TVSquad

AOL Television has compiled a list of the 50 Best TV Comedies -- Ever, this week revealing numbers 50-41. Inspired by what they did, I've decided to list my favorite sitcom sidekicks, those funny foils that oftentimes make the star shine even brighter than you might have thought. Coming up with just a ten-pack hasn't been so easy. Many times, I'd look at a show and think, "No, it's more of an ensemble. There isn't one sidekick." Falling into that category were B.J. and Trapper John on M*A*S*H. Neither were Hawkeye's sidekick, really (any more than Radar was). Same thing with Friends -- they were all each other's sidekicks. Also, on The Odd Couple, Oscar and Felix were equal; neither was a sidekick. Ditto Two and a Half Men and Laverne & Shirley. Also, because it's my list, I decided not to include married couples -- sorry Rob and Laura, Ricky and Lucy, Archie and Edith.

Whew, after all that, here, in alphabetical order, are the ten I love -- within my own parameters! Feel free to comment with your choices, if your favorite isn't on my list.

 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment came out with starter sets for Buffy The Vampire Slayer, 24, The Pretender, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show yesterday-- 2 to 4 hour collections of episodes from the first season, priced to move at $9.99.

Fox has been incredibly aggressive in adopting the DVD model as a revenue source, and it's been hugely popular and profitable (according to Adams Media Research, revenue from three seasons of "24" on DVD had generated $72.1 million and six seasons of "Buffy" on DVD totaled $123.3 million in revenue by the end of 2004) and even led to the revival of Family Guy and Firefly. I look forward to seeing if this continues the trend.