Favorite Fictional Character --- Philippa Georgiou

 

Since I’m almost finished with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, tonight felt like the perfect time to post about my favorite character from the show that came before it, Star Trek: Discovery.

I knew exactly who I wanted to feature. I even started typing her name in the title — then I changed my mind. Not because I didn’t want to write about her. I did. Promise. But someone else kept whispering that she should be the one instead. Smarter. Stronger. More interesting than anyone else on the show. She also insisted on being given the deference and respect her status as a former Emperor of the Terran Empire allows.

Honestly, it’s probably for the best. Even though Discovery isn’t my favorite — that honor still belongs to Star Trek: Enterprise — it has a lot of characters I really enjoyed. Given that, I think April might be the month I focus entirely on my favorite members of the Discovery crew.

So, before she decides to take me out, may I present Philippa Georgiou: Starfleet captain, Terran Emperor, Section 31 agent, time traveler, and one of the most complicated characters I’ve come across in science fiction — or any genre, for that matter.

When viewers first meet her, she’s the wise, compassionate captain of the USS Shenzhou. We don’t get nearly enough time with her before she’s killed by the Klingons.

The second meeting doesn’t go as well.

This time, she’s the despotic Emperor of the Terran Empire in a mirror universe defined by cruelty and violence — a world where a daughter might kill her mother for not being bloodthirsty enough. When she’s pulled into our reality, that’s when things really get interesting.

She is not a nice person. She’s arrogant, vain, selfish, and lethal, with the empathy of the devil himself. She’s probably responsible for more deaths than any other main character in Star Trek. And yet, I can’t help but love her.

As the series progresses, those edges soften — just slightly. She begins to experience doubt and uncertainty, maybe for the first time in her life. There are flashes of regret. Moments — brief, almost imperceptible — where something like compassion slips through. And if anyone notices, the sharp tongue comes right back out to put them in their place.

Philippa is all of those things. But she’s also someone capable of loving one person so fiercely that she allows herself to change just enough not to lose them. It may be selfish, but it’s also nuanced — and, in its own way, self-sacrificing.

And the fact that Michelle Yeoh was never nominated for an Emmy for this role is a travesty.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Lexington

 

It may be telling that so many of the fictional characters I've been featuring over the last several months come from cartoons. After books, cartoons were where I could get lost in storytelling, forgetting everything else going on in my life — think safety blanket, or blankie for short. As I got older, that dependency shifted into something else. Cartoons became a source of enjoyment first, escapism second. So yeah, I was still watching cartoons in high school.

And while I’m not going through a ton right now, there are a lot of changes at work, and I’m having to challenge myself and what I want moving forward, which is causing a little more stress than usual. That’s probably what’s led me back to revisiting the cartoons from my youth.

Today’s character is from a cartoon that debuted in 1994, the same year I graduated from high school, and I adored him from the beginning. For those of you unfamiliar with Gargoyles, the show follows a Scottish clan of gargoyles who find themselves magically transported from the tenth century to modern-day New York, or at least what was modern day three decades ago. They’re charged with protecting the city from threats, both old and new.

Lexington, the tiny green one, grabbed onto this new opportunity with gusto. He was fascinated by modern technology and dove into it headfirst. He taught himself so well he became a hacker extraordinaire, able to break into almost any security system. He also enjoys the fun side of tech, especially video games. If you need a new motorcycle, he can build one for you — just don’t let him test drive it.

Of all the clan, Lexington adapted to his new reality the quickest, and I think I loved him so much because I hoped some of his openness to new environments would rub off on me, especially as I was preparing to move out of state for college. I’m not sure it did, but I appreciated the inspiration all the same.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Captain Caveman

 

"Caaaptain Caaaavemaaaan!"

I was that kid who would plop himself down on his grandparents’ living room floor — even when they had brand new white carpet — turn on the USA Network, and get lost in USA Cartoon Express for an hour or two, depending on the day. The vast majority of the cartoons came out in the 1970s, but that never mattered to me. I could watch Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Herculoids, Thundarr the Barbarian, Space Ghost, Jabberjaw, and the rest of the gang just as easily as I watched newer shows like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Shirt Tales, Kissyfur, and The Wuzzles. If it was a cartoon, I was all in. It didn’t matter how old it was or when it originally aired — if it was animated, it had my full attention.

One of the shows I loved most was Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. If you’ve never seen it, think a mix of Scooby-Doo and Charlie’s Angels, with the addition of a caveman accidentally thawed from a block of ice by three teen girls. Cavey quickly joins them, and before long, he’s right there alongside Dee Dee, Brenda, and Taffy as they travel around solving mysteries and catching the bad guys.

There was something about Cavey — ridiculous as he was — that stuck with me. Between his Cousin Itt-like appearance, his “Me Tarzan, you Jane” way of speaking, and powers that never quite worked the way they were supposed to, he shouldn’t have worked as well as he did. And yet he did. He never gave up. No matter how often things went wrong, he would shake it off and keep going, completely content with the life he had found with the Teen Angels.

They only solved mysteries for 40 episodes, but those adventures have stuck with me far longer than that. It’s still one of those shows I find myself going back to every now and then — not just for the nostalgia, but for the simple joy it always managed to bring with it.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Charles "Trip" Tucker III

 

I’m going to apologize in advance if this ends up being a little rambling as I’m currently dealing with a medication change from gabapentin to Lyrica. The brain fog is real and I'm ridiculously tired — all I want to do is lie down and watch TV until I fall asleep.

Lately I've been binging Star Trek shows, which is not a series I've ever been all that interested in. I kept reading a certain segment of the fandom is melting down because of Starfleet Academy, so I gave the first two episodes a try, and I'm now hooked. I loved it so much that I decided to watch all of the shows in chronological order. I started with Star Trek: Enterprise, and now I’m finishing up Star Trek: Discovery.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I've never been an actual fan of the Star Trek universe. I was a sporadic viewer of The Next Generation and Voyager, and I would watch the original series with my mom as a kid, if I couldn't get out of it. I think I watched more episodes of The Animated Series than I did the live-action version.

I absolutely loved Enterprise, and one day I'll do a binge review, and a huge reason I enjoyed it as much as I did was because of today's FFC subject, Charles "Trip" Tucker III, the chief engineer of Enterprise (NX-01).

I don't often describe someone as magnetic, but I can't think of a more fitting descriptor when it comes to Trip. He has a large personality and has more self confidence stored in his blue eyes than I have ever possessed. When he walks into a room, it's impossible not to notice him. He's loyal, yet can be quick to anger and hold a grudge like no other. And yeah, I'm rambling a bit but I really do like this guy.

When he fell in love and eventually had his heart broken, he showed a level of emotional maturity that had me thinking he needs to jump off the screen and start teaching people, and I mean men, how to handle heartache in a way that can't be described as toxic.

He's a complex guy with a strong sense of duty, and he is one of those guys I would have had a hero-worship crush on when I was younger. Now that I'm only a few months shy of fifty, he's the kind of guy I would respect the hell out of — and gravitate toward as someone who would make a great friend.

I think I'm going to pick one character from each show to do one of these on, as I'm curious to see who will end up being my favorite on each show. I just hope whoever I pick from Star Trek: Discovery isn't treated as badly by the writers as Trip was at the end of Star Trek: Enterprise. That was a damn shame, though you'll have to watch the show to find out what I'm talking about.

Favorite Fictional Characters --- Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand and Carlos Reyes

 

When I was growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s, I never dreamed there would be gay characters on scripted primetime TV who didn’t reflect dangerous or homophobic stereotypes. I certainly never imagined we would see characters living their lives like everyone else, without being burdened by shame or self-hatred.

And if you had told me when I was sixteen years old that a show about firefighters, paramedics, and police officers would feature two gay men who meet on the job, start dating, fall in love, and eventually get married, I would have done two things. First, I would have scoffed and called you a fool. Second — though I might not have said it out loud — I would have been praying for that show to exist in my present.

At sixteen, I desperately needed to know that my life wasn’t doomed simply because I was born gay. I needed to see myself reflected in society as someone who was not only accepted, but allowed to thrive. At sixteen, that was not the reality I was being shown.

It’s why characters like TK and Carlos matter so much. Our youth, and plenty of adults, need to see themselves reflected in media. They need to know there is hope, that their lives matter, and that they can become something more despite whatever bullying or abuse they may be facing now. Identity matters. Positive representation matters. TK and Carlos are perfect examples of what good representation looks like.

For those who have never seen 9-1-1: Lone Star, the show takes place in Austin, Texas. It follows the lives of firefighters and paramedics working out of Firehouse 126 after a devastating accident leaves only one firefighter alive.

TK Strand is the son of the new captain. Both of them move from Manhattan to Austin to help rebuild the 126 after the tragedy. He’s a little cocky, a little insecure — an odd combination, but one that somehow works — and he was probably my favorite character on the show. He has his demons, including a past addiction to drugs, but he loves fiercely and is deeply protective of his friends and family. I truly believe he met his soulmate in Carlos Reyes.

Carlos is a police officer and the son of a Texas Ranger. He has a strong sense of justice and one of the truest moral centers I’ve ever seen portrayed on TV. Like TK, he values family deeply and often puts the needs of his loved ones above his own. He also happens to have the patience of a saint — something I’ll likely never possess, no matter how hard I try.

Together, they are an unstoppable pair. They bring out each other’s strengths and compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Their relationship isn’t always smooth, but they work through their problems together and consistently emerge stronger and more unified than before. They have the kind of love that feels enduring — the kind you imagine lasting 161 years, like Lily and Herman Munster’s.

Favorite Fictional Characters --- Lee Stetson and Amanda King

 

It’s probably fair to say I was more than a little nerdy as a kid. I was that kid who wanted to read through my great-grandma’s set of Encyclopaedia Britannica, then quiz the adults around me on what I had just read. I could get lost in a book or TV show to the point the rest of the world ceased to exist. Some of that was due to the dysfunctional way I was raised by my mom — a childhood that forced me to learn how to entertain myself. But I think I still would have been a Brainy Smurf–level nerd even if I had had a “normal” childhood.

I truly believe I was born gay — and a nerd. Even as an adult, I read anywhere between 350 to 500 books a year, and my Funko Pop! collection is just a little excessive. Even my taste in TV would have been a dead giveaway. Perry Mason and Murder, She Wrote were must-watch television, and so was Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

Anchored by the crush-worthy Bruce Boxleitner as suave secret agent Lee Stetson and Kate Jackson as divorced housewife Amanda King, Scarecrow and Mrs. King was the kind of show I wanted to be in when I grew up. Like a lot of us, I was fascinated by the idea of being a spy, and I devoured every episode I could. Yes, the missions they went on were a lot of fun to watch — but it was Lee and Amanda who truly captured my attention as a kid, a fondness that has carried over into my adulthood.

They aren’t the kind of couple who fall instantly in love. In fact, I’m pretty sure annoyance and exasperated amusement were the predominant emotions they initially felt for each other. But even then, the chemistry between them lit up the screen. There was something about their partnership that grabbed your attention as a viewer, even at my tender, impressionable age. The annoyance eventually turns into respect and admiration, but it’s when they both realize there’s a spark between them that they truly become a couple worthy of a happy ending.

For a kid who found comfort in books and television, Lee and Amanda weren’t just characters — they were proof that even unlikely partnerships can grow into something lasting. Maybe that’s why they still matter to me. Their slow-burn story taught a lonely, nerdy kid that love doesn’t always arrive in a flash; sometimes it builds quietly and steadily, until you realize it’s exactly what you’ve been waiting for.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Herman and Lily Munster

 

There is something rather wholesome—and timely—about a family who looks and acts differently than anyone else around them, yet still considers themselves the perfect American family. The notion that a family doesn’t need to look like yours in order to have value should be the norm, and for the couple who head the Munster family, it absolutely is.

Sadly, for their neighbors, those differences stand out—something that feels all too familiar given the state of things right now. But that’s another post. This one is about celebrating Herman and Lily Munster in all their romantic perfection.

First of all, I have to congratulate Herman and Lily Munster for being married for 161 years. That level of commitment is something I can only dream of. I admire and respect a couple who willingly put in the work to make such a long-term relationship not only function, but truly thrive. It’s impossible to be around them and not see the utter joy and comfort they find in one another.

Herman, who happens to work at a funeral home of all places, lives for his family, and it shows—not only in every look and touch, but in the way he strives to give them the best possible life. Lily is the heart and soul of their family. She runs the home—and her husband, to a degree. Together, they are everything any of us could imagine a true partnership being.

I wish them another 161 happy years together.

Favorite Fictional Character --- David Rose & Patrick Brewer

 

It’s February, the month of love, so to celebrate Cupid and all of his shenanigans, I’m going to be shining a spotlight on some of my favorite couples.

But first, I’m going to whine for a moment. Loudly. The flu strain going around right now is absolutely nothing to play with. It’s been days since my fever finally broke, and I’m still not feeling like myself, which is why I’ve been mostly MIA online the last few weeks. I am more than ready to feel normal again. I’m also incredibly grateful I got my flu shot in October, because I honestly can’t imagine how miserable I’d be without it.

Okay. Whining over.

Let’s get back to why we’re here: my favorite couples of all time. Last February, the Facebook page ran a tournament dedicated to these special pairings, and David Rose & Patrick Brewer walked away with the title of favorite fictional couple of all time.

And really, how could they not?

David & Patrick are the heart and soul of Schitt’s Creek. From the public, tear-inducing serenades to one of the most adorable hiking proposals ever put on screen, they are pure relationship goals. They support and complement each other perfectly. Where one is weak, the other is strong. Where one is scattered, the other is solid. They are each other’s home—something many of us spend a lifetime searching for.

Watching David and Patrick feels like a reminder that the right person doesn’t fix you—they meet you where you are and walk beside you anyway. That kind of love is rare, and it’s one I’ll happily believe in every time.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr.

 

"Sufferin' succotash!"

When I was a kid, I’d get lost in Saturday morning cartoons. I would park myself on the floor in front of the TV and spend the next few hours watching all the fun and joy my adolescent heart could handle. The Bugs Bunny Show was one of those cartoons, and today’s Favorite Fictional Character was a big part of my enjoyment.

Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr. is a cat with a voracious appetite—an appetite that makes his pursuit of Tweety, Speedy, and Hippety Hopper a tad frantic at times. What makes it even worse, at least from Sylvester’s point of view, is that it’s an appetite that will never be sated. Because, like Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, and Ralph Wolf, he’s doomed to fail every single time. This poor guy gets beaten up on the regular, but he has the spirit of a fighter. He never gives up, never gives in, much to the chagrin of his son, Sylvester J. Pussycat, Jr.

As a kid, there was nothing here not to find funny. Sylvester was—and still is—a hoot and a half. Granted, most of that laughter comes at Sylvester’s expense and is due to the bodily harm that befalls him over and over and over again, and that’s okay. There’s something inherently hilarious about his outsized confidence constantly crashing headfirst into reality. What I appreciate more now is just how much personality Sylvester brings to the table. He’s emotional, dramatic, and endlessly persistent. No matter how many times he fails, he always gets back up and tries again, fully convinced that this time will be different—and that belief is what has kept me laughing all these years later.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf

 

"Mornin' Sam." "Mornin' Ralph."

If there was ever a perfect metaphor for the drudgery of going to work day after day—repeating the same actions, getting the same results, and never achieving your goal—Sam and Ralph would be the poster children of the dead-end job.

When Sam clocks in, he’s the guardian, parked on a ledge protecting his charges. When Ralph clocks in, he’s a hungry predator, desperate to get his hands on a sheep. Sam spends a lot of his time sleeping. Ralph spends a lot of his time running around like crazy. Sam, as adorable as he is, is a little more violent than expected. Ralph, as dangerous as he looks, just doesn’t seem to have the drive needed to react in kind.

I shouldn’t find it as funny as I do. It’s an unending, 9-to-5 hamster-wheel cycle that’s hilarious as hell. No growth. No victories. No promotions. Just two guys doing exactly what they’re paid to do and getting absolutely nowhere. And somehow, that never gets old.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Daffy Duck

 

"You're deththpicable!"

Let’s be honest: would Bugs Bunny be as entertaining without Daffy Duck? I’m going to say no. As much fun as Bugs vs. Elmer or Bugs vs. Yosemite Sam can be, when Bugs and Daffy go at it, everyone had better duck and cover, because the shenanigans are about to reach catastrophic levels. That’s not even getting into the times Bugs and Daffy team up—because when those two join forces to cause a little mayhem, I know I’m in for a wild ride.

As a kid, I don’t think I could have picked between Bugs’ antics and Daffy’s temper tantrums when it came to which I found more entertaining. Looking back as an adult, though, I think Daffy may have elicited a few more belly laughs than Bugs, though it’s a very close call. Unlike Bugs, who I may not find quite as funny now as I did as a kid, my darker sense of humor gives me full permission to enjoy Daffy’s jealous machinations even more than I used to. And those temper tantrums? They’re absolute works of art.

Watching Daffy as an adult hits differently. What once felt like pure slapstick now reads as insecurity, jealousy, and a desperate need to be taken seriously. Daffy knows he’s always playing second fiddle to Bugs, and watching him unravel because of it is darkly hilarious. He’s his own worst enemy, and somehow that just makes him funnier. His fragile ego is especially on display in “Robin Hood Daffy,” where his overwhelming need for recognition turns even his noblest intentions into one disaster after another. 

I can’t do a post about Daffy without mentioning his turn as Duck Drake in “The Super Snooper.” I have a weakness for detective parodies, my love for Sesame Street’s Sherlock Hemlock will attest to that, so watching Daffy play a private investigator summoned to look into a potential murder is a true pleasure. Of course, the comedy is helped immensely by the fact that the lead suspect seems far more interested in pursuing Drake than Drake is in solving the case. It’s pure 1950s comedy gold.

Actually, if y’all don’t mind, I think I’m going to go watch it again now—because no matter how many times I’ve seen it, Daffy Duck absolutely never fails to make me laugh.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Bugs Bunny

 

Centuries ago, I would occasionally pick a monthly theme for my Favorite Fictional Character posts, and exactly 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 11 seconds ago, I decided to revive that sporadic tradition. Nothing says continuity like randomly deciding to do something you only did occasionally fifteen billion years ago.

And because the first character that popped into my head was Bugs Bunny, it looks like y’all will be reading about my love of four different Looney Tunes characters during the month of January! I can already feel the excitement pouring off of you. As I typed that, I could see Bugs in my mind giving me a blank look, blinking once or twice, and then saying, “Eh… what’s up, Doc?”

For me, as a kid born in the 1970s, I don’t remember a time when I didn’t know who Bugs Bunny was or think he was anything other than absolutely, ridiculously funny. He was Loki before Tom Hiddleston was born and is older than Deadpool and Bart Simpson combined. He is a true Trickster in every sense of the word. As a kid, I didn’t understand what a Trickster was. All I saw was a talking rabbit getting one over on hunters, loud mustached cowboys, and whirling devils and witches who wanted to eat him.

He gave perms to monsters, fought a bull, outplayed an entire baseball team, and stuck his nose up at anyone in charge. He was an astronaut, opera singer, knight, barber, and cowboy. As a kid, I thought Bugs could do just about anything.

As an old man (49) past his prime, I may not find him quite as funny as I did back then, but I still appreciate every single second I spent in his company. He entertained the hell out of me, and that’s just about all you can ask of an anthropomorphic talking rabbit.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Happy

Tonight, sometime around 10:00 p.m., I’ll put on Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (1976), and for fifty minutes I’ll watch Rudolph attempt to find and rescue Happy, the Baby New Year, in time to help the New Year take over from the old. If he fails, time will be stuck on December 31st forever.

Happy is a delightful little tyke. He’s full of life and loves being surrounded by others. Unfortunately, like Rudolph, he has a physical difference that causes people to laugh when they see it. Poor little Happy has ears that are just a bit too big for his head. When he pulls off his hat, his ears pop up, and people immediately start laughing.

Hurt and overwhelmed, Happy runs away to the Archipelago of Last Years, where each island represents a different year in time. He meets plenty of people who could be his friend, but they laugh at him too, so he keeps moving, just wanting to find someone who will accept him.

Of course, Happy eventually learns that they aren’t laughing at him, but laughing from the joy he brings. Like Rudolph, Hermey, and Nestor before him, Happy is a lovable Misfit who simply needed to find his people—and his purpose. It’s a gentle reminder that sometimes belonging doesn’t come from changing who you are, but from finding the place where you’re already enough.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Felix Bassenak

 

There are certain movies I have to watch every Christmas season, and near the top of that list is Christmas in Connecticut (1945). It stars one of the greatest actresses of all time, Barbara Stanwyck, a screen goddess with a filmography so solid I honestly can’t think of a single movie of hers I don’t love. Still, Christmas in Connecticut will always be special to me, and a big part of that is thanks to "Uncle" Felix Bassenak.

If you’ve never seen the movie, Stanwyck plays Elizabeth Lane, a lifestyle columnist who has built her entire career around writing about her family and their idyllic life on a farm in Connecticut. She even waxes poetic about the incredible, home-cooked meals they sit down to every day. There’s just one tiny problem: she lives alone in a New York apartment, has no family, and can’t cook. Enter Uncle Felix, who owns a restaurant and quietly supplies her with a menu for every article she writes. As you can imagine, this little arrangement eventually spirals into chaos, and there’s no way Elizabeth survives it without her honorary uncle.

Over the course of a few days, Felix pulls Elizabeth out of one disaster after another. He pretends to swallow a gold watch. He repeatedly—and ingeniously—gets a judge out of the house. He plays matchmaker when it matters most and clears the way for true love. And he does it all with a larger-than-life presence that’s almost impossible to describe if you’ve never had the pleasure of watching S. Z. Sakall on screen. He even manages to hold his own against Sydney Greenstreet, which is no small feat considering Greenstreet’s ability to dominate every scene he’s in.

I know this post probably doesn’t give Uncle Felix quite the credit he deserves, but that’s because he’s one of those characters you really have to see in action to fully appreciate. So I suppose I’m left with only one option: gently (or not so gently) begging you to watch Christmas in Connecticut for yourself—preferably during the holidays, with something cozy to drink. 

Favorite Fictional Character --- Lock, Shock, and Barrel

 

"Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws?

I wanna do it

Let's draw straws

Jack said, "we should work together"

Three of a kind

Birds of a feather

Now and forever, whee (la, la, la)

(La, la, la)

(La, la, la, la, la, la)"

I can’t count the number of times I’ve watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, watching Jack fall into Christmas Town and love it so much that he decides to take it over, becoming the new and “improved” Santa Claws. You’ve got to love a man with ambition.

In his misguided attempt to “improve” a holiday other than his own, Jack enlists the legendary mischievous trick-or-treaters known as Lock, Shock, and Barrel to kidnap Santa Claus—and that’s when the real fun begins.

Those three little imps, who relish trouble and can’t help causing mayhem everywhere they go, have to be one of the most fun trios ever put to screen. The fact that they’re voiced by Danny Elfman, Catherine O’Hara, and Paul Reubens is like having a bag full of trick-or-treat candy dumped in front of you and being able to do nothing but stare in awe at the abundance of riches.

There’s no way, despite their fumbled villainy, not to thoroughly enjoy every second they spend tooling around in their bathtub convertible as they follow the orders of Oogie Boogie. I absolutely adore these prank-loving hobgoblins who take such delight in the chaos they cause simply by being themselves.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Aloysius T. McKeever

 

I'm not sure how long it’s been since I first stumbled upon It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947), but I was ridiculously in love from the moment tonight’s favorite fictional character waddled down 5th Ave in New York City, whistling “It’s a Wonderful, Wonderful Feeling,” all while carrying his dog Sammy as he gets ready to break into the mansion of the second-richest man in the world to hibernate the winter away.

You see, Aloysius T. McKeever is a vagrant, a vagabond—a hobo, if you will—and he has this migratory routine he follows every year. As the weather turns cold, he heads to New York City and winters away in the block-long mansion of one Michael J. O’Connor, wizard of industry, as the O’Connor family moves south for the season. In the summer, Aloysius and the O’Connors switch places… though only one side of that arrangement has any clue what’s going on. Well, at least they didn’t until this particular winter.

Aloysius, played by Victor Moore, is a sort of street philosopher whose outlook on life might be a bit skewed given his circumstances, but whose heart is always in the right place. I think it’s fair to say McKeever isn’t just confident in what he believes—especially when he’s pontificating a wee bit—but genuinely thinks he has the life experience to back it up. He’s a character I would absolutely love to spend the winter with, even if only because I know he has some phenomenal stories to tell.

The movie is available on a few streaming apps, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed you’ll let Mr. McKeever and the rest of his new companions entertain you for a few hours this holiday season. I double–pinky swear promise you won’t regret it.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Fred Gailey

 

Thankfully I’m no longer doing it, but after working thirteen years in retail management, Thanksgiving became just another day to me. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy eating a good meal with family and friend, even when I’m the one cooking it, it’s just that any enjoyment of the day as a whole was beaten out of me years ago. That said, there were still two traditions I hung on to.

The first was watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in the morning, either while I’m cooking or just hanging out in my pajamas. This was the first year as an adult (I’m 49) that I didn’t do that because I canceled cable earlier this year, and Peacock+ is one of the few streaming services I don’t have. The second tradition, the one I did keep this year, is watching Miracle on 34th Street (1947) in the evening. I’m pretty sure existence would implode if I didn’t get my viewing in before Black Friday officially started.

Thankfully this is not a movie review, because I would struggle to even partially explain why I love this movie so much. It’s not my favorite Christmas movie; honestly, it’s not even in my top ten. But there’s just something about it that demands I watch it every year, and it never takes long for me to be swept up in the story of poor Santa Claus going on trial for being insane. A lot of my enjoyment is due to Edmund Gwenn’s portrayal of Kris Kringle—one of the best portrayals of the character ever filmed. Another reason, probably the biggest, is John Payne’s performance as Fred Gailey, the ever-charming lawyer who fights to prove Kris is indeed the one and only Santa Claus.

If there were ever a directory of “good guy” Christmas characters, I’m pretty sure it would be named after Fred, something like The Fred Gailey Compendium or The Gailey Encyclopedia of Christmas Characters. Hey, I never said I was good at coming up with names.

I would give you bullet points of all his good qualities, but I just used bullet points in a post a few days ago, so instead I’ll give you a massively long run-on sentence. Just joking—though I truly did think about doing it, just to see how annoying it would be to read. Anyway, Fred is, for lack of a better descriptor, a nice guy. He has a positive outlook on life. He’s comfortable with himself and confident in his abilities. He champions those who need his help, like Kris. He’s funny, affable, caring, supportive, and able to think outside the box when needed. He’s exactly who I’d want representing me if someone were trying to have me committed to an asylum against my will.

It also helps that he’s quite handsome. Not that looks should influence my opinion — but let’s be real, they do. Fred Gailey is the Christmas boyfriend archetype, and I will hear no arguments about this.