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The Top Ten American TV SF/fantasy siblings.

Sibling rivalry has never shined at an all-time high on American television. In the genre of SF/fantasy-based TV, the showcasing of siblings in all their competitive and non-competitive glory made for some interesting shenanigans on the boob tube.

Some siblings will be recalled with ease while others won’t be as memorable or notable. Nevertheless, the American siblings in SF/fantasy TV come in all sorts of imaginable combinations: brother/brother, sister/sister, brother/sister or a mixture of brothers and sisters. Whatever the dynamic, the siblings spotlighted in this particular article were so instrumental in bringing the comedic chops or dramatic beats to their respective programs.

In The Top Ten American TV SF/Fantasy Siblings, the following selections will be presented in alphabetical order according to the TV shows for which they appear.

1.) Wednesday and Pugsley Addams from ‘THE ADDAMS FAMILY’

As the 60s-based fantasy sitcom ‘The Addams Family’ noted in its classic theme song lyrics, ‘They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re altogether ooky…they’re the Addams Family.’ That’s right…Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Festus, Grandmama, Lurch the family servant and even the hirsuite Cousin Itt.

But the younger members of this freaky family in the brother/sister tandem of Wednesday and Pugsley Addams (played by Lisa Loring and the late Ken Weatherwax) are not to be overlooked neither. It is safe to say that both sibs were not your average kids on the block. They had pets that included a lion and octopus and were related to a shaven hand, Thing, that popped from out of a compartment box on the living room table. As a parent, would you have your kiddies make a play date with the Addams youngsters?

2.) Endora and Uncle Arthur from ‘BEWITCHED’

It is safe to say that ‘Bewitched’s pretty housewife witch Samantha Stephens (the late Elizabeth Montgomery) had some rather colorful family members to say the least–just ask her put-upon mortal husband Darrin. Sam’s mother Endora (the late Agnes Moorehead) and Uncle Arthur (the late Paul Lynde) were complete opposites as siblings. The older Endora was no-nonsense, sophisticated and uptight. Baby brother Arthur was silly, spontaneous and just a plain prankster. Together, this mature sibling pair would bring playful misery to the Stephens’ household with their hilarious intrusion week after week. Endora was stern and vindictive but Uncle Arthur was the life of the party.

3.) Tabitha and Adam Stephens from ‘BEWITCHED’

For the longest time, Tabitha Stephens (Erin Murphy) was the sole apple-in-the-eye of proud parents Samantha and Darrin Stephens on the 60s witchcraft sitcom ‘Bewitched’. Later, in the show’s lengthy run, Tabitha would become a big sister for the very first time when her mother brings home her baby brother Adam (David Lawrence).

Tabitha would be a doting older sister to toddler Adam. Clearly, Adam’s presence was one of the many attempts to give the sagging ‘Bewitched’ a jump-start in the Nielson ratings. But even the inclusion of blessing Tabita with a baby brother could not help the staying power of the once popular ‘Bewitched’ from its cancellation after eight seasons on the air when it bowed out in 1972.

4.) The Halliwell Sisters from ‘CHARMED’

Prolific TV producer in the late Aaron Spelling struck television gold yet again when he presented the long-running witchcraft fantasy TV series ‘Charmed’ to the masses starting in 1998. The show featured three San Francisco-based sexy supernatural sisters in witches Prudence, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell (Shannen Doherty, Marie Holly Combs and Alissa Milano) battling the demonic forces that threaten their vulnerable surroundings.

A half-sister in Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan) would come along, replacing the deceased Prue, and join Piper and Phoebe in their continued battle to confront the Wicca-induced woes of thwarting the magical menaces that dared to cross their collective paths. ‘Charmed’ proved to be a winner in the realm of sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural circles as sisterly love never been so creatively shown in this spell-binding showcase of heralded hocus-pocus.

5.) Judy and Elroy Jetson from ‘THE JETSONS’

The futuristic siblings in Hanna-Barbera’s ’60s animated space-age series ‘The Jetsons’ were in the form of the brother-sister duo Elroy and Judy Jetson. Despite their cosmos existence, the Jetson kids were the typical youngsters of their time worried about the growing pains as their contemporary peers on Earth. Older sister Judy was the teenage girl interested in normal stuff that would entice any other female her age in relatable matters such as boys, fashion, music and independence.

Little brother Elroy was active as the tyke that would be an irritant to his big sis, Judy. There is no stretch whatsoever to accuse Judy and Elroy as being rebellious or difficult because…well…because of their parents being George and Jane Jetson…the youthful Ozzie and Harriet Nelson of the galaxy. Both Judy and Elroy had the combined ingredients of innocence and impishness to rule their childhood in the world of kiddie cartoon escapism.

6.) Alex and Alexandria Cabot from J’OSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS IN OUTER SPACE’

There was nobody as cringe-worthy as caustic siblings Alex and Alexandria Cabot from the ’70s sci-fi musical animated series ‘Josie And The Pussycats In Outer Space’. The brother-sister duo was part of the singing group’s entourage. In particular, Alexandria, along with her unctuous pet cat Sebastian, was a scheming tart that longed to cozy up to the Pussycats’ hunkish manager Alan, whom lead singer Josie fancied as well, while finding ways to spite the adorable red-headed Josie. She would constantly boss around the whimpy-minded Alex and always fell short when her plans to humiliate Josie and her bandmates would backfire. It was music to the gang’s ears when Alexandria would always get her comeuppance.

7.) Judy, Penny and Will Robinson from ‘LOST IN SPACE’

Lost In Space offspring Judy (Marta Kristen), Penny (Angela Cartwright) and Will Robinson (Billy Mumy) was skilled in specialised areas of expertise pertaining to their space travel. And why not? After all, their parents are the brilliant Professor John (the late Guy Williams) and Maureen Robinson (June Lockhart) . Undoubtedly, the youngest Will was the breakout star from the trio of space-bound siblings as his collaboration with dastardly Dr. Smith and the Robot drew the most of interesting episodes. Middle sib Penny split her time and adventures with both Judy and Will and sometimes saw action individuallyand oldest sibling Judy mainly exchanged googly eyes with Jupiter 2 ship pilot Major Don West when not sticking close to assisting her mother Maureen with the domestic duties aboard the spaceship.

8.) Eddie and Marilyn Munster from ‘THE MUNSTERS’

Okay…stop right there. Yes, it is a known fact that Eddie and Marilyn Munster aren’t siblings but cousins instead. With that said we are taken extra liberties here because older ‘ugly duckling’ Marilyn (played both by Pat Priest and Beverly Owen) and spunky werewolf-looking Eddie (Butch Patrick) acted more like siblings than anything else. Poor gorgeous Marilyn was the oddball in the family The ghoulish clan considered Marilyn’s normal looks hideous, a running gag in the show. Eddie, on the other hand, was the prized kid that could do no wrong. Together, these creepy cousins (well, Eddie fits that description anyway) should have shared the same parents because they were meant to be a brother/sister tag team regardless.

9.) Quinn and Colin Mallory from ‘SLIDERS’

‘Sliders’ star Jerry O’Connell was able to pull some nepotism strings in having his real-life brother Charlie cast as his long lost Amish-esque scientist brother Colin Mallory on the popular SF sliding between parallel worlds action-adventure. Quinn is finally able to reconnect with his sibling Colin whose scientific brilliance on his world was realised by the rest of the sliders. Eventually, Colin would travel with Quinn and his friends in their continued sliding quest. Sadly, Jerry would end up leaving the series at the end of the fourth season and Charlie would follow suit in his exit as well. Weirdly, the Mallory brothers would merge personalities into a single person known simply as ‘Mallory’ (Robert Floyd) due to an awry slide journey gone wrong. No doubt the Mallory brothers were egghead geniuses to behold.

10.) Jamie and Vicki Lawson from ‘SMALL WONDER’

Jamie Lawson (Jerry Supiran) became a big brother overnight when his engineer/inventor father Ted (Dick Christie) brought home a special kind of baby sister, most notably a young, female-looking VICI device that the Lawsons would end up naming Vicki (Tiffany Brissette). Thus, the little girl robot Vicki has to masquerade as a daughter and little sis to the Lawsons in order to keep Ted’s top secret pet project under wraps. In the meantime, Jamie enjoys his time with ‘small wonder’ sister Vicki both at home and at school. However, shielding Vicki’s real robotic identity from the world, especially around the notorious nosy neighbours the Brundle, both Ted’s backstabbing boss Brandon and Jamie’s annoying red-headed classmate Harriet, would be a tall task in the making.

(c) Frank Ochieng 2019

FrankOchieng

Frank Ochieng has contributed film reviews to SF Crowsnest off and on since 2003. He has been published in other various movie site venues throughout the years. Ochieng has been part of The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and had written film reviews for The Boston Banner newspaper (USA) and frequently is a media/entertainment panelist on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 AM on "The Jordan Rich Show" in Boston, Massachusetts/USA.

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