Sorry, no companion is better than The Doctor. Not Romana, not K-9, not Sarah Jane, not Jamie, not Leela, and certainly not Rose.
When the Sidekick is Better Than the Hero
- Thread starter auntiehill
- Start date
I think Kato is the biggest example of the sidekick being more popular than the lead character. In some markets, the Green Hornet was syndicated as The Kato Show because of Bruce Lee's popularity.
I agree about Ham Tyler. He was the most interesting thing about V. Well, that and watching people swallow guinea pigs and parakeets.
I also thought Iolaus was the more interesting character on Hercules, and Gabrielle was more interesting on Xena, since neither one had super powers, but hung in there and tried to save the world anyway.
And, I was about to say that Tyr was a better character than Dylan on Andromeda, but come to think of it, EVERY other character on Andromeda was a better character than Dylan. I think he might be the classic example of a hero so stiff and dull that he makes all the supporting characters seem more interesting.
I agree about Ham Tyler. He was the most interesting thing about V. Well, that and watching people swallow guinea pigs and parakeets.
I also thought Iolaus was the more interesting character on Hercules, and Gabrielle was more interesting on Xena, since neither one had super powers, but hung in there and tried to save the world anyway.
And, I was about to say that Tyr was a better character than Dylan on Andromeda, but come to think of it, EVERY other character on Andromeda was a better character than Dylan. I think he might be the classic example of a hero so stiff and dull that he makes all the supporting characters seem more interesting.
Not a hero but Starscream over Megatron.
I always thought Wolverine worked much better as part of an ensemble, rather than as a lead. As one of the crowd, he can keep his mysterious past and his flaws indefinitely... as the lead character, you get the contrived convoluted origin that's dribbled out over time, and you lose the edge.
Some people would say that Spock was better than Kirk.
I thought Hercule was almost unbearable to watch, unless Iolaus was on. I thought he was far more heroic than Herc.
No love for Joxer or Salmoneus?
Actually I liked Ares quite a bit as a secondary character.
I haven't even seen much of Life on Mars, but I know Gene Hunt is miles better than Sam Tyler.
Me, for a start.
Silence you, McKay is the man. That place would fall apart without him.
Hey! You pick on Hermiod you pick on me!!! (Erm....) We Asgard are a far superior race of downloadable clones, Vorta!!!
Jason Momoa can act. He's actually a sunny happy person and it takes considerable effort to be that angry all the time.
Chuck is this guy. He's the Atlantis equivalent of Walter and is quite clearly a superior character to Captain Blow-dry.
On Six Feet Under, Margaret Chenowith was always way more interesting than her insufferable bitch of a daughter.
Well, that was entirely Sorbo's own fault. Sorbo's ego got in the way of what was best for that show, and it completely ruined the thing.
I liked most of the other characters, and like you, especially Tyr. But Dylan was not only stiff and boring, but downright annoying.
I think R2 counts as Luke's sidekick and yes, I do think R2 was more of a hero than Luke.
I think he was referring to the tv show 'Chuck' on NBC, hence the Adam Baldwin nod, and not SGA's Chuck, the chevron guy.
Yeah, it's amazing that everyone on the show came off far more interesting than the lead character, even Brent Staite, the actor buried under the Magog suit...
Interesting thread, though I'd like to stop this madness about Tyler being "better" than Donovan, Singer WAS The Beastmaster after all.
These are all just personal opinion of course:
I always thought Tygra was cooler than Lion-O.
I thought Richard Barrett was cooler than Craig Stirling.
Kitt was soooo much cooler than Michael.
Howling Mad Murdoch and B.A. were cooler than Hannibal.
Shaggy was cooler than Fred (who was the sort of handsome heroic one).
Data was cooler than Picard (sorry!)
erm.... lots more.
These are all just personal opinion of course:
I always thought Tygra was cooler than Lion-O.
I thought Richard Barrett was cooler than Craig Stirling.
Kitt was soooo much cooler than Michael.
Howling Mad Murdoch and B.A. were cooler than Hannibal.
Shaggy was cooler than Fred (who was the sort of handsome heroic one).
Data was cooler than Picard (sorry!)
erm.... lots more.
I think you've gotten mixed up along the way.
I mentioned Chuck, Temis didn't know who he was, so I explained. I knew she was referring to Chuck from "Chuck", but I wasn't.
Guys named Hawk make good sidekicks.
Stringfellow Hawk is NO sidekick!
And I immediately thought of Penny, like an above poster mentioned.
One more AP comment, I thought that Panthro was cooler then Lion-O.
Fun topic!!!
I think sometimes they are cool just because they are the secondary characters. I think a whole show that focused on them might not be as interesting as when they come in and spice things up as the outsiders.
Guys named Hawk make good sidekicks.
And that goes double true for Hawk in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century!
