
 |
|
May 24, 2013
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Jan. 13, 2011
/ 8 Shevat, 5771
The 10 greatest sidekicks ever
By
Barry Koltnow
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
A few weeks ago, I was invited to an early screening of the new costumed superhero movie "The Green Hornet," which opens Jan. 14.
As I watched it, my mind wandered a bit and I started to think about Barney Fife.
That doesn't happen a lot to me. In fact, I can't remember the last time I sat in a movie theater and thought about Barney Fife.
This might be a good time to explain because I swear that there is a connection, however tenuous, between Sheriff Andy Taylor's bumbling but lovable deputy and the crusading publisher Britt Reid, who dons a costume to become the avenging crime-fighter Green Hornet.
And that connection is Kato.
You remember Kato, don't you? Played most famously by the late Bruce Lee on the mid-'60s TV show "The Green Hornet," he served as Reid's valet by day, and as sidekick to Reid's Green Hornet at night. Lee's portrayal is credited with kicking off the intense interest in martial arts that has run unabated in this country ever since.
Kato, who is played by Jay Chou in the new film, is certainly one of the greatest sidekicks ever created. But does he make our list of the top 10 fictional sidekicks of all time?
Before we start, must I remind you that the late Ed McMahan was not a fictional character? Johnny Carson's second banana certainly ranks at the top of any list of the greatest real-life sidekicks of all time, but we're maintaining a strictly fictional stance.
And that brings me to Pat Buttram, Gene Autry's sidekick. He was kind of a fictional character, but his real name was also Pat Buttram, so I have always been very confused. Therefore, I chose to leave him off the list but I want to honor the great sidekick by mentioning him here. Autry, the "Singing Cowboy," owned Orange County's baseball team before the guy who insulted the entire county by changing the team's name.
Now, on with the list of the 10 greatest sidekicks of all time:
10. Chewbacca: If one were to listen to any "Star Wars" geek for any length of time — and who would really want to — you might think that this overgrown shaggy dog was one of the eight wonders of the universe. He's not, but I agree that Chewie proved an able sidekick to the dashing Han Solo on the Millennium Falcon.
9. Kato: The Green Hornet wouldn't make it through a single night of crime-fighting if not for his martial artist sidekick.
8. Garth Algar: Shwiiiiing. There would be no "Wayne's World" if not for Wayne Campbell's best friend, sidekick and cable show co-host.
7. Tattoo: Played by Herve Villechaize on the TV show "Fantasy Island," the diminutive actor was sidekick to the mysterious Mr. Roarke. He was very good at pointing out "de plane, de plane."
6. Dr. Watson: Who would Sherlock Holmes bounce ideas off of if not for his trusty sidekick?
5. Ethel Mertz: Without Ethel, Lucy Ricardo would have been arrested. Ethel was Lucy's partner in crime, but also her conscience.
4. Robin: Unlike the relationship between The Green Hornet and Kato, Batman would get along fine without Robin. Having said that, it's always nice to have someone else around in tights and a mask so it's trick or treat every night.
3. Ed Norton: We're getting in rarified air now. These last three are practically interchangeable, in that they represent everything perfect about sidekicks. In Norton's case, Ralph Kramden would just be an obnoxious, abusive loudmouth without the great Ed Norton. Close your eyes and imagine Norton preparing to do something with his hands, taking so long that Kramden loses it. Hysterical.
2. Barney Fife: There is a reason that this show runs continually on TV somewhere in the world decades after it went off the air, and the reason is Deputy Fife. Oh sure, Sheriff Taylor is a great father and a reassuring model of good, decent people, and Mayberry is an idealized place where everybody wishes they were from (even with the annoying Floyd the barber), but Don Knotts' Barney is as funny a character as ever existed on the small screen.
1. Tonto: There is a debate in some circles concerning the Lone Ranger's sidekick. Apparently, there are people who are very sensitive about the character, but I have never found him to be politically incorrect in any way. In fact, Tonto, who saved the ranger's life and nursed him back to health, is one of the most dignified and honorable characters in fiction.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment on Barry Koltnow's column by clicking here.
Previously:
The 10 biggest celebrity missteps of 2010
Who's cooler than Steve McQueen? (Answer: nobody)
The best revenge movies ever
The good old days, when celebrities weren't train wrecks
Making sport of celebrities
Youth will be served? Don't give me that trash!
A celebrity answer is no answer at all
Caution: geniuses at work
© 2010, The Orange County Register; Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|