Friday Five: 5 Weirdest TV Sidekicks

Every good sitcom leading man or woman needs an equally weird and awkward sidekick. Jerry had George, Sam had Woody, Fred had Barney - and the dynamic between each protagonist and their sidekick is among the strongest of fictional bonds. So, which zany sidekicks rank as the best?

Check out the list below!

Abed Nadir
Community (NBC)
Portrayed by Danny Pudi

Abed Gubi Nadir is a young, emotionally reserved, Arab/Polish-American pop-culture enthusiast who aspires to become a director and is currently taking film directing classes at Greendale. Paste ranked him first in their list of the 20 Best Characters of 2011, describing him as "the show's emotional center" and saying "his pop-culture obsessions and antics with his buddy Troy have made for some of the show's finest moments."

Weird Quote: "I'm a bad person for tracking your location, but you altered my brain chemistry? I was up for three days that week, I invented an entire language, you flitzbarping gitzgorg!"

---

Dale Gribble
King of the Hill (Fox)
Voiced by Johnny Hardwick

Dale, one of Hank Hill's best friends,  is the creator of the revolutionary "Pocket Sand" defense mechanism, an exterminator, bounty hunter, smoker, gun fanatic, and paranoid believer of almost all conspiracy theories and urban legends. Dale Gribble's paranoia of being constantly observed by the government was a major source of comedy for the show until 2013, when the National Security Agency's surveillance programs were disclosed.

Weird Quote:  "I have more pressure than any of you, you every try replacing a cockroach's blood with root beer?"

---

Tobias Funke
Arrested Development (Fox/Netflix)
Portrayed by David Cross

Tobias Funke is many things - a analyst, a therapist (or analrapist), he's an author, a self-proclaimed understudy to the Blue Man Group, and a never-nude. Most importantly, he's the wife of Lindsay Bluth, and brother-in-law to the show's protagonist, Michael. 

Lindsay married Tobias as a form of protest against her parents, but the two rarely have intimate moments. Although he repeatedly denies it, he is most likely homosexual. He has a strange pattern of speech that makes almost everything he says have a disturbingly sexual undertone. He seems unaware of this. Despite it all, Tobias Funke is unapologetically optimistic at all times. 

Weird Quote: “Oh, I can just taste those meaty leading man parts in my mouth.”

---

Dwight Schrute
The Office (NBC)
Portrayed by Rainn Wilson

Dwight is the "Assistant to the Regional in selling paper, despite lacking social skills and common sense. Despite his initial personal dislike of Jim Halpert, the two are a very effective sales team. Dwight was a former volunteer Sheriff's deputy, and has been trained in surveillance. He has also displayed expert levels of knowledge and training in hospitality management, seduction, social dynamics, agriculture, espionage, and economics. Dwight's vast compendium of other talents and skills include, but are not limited to: military strategist and weapons expert, martial arts andother modes of self-defense, he is an avid survivalist, and successful entrepreneur. He enjoys Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, the Harry Potter franchise, Stars, The Crow, The Apprentice, Lost, Survivor,The Amazing Race, and HBO's Game of Thrones. Dwight lives on his family's 60-acre beet farm, in a nine bedroom farmhouse (with one outhouse), with his cousin and best friend Mose, where they grow table beets. Dwight also likes paintball, survivalism, Goju Ryu and weapons. He drives a Pontiac Trans Am.

Weird Quote: ​“How would I describe myself? Three words: hardworking, alpha male, jackhammer, merciless, insatiable.”

---

Charlie Kelly
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX)
Portrayed by Charlie Day

Charlie Kelly is the janitor of Paddy's Pub and a member of the Always Sunny "Gang." Considered the "wild card" of the group, Charlie has been best friends with Mac since childhood, and shares an apartment with Frank Reynolds - who is very likely his biological father.

At one point Charlie was a co-owner of Paddy's Pub, but he sold most of his shares to Dennis and Mac for, among other things, half a sandwich. The most tedious and disgusting janitorial tasks at the bar are referred to as Charlie Work, even when Charlie is temporarily spared from performing them. He is known for his illiteracy, his habit of slipping into a variety of characters for his various schemes, and his never ending obsession with The Waitress (portrayed by Charlie Day's real-life wife). Although he is by most respects the stupidest member of the Gang, he is capable of rare, impressive moments of brilliance, particularly with music and engineering complex social schemes.

Weird Quote: "Yes, my good man, I'll have the milk steak - boiled, over hard - and your finest jelly beans - raw."

---

Read More 990WBOB

• Worst Quotes From Both Awful Candidates
• "Vanished  Star" by Helen Money
• ​5 Can't-Miss TV Shows Debuting This Fall
• TV's 5 Weirdest Sidekicks