We Love You When You’re Single: TV Characters Who Are at Their Best on Their Own
It’s Valentine’s season. And if you’re one of the blessed few who’s miraculously non-single, or as some people call it, “in a relationship”, you still remember the days when February 14th rolled around and you hid under the blankets. If you think about it, almost every TV show is about relationships—how they start, how they progress, and how they end. But our favorite characters, the ones we wish we could high five or bear hug, are the super single ones. They may never, ever find love (because they seem to really suck at it) but they get us. These are the most single people of all time on TV.
Samantha Jones, Sex and the City
Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Samantha is in top form as a single lady and we wouldn’t change her status for anything. Even at the end of the movies, the series rounds out with slick Sam on her own again, just where she belongs.
Kramer, Seinfeld
Some people are too weird to love, and everyone’s favorite neighbor falls into this category. Does he date? Who’s his type? What hair product does he use? There are so many questions surrounding this eternally mysterious bachelor that his singledom is a pure, anecdotal symptom of his larger crazy.
Abbi Abrams, Broad City
The audiences’ love for a single character usually correlates with how much they pine for someone. Abbi (left) pined for her lumbersexual neighbor for so long and so awkwardly it killed us, only to find out, she might just be better off hanging with Ilana. She is a prime example of the lesson all singles learn: a night with a good friend is a lot better than a bad date.
Charlie Day, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Charlie is essentially undateable, but he doesn’t let it get him down. He still puts it out there, despite getting horribly, brutally, shamefully rejected each and every time. He doesn’t always think about love (he’s got too many other weird fish to fry) but when he does, it’s somehow creepily adorable.
Jessica Day, New Girl
Jess’s eternal sunshine just isn’t working for relationships, and yet it’s exactly what keeps her going. She fails with dudes every time but that’s OK! If she hates being single, we sure don’t know that yet because she is one blasting beam of positivity.
Michael Scott, The Office
The world’s best boss takes the cake as the world’s most hilarious and depressing single person. He completely owned up to wanting desperately to find a life partner, but his entire personality made that a non-starter. His eventual pairing off truly gives hope to anyone who thought they’d never find someone.
Hannah Horvath, Girls
Hannah is a one-woman study in why smart, talented, interesting girls fly solo. She’s not everyone’s type, to put it mildly, but there are plenty of hipsters out there who she could date and yet, simply can’t.
Peggy Olson, Mad Men
No one deserves love more than this iconic working girl. In many ways she’s balancing work and love and trailblazing the lesson that we can’t have it all (well, at least until that twist in the series finale …)
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