There are a lot of on-screen friends who are #bestfriendgoals. There are squads we admire, female duos who are the ultimate BFFs and there are also guy and girl friends who prove that you can definitely be best friends with the opposite sex.
There is still a big debate about whether guys and girls can truly just be friends, but these pairs prove that it’s possible. Yes, we know that the couples might be the work of fiction, but there is a lot of truth to their relationships. They show that it’s possible that if they can do it, so can we. Here are 17 on-screen friendships that demonstrate dudes make great best friends.
17. Jess, Nick, Schmidt and Winston, New Girl
New Girl is basically one big promotion for girl-guy friendships. After Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) finds out that her sucky boyfriend is cheating on her, she moves in with three single dudes, Nick Miller (Jake Johnson), Winston Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris). While the dudes might sometimes find Jess’s behavior eccentric, they end up finding their groove and becoming #roomiegoals.
16. Topagana, Shawn and Cory, Boy Meets World
Topagana Lawrence (Danielle Fishnel), Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong) and Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) were pretty much the Three Musketeers of their school. You could count Mr. Feeny (William Daniels), but he wasn’t as close with the students… and for good reason — that would be weird. Cory and Topanga might have been true loves, but the three characters were a true trio with no third wheel.
15. Joey, Chandler, Ross, Monica, Rachel and Phoebe, Friends
We will acknowledge that a lot of the platonic relationships in Friends did end up being something more, but it was those great friendship bonds that helped the characters develop further feelings. Through the breakups, the makeups and everything else, the six of them remained close friends. To have just one girl-guy friendship to admire is great, but to have a set of six friends with strong friendship bonds? Now that was impressive.
14. Carrie and Stanford, Sex and The City
Skipper Johnston (Ben Weber) was Carrie Bradshaw‘s (Sarah Jessica Parker) original male BFF, but he was quickly forgotten about when Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) came into the picture. Carrie had amazing relationships with her female friends, but Stanford and Carrie had their own special thing. She was even there for him at his wedding. Awwww.
13. Rachel and Kurt, Glee
All of the students in the William McKinley High School glee club, the New Directions, had a special bond that went beyond singing and dancing. However, there was definitely some special platonic love between Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer). They were in tune on-stage and off. Yeah, their relationship was a bit strained in season one as they competed for the solos, but they worked things out.
12. Buffy, Willow and Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Forget about the relationship between Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Geller) and Angel (David Boreanaz). Let’s talk about the relationship between Buffy, Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon). Buffy’s “Scooby Gang” are cool with her vampire-hunting ways and even support her in any way they can. That is the sign of true blue friendship. Sure, Xander is hopelessly pining over Buffy for quite a while in the series, and he and Willow have that lame high school affair in season three, but they always show up for one another and never let messy romantic things get in the way of being a good friend.
11. Hannah and Elijah, Girls
Hannah Horvath‘s (Lena Dunham) relationships with her female friends showed some deep cracks at different points, but it was her relationship with Elijah Krantz (Andrew Rannells) that was actually one of the best. When Marnie (Allison Williams), Shosh (Zosia Mamet) and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) weren’t there, Elijah usually was. You might not have thought that Hannah and Elijah could go from being a high school couple to being roomies and BFFs, but it happened.
10. Olivia and Huck, Scandal
It’s easy to get swept away by all of the sexiness and mystery in Scandal. When we’re looking for something that’s pretty much drama-free, we turn to the relationship between Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and Huck (Guillermo Diaz). Olivia helped Huck get off the streets and he remains an amazing rock in her life because of it.
9. Veronica and Wallace, Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars (Kirsten Bell) and Wallace Fennel (Percy Daggs III) didn’t just have brilliant names. They were literally partners in crime. Wallace was her best friend and always there to back her up when she’d get a bit too deep in an investigation. What’s more, Wallace had the sarcastic wit to match Veronica’s. It could have turned into a competition of cleverness, but they enjoyed playing off one another.
8. Leslie and Ron, Parks and Recreation
Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) have such a mighty relationship that one episode was even named after the two of them. (It was the fourth episode of season seven, if you’re wondering.) They seemed to be polar opposites, but they formed an unlikely friendship that we admired.
7. Liz and Jack, 30 Rock
Liz Lemon (Tina Key) and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) might not have been the first two people you would have seen having a friendship, but as the seasons went on, they became one of the best girl-guy BFFs we aspired to be like. They played off each other and they knew how to turn any situation into something very entertaining.
6. Zachary, Screech, A.C., Kelly, Jessie and Lisa, Saved by the Bell
The kids at Bayside High School in Saved by the Bell were another ensemble cast who showed how a group of guys and girls can form some amazing friendships. Of course things weren’t always perfect with Jessie Spano (Elizabeth Berkley), Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen), Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Screech Powers (Dustin Diamond), A.C. Slater (Mario Lopez) and Lisa Turtle (Lark Voorhies), but no high school friendships are. Crucially, everyone had deep enough bonds that held them together.
5. Ted and Lily, How I Met Your Mother
Let’s hear it for Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) from How I Met Your Mother. The two have been BFFs since freshman year of college. Getting through four years of college together is quite an accomplishment, but having a relationship go beyond that shows there are some great bonds there. Guys, they even had a tradition for when they got mad at each other. How special is that?
4. Sabrina and Salem, Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Before you try to protest that Salem Saberhagen (Nick Bakay) was a cat, Salem was actually a 500-year-old warlock who was sentenced to spend 100 years as a cat by the Witches Council as punishment for attempting to take over the world. So, his friendship with Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan Hart) makes it onto the list. He might still have had his schemes, but Salem was the person cat that the teenage witch could always turn to for advice. Him being in a fuzzy, purring body also made him a comforting presence.
3. Miley and Oliver, Hannah Montana
Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) and Lilly Truscott (Emily Osment) were great BFFs, but it was Oliver Oken (Mitchell Musso) who rounded out the BFF circle. And he and Miley had a great relationship on their own. Sure, there was some dramz with the Lilly-Oliver relationship, but it was worked out, and Miley and Oliver continued their fun-loving, goofy ways.
2. Alex and Meredith, Grey’s Anatomy
Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) aren’t just best friends, they’re co-workers and they even roommates at times. Grey’s Anatomy has been on for-ev-er. In that time, there have been a lot of changes. One thing that was remained constant was the tight relationship between Alex and Meredith. It’s solid as a rock.
1. Haley and Lucas, One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill was on from 2003 to 2012. In those many episodes, we saw what an incredible friendship Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) and Haley James Scott (Bethany Joy Lenz) had — thought CMM did exit for a quite a few episodes during that time. They were solid through all of the high school basketball drama and they continued to be close as the show skipped through time and the characters became adults. Lucas even walked Haley down the aisle at her wedding to his bro, Nathan Scott (James Lafferty). Then Haley became Lucas’s sister-in-law. Awww.