Humans love pets and pets love humans. Pets are so important to audiences that movies, sitcoms, animated shows and more have been made to tell the stories of the admirable loyalty that pets show humans. Consequently, some of TV’s most memorable and most important characters have been pets.
On TV (and in real life) the best pets are loyal, loving, and comforting best friends that offer unconditional love to often rejected characters. Ever since the release of movies like Lady And The Tramp (1955) and Lassie Come Home (1943), audiences have craved to see dramas about pets’ love for their owners, serving as a source of comfort to viewers worldwide.
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Waddles (Gravity Falls)
Waddles is not the only TV pet pig. Arnold (Hey Arnold!) has a pet pig called Abner. In Gravity Falls, Waddles and Mabel love each other. Waddles often communicate with Mable by sounding out words and phrases in oinks. The two are inseparable and love each other very much. When she loses Waddles in one timeline, Mabel becomes depressed, missing her best friend. Mabel also found Waddles at a time when she was being bullied and excluded by her peers. Waddles was a friend who made her feel loved during a bad time in her life.
Santa’s Little Helper (The Simpsons)
Bart’s best friend, Santa’s Little Helper is one of the Simpsons’ pets. Snowball III, who was predeceased by Snowball II, and Snowball I is Lisa’s pet. Santa’s Little Helper was added to The Simpsons in season one, episode one when Homer, desperate to provide for his family on Christmas Eve, visited the dog track. He bet on Santa’s Little Helper, who, unfortunately, came in last in the race. At first, Homer hates the dog for his losses, but Santa’s Little Helper’s unconditional love and unbounded joy brightens a depressing Christmas, for him and his family.
Lord Nibbler (Futurama)
Leela loves Nibbler, because he is cute. She spoils him and overindulges him, never allowing him to face the consequences of his actions. Nibbler appears to be just a dumb animal that eats everything in site with one easy gulp. Surprisingly for Leela, she accidentally discovers that Nibbler is a brilliant alien who has been monitoring Earth and the Universe, to make sure that everything runs smoothly in the universe. When evil, giant brains attack Earth, Nibbler reports back to his home planet immediately to discuss the issue at hand with leaders of his own planet. Nibbler is a pet that has it all, cuteness, intelligence, and a spaceship.
Poppins (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia)
Poppins never dies. Nearing his thirties, Mac’s beloved dog is has been a constant in the life of a character with neglectful parents. Poppins is a free spirit, however. Every once in a while, he simply leaves for an adventure, then returns when he so pleases. Poppins is old, mangy, stinky, and frail. Although he refuses to die, his body parts have given up on him. His eyeballs, for example, sometimes pop out of their sockets and have to be popped back in with help from humans.
The dog also easily falls into comas which he inevitably always survives. Poppins never left Mac and is the only source of love for the confused Philadelphian, apart from Charlie.
Seymour (Futurama)
Widely considered to be one of the saddest and most poignant episodes of Futurama, Seymour Asses was introduced in “Jurassic Bark.” Like Poppins, Seymour shows unconditional love to a boy who is neglected by his parents. Fry and Seymour become best friends after he feeds the hungry, street mutt. The two best friends have only a short time with each other before they are torn apart on New Year’s Eve 1999 when Fry is cryogenically frozen for 1,000 years. Fry believes that Seymour spent his remaining twelve years on Earth making new memories, but the episode ends with a montage of Seymour waiting twelve years for Fry at the last place where his human told him to wait.
Gary (SpongeBob SquarePants)
Another super-intelligent pet who pretends he is dumb, Gary is a snail who lives underwater in a pineapple under the sea with his yellow sponge owner. Like Nibbler, Gary also loves food and eats a lot. Gary is very honest and forthright with SpongeBob. Without the ability to speak, Gary communicates in “Miaows,” like every normal underwater snail.
Despite his sassy comebacks towards SpongeBob, Gary loves his owner and is devastated when he believes that SpongeBob no longer cares about him. He runs away in “Gary Comes Home” until SpongeBob comes looking for him, also heartbroken over the loss of his pet.
Lion (Steven Universe)
TV’s fluffiest pet, Steven fell in love with Lion, because his fur is so soft, and Lion fell in love with Steven, because he is the son of his former owner, Rose Quartz. A paradox, Lion is just a big, fluffy cat who likes attention, belly rubs, purring, food, fitting in small boxes, and complaining when put outside. On the other hand, Lion is the trusted pet of a former warrior who knows right from wrong and chastises Steven when he makes bad choices or hurts his friends. Lion is also very wise and perceptive, sometimes seeming to operate on a spiritual level despite his typical cat-like behavior. Lion is always there for Steven, no matter what.
Darwin (The Amazing World Of Gumball)
Darwin was introduced to Gumball as a pet fish when the blue cat was a toddler. His parents, after unsuccessfully trying many ways to calm Gumball’s hyperactive behavior, hope that Darwin would do the trick. Darwin and Gumball immediately become best friends, just before Richard flushes Darwin down the toilet. The power of true love keeps the two best friends with the hope that they would soon be reunited. As long as Gumball’s heart keeps beating for Darwin, the fish keeps quickly evolving so that he is able to make it home after all.
Adopted into the Waterson family, Darwin still would refer to Nicole and Richard as Mrs. Mom and Mr. Dad throughout the series.
Spike (My Little Pony)
Spike of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, is Princess Twilight Sparkle’s best friend, pet, and personal assistant. The purple dragon loves to have fun – many times at the ponies’ expense. He often makes fun of their misfortune and has no problem being mean to others for his own humor. The preteen, baby dragon has adapted so much to the ponies that he acts more like a pony than a dragon. He is very loyal to the ponies and considers them his family. Indeed, he has saved the ponies in a few episodes, proving his worth as a great sidekick, best friend, and pet.
Tom (Tom And Jerry)
The most well-known TV pet of all time, Tom is one-half of the classic duo, Tom and Jerry. Tom’s owner – a girl who often likes to play dress-up with him – is often shown interacting with Tom, even though she spends most of her time admonishing him. Apart from the girl, Tom is also constantly admonished by the maid character who sometimes falsely accuses the cat of bad behavior. And yet, despite Tom’s bad behavior, he is still one of the most interesting pets that television has ever seen. As a result, both the girl and the maid can never stay mad at him for too long.