Top 10 Television Democrats

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

With the 2012 Presidential Election upon us, I thought that it would be cool to take a look at some openly political television characters. Today we'll look at Democrats and tomorrow we'll look at Republicans. No special reason that we're doing one before the other.

all images pulled from wikis, except Family Ties from IMDB

10. Joe Quimby, The Simpsons. Mayor Quimby is largely portrayed as an animated collage of political Kennedys, with an accent, a passion for womanizing, and uses money to solve as much as possible.

9. Grace Adler, Will & Grace. She wastes no time in declaring her political affiliation - in the fifth episode, "Boo! Humbug," she says, "I'm a Democrat" when she has to take Harlin's children trick-or-treating and one is dressed as Richard Nixon!

8. Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan, Friends. Though the show never gets very political, it would be difficult to peg Phoebe as conservative! She's a vegetarian, respects the environment, loves all animals (even smelly cats and rat babies!), donates to the homeless, and is really a free spirit in many ways. She's a lover of peace, not a big fan of Western medicine, doesn't like mass-manufactured products, and generally doesn't worry about how others see her. One very liberal thing she does is after she gets married she legally changes her name to Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock for an episode! 

7. Hawkeye Pierce, M*A*S*H. Hawkeye was drafted and opposes the war, often disagreeing with everything the army stands for and disregarding their policies. In "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde," he sends a telegram to President Truman, asking "Who's Responsible?" for the insanity taking place. Many seasons later, in "Give 'Em Hell, Hawkeye," he writes a letter to Truman, begging for him to stop the Korean war. He explains how dire the situation is and that the peace talks need to take place.

6. Christine Campbell, The New Adventures of Old Christine. For someone who is hardly motivated about anything, Christine founded her college's Democrats group. She doesn't talk about her political beliefs specifically all that much, though in the early season 4 episode "White Like Me," she does point out to Richard that she's a Democrat (and also says that's why she won't take alimony). She also drives a Prius, liberally drinks wine, and marries a woman for a short period of time, if you want to further stereotype a character who thoroughly stereotypes throughout the series.

5. Winnie Cooper, The Wonder Years. Winnie genuinely cares about stopping the war, as it took away her brother far too early. So, she works for the McGovern campaign in 1972 ("Politics as Usual" in season six), and is genuinely sad that there are folks who won't take a leaflet about a guy who wants to end war, poverty, and pollution. She is swept up in wanting to see change in the world, and even meets the Senator, who loses by a landslide. The local head honcho, Mike, depresses Winnie further when he says that McGovern never stood a chance, and Kevin says their political views were forever changed that night. 

4. Dorothy Zbornak, The Golden Girls. Though she never comes out and says it, Dorothy is implied to be a Democrat - she supported both Mondale and Dukakis and planned to "tell off" George H. W. Bush about the educational system's flaws. Dorothy also believes in female independence and allowing immigrants to stay in the country as long as they're productive members of society.

3. Rory & Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls. In "Dear Emily and Richard," Lorelai thinks back to being pregnant with Rory, when she planned to register as a Democrat because it's so far from her parents' ideals. Multiple times throughout the series, Rory and Lorelai talk about their liberal thinking, solidified toward the end of the series as Rory goes to work as a reporter on Obama's campaign. 

2. Brian Griffin, Family Guy. A supporter of Dennis Kucinich, this dog is anti-religion, hates George W. Bush, served in the Peace Corps, believes that marijuana should be legalized, and supports gay marriage. He considers himself an intellectual (attended Brown University and all) who thinks global warming is man-made, yet he drives a Prius. Surprisingly, he did vote for John McCain.

1. Steven & Elyse Keaton on Family Ties. This show depended on the liberalism of the Keaton parents being contrasted with the conservatism of their children (except maybe Jennifer). They married young, joined the Peace Corps, had their first child, THEN went to college at Berkeley, when they had their second child. They often speak of protesting, Elyse is a hardcore, independent feminist, and Steven works in public television. Imagine his cries as Mitt Romney tries to assassinate Big Bird!


Honorable Mentions include Brian and Joe Hackett from Wings, Mary Richards from Mary Tyler Moore, Lindsey Weir from Freaks and Geeks, Eric Camden from 7th Heaven, and Shirley Feeney from Laverne & Shirley. Am I missing anyone?

Favorite Episodes: Wings

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

After watching all of Frasier and all of Cheers, I figured that I'd work my way through Wings, as it takes place in the same universe. There are actually only a couple of episodes that feature the Cheers characters, but the show didn't even need them. Sure, it got off to a short start, but it had a long life. The storylines tended to be a little more ridiculous than your average 90s sitcom, but it's fairly easy to attribute that to the fact that the show takes place on the island of Nantucket - primarily in an airport and focusing on those who work there. Joe, Helen, Brian, Fay, and Roy lasted the entire eight seasons, but there were several major changes in other characters - Lowell left and Budd replaced him, Alex came and went, Casey showed up, and then there was Antonio, the greatest of the additions. I never really remember the show regularly showing up in reruns, though the internet believes that several channels have aired it over the years. I don't even remember how or when I first heard of the series, though it's certainly worth watching.

The series is available on Netflix streaming with only three episodes missing (update 1/4/18: Wings is no longer on Netflix); I did include YouTube clips of my favorite episode below.

Season 1: "Legacy" (S01E01) Yep, chose the pilot. In my defense, it was a six-episode first season that didn't even debut until April 19th, so there weren't a ton of choices. But, the pilot is pretty funny, and is something that is remembered throughout the series, particularly in the final few episodes. There's a lot to build up in the episode, but we are able to learn Joe and Brian's backgrounds pretty easily, plus there's a wild goose chase that brings the brothers all over the place!

screenshot

Season 2: "Sports & Leisure" (S02E04) Roy just isn't on the same page as the rest of the group, so when he ruins a fishing trip, the gang plans a game night without him. They give in and invite him to play Trivial Pursuit, and he goes... only he's not thrilled that his partner is Lowell. He spends the evening angering and insulting everyone anyway. It may seem like a strange episode to peg as a favorite, but I thought it was funny, especially the un-invite/re-invite part... it's like their middle schoolers! 

Season 3: "Das Plane" (S03E17)  I think that the Carlton Blanchard character is the funniest non-regular character on this show, so between him and the wacky hijinks, it's a real winner. Joe auctioned off a fly-anywhere plane ticket by mistake, and Carlton wants to go across the country to see his brother. Lowell, Antonio, and Brian also come, and they wind up flying a very non-direct route because of one mishap after another!

Season 4: "It's so Nice to have a Mather around the House" (S04E07)  For some reason, I must have seen an episode of Wings as a child that referenced Brian sinking Lowell's houseboat, because seeing this episode really put some pieces together for me. Lowell ends up moving in with Joe and Brian, who love his cooking and cleaning... right up until they start catching grief from an under-appreciated Lowell. It works out in the end, though, and they continue to live together for a while.

Season 5: "Come Fly with Me" (S05E10)  I like this episode because it includes all of the characters in two believable storylines. Antonio, Roy, and Fay spend an entire night trying to win radio trivia contests, figuring that, together, they could win. Of course, Roy manages to blow it, but it's still fun. Meanwhile, Joe, Brian, Lowell, and Helen go to Boston for a night of fun. They wind up at a great party, but soon realize that it's mainly hookers trying to reel in customers. The funniest part is when a guy starts bargaining with Helen and she doesn't know what's going on at first!

Season 6: "Nuptials Off" (S06E23)  This episode is my very favorite... I just can't believe how hilarious it is! Five weeks before Helen and Joe are supposed to be married, she realizes that she never got divorced from Antonio (she set the paperwork under the cash register and forgot all about it). There's not enough time for a regular divorce and Helen doesn't want to disappoint Joe with messing up even more wedding stuff, so she and Roy plan to fly with Brian to Mexico. She sends Joe fly-fishing in Maine, But, Antonio wants an annulment because he's trying to get back into the Catholic religion for the sake of his new godson. The priest believes that he can counsel the couple instead, right up until he overhears Helen talking about marriage to Joe and sex with Brian. Things are further complicates by a broken plane and a sick Lowell... Lowell manages to fix the plane, but then it seems that Joe's trip is delayed, so Casey is stuck stalling him so the rest of the gang can get off the ground. Lowell does tell Joe about the group going to Mexico, but he's hopped up on cold medicine so Joe doesn't believe him.




Season 7: "Burnin' Down the House" (S07E01)  This is a weaker season, in my eyes. There are a handful of episodes that have a decent amount of laughs, but nothing really stands out as truly excellent when it comes to overall quality. Still, the season opener offers some ridiculous jokes, which are actually made worse later on in the series. Joe and Helen come back from their honeymoon to find that Brian and Casey have burned down Helen's house - where they were planning to live. So, Joe decides that enough is enough and that Brian can't do anything right - booting him out of the business. Don't worry, though, things fall back into place for the brothers the next episode - though the two couples wind up living together for quite a while. 

wikipedia

Season 8: "Single and Hating It" (S08E04)  A traveling matchmaker hosts a mixer on Nantucket, so Brian, Antonio, Fay, Roy, and Casey all attend. Joe and Helen are supposed to celebrate their first wedding anniversary but stop off to give Brian his wallet. A bad storm comes though and they're stuck at the event, pretending to also be single. Between Antonio constantly being turned down and Brian focusing solely on the bartender, there are plenty of laughs. Of course, Helen and Joe put the episode over the edge with a pretend proposal, if you can believe it!