The reception of 2022’s Marry Me, and The Lost City has given the rom-com genre new life, proving that viewers still crave that sense of comfort that classic movies like When Harry Met Sally and 10 Things I Hate About You and sitcoms like Friends and How I Met Your Mother bring.
Whilst two distinct genres of entertainment, the art of storytelling in both rom-coms and sitcoms blends romance and wit to explore varied themes of loss, heartbreak, love, grief, sexism, morality, or some such. With this in mind, it’s hard not to notice that famed characters from classic rom-coms are built with the same depth and share similar traits and motives as their memorable TV counterparts.
Peter Bretter (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) – Marshall Eriksen (HIMYM)
The Forgetting Sarah Marshall protagonist – Peter Bretter finds his ideal counterpart in Marshall Eriksen from How I Met Your Mother. Aside from the fact that Peter and Marshall are played by the actor, Jason Segel, both characters share many similarities that make them counterpart worthy. Since Peter’s life revolves around his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall, he turns into an emotional trainwreck when she breaks up with him. He takes the entire length of the movie to see the truth about her and adjust to being single.
Much like Peter, Marshall becomes an emotional wreck when his fiancée, Lily Aldrin ends their engagement to go to an art fellowship in San Francisco. He finds it difficult to get through the day and takes an entire summer to wallow in his grief. Granted Marshall does eventually get back together with Lily and Peter learns to move forward with his life, both characters love intensely, care deeply, and are incredibly sweet.
Meg (How To Be Single) – Monica Geller (Friends)
Independent, organized, and responsible are the qualities that define Leslie Mann’s OB/GYN from How to Be Single and her Friends counterpart, Monica Geller. Whilst Leslie keeps her apartment spick and span, Monica does take things a little too far in her biggest clean freak moments in Friends.
Meg’s put her entire life’s work into becoming a doctor, and she loves her job. Her story begins when she has a change of heart and decides to get pregnant via donor insemination. Her counterpart, Monica, at one point in her life, considered artificial insemination through a sperm bank. Much like Meg, Monica was good at her job, and the responsible one in her ragtag bunch. Though Monica married Chandler on Friends and decided to go with adoption as her route into parenthood, at the end of the day, both she and Meg were big-hearted, responsible, loving women.
Kat Stratford (10 Things I Hate About You) – Paris Geller (Gilmore Girls)
Kat Stratford, the most intelligent main character from 10 Things I Hate About You lines up well with the knowledgeable and curiously intelligent Paris Geller from Gilmore Girls.
Both Kat and Paris are snarky, smart, and know-it-all types of people. They have an opinion about everything and are never afraid to voice it. Whilst their witty comebacks and brutal honesty give off an intimidating vibe to their peers, it’s the trait that ultimately binds them together.
Sally Albright (When Harry Met Sally) – Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
When Harry Met Sally‘s lead, Sally Albright shares traits with Gilmore Girls‘ Rory Gilmore. Both women pursued their interest in journalism, and whilst Sally became a reporter, Rory faced some of the toughest career challenges in Netflix revival – A Year in the Life. Nonetheless, Rory’s fans continually root for her, still and hope that she’s able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The fact that Sally and Rory are talk-a-mile-a-minute characters with an unending thirst for knowledge makes them all the more similar. Sally bickered with Harry throughout the movie, and her counterpart, Rory enjoyed a healthy debate now and then.
Julianne Potter (My Best Friend’s Wedding) – Elaine Benes (Seinfeld)
The manipulative lead in one of Rotten Tomatoes’ best 90s wedding movies, Julianne Potter finds her counterpart in the amoral Elaine Benes from Seinfeld.
Both Julianne and Elaine are morally ambiguous, brash characters who have zero tolerance for stupidity. They also tend to experience an overwhelming feeling of insecurity over their friends getting ahead. Julianne is envious of her best friend/ backup Michael’s engagement and does all she can to break his wedding up. Similarly, her counterpart Elaine is as sly as they come. She has a mental hold on her love interest, David Puddy, who manipulates her boyfriend, Joel to change his first name to Dion, and gets jealous over George’s upcoming wedding in season 7.
William Thacker (Notting Hill) – Jim Halpert (The Office)
William Thacker, who has some of the most romantic quotes in Notting Hill to his credit, finds his counterpart in Jim Halpert from The Office.
Whilst Will owns a travel bookshop in London, Jim is a paper salesperson at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. Regardless, both characters are known for their intelligence and quick wit. The pair stand out because of their admirable qualities like calm demeanor and friendly nature. They are also mild-mannered, exceptionally charming men who know how to win their women over.
Emma Kurtzman (No Strings Attached) – Robin Scherbatsky (HIMYM)
Emma Kutzman from No Strings Attached finds her personality twin in Robin Scherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother. Emma, a doctor, and Robin, a journalist are career-driven people with sharp wit and closed-off personalities.
Emma has difficulties expressing her feelings to Ashton Kutcher’s Adam because she has her emotional walls up. Much like her, Robin is unable to tell Ted she loves him and has to work on herself to be able to confess her love. The two characters also struggle to show affection and set clear and firm personal boundaries with new acquaintances.
Elle Woods (Legally Blonde) – Rachel Green (Friends)
Elle Woods from Legally Blonde bears striking similarities to Rachel Green from Friends. Empowering, compassionate, and quirky, both characters have cemented their places in pop culture for numerous reasons.
Whilst Elle and Rachel take time to explore their privilege, they use it for good use once successful. Rachel teaches her sisters about empowerment and self-reliance. Much like her, Elle transitions from a clueless young woman into a fierce lawyer. The main takeaway from Elle and Rachel’s stories is that femininity is an asset, womanhood has power and they need to be celebrated.
Harry Burns (When Harry Met Sally) – Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld)
Harry Burns from When Harry Met Sally matches well with Seinfeld‘s Jerry. Both men are neurotic daters and they like to make sweeping generalizations about the world, human nature, and life. They also have a dark side, in that, they tend to assume the worst about people.
Jerry suppresses his emotions, and Harry doesn’t address the trauma of his divorce and as a result, flies off the handle after bumping into his ex-wife, Helen. The two of them also refuse to change their deeply entrenched beliefs about the world, which makes them perfect counterparts.
Nick Young (Crazy Rich Asians) – Logan Huntzberger (Gilmore Girls)
Nick Young and Logan Huntzberger play the rich boyfriend trope incredibly well on Crazy Rich Asians and Gilmore Girls, respectively. That being said, they go above and beyond being stock characters and add depth to the core narrative.
Nick and Logan are less than forthright with their partners, Rachel Chu and Rory Gilmore. Though their bad communication habits cause numerous dents in their respective relationships, they eventually come through with thoughtful actions and sincerity. Nick and Logan are willing to stand up for their girlfriends and defend them when need be. In addition to these traits, both counterparts are suave, sophisticated men who mean well.
