A recent internet surfer found me by asking if you can have a man crush on a TV character. The answer, of course, is yes since we’re just talking about admiration and respect that can go as far as idolizing someone. As Alan Stanwyk once said to Fletch, “It’s nothing of a sexual nature I assure you.”
As it happens, I already had this post well underway as a follow up to my earlier musings on 10 movie characters I’ve wished I could be.
I don’t watch much TV these days. The shows I like make up a short list. There’s Psych, Chuck, and now The Walking Dead. Community is also fun since it documents my life as a teacher at a community college, but I never seem to watch.
I used to LOVE television. I am, after all, a product of Generation X. We’re the first bunch to grow up watching the boob tube, and I certainly got my fill over the years. Here then are some of the fictional TV peeps I grew up with and really liked.
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MacGyver
No brainer eh? “He can fix anything. He can fix a computer with a hairpin and some duct tape.” Yeah, Pete summed it up about his friend from the Phoenix Foundation. In an attempt to emulate MacGyver I once actually fixed a torn piece of duct tape with a piece of scotch tape. I even remember the episode when they finally revealed his first name. Bonus points if you know it’s Angus.
Sam Beckett
I actually remember the night the pilot for Quantum Leap aired. As I shambled toward the kitchen MamaClaytion said to me, “You might like this new show. It’s about a guy who time travels by leaping in and out of people.” That did it. The show featured Scott Bakula as the good scientist unable to control where he ended up each episode. He had to fix some wrong in the lives of others to move on. My friend Eric and I loved recapping the shows on our bus ride the next morning. We actually had to use our words to talk about it since no one had cell phones.
Zack Morris
Is this show still on? Unbelievable. Zack’s never going away. The coolest thing about him is that he could freeze time. He always had a snappy comeback and dated Kelly Kapowski. If you want my thoughts on Kelly or Jessi, well, I’m never telling.
Magnum P.I.
He just always made me laugh. Also I really liked T.C. and his cool helicopter.
Templeton “Faceman” Peck
The A-Team just has to be here. But which member? The most entertaining character was usually Murdock. Howling Mad Heather is without a doubt the internet authority on Murdock, but I always liked Face. He was super slick, extra witty, and the ladies loved him.
Michael Knight
He drove a talking car. I so wanted to be Knight Rider, but you can’t hassle the Hoff.
Luke Duke
Sorry John Schneider, I’ve always been a Tom Wopat guy. Luke usually rode shotgun during their hijinx in Hazzard County. The Dukes of Hazzard marks the only time in my life that the redneck lifestyle appealed to me.
Jesse Mach
This name is probably the one to which the most people say “huh?” The short lived show was Street Hawk. Think cop on a super motorcycle. The show was cancelled after a baker’s dozen episodes, but I pretended to be Jesse Mach for years as I sat atop my bike while the garage door slowly opened.
Jesse Mach was played by Rex Smith, a teen idol from the 70s who recorded the hit single “You Take My Breath Away.” Wedding dance stuff back then. Smith also played one of my faves in 1989 when The Trial of the Incredible Hulk introduced Daredevil to TV audiences. Another star of Street Hawk was played by Joe Regalbuto, a.k.a. Frank Fontana of Murphy Brown fame.
Duncan McLeod
Who wants to live forever? Me! It’s just that Duncan got to be immortal on earth. I would love to live for centuries, even if a lot of bad guys were trying to take my head off.
Chuck Bartowski
The only show within the last decade to make this list. I mean come on. Yvonne Strahovski is the leading lady. Oh yeah, Chuck’s also a super spy who’s super nice.
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Although I don’t put them on a list like this, my favorite characters on the telly these days are Shawn & Gus from Psych. A lot of their success has to do with dialogue, a sweet combo of gifted writers and clever performances.
But I’m curious about your faves of all-time.
What TV characters have you wished you could be?
I guess I already *am* Murdock, with a different set of chromosomes. In terms of who I wish I could be, I’m going with Jean-Luc Picard.
Thanks again for the shout out and the terrific compliment.
You know it!
Awesome, my husband, has the Dukes of Hazard car in his dumpy shed (and won’t get rid of it so i can get another COW) and named his dog Cooder!! You guys were so affected!! I never watch tv so I am a sad whispering voice in the dark.. (I came here (US) from NZ..we don’t even have electricity let alone TV) .. anyway I am sure it was all about that girl in her short shorts! c
No electricity! Got my attention. It’s wild to think about how much TV I watched as a kid. I could’ve read a lot more books!
I’d like to be a contestant on WIPEOUT. That looks like some great goofy fun and a challenge to my claims on being athletic.
But as far as characters go, I’d like to be Veronica Mars. Trouble is always heading her way. But other than her…geez, there aren’t too many great leading ladies on TV these days.
What about Sarah Walker? I think you might know who I’m talkin bout.
Of course! She’s awesome. I want to be her.
Zack Morris all the WAY!!!
Right on!
I wanted to be Jamie Somers, The Bionic Woman. She could hear everything and jump really high and run really fast. Plus she was smokin’ hot. And smart.
I know what you are thinking: “You are Jamie Somers.”
Thank you, Clay. You always say the right thing.
Took the words right outta my mouth.
My Top 10 would be (in random order): Fonzie, the Six Million Dollar Man (my generation’s Steve Austin!), Buck Rogers, Magnum PI, MacGyver, Michael Knight, either one of the paramedics from Emergency!, the guy on Starsky & Hutch who got to jump on the hood of the car all the time, Columbo, and whatever guy in Dukes of Hazzard wound up with Daisy.
See Larry, this is why you and I get each other. Who else would put Columbo on their list? I get that.
And you use the term “splosions” too. Rock on! If I weren’t so old I’d think we were separated at birth.
The Incredible Hulk didn’t make the cut? I mean, he’s green and all. That has to count for something.
I really wanted to be Wonder Woman. She had me with the gold lame and the lasso.
I loved watching the Hulk on TV, and I even went into the woods to kick over weak trees like I was him, but I didn’t want to be green all the time.
Mork. I wanted to be Mork. Yes–I’m a nerd.
Nanu nanu. Super funny guy. Of course then you’d be the father of Jonathan Winters.
I’ve not spent much time dreaming of being tv characters, but I always wanted to be MacGyver. Creative, resourceful, and always able to find a way out just before the explosion.
He always beat the splosions. One time, his friend was on the other side of the facility or plane or something trying to diffuse a bomb. But everything went wrong and the guy yelled, “It’s a vacuum!” Next thing you know, the whole place blew up. Mac was sad after that. I mean, how do you diffuse a vacuum? I sure don’t know since it’s science and all.
Ziva David, from NCIS!!!! Yessss!!! She doesn’t get simple things like funny sayings yet she can kill a man with her thumb.
You didn’t make fun of me today, did you, Clay?
Oh, you meant who we wanted to be when we were kids. My bad. Nevermind. (Gilda R.) Just disregard my statement above.
No fun making here.
Chuck!! I love Chuck! So sad that this will be the last season.
I wanted to be The Hulk (yes, I know he’s a boy, but I wanted to smash stuff, okay?)
I also wanted to be a Mok, like Ookla from Thundarr the Barbarian. A girl one, though.
Yeah, Chuck’s going out in style. Should be fun.
Uncle Matt from Fraggle Rock, an adventurous kind of traveler always seeking out new things.
Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) from “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, hard to believe he is still around on N.C.I.S.
Lloyd Bridges in “Sea Hunt”..
Charlie ( John Forsythe) from the original “Charlie’s Angel’s”… What guy didn’t want to be him..
Then there is the evil side of us (or just me) “DEXTER” ….
Nice list Arty. Lloyd Bridges is a vintage call.
This is a fantastic list. MacGyver and Scott Bakula and Chuck for the win. Oh, and of course I was always a little in love with Zac Morris. I wanted to be Kelly Kapowski just because of that!
But really, I wanted to be Lorelei Gilmore. She was so hot, Luke loved her, she had the absolute best dialogue, I loved her wardrobe, she was a super young mom and her daughter was super smart and responsible, AND she had rich (albeit annoying) parents.
I know that show wasn’t when I was a kid, but that’s the first person I thought of.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No fear! Flawless hair! Loyal friends.
I was thinking about something like this the other night, but for a different reason. Are there any kick-ass women characters on TV that I could (or my daughter could) aspire to be? The list is woefully short:
1) Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kicking ass is awesome, but I’d prefer magic.
2) Murphy Brown: I had always wanted to be a journalist, and she just kicked ass in a more metaphorical sense. And, she had my dream job.
3) Dr. Bailey from Grey’s Anatomy: That woman also kicks some serious ass in the operating room and makes the struggle to compete as a Black women is a dignified but still challenging one.
4) Tami Taylor from Friday Night Lights (see why here: http://www.btchflcks.com/2011/09/emmy-week-2011-tami-taylor-my-hero.html)
And then…Cagney and Lacey (which I never watched)? Any of the Disney chicks (whiny and bratty?)? The CW girls (rich and bratty)? The Housewives/Khardashians/Other reality TV personality? Who? Who is left?
It troubles me that boys get a whole list of kick-ass characters while girls get…well, you see what we have to choose from!
Tami Taylor FTW!!
I don’t know what to say except you need to tell your gender to start being more awesome on TV. Sarah Walker from Chuck is my fave.
I am not sure I´d want to be Sam Beckett. I loved QL but the end was sad and depressing and I don´t think I would like to keep leaping forever without a chance to go home. Also live forever as Duncan MacLeod…er, and after seeing the last movie…nope
About that show, the creator was a Pittsburgh guy and the whole show culminated here in the Burgh.
If I could be a guy on TV, I’d be the guy who takes home 6 figures a year to come in and read the news (and show up for local parades sometimes). You’d be famous locally, but if you wanted a break, you’d just drive to the next big city, and you’d be completely and utterly anonymous. “Coming up: Something in your house can kill your children while they sleep, but first: Chet Manley is at the scene outside the Sunoco station where something excited happened 12 hours ago….” I could totally be that guy.
Brilliant! So true. Full disclosure though: I once made it to second interview to be one of the guys who prepared those news teasers. Would’ve hated myself so fast in that industry.
Zach Morris, nice. (And I don’t think those re-runs are going anywhere.) I don’t know if I’d want to BE Buffy or Sydney Bristow (Alias), but they’re two of my favorite TV characters! Pretty sure these days I’d be happy to anyone on Glee (’cause I’m cool like that…mostly ’cause I wish I could sing).
Also, with a name like Jules you could be, well, Jules from my fave show Psych.
Zack Morris…what a dreamboat. I totally watched a rerun of that while I was in NYC.
I used to watched Quantum Leap all the time.
Can I say Sailor Jupiter from Sailor Moon? Will you think less of me? Can I even be a cartoon? How about the girl Pony Express rider from Young Riders? She had lots of hot guys around her. I’d like to be her.
I would never think less of you Thoughtsie. Of course you were cool and watched Quantum Leap. Wouldn’t expect anything less from you.
Loved Street Hawk! I got really amped every time the bike went super speed. I also own on DVD the trial of the Incredible Hulk. So…I loved your list. The ones that I would add are Jim from the Office, John Locke from Lost, and Captain N from Captain N and the Game Master. Remember that one?
I’ve been so busy that I couldn’t reply to comments until now, but I saw yours come through while at work the other night and was all like, “YES!” Street Hawk peeps for life. I taped Trial of the Incredible Hulk on VHS and still have the thing somewhere.
I wanted to be Angela from My So-Called Life just so I could have a shot at Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto). Even thinking now about the way he leaned…sigh.
That’s funny. I recently pointed out on Twitter how angry I used to get at Jared Leto because Angela from My So Called Life always liked him. And I liked her. Extra side note: I was watching My So Called Life on the night a Pittsburgh TV anchor man broke in with the news that US Air flight 427 had crashed just a short distance from my where I lived.
Clay, it sounds like we need to divide and conquer Angela and Jordan. Everyone wins. That is a crazy MSCL association.
That’s what I’m talkin about. I think it’s funny that Jared Leto ended up as a frontman for 30 Seconds to Mars. They actually have some decent songs. But I’m still not happy with him. Angela has grown into a fine woman. Let’s split indeed.
Benjamin Linus.
Are you lost?
Zach Morris all the way! And Tyler Tarver needs to be Screech, and Chase can be AC Slater. I think I just came up with the most brilliant Halloween costume idea ever! Tamara as Lisa, Leanne as Jessi, and Ellie Ann as Kelly. Oh I would die laughing if I saw you guys do this!
You speak of brilliant things m’lady. I’m thinking Ellie as Lisa perhaps. Fun to blog cast, but I have no creativity when it comes to costumes. I need to just show up and play roles.
First of all, good call on Zack Morris and MacGyver – had a crush on both of them during my entire childhood.
I’ve always wanted to be Kelly Kapowski. She got to date Zack and work at The Max. I couldn’t imagine anything better in life.
I also would like to be Wonder Woman and Cat Woman…mainly for the costumes. I’d love to live a life where I can wear a costume everyday and gain respect.
You wanted to be Kelly Kapowski. While this makes me happy don’t think that my opinion of you is lowered. It’s actually respectable to understand SBTB.