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Weekend Discussion Thread: Favorite Movie SidekicksAlert reader Chris writes:
Good idea! The one that immediately comes to mind for me is the insane Heathcliff from “Wild Wild World of Batwoman.” One long Charlie Callas impression, topped of with a big kiss! What’s yours? 141 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: Favorite Movie Sidekicks”Commenting at Satellite News
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Merlon Olsen in Mitchell (even if the soup is cold)
Torgo for the Master
what about the wormie guy from gunslinger?
or joe from this island earth?
“hey look!, it’s a moth with a lightning bug!”
@ Dropo221 (#9): “Lobo!!! Tor Johnson claimed that Lobo from ‘Bride of the Monster,’ was a whole different character than Lobo in ‘The Unearthy.’ According to him: ‘One was mute..the other could speak. Time for to go to bed!'”
That’s kind of disappointing. I’d like to think that Lobo had a long, checkered career as lumbering muscle for mad scientists. And that he lost his voice in the same event that gave him his Amazing Changing Scar.
Lobo’s backstory is even more interesting if you suppose he’s the ne’er-do-well brother of Inspector Clay from “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” which seems to take place in what you could call the “Keltonverse” with “Bride of the Monster.” You can picture Lobo Clay somehow looking in on the events of that movie, and thinking, “Ha! Who’s the lumbering mouth-breather NOW, Mr. Top-of-Your-Class-at-the-Academy-Pants?”
Then consider that the Old Man of “Plan 9” might be the better-adjusted brother of Dr. Vornoff, and ended up a ghoul alongside the Lobo’s brother, and you almost start to develop some emotional theme about fate and family.
Or maybe I should really just relax.
“alongside the Lobo’s brother”: I meant to change this to “alongside the brother of his own brother’s assistant,” but didn’t get very far before I got distracted by something else and forgot to.
Steve, who was Steve’s sidekick in Night of the Blood Beast.
I think it’s always best to scroll down past all comments and make my first comment without letting my brain be influenced by anyone else, then afterwards reading them all and adding anything that the others reminded me of.
So I am going straight off the top my head here, and I immediately think of Cook, the lanky bonehead sidekick to Griffin & Landis in Red Zone Cuba.
Next I think of The spittle-lipped hick Jim Stafford (Buffalo Bill) in Riding with Death.
I guess Johnny Longbone from Track of the Moon Beast is my third pick.
I could not go without mentioning the infamous Torgo from Manos.
I’ll round it out by throwing in the Icky Elf & Critter from Girl in Gold Boots.
With no heavy thought, all these are the ones that pop into my head first.
#45–“Best sidekick? TV’s Frank hands down!”
Amen, brother!!
Other than that, Torgo, Oretga, Danny from ‘Girl in Lovers Lane,’ the platinum midget from ‘Outlaw,’ Eddie Deezen from ‘Laserblast,’ those kids who like it very much from ‘Prince in Space,’ Max Keller from ‘Master Ninja,’ Tor Johnson in anything, and Buffalo Bill are all good, solid answers.
But, of course, the right answer is the Warrior of the Lost Worlds’ motorcycle buddy. Anytime you got a talking, flying, rocket shooting motorcycle, you got a winner in my book.
“Like, what wall, man?”
From 705 – Escape 2000:
Junior, the pint-sized pyromaniac partner of Strike, himself a hero-for-hire of Trash.
“Jim Henson’s Chairman Mao babies.”
Little Billy from the ‘Undersea Kingdom’ serials. ‘Diane!’
Pokey from Robot Rumpus. (I know that’s a cheat)
The marble-mouthed coroner in Zombie Nightmare. ‘I’d stake my semi-professional reputation on it’
Pepe, the half ape / half raccoon in Time of the Apes.
Mooney in The Beatniks. ‘I shot that fat barkeep!’
Rowsdower!
This of course, presupposes that you consider the whiny weenie kid in the sweater as the “hero”. If Rowsdower himself is the hero, then the answer would be Mike Pipper, the grizzled old prospector.
“OOOOOOH, I HATES THAT RABBIT!!!”
Wackiest or funniest sidekick?
– “Monkey Boy” in Lost Continent. At least, I think he was trying to be funny.
– Moon in Beatniks is certainly “wacky”, as in criminally insane.
– Omega in First Spaceship On Venus. What a package of high-tech fun. He’s hilarious till he runs over that one guy and almost kills him.
– The second banana in Jungle Goddess is wacky, as in trigger happy. But, he’s not all that funny given the people he kills and the other trouble he causes.
– Torgo from Manos. Wacky and really (unintentionally) funny. ‘nough said!
– The kid in Undersea Kingdom. “Hurry Diana!” Wacky and funny and he gets in trouble easily too.
– Is Mr. B Natural the sidekick to Buzz in Mr. B Natural? He/she’s wacky!
– Winky’s pretty wacky in the Rocky Jones episodes.
I think we should give the gold to #45 for coming up with TV’s Frank.
Not sure if anybody’s mentioned him but how about Kenny from Gamera?
“I think we should give the gold to #45 for coming up with TV’s Frank.”
I’ll just ante up those stakes and say that Crow and Servo are the best sidekicks. Wackiest AND funniest. ;-)
As for movies, I think “wacky” might be best served by the security grandpa from Hobgoblins. Or how about the high-ranking Japanese Children from Prince of Space Chief? Or the mildly deranged girl from Girl’s Town, who (IIRC) is the only one of the lot to actually, explicitly be called a “henchman?” Or Zulu from Code Name: Diamondhead, or Potato Girl from Deathstalker, or The Load from Mole People, or Beery Guy from Devilfish, or Leonardo “I stole my ideas” DaVinci?
Man, there are a lot of these.
I have to say Arch Hall Jr. in Eegah. I know he is supposed to be the hero but he would have made a much better sidekick. I swear I thought he was going to get Rick rolled towards the end.
The two peeping tom’s in Attack of the Eye Creature and sleazy oily drifter guy in the dress. The peeping tom’s reminded me of an unfunny abbot and costesllo. sleazy oily drifter guy was like a third wheel.
Clu Gulager!
#64
” think we should give the gold to #45 for coming up with TV’s Frank.”
What! Could he do a love ballad duet with Doctor Forester’s mum?
Not bad for someone who is entirely without a body.
I was going to add the sidekick from Quest of the Delta Knights to my list, DaVinci. Eddie “I’m Jerry Lewis’ love child” Deezen and Droppo. Oh! I forgot about Torgo! Geez, here’s my list: 1. Torgo, 2. Droppo, 3. Deezen, 4. DaVinci.
“Don’t let them hurt my pink shorts!” Kyle from Hobgoblins would have to be my choice. The quintessential 80s teen who just couldn’t catch a break.
Honorable mention: Dr. Luigi from Parts: The Clonus Horror; Barbara Hale from Giant Spider Invasion; and the medical examiner from Zombie Nightmare.
I am all about the Rowsdower experience. “Canada is for lovers”.
Iggy@53: Then consider that the Old Man of “Plan 9? might be the better-adjusted brother of Dr. Vornoff….
He was Iggy: Shecky Vornoff!
As someone said above, Kenny from Gamera is pretty wacky.
My son just suggested Joey the Lemur (kinkajou) from King Dinosaur.
#40…Wasn’t what I had intended.
Hmm…what would YOU call having a crush on a woman on how she looked back in the day, but not how she would have now?
Retrophile?
“My son just suggested Joey the Lemur (kinkajou) from King Dinosaur.”
Thank you for noting that. I always have to explain what the hell a kinkajou is whenever I point out that the critter in that episode is not a lemur . . . so it’s hearting to see someone else pay attention to that detail.
And the kinkajou was easily the most respectable character in that bone-stupid movie, so it’s worth noting.
Kenny from Gamera would be my fourth pick for favorite sidekick.
Its not every day a giant killer turtle gets his own stockholm syndrome/devil spawn cheerleader to root on his destruction and claim its all just a misunderstanding to the authorities.
#73, I’ve seen it equated with necrophilia before (but that’s pretty icky…). I’m sure Freud and Oedipus might have something to say on the matter, as well.
Why no love for Watley?
Oh, that’s right…
I wouldn’t include Vadinho from Puma Man in such a topic as this. He’s more of a mentor than a sidekick, but more because he’s like if Obi-Wan Kenobi blew up the Death Star in addition to teaching Luke about the Force. Had he truly been a sidekick, he would still be above that role just based on how much he did compared to Puma Man.
A favorite sidekick of mine is the platinum midget who hung around with Cabot.
TORGO and TV’S FRANK!!! :mrgreen:
Vadinho for me. He would have had an easier time defeating Donald if he had left Pumaman at daycare and done it all himself. He was selflessly devoted and willing to die to do what was right (was he Jesus? That would help explain the hair). He never complained about the burden of his mission or the fact that the superhero who was supposed to be dealing with the situation was a hopeless whining idiot who excelled at nothing except pretending to be dead. And he had a distinct cool look while doing it all. It was hard to look good in the 70’s.
2nd is the elderly scientist in Agent for H.A.R.M. He was the only character with any integrity. He was halfway smart. He solved the case and defeated the bad guy despite suffering a fatal pocket wound. All the while our superspy did nothing but hang around the house oozing smarm all over everything.
It has to be Torgo, because his technique in opposite gender relations really improved over the case of the movie. You have to respect that kind of human (goat?) growth.
*course of the movie
If the monster in The Brain That Wouldn’t Die doesn’t count. (He should, he was Jan’s Number 2.) Then I’d say Joe Wilson From this Island Earth. Great riff fodder.
# 80. Great Scott! What church do you go to that has pictures of Jesus with a Moe cut?
I’ll place my vote for Brain Guy & Bobo
The Richard Burton kid from Gamera vs. Guiron.
Just remembered a personal favorite: Lenny–I mean Mike from The Thing That Couldn’t Die, sidekick to George…er…was it Joe? For being in less than half the movie, he had remarkable character development for M&TB to have fun with: Super-strength, a geometrical savant, and he rose up to kill the abusive jerk he was sidekicked to! Well, okay, that was only after he was downgraded to first in a string of mindless minions, but I can’t believe no one mentioned that particular Mike in 86 posts! Him have element-surprise on us all!
I don’t know if they’d count as a sidekick or a co-conspirator, but no one mentioned Mooney from “The Beatniks” or either Fats or Banjo from “Wild Rebels” yet.
Sidekicks who didn’t get a fair chance-the dixieland jazz fan from Killer Shrews and the deaf-mute from Beginning of the End. As far as non-redshirts go, does Micky the Gardener count? He had issues but he ultimately did the right thing about the situation.
I’m partial to Cook, the dork noir from Red Zone Cuba, mostly because he reminds me of Lenny from The Simpsons.
“Dental plan…”
that midget from outlaw
Stan McSerr beat me to him, but I’ve gotta give it up for Merlin Olsen as Martin Balsam’s lackey in Mitchell:
Balsam: The coffee’s cold, Benton. You’re a lousy butler.
Olsen: I am not a lousy butler.
Balsam: You are a lousy butler.
Olsen: I am not.
Balsam: I say you’re a lousy butler. The coffee is cold.
Tom Servo: It’s The Servant by Harold Pinter!
Ok,#1 TV’s Frank , #2 joe from the movie, #3 thong from cave dwellers, and do the kids from prince of space count as sidekicks? If so, they get 4th place.
@ #87
As i was reading through, I also thought of Mike(?) – good call
– regret give one life to country –
“I don’t know if they’d count as a sidekick or a co-conspirator, but no one mentioned Mooney from “The Beatniks” or either Fats or Banjo from “Wild Rebels” yet.”
Uh, actually I think both were mentioned at least twice each . . .
This is a point that bothers me, though. Aren’t second bananas on the bad-guy side properly considered “henchmen?” Sidekicks are really supposed to be working with the hero, not the villain. A lot of the ones mentioned technically shouldn’t count – Torgo, for instance, despite the obvious memorability, isn’t a sidekick in the conventional sense.
Oh well.
I see people voting for TV’s Frank. Tom and Crow are also sidekicks from the show that are favorites. Any fan of the show would gladly choose one of these three as a favorite. However, the TOPIC is Wackiest/Funniest Movie sidekicks, not favorite sidekick actually on the show. Hey, for once I read the fine print, but not everyone did it seems.
Technically, Crow, Servo, Gypsy, TV’s Frank, Gorgo, Larry and the Brain Guys would top the list.
However, if we’re referring to the movies themselves. I would nominate the following:
1. Max from the Master Ninja series. He actually does help the hero becuase he has his own transportation, a pet and actually tries to learn from the hero (by lowering his heart rate and trying to cross train a course of bacon.)
2. The annoying blonde guy from Catalina Caper. If you’re tired of introspective heroes who approach things in a dignified manner, there’s the vacuous blone friend with tons of women around him. There’s one in every bar.
3. Winkie from the Crash of the Moons saga.
4. Does the teenage kid from Angel’s Revenge count? She has spunk.
5. Not the midget, but Cabot’s professor friend in Outlaw that takes the journey with him. A pygmy marmoset would seem daring and appealing with that guy as a sidekick.
#97
“Does the teenage kid from Angel’s Revenge count? She has spunk.”
As Lew Gtant observed of Mary Richards:
“You’ve got spunk.
I hate spunk.” ;-)
That quote works even better for Lou Grant. :oops:
Billy Barty…………the ultimate definition of a sidekick.