Sibling Rivalry: TV Families That Make Ours Look Good

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September 7th, 2009 - (889 days ago)

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You can't choose your relatives and you're stuck with them for life. On television, sometimes it's even longer than that. But, as in real life, some of the best drama comes from those you call family. They drive you nuts, get you into trouble and generally ruin your life. They are also the ones who have your back and who will stand by you when the chips are down. Brothers and sisters: can't live with 'em, can't shoot 'em.

So which TV siblings have the best and worst relationships? Which ones make for the best stories? Who have stuck together and who have gone their separate ways? The following shows put the expression "blood is thicker than water " to the test.

Work Together, Play Alone

Some siblings spend more time together professionally than they do personally. It's a different dynamic when you have to deal with family in a at work; the rules change. You can't stop them from putting themselves in danger if that is part of the job description.

Sometimes a job interferes with a personal life, especially when it comes to medicine and law enforcement. Pagers go off at inopportune times and a patient's life becomes more important that a relative's personal crisis, causing bad blood. On the other hand, if a relative becomes a patient, all bets are off and procedures become optional because there are no rules when it comes to saving family.

Cops are just as guilty. If little brothers or sisters are at a crime scene, they have to be questioned just like everybody else with the added bonus of bosses telling you to use your personal relationship to get more information. Occasionally they can be guilty of the crime, leaving the cop torn between duty and family. Rarely, for instance, even if a brother is a suspect the cop is willfully blind to the clues. Because if she doesn't notice she doesn't have to do anything. And, really, who wants a serial killer in the family?

***

Debra Morgan and Dexter Morgan, Dexter. Dexter has no problem helping his little sister advance her cop career by giving her insight into the serial killers of Miami. But all that free advice is going to stop when she gets through the rest of them and his name pops up on her "To Arrest" list because he doesn't want her job to interfere with his fun and games.

About
Featherlite is a Canadian writer who graduated from UCLA's screenwriting program in 2010. When she isn't watching procedural crime dramas, she wonders when she became a sci-fi geek and how she can overcome her addiction to SPACE channel. In addition to contributing articles to TVOvermind, Featherlite is busy working her own television and movie scripts.
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(6) Comments - Add Yours!

  1. Pixie Wings says:

    *… if Dean hadn't sent his little brother to fetch pie. *

    *wibbles* PIE!!!

    (*snerk*) They are flawed, but I love Our Boys. I think come May 2010 I will be rocking in the corner. And Kripke may have to go into witness protection if one Boy lives and one Boy doesn't. (Ours can be a scary fandom ;) )

    Great article, Featherlite:)

  2. Pixie Wings says:

    *… if Dean hadn’t sent his little brother to fetch pie. *

    *wibbles* PIE!!!
    (*snerk*) They are flawed, but I love Our Boys. I think come May 2010 I will be rocking in the corner. And Kripke may have to go into witness protection if one Boy lives and one Boy doesn’t. (Ours can be a scary fandom ;) )

    Great article, Featherlite:)

  3. Pixie Wings says:

    *… if Dean hadn’t sent his little brother to fetch pie. *

    *wibbles* PIE!!!
    (*snerk*) They are flawed, but I love Our Boys. I think come May 2010 I will be rocking in the corner. And Kripke may have to go into witness protection if one Boy lives and one Boy doesn’t. (Ours can be a scary fandom ;) )

    Great article, Featherlite:)

  4. CandyMaize says:

    Always love to see Supernatural mentioned in articles like this .. because the heart of the show is the relationship between the brothers.

  5. CandyMaize says:

    Always love to see Supernatural mentioned in articles like this .. because the heart of the show is the relationship between the brothers.

  6. CandyMaize says:

    Always love to see Supernatural mentioned in articles like this .. because the heart of the show is the relationship between the brothers.

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