When “Boston Legal” ended its run last week, the series finale also marked the end of one of prime time’s most poignant “bromances.” The deep friendship between William Shatner’s Denny Crane and James Spader’s Alan Shore, marked by their regular dates for cigars and Scotch at the end of the day, was a touchstone of the David E. Kelley dramedy, bringing out-there storylines back down to a human level.
But as Denny and Alan ride off into the sunset, television will still have plenty of bromances. Never heard the term? It describes a friendship between two men that’s nonsexual but intimate and even (can we say it, guys?) loving. A bromance differs from a man-crush in that the object of a man-crush might be oblivious, while a bromance is mutual, like a close friendship between two women. Except with guys.
Consider these current TV bromances that are pivotal to the shows on which they’re found.
• House and Wilson, “House.” The most enduring relationship on “House” is marked by bickering, jealousy, co-dependence and ultimate loyalty. Of course, we’re talking about House (Hugh Laurie) and his best friend, Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), reluctant life partners whose relationship has survived multiple marriages (Wilson’s) and countless episodes of bad behavior (almost all House’s).
• Ted and Barney, “How I Met Your Mother.” Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) is a full-blown cad, with sexual exploits that are legendary. But Barney’s loyalty to his friend Ted (Josh Radnor) is just as legendary; he’s so dedicated to finding his friend a mate that his catchphrase in the first season became, “Have you met Ted?”
• J.D. and Turk, “Scrubs.” J.D. (Zach Braff) and his best friend, Turk (Donald Faison), have been friends and roommates since college, and their history is as much intertwined as if they were husband and husband. Now that Turk actually is married, J.D. has had to get used to being apart, although Turk’s wife, Carla (Judy Reyes), still thinks of J.D. as Turk’s “boyfriend.”
• Vince and Eric, “Entourage.” Eric is Vince’s manager, but their relationship, dating to childhood in Brooklyn, is so much more than that. Eric (Kevin Connolly) has supported Vince (Adrian Grenier) through career choices good and bad and through romances ill-advised and more ill-advised.
• Hiro and Ando, “Heroes.” They were best pals when both were comic-loving office drones in Tokyo, and Hiro and Ando (Masi Oka and James Kyson Lee) remain best pals now that Hiro has mastered time and space and saved the world twice.
Get ready for reality TV to get into the game. “Bromance” is the title of a new MTV series, arriving Dec. 29, in which Brody Jenner (son of Bruce and stepbrother of the Kardashians) tries to find a new BFF. A bromance, as MTV defines it, is “a bond between you and your go-to guy. No games, no BS, someone that just keeps it real with you.”
