The 10 Best Duos on Television

These dynamic duos make for must-see TV.

Whether it's their characters' unavoidable onscreen chemistry or enviably funny friendships, they've got a connection that gets people tuning in week after week. We were on the edge of our seats to find out if Benson and Stabler's flirty office vibe would turn into something more, and we started calling our BFFs "my person" after Meredith and Christina coined it on Grey's Anatomy.

Read on for the onscreen pairings that have achieved icon status for going together like, well, peanut butter and jelly.

Walter White & Jesse Pinkman - 'Breaking Bad'

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul's Emmy-award winning performances in Breaking Bad went down in history — literally. Years after the show wrapped in 2013, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman were immortalized in the form of bronze statues in a convention center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The pair, who played a chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine cook and a drug dealer, were on hand for the statue's debut in 2022.

In the decade since the show went off air, the two have remained close friends and have even become business partners starting Dos Hombres Mezcal.

"I say it every time I'm with him. I love this man so much. I get so incredibly emotional," Paul told Esquire. "He is truly a father figure, an older brother figure, that I just love and adore so much, and the fact we get to kind of be in cahoots again—"

Cranston chimed in: "It's good," to which Paul continued, "It's a f---ing dream. It's truly a dream."

Jerry Seinfeld & George Costanza - 'Seinfeld'

Jerry and George were average two thirtysomething guys navigating dating, city life and job troubles — but as played by Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander on Seinfeld, the normal parts of everyday life were heightened to an absurd degree, and they could make the most minor complaint into a sidesplitting rant. And they (along with their friends Elaine Benes and Cosmo Kramer) were just as likely to sabotage the other one as to support them in their daily difficulties.

Alexander has said that the cast was more cordial "work mates" than best friends off set, but that they still exchange birthday emails — though he and Julia Louis-Dreyfus had not heard the rumors of a reunion Seinfeld recently started.

Meredith Grey & Cristina Yang - 'Grey's Anatomy'

Though Grey's Anatomy has had no shortage of sweeping, epic romances, there's one relationship that stands above all else: The one between Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang. Best friends from day one of their Seattle Grace residency, the two see each other through new loves, professional challenges and heartbreak, and coined a new term for that type of soulmate. "You're my person," Cristina tells Meredith after putting her down as a contact while making an appointment for an abortion — in other words, "If I murdered someone, she’s the person I’d call to help drag the corpse across the living room floor.”

Kenan & Kel - 'Kenan & Kel'

Aw, here it goes! The two met as young comedians on the set of All That, and their noticeable chemistry landed them their own eponymous sitcom on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2001. (You know you still hum the theme song, which compares them to other iconic duos in history.) And though they took a few years apart after filming Goodburger to pursue their own solo careers, they've recently reunited for Goodburger 2 and have picked up where they left off.

"It’s a brotherhood. We’ve known each other since we were kids. We both had our own journeys and journeys together," Kel told PEOPLE.

Added Kenan of their long history together, "We’ve been lucky that our stuff is still standing the test of time. Our silliness prevails."

Abbi & Ilana - 'Broad City'

The ride-or-die friendship of Abbi and Ilana (played by Abbi Jacobsen and Ilana Glazer) was the entire heart and soul of Broad City, providing solid ground and tenderness to counterbalance the over-the-top hijinks the two could get up to — and staying constant no matter who the two dated or what they were doing at any given time.

And if it felt real, that's because it was real; Jacobsen told Bustle, "The friendship on the show is based on our friendship in real life ... I have a lot of amazing friends in my life that happen to be women, but Ilana was the first on in New York that really felt important. I guess we were right."

As producer Amy Poehler told Newsweek after the show wrapped, "I'm just proud that I made an honest and funny show that held female friendship in high regard."

Grace & Frankie - 'Grace and Frankie'

The greatest thing about Grace and Frankie is that it gave us the reunited offscreen duo of Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, friends for decades since starring together in 9 to 5. They start at odds onscreen when their husbands fall in love with each other — but as Grace and Frankie have to pick up the pieces together, their sizzling and snappy chemistry (and not dissimilar from their vibe in real life) transforms them from frenemies into lifelong best friends.

"I love Jane from a long time ago. And so it seemed so natural," Tomlin told PEOPLE of deciding to work with her pal on the long-running series, which "deepened" their already-close friendship.

Lorelai & Rory Gilmore - 'Gilmore Girls'

Lorelai and her namesake daughter have each other — and that's really all they need. As the superclose mother-daughter duo with a 16-year age gap and a shared love for coffee, old movies and superfast talking, the two (played by the uncannily lookalike Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel) have one of the most enviable familial relationships onscreen, even when they're at odds.

They got to revisit the magic in the show's 2016 revival, about which Graham told PEOPLE, "I have so much respect for [Bledel] as an actor and a person and a mom ... We were both kind of in different places then, and we’re both more settled down now. So that was kind of cool, to reconnect.”

Keegan Michael Key & Jordan Peele - 'Key and Peele'

Another show where two comedians' undeniable chemistry landed them a network show, Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele played a variety of (frequently absurd, always hilarious) characters on the sketch show bearing their names.

They fell in "comedy love" at Chicago's Second City, then moved to L.A. where they were roommates, and their friendship led to the hit show. Key told James Corden when they reunite, it's like "being with your brother ... the brother that you like."

ncG1vNJzZmiolaS9rbGNnKamZ2FleqOx0q1kna2fqHqwuoytrWZwZGaGdH2P

• ← Previous Post
• Next Post →