From what I've been hearing and reading about CBS' upcoming sitcom "Two and a Half Men", it sounds like the relationship of the two main characters is a variation of the Hackett brothers....

Charlie Sheen plays the "wild, footloose" brother and Jon Cryer plays the "uptight, straight-laced" brother....only I don't think that Charlie's character will have the silliness of Brian Hackett. I think that Sheen will be playing it more like the Odd Couple's Oscar Madison.

This relationship of two very different types of brothers is nothing new, but it makes you realize how BEAUTIFULLY Tim Daly and Steven Weber portrayed it on "Wings".

On some of these "different brother" shows and films, you don't really believe that the two guys are brothers...they're just two actors plugged into those roles. However, Tim and Steven had wonderful chemistry together....they fought and bickered like crazy, but they were also the best of friends.

I hope that Charlie and Jon's new series is a success (I've enjoyed the work of both actors), but I don't think that anyone can top the "brotherly" chemistry of Tim and Steven...those two guys really did it RIGHT!

I totally agree with you, pilotguy- no one can portray brothers quite like Tim and Steven did.
There are a lot of TV shows with siblings who are also best friends, but none of them are quite like Joe and Brian.
Like on "Friends"- I used to watch that all the time, and I always forgot that Ross and Monica were brother and sister, because they always seemed more like friends, and didn't usually have that sibling thing going on.
On "Frasier", Niles and Frasier are actually believable as brothers, but the characters are very much alike, so it's easier to portray that brothers/best friends thing more realistically.
another show that comes to mind is "Roseanne". I used to watch this show pretty often, and I always enjoyed Roseanne and Jackie's sister relationship. The two characters were very different, but they were best friends, and they were also believable as sisters.

There are a bunch of shows with siblings who are best friends, and a lot of how well it's portrayed has to do with the writing too, I think, but only so much can ride on the writing. I do think that Tim Daly and Steven Weber brought something special to Joe and Brian's relationship. They do have a great brotherly chemistry together, and it really makes it believable that Joe and Brian are brothers. I have often said that Joe and Brian's brother/best friend relationship is one of my favorite things about "Wings". I can appreciate that because me and my brother are very different from each other in a lot of ways too, but we are also best friends. and of course we have our sibling bickering moments too.
...aww, I'm gonna miss my brother when he leaves for college next week! :( at least he'll be coming home on a lot of weekends tho. :)

but yeah, back to the point, Joe and Brian are my favorite TV siblings. :D

While Tim and Steven made their characters' sibling relationship very believable, for some reason I just couldn't "buy" Helen and Casey as sisters....

The ladies were funny together, but I always thought that they acted more like friends or co-workers than sisters.

Whether Joe and Brian were fighting like enemies, or hanging out together as best buddies, I always thought of them first and foremost as BROTHERS!

you're right- sometimes I almost forgot that Helen and Casey were sisters. They never really had a sibling-like relationship...

Originally posted by pilotguy

Whether Joe and Brian were fighting like enemies, or hanging out together as best buddies, I always thought of them first and foremost as BROTHERS!

Yep. That is definitely one of the reasons it worked. Tim and Steven had very good chemistry together as actors, but they also brought in the human element and "acted" like brothers around each other. It wasn't this constant love fest going on around them. Episodes such as when Joe tells Brian he wants him out of his life are painful to watch, but are real and reflect what a true brother relationship is all about. They had several episodes where they got into it, but they always worked it through and overcame it.