17 Best Friendships In TV and Movie History
Part of why we love watching TV shows and movies is, of course, the characters. It’s hard not to watch certain stories and wish we were in the action with them, and sometimes we feel like we know the main characters as well as we know our own best friends. In fact, there are some characters that we wish we were friends with IRL. In honor of National Friendship Day, we’re rounding up the ultimate fictional BFFs from television and film. We’ve definitely wished we were part of their squads at least once or twice. Of course, no one replaces your girls, but there's something extra-special about seeing your bond reflected back at you on the big screen. Here are all the characters that give us major friendship goals.
(Go ahead, text all the heart and sparkle emoji to the Lane to your Rory, the Shawn to your Cory — you get it — after reading this.)
1/18Rory and Lane from Gilmore Girls
Rory and Lane are proof that best friends don’t have to change even when life changes. They remained close even when Rory switched high schools, and also while Rory was away at college. They went through everything together, from falling in love for the first time, to getting their first jobs, and even marriage and babies (Lane, that is). Lucky for us, their story isn’t over – we can’t wait to find out what the next chapter of Rory and Lane will be in the Gilmore Girls revival.
2/18Cory and Shawn from Boy Meets World
Cory Matthews and Shawn Hunter taught us about friendship as we grew up. They showed us that your best friend from elementary school could stay your best friend all the way through college and beyond. Despite the fact that Cory and Shawn were pretty different from one another, and came from very different backgrounds, they had a crazy loyalty to one another that lasted decades. And even though they fought – a lot – they always made up.
3/18Seth and Ryan from The OC
In the four seasons that The OC was on the air, Ryan went from being a complete stranger to Seth’s best friend and brother. While those two went through waaaaay more drama than most normal high schoolers do, it certainly brought them closer together. They were always there for one another, from the fight with the water polo team to the time Seth donated blood for Ryan in the final season. Brothers for life.
4/18Blair and Serena from Gossip Girl
Despite the fact that Blair and Serena’s relationship was sometimes volatile (okay, it was often volatile), in the end, they were always there for one another. Who could forget when Serena said to Blair, “We went through it together. We raised each other.” A bond like Serena and Blair’s could definitely never be broken.
5/18Aria, Spencer, Emily, Hanna, and Ali from Pretty Little Liars
The girls on PLL have been through literally everything together. They’ve buried their best friend, only to find out that she’s still alive. They’ve lied to their parents, at least a million times. They’ve committed dozens of crimes, including murder. (Yikes). In terms of secrets, they have at least 85 of them. We’ve counted. We’re pretty sure you can’t get much closer than these five.
6/18Daria and Jane from Daria
Hey, cartoons can be friend goals too! It’s hard not to become obsessed with Daria and Jane’s dry sense of humor and cynical outlook on the world. Sometimes you just need someone to commiserate with. (P.S. Daria is coming back to TV soon. You’re welcome).
7/18Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte from Sex and the City
No fictional BFF list would be complete without the four main ladies of Sex and the City. It’s a classic for a reason. Charlotte says it best in season 4 when she theorizes to her friends: “Maybe we can be each other’s soul mates.” Honestly, raise your hand if you feel like your BFF is your soul mate more than any romantic interest ever could be. That’s what we thought.
8/18Schmidt, Winston, and Nick from New Girl
These three guys truly could not be more different from one another, but that’s definitely what makes their friendship so perfect. Between Schmidt’s hilarious one-liners, Nick’s cynicism, and Winston’s cat obsession, it’s pretty easy to see why Jess Day AKA Zooey Deschanel has a blast living with them. Hey Jess, need a subletter?
9/18DJ and Kimmy from Full(er) House
Thanks to Fuller House, we know that DJ and Kimmy’s friendship has transcended an actual lifetime. Kimmy went from being the weird girl who stormed into DJ’s house uninvited to the...well...weirder adult who now lives in DJ’s house, this time with an invite. It’s hard not to fantasize about living with our BFF after watching season 1 of Fuller House.
10/18Scott and Stiles from Teen Wolf
Hi, hello, Sciles? Yes, we love you. These two are the literal definition of “bromance." Remember when Scott’s mom attempted to ground him by taking away Stiles? Like, the fact that that was worse than taking away his phone, or his computer, or his Xbox proves that Scott and Stiles are truly one of the greatest BFFs of all time.
11/18Q, Radar, and Ben from Paper Towns
The hilarious trio from Paper Towns is here to remind us that boys can have squads too, and this is one squad we’d definitely love to hang out with. Radar and Ben proved their loyalty to Q when they embarked on an east coast road trip just to look for the girl Q had a crush on. That’s commitment.
12/18The Pink Ladies from Grease
OK, OK — the Pink Ladies are sort of an oppressive regime. Rizzo definitely ruled the entire crowd with an iron fist – she could even boss Marty around. However, it would be pretty great to rock one of those shiny pink jackets and strut around the halls of our high school.
13/18Romy and Michelle from Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
We’re throwing it back with this one, but Romy and Michelle prove that you can stay friends with your high school bestie, even after a decade passes by. Plus, we’d be lying if we said that we didn’t immediately start scheming about what we could “invent” at our high school reunion.
14/18Cher and Dionne from Clueless
We can all remember the first time we saw Clueless. At the time, we probably weren’t too focused on their outfits (but seriously what was with those hats?!) because we just wanted a friendship like Cher and D’s. Remember when they called each other on their (ridiculously huge) cell phones only to bump into one another in the hallway at school seconds later? BFF perfection.
15/18Meredith and Cristina from Grey’s Anatomy
Meredith and Cristina prove that you don’t always have to have fun with your best friend — sometimes you need to be able to cry together, or give one another tough-love. And when that doesn’t work, there’s always room for a good dance party. Additionally, thanks to those two, we now have another phrase for our besties. As Cristina put it, “She’s my person.” Aww.
16/18Abbi and Ilana from Broad City
It’s really, really hard to watch Broad City without wishing you could send yourself through the television screen to go hang out with Abbi and Ilana. They just have so much fun. Sure, they get themselves into trouble (like the time Ilana accidentally hooked herself to the back of a truck, or when Abbi fell down a hole while roller-blading). However, Abbi and Ilana know how to laugh at pretty much any situation, which is endlessly valuable in a bestie.
17/18Gabriella and Taylor from High School Musical
Gabriella and Taylor’s friendship showed us that it’s important to always be kind to the new girl at school. You never know if she may end up being your friend (and star of the science team)! Gabriella and Taylor also taught us that we should always encourage our friends to be true to themselves.
18/18The Chanels from Scream Queens
While it’s true that the friendships inside Kappa Tau are more like a dictatorship, sometimes we can’t help but wish we ran in the Chanel circle. At least we know that our lives would never be boring, right? Sure, we’d have to be on the lookout for knives and devilish creatures, but we’d sure have a lot of great stories at brunch.
