a Yourlist ranking · the crowd decides the order
From sitcom duos to genre-defying partnerships, these are the friendships that made us laugh, cry, and wish we had a Chandler or an Abed of our own. Cast your vote for the bond that defines TV friendship.
What counts: Ranked by cultural impact, longevity, and chemistry as remembered by audiences and critics; all years and episode counts are approximate and drawn from general show run data.
Roommates who became each other's found family, their bit of 'could they BE more' banter and the ballerina-Chandler episode cemented them as the platonic ideal of TV bromance. Ten years of shared apartments, foosball, and heartbreak recovery made them the gold standard.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 10Chemistry: 10/10
added by IJR
Their handshake, their blanket fort, their Dreamatorium turned a community college study group into a shrine to pure imaginative friendship. Troy's tearful exit on a boat remains one of the most quietly devastating goodbyes in sitcom history.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 6Chemistry: 9.5/10
added by IJR
An idealistic bureaucrat and a libertarian woodworker should never have worked, yet Ron's Lil' Sebastian tribute and Leslie's endless birthday celebrations for him proved opposites make the deepest bonds. Their 'I don't do stuff for you because you're my superior. I do it because
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 7Chemistry: 9.5/10
added by IJR
'Guy Love' wasn't just a musical number, it was a mission statement for two med-school best friends who navigated an entire hospital hierarchy side by side. Their secret handshakes and eagle-and-hawk imagery made bromance a genre unto itself.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 9Chemistry: 9.3/10
added by IJR
A sociopathic genius and a war-weary doctor became 221B Baker Street's ultimate odd couple, with Watson's blog and Sherlock's grudging vulnerability ('I don't have friends, I've just got one') redefining the detective-sidekick dynamic for a new generation.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 4Chemistry: 9/10
added by IJR
The sliding entrance through Jerry's unlocked door became as iconic as the friendship itself, a chaotic neighbor and a wry comedian riffing off each other for nine seasons of nothing. Their bond proved you don't need warmth to have iconic TV chemistry.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 9Chemistry: 9/10
added by IJR
From shy library nerd to powerful witch, Willow's evolution alongside her Slayer best friend anchored seven seasons of apocalypse-fighting loyalty. The Season 6 rift and reconciliation showed a friendship strong enough to survive literal magic-fueled betrayal.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 7Chemistry: 8.8/10
added by IJR
A misanthropic diagnostician and the oncologist who refused to give up on him formed TV's most caustically loving friendship, ending with Wilson's terminal diagnosis and House faking his own death to give his best friend one last motorcycle ride.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 8Chemistry: 8.7/10
added by IJR
A frazzled TV writer and a corporate shark mentor built an unlikely friendship over cheese and existential crises, with Jack's fatherly needling of Liz becoming as tender as it was hilarious across seven seasons of 'The Rural Juror.'
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 7Chemistry: 8.6/10
added by IJR
Two broke New York twentysomethings turned FaceTime calls and questionable life decisions into a love letter to female friendship, with Ilana's unwavering hype-woman energy for Abbi becoming the show's beating heart.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 5Chemistry: 8.5/10
added by IJR
A gay lawyer and his straight best friend/former fiancée redefined platonic intimacy for network TV, their codependent bickering and eventual co-parenting proving that some friendships are truer than any romance.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 11Chemistry: 8.5/10
added by IJR
A sea sponge and a starfish who live under rocks (literally, in Patrick's case) built a friendship on pure chaotic joy, jellyfishing trips, and the eternal question of whether Patrick is actually dumb or a secret genius.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 13Chemistry: 8.5/10
added by IJR
Two Milwaukee brewery workers linking arms and singing 'Schlemiel! Schlimazel!' down the opening credits became shorthand for blue-collar best-friendship, proving working women could be hilarious and inseparable long before it was common on TV.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 8Chemistry: 8.3/10
added by IJR
The original animated best-friend duo, bowling together at the lodge and getting each other into prehistoric trouble, set the template for decades of cartoon buddy comedy that followed, from Bedrock to beyond.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 6Chemistry: 8.2/10
added by IJR
Permanently perched at the Cheers bar, the trivia-obsessed mailman and the beer-guzzling accountant turned barstool camaraderie into an art form, embodying the idea that sometimes friendship is just showing up to the same place every single day.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 11Chemistry: 8/10
added by IJR
What began as relentless pranking on a beet farmer turned into genuine, if reluctant, affection, with Jim's best-man speech at Dwight's wedding revealing the friendship buried under years of stapler-in-Jell-O antics.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 9Chemistry: 8.4/10
added by IJR
College roommates who stayed inseparable into adulthood, Marshall's steady presence through every one of Ted's romantic disasters (and vice versa) gave the show's legendary-story framing its emotional backbone.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 9Chemistry: 8/10
added by IJR
High school friends reunited in a New York coffee shop, their journey from clashing roommates to maid-of-honor speeches and shared apartments showed female friendship could carry a decade-long ensemble as much as any romance did.
Show: Years On Air: Seasons Together: 10Chemistry: 8.8/10
added by IJR
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