HIMYM, New Girl and Friends

Phoebe, Marshall & Winston

The Comic Relief

Yes it seems that this title should go to Chandler, but the reality is though he was funny he wasn’t really on the show for comic relief. What these characters have in common is quirks and inconsequentialism. They all get their own storylines of course, but they all seem separate from the rest of the group, nothing they do truly has any effect on anyone else.

So we are totally going to talk about these characters’ romantic relationships but really that part of their lives isn't the center of their character's purpose. These are at their core secondary characters, so their romantic relationships generally aren't as impactful because writers don't spend as much time on them. But lets go ahead and start with Phoebe and Mike. I loved this relationship, not just because of Paul Rudd because his character quirks match hers. They both have a very goofy energy and it allows for some amazing chemistry between the actors because they just got to play. Phoebe really only had one slip when David came back right after her and Mike had exchanged keys and she kissed David. That said it was very clear that it was her letting go of David. I think Make and Pheobe’s relationship is one of the best written on the show, thye didn’t give Phoebe real love interests very often and Mike was such a perfect match for her. Personally Phoebe annoys the hell out of me but with Mike she’s more watchable.

Marshall and Lily have a long and complicated relationship but considering that this specific article only has to do with Marshall’s side of things it's going to be a lot shorter. The only thing Marshall ever really did that was bad husband behavior was decide for them that they were staying in New York so he could be a judge. And then bringing up Lily’s selfish moment in their argument. Because yes, Lily left him to go to San Francisco and we will discuss that in her article, however that was nearly a decade before this fight AND they were not married and did not have a child, it is very very different. They had discussed it, they made a plan and then he made an executive decision that determined that his career progression was more important than hers, and that is unacceptable. To not even talk to your partner and just decide a life changing event for them is beyond disrespectful, to throw a past mistake in their face that had 0 similarities to your current situation is gross. And it most certainly is not a partnership. Bad move, and it's something that has always pissed me off.

Winston and Shelby…I have things to say because Winston is goofy and quirky and once again that hides shitty behavior. Shelby tells us that he treated her like crap when they first met and started going out because he thought he was hot shit when was playing basketball. Then when they start dating again, and they are toward the end of their relationship he doesn’t listen to her. They both were clearly checked out of the relationship before it actually ended but he refused to actually talk to her about it because he was sexually frustrated, as if that's a valid excuse to treat your partner like shit. Once again the goofy character’s relationship was not given a lot of time or attention.

Phoebe and David, really her only other real relationship. They didn’t last very long, but he was a recurring love interest for her. Phoebe dated around a lot, and the episode where Ross drew attention to it was actually very funny, and necessary because the other characters (besides Joey) had real, lasting relationships or at least attempted to whereas Phoebe simply went on a lot of dates. Now David showed up a few times, the last of which was right after her and Mike exchanged keys, we already talked about that slip up. What really sticks out is that her relationship with David is idealistic, they never really spent any time together. Phoebe had this idea of what she wanted her relationship with him to be like, but she never actually got it.

Winston and Allie, this relationship was given more time than his other relationships. And quite frankly it was given more time then most of these characters relationships as Allie kind of becomes a late addition to the group. Their relationship had to grow on me because on the first watch I really didn’t think they had any chemistry and I kind of stand by that but the nature of their relationship has grown on me. They are very sweet together and I think she balances out his goofiness quite a lot.

For the most part there are no major moral failings in these characters because, quite frankly, they are less relevant to the overall story and the surrounding characters.