TVSquad

Recently, the AOL list of the 50 Best Sitcoms of all time got me thinking about ten all time great sitcom sidekicks. Working on that list inspired me to look at the best in sitcom siblings -- ADULTS ONLY. The brother/sister relationship, brothers, sisters, family dynamics are great fodder for comedy. For my collection of the best, I've limited it to grown-up siblings only because there are some truly funny things that happen only among adults brothers and sisters that are unique and universal at the same time. After all, unlike the childhood years when kids are controlled by parents, adult siblings remain close and in each other's lives by choice -- and that has made for some wonderful situation comedy.

Niles & Frasier Crane, Frasier
Two brothers, both psychiatrists, both opera buffs, both wine connoisseurs, both heterosexual despite evidence to the contrary. The Crane brothers were like two peas in a very funny pod, sparking each other in comedy, competitive and supportive at the same time. Making their brotherly friendship even funnier was the fact that their Dad, Martin, who was nothing like either one of them. What's even funnier is the fact that when Frasier was originally spun-off from Cheers, the writers didn't include the character of Niles. It was only after seeing an 8x10 of David Hyde Pierce, and how much he looked like Kelsey Grammer's brother, that they put him in the pilot. Frasier would not have been nearly the hit comedy it was without the brother angle.

There's a good chance I'm losing my mind, but I swear I've written about the series The Return of Jezebel James before. However, I can't seem to find the post anywhere on this blog. Perhaps I just imagined it, or I'm schizophrenic and my other personality wrote about it for a rival TV blog.

At any rate, Parker Posey has just been added to the new FOX pilot about a children's book editor who asks her estranged sister to carry her baby for her. The series comes from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, who is executive producing along with her husband, Daniel Palladino. The couple, rightly so, were thrilled when Posey said yes. I was also thrilled when Posey said yes, to me, in a dream last night when I posed this question: Do you want to make out on this giant plate of elbow macaroni?

Sorry, I've always kinda had a thing for Parker Posey. She's enough to make me want to check out this new show at least once. We'll see if the series as a whole is worth sticking around for, as well.

Having a terrific brother myself, I have a great affection for brother-sister teams. Together, they work past the boring notion of sibling rivalry to achieve greatness. Amy and David Sedaris on the New York Theater Workshop stage. Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko. John and Joan Cusack in just about every film either one of them has made. Now, another team is looking to make the list of great brother-sister working relationships. David Arquette will be directing big sis Patricia in an upcoming episode of Medium.

Patricia had this to say about the collaboration: "I was always a bossy little girl and being David's older sister I've bossed him around quite a bit. Now that he'll be directing me it will be payback time...I feel so safe with him. I think I'll be able to go to some of my darkest places." That's kinda creepy, but whatever, you work out those family neuroses. When you're done, maybe you could straighten those Baldwins out.

Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls has signed a deal to create a sitcom pilot for Fox. The half-hour pilot is going to be about two sisters who reunite after a number of years apart. The twist is that the reunion happens after one sister agrees to carry the other's baby. She is set to write, produce, and direct the pilot, which is a lot of work. But remember that AS-P and her husband Daniel left GG earlier this year after the couple and Warner Brothers couldn't come to terms on a new deal, so she'll have time.

Knowing Amy's writing style, I'm sure there will be lots of references to current and past pop culture, with band names popping up from time to time.

[via Netscape]