10 Famous Wingmen
“Wingman” is a relatively new term that describes a buddy who has your back in complicated social situations. He will be there to take the heat for romantic entanglements caused by you, or take the heat off romantic entanglements caused by you. He will also pile into a situation when diplomacy ends and punches start to fly in a situation caused by you. Here are ten famous wingmen in a thankless role:
Barney Rubble
Barney Rubble is a good first choice as a Hall of Fame wingman and sidekick. Barney endured many humiliations as a loyal buddy, including numerous scraps, invisibility, dressing in drag, hypnosis into a dog, and jail time as Fred’s ill-fated wingman.
Al Gore
Al Gore makes the list as a wingman for Bill Clinton. He never got the chance to have his own Vice Presidential wingman, but he has made a big fortune as an environmental wing-nut since leaving politics.
Bob Hope
Bob Hope was always a great wingman for Bing Crosby in the old ‘Road’ pictures. Crosby almost always got the girl in the end, but Bob Hope always got the laughs in every Hope-Crosby picture.
KITT
KITT was a good wingman for David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider. There are no hard and fast rules about wingmen, so flesh and blood is not necessarily a requirement for the job. The Pontiac Firebird was a very loyal wingmen in the TV series for Michael Knight, the hero of the 80s TV show.
Milhouse
Milhouse is the best wingman that Bart Simpson will ever have in his cartoon life. Milhouse’s strong suit is complete obedience to the direction of Bart. Milhouse is a not-so-bright nerd and is loyal to the core. He may be the perfect wingman, because he has no ability or desire to seek the top job.
Dwight Schrute
Misfit Dwight Schrute is the best available wingman for Michael Scott in ‘The Office’. Dwight’s loyalty is largely based upon his desire to climb over people on the way to the top, including Michael, but he is the best wingman of a sorry bunch.
Cliff Clavin
Cliff Clavin was always a good wingman for Norm Peterson on ‘Cheers’. The beauty of their friendship was that both were essentially barflies with minimal issues in their lives. They cultivated a solid friendship over many beers and few major problems beyond Norm’s obvious yet understated alcoholism.
Robin
The 60s TV Robin was a good wingman for Batman. Both actors display a little too much flab and were undersized to be convincing super heroes, but 60s Robin was a master of the “Holy … Batman!” clichés that made the guy funny and quotable.
Old Yeller
Old Yeller was a great wingman for the frontier kid (Travis Coates) he saved from harm. Old Yeller was a stray mongrel that was as loyal a wingman as ever existed. Unfortunately, Travis had to reward the dog’s wingman loyalty with a well-placed bullet, but that is another story, only a little sadder.
Mr. Spock
Last but not least, is Spock from ‘Star Trek’. Captain Kirk had a wingman that had no desire to take his job, even though Spock was twice as smart and three times as strong as Kirk. Spock only chased babes about once every seven years, so he was not a rival for Kirk’s relentless inter-stellar babe search. The perfect wingman.
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