi.

I wouldn't wanna BE him, but I'd love to be married to him. Mmmm....Scott Bakula.

moemac, I do remember OOTW...use to watch it all the time. Evie talked to her dad via a thing that looked like an award. LOL It lit up when he'd wanna talk. Yeah, that would be cool.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Lana Lang - I'd have everyone in Smallville worship me and think everything I do is right(Rory Gilmore has nothing on this gal). I never have to work hard for anything I want. I just have to wait and good things happen. Every guy in town falls in love with me. I'd have endless money for clothes, cars, jewelery and I can mooch off my roommates and family and no one will get mad at me for it. I can treat my boyfriends, friends and family like crap whenever I want and nothing bad happens to me. I even have songs dedicated to me. How cool is that?

OTOH:

Chloe Sullivan - No matter how hard I'd work at what I want. I'd alway be shafted. No one thinks I'm sexy or attractive. The one time I get a boyfrind, it's Jimmy flippin' Olsen, while my cousin gets The Green Arrow and in the future Superman, who I've loved since I was in Jr High school. My dad loses his job and no one cares. Not even Lana who I made my sister. When I "died", hardly anyone came to my funeral. Also my mom is in a mental institution.

Hee! Get out of my head VersesBatman. I was just thinking about those two.

Echoing the wish to be one of the Doctor's Companions or a crew member on "Serenity," as well as adding Bernard Black, from Black Books. The man has it made. He owns a bookshop (a dream of mine), which one assumes earns enough money to enable a comfortable lifestyle, he drinks and smokes all he wants and is free to be as much of a belligerent, cantankerous, self-absorbed bastard to anyone he likes.

Also, as a child, I really wanted to be Daria (well, that was after the Wednesday Addams, then rather unfortunate Sailor Jupiter phases). Sarcastic, an above-average student, independent, and she wasn't a complete social outcast because of it, she had an awesome, loyal best friend and wasn't vilified for being herself. And I kind of coveted her room.

From early childhood I've wanted to be Emma Peel. Gorgeous, great hair, brilliant, good at everything, never at a loss for an insightful remark, fantastically cool car, totally able to take care of herself and kick ass whenever necessary, and gets to hang out with John Steed. Does it GET any better than that?

As a little girl, I wanted to be Honey West. She was totally awesome - a kick-ass private eye who knew her way around guns, knives and hand-to-hand combat, rocked a black leotard and trenchcoat ensemble like nobody's business, was witty and cool-headed, had the world's most perfect blonde pageboy hairdo, had the handsome and devoted Sam Bolt at her side, and she had a pet ocelot named Bruce.

A pet ocelot! How does it get better?

Hmm... I don't know so much whose life I'd want to lead, but I know I'd hate being either Buffy Summers or Sydney Bristow.

Both are very kick-ass ladies... one battling international bad guys by day, the other battling monsters and vampires by night. They are both very smart and pretty, but they hardly have any life outside of their work. I'd hate to hold the burden of holding that kind of job on my shoulders, and never have any time for myself. While both end up having fairly happy endings... I mean, come on. Buffy died twice. Sydney lost two years of her life. I wouldn't want to live through any of that in order to get the endings they got.

I can't think of whose life I'd like to lead, but I know whose I wouldn't want: Adrian Monk. Poor man. Sure he's brilliant, but his wife was killed in a car explosion (which remains unsolved), and he suffers from crippling OCD and social anxeity. On top of which, even though he has a few friends, he's heartbreakingly lonely.

I'd want to be the kid in Silver Spoons. His house had a train you can ride. It had arcade games and a remote control door.

Being the Doctor's companion would be great, but I'd rather be the Doctor. Hell yes. Forget all this angst, I'd have an awesome time if I was a Time Lord. Move over, sir.

Though I second (third?) the wishes not to be Buffy or Sydney Bristow, my personal "death first" is Abby Lockhart from ER. Not only is she incredibly boring and whingey, but her boyfriends are incredibly boring and whingey (Carter? Luka? No, thanks), her family are dull, her storylines (when she has them) are dull, her hair is horrible, her backstory is depressing...Sucks to be you, Abby.

What always broke my heart about that storyline, was how much Monk (still) loves his wife. I mean, he knew her completely and totally. It's so sweet.

I can't be the only one who wanted to be a Power Ranger, right? You got a cool suit, the power to teleport, and a bitchin' huge robot.

As well I've love to be:

[A Male] Daria because of her complete disregard of the social levels in high school and still doing well and earning respect in the end.

A Trill/Symboient on Star Trek. Memories of several lifetimes and very cool spots that go all the way down.

Come on, people. Four pages and no one has mentioned how much it would SUCK to be Jack Bauer? Where do you even start with why it would be horrible to be him? The whole series is pretty much based on that topic.

On the other hand, I want to be Lovey from Gilligan's Island. You live out your golden years in tropical paradise with your dirty rich yet incredibly doting husband. You have a fab wardrobe, despite said island, and some some very sweet and entertaining companions, who get in a lot of mischief to amuse you, but rarely actually drag YOU into the middle of it. What's not to like?

Life I'd most want to lead: Thomas Magnum IV (for reasons mentioned above)

Life I'd least want to lead (I'm surprised no one has pointed this out yet): Jack Bauer. His wife and unborn child get murdered by his ex-lover (who turns out to be a traitor), he is estranged from his daughter, he was tortured by the Chinese (for 18 months), he's been nearly killed on numerous occasions, he's lost numerous friends, his brother and father are evil (his father kills his brother), and he loses everyone he loves in one way or another (and that's just off the top of my head). I would not want to be Bauer. (SecretSquirrel, thanks for pointing out Jack Bauer.)

This reminds me of a time I was having a fit of writers block on a paper for a graduate course about a TV character that influenced me. I can't say I've ever been influenced by a fictional character. Songs move me, good TV shows can make me think, entertain me and such, and I might even find some quailties I own in some characters, but I never idolize someone I see on TV or someone I hear sing,, I'm just not like that.

So I shoot an email to someone, complaining about my frustration with the assignment, that "My favorite character on The Sopranos is Christopher Moltesanti, that doesn't mean I want to become a heroin addicted ganster wannabe!"