Top 10 Television Sit-Com Next Door Neighbors

You know them and you love them even if you don't often give them as much attention as their more loved Co-Stars. That's right, I'm talking about televisions greatest "Neighbors".

So without further adieu, lets jump straight into this list of notable neighbors.

10. Coming in at number ten is everyone's favorite neighbor Mr. Rogers.
Now I hear many people getting their hate mail ready but allow me to explain why Mr. Rogers Neighborhood comes up as number ten. You see, Mr. Rogers isn't really a "neighbor" in the traditional sitcom method.

Although Mr. Rogers claims to be a neighbor looking for other's to be his neighbor he really isn't a neighbor at all as he is the focus of the show. So for that very reason Mr. Rogers can't be seriously considered as a top ten.

I do have a fondness for Mr. Rogers and that's why he's on this list as number ten, though he should only be getting a memorable mention as he's really the star of the show.

9. Yeah, I had trouble with the number nine slot but after discussing the matter with co-workers I came to the conclusion that Cosmo Kramer from "Seinfeld" should be on this list. Now, Jerry's wacky neighbor comes in at number nine because of an ugly racist outburst on stage from a few years ago.

Although I realize that it was the actor and not the character that had that outburst it still casts a shadow on the character.

Having said that I think everyone will agree that Kramer was so out there and so crazy that he was fantastic.

Whether he was trying to instruct his intern, participating in an abstinence gamble of sorts or sliding across Jerry's floor, Kramer certainly brought a lot of laughs along with him.

8. Having been brought up on cartoons it's no surprise that at least a few cartoon characters would eventually wind up somewhere on this list. Having said that, our number eight neighbor is the type that everyone hopes for.

He doesn't make noise, he keeps his yard clean, he's courteous and he's none other than Ned Flanders from "The Simpsons".

Through all the years of abuse that Ned Flanders lived through at the hands of his less then Holy neighbor, Homer Simpson, Ned very seldom lost his cool.

Oh sure, we found out in one episode that he had anger management issues and that his Beatnik parents left him in a sanitarium of sorts but in spite of all this Ned very seldom lost his cool.

Homer, Marge, Maggy, Bart and to a lesser degree Lisa have certainly tried Ned's patience but being the good neighbor and Christian he usually turned the other cheek. Even when Homer videotaped him showering in order to complete the dating video that Homer thought was going to help Ned get over his wife's untimely death (her death also being inadvertently caused by Homer) Ned never really lost his cool, at least not to the same degree that your or I might have had we been in Ned's shoes.

7. I'll admit it, I was a fan of "Family Ties" but so were every one of you so I think you'll agree with me that Skippy Handleman belongs on this list.

Alex's friend and Malory's admirer, Skippy Handleman was over at the Keaton's house more often then even the Keatons at times.

We found out that Skippy was adopted at the Keaton's home. Truth is that Skippy was over there so much that he was almost like a piece of furniture, a constant fixture.

That's not to say that we didn't love Skippy, we cared about Skippy and we probably even hoped that on some level Malory would love him too.

6. The Jeffersons come in at number six and this may surprise some of you out there, especially if you'd forgotten that before the Jeffersons "moved on us to the east side" they were neighbors to Archie Bunker from "All in the Family".

We certainly had many very funny moments which stemmed from the tension that existed between Archie Bunker and George Jefferson.

The Jeffersons certainly helped prove what we all already knew on some level. That being that Archie Bunker was a good man under that rough exterior that he always hid behind.

No episode proves the point more then the one in which Archie accident joined the KKK. Upon learning that the "club" he had joined was in fact the Ku Klux Klan, Archie informed the group that he had had a blood transfusion that was from a black person which somehow made him black too. He continued that if the KKK did anything to the Jeffersons, he and his "brothers" would come back and settle the score.

5. What list of television Sit-Com neighbors would be complete without Fred and Ethel Mertz from the classic "I Love Lucy" show.

Lets face it, I Love Lucy was the prototype for the modern situation comedy and the issues that arose between Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel are still being reinvented today, of this there is no doubt and if you need proof just watch your favorite modern day sit-com objectively and you'll soon find that it's true.

The Mertz's were more then neighbors to Lucy and Ricky, they were also their landlords as well as friends.

Very often there would be a disagreement based on a misunderstanding that lead to some sort of conflict that would quickly spiral out of control until just the end of the episode.

Does that sound familiar now? It should, because as I already said, it's the exact same formula that we have seen on subsequent situation comedies for the last 50 or 60 years and as this list continues you're going to see this fact illustrated again and again. Keep reading, you'll see.

4. To illustrate the point I made with the number 5 pick I would like to present to you the number four pick for top "neighbors" from Sit-com television shows and at number four we have none other then the Rubbles.

That's right, Barney and Betty rubble of Flintstones fame are really a mash-up of many sitcoms that went before. Take a heavy dose of "The Honeymooners" and some "I Love Lucy" and I'm sure a few other sitcoms and you've got "The Flintstones". Though for our purposes here we're only talking about Barney and Betty Rubble.

If you think about it you'll see that the point made in number 5 is true, there are so many episodes where Betty, Barney, Fred and Wilma end up having some sort of misunderstanding that results in some mild feuding but is resolved at the end of the episode.

Barney, of course, is a sidekick to Fred Flintstones not unlike the way Fred Mertz plays second fiddle to Ricky or how Ed Norton is a sidekick to Ralph Kramden on "The Honeymooners".

In any case, The Flintstones was a kid favorite for many decades and continues to be a favorite even today with new episodes still being produced.

3. Our number three pick for situation comedy TV neighbor is another prototypical character would inspire Seth Macfarlane's character, Glen Quagmire.

So who is our number three TV Sitcom neighbor, why it's none other than the girl chasing Larry Dallas from "Three's Company".

It's kind of fun to see that many of the most beloved TV characters of today are very much inspired, and sometimes copied, from characters of the past.

Larry Dallas was Jack Tripper's best friend on "Three's Company" and an incurable perpetual bachelor. Larry was always chasing women and often conflicts with Jack would occur when they would compete for the affections of the same woman.

Larry, for all his womanizing ways, was a good friend in the end, when Jack opened his new restaurant and due to a mix up with the date that was printed on the fliers that had been sent out throughout the neighborhood, no patrons showed up. It was Larry who went out and returned with a huge crowed of people who apparently were his relatives, in that episode we also learn that Larry is of Greek decent and that his last name "Dallas" is actually short for Dalliapoulos.

Larry is also a stereotypical used car salesmen although he tells the women he dates many wild stories in which he claims to be an astronaut, a photographer for Playboy magazine and one time he even went as far as to lie about his name. In that episode, in an attempt to throw off his dates over-protective big brother he tells her that his name is Jack Tripper.

There are plenty of television characters that have a lineage directly back to the Larry Dallas character such as Glen Quagmire from "Family Guy" already mentioned in this article.

2. The number two pick for Sitcom television neighbor is another "Three's Company" alumni and one of the funniest characters all around. This person had plaid some of the most beloved roles on several television shows but for number two we recognize and honor Mr. Furley, the neighbor and landlord of Jack Tripper, Janet Wood and Chrissy Snow.

Mr. Furley, played by Don Knotts was a self proclaimed ladies man who actually wasn't popular at all with the ladies. He was the Anti-Larry Dallas in that where Larry did get the woman he was pursuing quite often, Mr. Furley couldn't even get a reaction from the women he tried to woo.

A somewhat nervous and high-strung lovable looser is a good description of Mr. Furley. Often he was the one to misunderstand a situation and thus creating that episodes story line.

Mr. Furley, much like his predecessor Mr. Roper, was lead to believe that Jack was gay and under that condition he allowed Jack to live with two beautiful women.

Mr. Furley, on two separate episodes was informed that Jack was not gay. The first time he was told was after he ended up waking in Jack's bedroom right next to Jack after a long night of drinking at Jacks party.

Jack end up confessing to Mr. Furley that he wasn't gay as Mr. Furley was distraught at the notion of waking up in a gay mans bed. However, in that episode he either refused to believe Jack and ended up playing it off as a kind gesture on Jacks part to ease his concerns or he truly didn't believe what jack told him.

The second time he was told was in the series finale where Jack tells him that he was going to try going straight and was moving in with a girl(friend).

It's time to name the number one television situation comedy neighbor and I think that many will agree that this is a great choice. If you don't agree by all means leave a message for me.

So, without any further adieu, I present to you the number one pick.

1. After much deliberation the conclusion came that the most deserving character had to be Gwendolyn "Winnie" Cooper from "The Wonder Years".

Simply put everyone fell in love with her from the first episode of "The Wonder Years" till it's final episode. She was the girl next door, your first love, someone you just wanted to protect and every other emotion that is positive that a teen boy could lavish upon Winnie.

Personally, I was in the 7'th grade I believe when the show first came on the air and I instantly fell in love with Winnie and I know all my friends did too, as did their friends and so on and so on.

It's kind of funny when as a 7'th grader you find the girl you want to marry. Sure it's all just puppy love but this was puppy love on a national level.

The whole show seemed to take place in, "Anywhere", United States. It could have been just about any of our own neighborhoods.

In any case, it is probably very likely that the first episode of "The Wonder Years" which featured Kevin and Winnie having their first kiss, that catapulted the show almost instantly into the national consciousness.

Yes, there are other characters that are certainly worthy to be on this list but no one cay say that any of the characters on the list don't deserve to be there.

So there you have, the Top 10 Greatest Sitcom Neighbor Characters if this list doesn't reflect your personal Top 10 list then feel free to post your version.

by: Rob Korchak
http://www.robertkorczak.com