The W.C. Fields adage warning against working with children or animals is solid advice, mostly—but pop culture (and history) has also proven that dogs have more than earned their place as man’s best friend, becoming as integral to our existence as work and play. They listen to us whine and offer slobbery consolation after a bad day, frequently while protecting us. Dogs are our companions, confidantes, and occasionally, even our consciences.
This weekend, the box office is going to the dogs, as John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum and A Dog’s Journey hit theaters. The films couldn’t be more different, but the four-legged friends are stalwart nonetheless, one going as far as to watch over a family across generations. To mark the occasion, The A.V. Club is handing out treats to the canine sidekicks of film and TV.
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The dog in I Am Legend is so great that the movie goes downhill after she dies.
It becomes your standard action movie.
The two of them running side by side on their treadmills was a great shot, and efficiently established their connection.
Missing: The Storyteller’s Dog.
Came here to say this:
I guess Seymore is only an off-screen sidekick…
That’s a funny way to spell “purveyor of limitless sadness”.
The most dedicated dog of all.
If the scene at the end of that episode didn’t bring tears you’re not human.
I don’t need to see the scene. Just remembering it fills me with sadness.
Goddamnit I’d JUST dried my eyes from the last time I remembered this episode.
It is the only episode of Futurama I turn off when it comes on. I just can’t go through that again y’all.
ME TOO!!
GOD.DAMN.YOU.
I haven’t seen that episode, and after everything I’ve heard, I’m not sure I ever will.
Santos L Halper
If that is your real name, Bart Simpson. Now make like my pants, and split.
Hanks increasingly desperate “I BROUGHT A MUFFIN FOR YA HOOCH!!!” is gold.
Can’t think of anyone I’d rather explore the post-apocalypse with. Good boy, Dogmeat.
Dogmeat is the 2nd greatest video game canine companion, just after Diamond Dog.
I am told you can have other followers in that game, but I had no interest in testing that theory.
The android private detective is pretty awesome too. Y’know, for a biped.
Yeah but he doesn’t get his own perk.
“Dog” from Good Omens.
Hey, now — a story about canine sidekicks, but no Krypto the Superdog? Lame!
Are we including robot dog sidekicks?
K•9’s basically a jack russell terrier and therefore should have been number one. I’m so angry right now
It’s just a daft metal dog (wipes away tears, tries to keep composure)
Rags – who leaves batteries all over the place.Ruff, ruff, ruff – my name is Rags.
My favourite moment in NuWho is when Micky realises “I’m the tin dog!”
I was hoping for Woola from the John Carter movie, though I understand if nobody but me has seen it. Woola is a good dog-creature.
So, you mention the actual greatest dog in pop culture, Snoopy, but don’t put him on the list???
It’s a sad, sad day when an AVC inventory leaves out an obvious contender from The Simpsons. Santa’s Little Helper may be dumb, destructive, and sloppy, but that just makes him a perfect match for Bart and Homer.
I thought you were going to go with Rover Hendrix.
I thought it was Poochie. Too bad he died on his way back to his home planet.
Bark Ruffalo!
I used to be a greyhound dad, so I always squeed with delight when Santos was on screen. At the same time, i would always point out the non-greyhound traits they gave him. There is no way a retired racer is ever going to be a guard dog. Probably the most accurate episode is when he becomes the new suds McDoff, because it starts the episode showing SLH as being afraid of everything. That’s basically the greyhound MO.
santos l. halper
As the saying goes, the only way a greyhound is going to stop a burglar is if they accidentally trip over him/her. They are still the best dogs in the world though.
Grandpa’s Little Helper? What’s that?!… Which one of you is the mailman?
Also where the hell is Eddie from Fraiser the best TV dog of all time. Also Bear from Person of Interest.
In defense of the AV Club, I’d call Eddie more the dog equivalent of a snarky observer who enjoys watching Frasier fall flat on his ass rather than a sidekick, strictly speaking.
Bear, Hell yeah!
Every time Bear showed up on PoI, my whole family would cheer. I still say he should have gotten his own spinoff.
Puppy of Interest
Eddie is the egregious omission here, and the first one that came to my mind. I think the same dog was in My Dog Skip, which is a pretty big oversight as well (especially if you’re going to include rank garbage like K9).
Hey hey … he may be dumb and destructive, but … uh … wait, what was the third thing you said?
You mean Santos L. Halper.
Someone else actually beat me to nominating Santos L. Halper and I missed it. By that point the comments were already flying pretty fast so I just did a control+F search for “Santa” and when it returned zero results I made my post.
I think you mean the more superior dog Laddie!!
I almost went with Laddie to throw a little curve ball at the end, but that darned Greyhound is just too pure of a lovable idiot to pass up.
Satan’s little helper episodes were pretty good.
OOh is that his Treehouse of Horror non-union Mexican equivalent?
Thats how i imagine Homer thinking about him. her? its a girl? i should watch some simpsons again..
All of the above will never beat Eddie for best sidekick
This list makes me want to (include) Barf.
That’s Barfolomew!
He’s a mog, not a dog.
He’s his own best friend!
His own best friend!
Obviously Old Yeller’s no sidekick.
I’m not crying – you are!
Not by a long shot.
TOO SOON!
this means Gromit is the protagonist, cool
Is there any doubt?
what about chewbacca lol. jk
Turner & Hooch, K-9, Top Dog… I’d forgotten how popular cop/dog buddy movies were at one time.
Still better than Clint’s cop-chimp movie.
Clint wasn’t a cop in those, he was a bare-knuckle rowdyman.
The line in Mr. Bojangles about his dog always gets me all verklempt.He spoke through tears of 15 years how his dog and him traveled about The dog up and died, he up and died And after 20 years he still grieves
This guy is pretty damned good.
just watched that movie this weekend … twice! Woola was a cutey
And he loyally slaughtered ones enemies at ones side. HE WAS THE WHOLE PACKAGE!
That’s a darn good movie.
I will never be able to decide whether John/Woola or Carthoris/Woola is the better pairing…
No Gromit, for shame.
Good one. He flies an airplane for Pete’s sake!
Ya, but is he a fighter ace with a whole song about his accomplishments!
Because Gromit’s not the sidekick. Wallace is.
DOG READS PAPER!
I feel like Chewbacca could be on this list. Lucas got the idea for Chewy when he saw his dog riding in the front seat of their car with his wife, so created this dog-like co-pilot for the series. Whatever, I’m counting it.
How on earth could you forget Snowy from the Tintin series?
They do say it’s only from movies and TV, but I would still imagine the Spielberg basis is sufficient basis.
There was also an animated tintin tv show.
Spielberg’s Tintin was the third best Indiana Jones film ever made.
This needs more votes. I love that goddamn movie.
No Wondermutt? (As a young lad nothing was more heartbreaking to me than when Shoop throws Bob into the ocean and it gets swept away in the tide while Wondermutt looks for it, whimpering)
For a second there, I thought you were talking about this guy
Or this guy
But not this guy?
Living off borrowed time, the clock tick fasterThat’d be the hour they knock the slick blasterDick Dastardly and Muttley with sick laughterA gun fight and they come to cut the mixmaster
Sassin frassin rassin…
He’s actually just a beach dog. Go away, beach dog!
The absence of Yellow from “Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog” shows that you, like most dog shows, has an anti-Labrador bias.
“What is this, a crossover episode?!”
It’s not. That’s why he wasn’t on the list.
I have a low-key crush on Mr. Peanutbutter.
Yeah, he’s like the guy who endlessly annoyed you when you guys were dating but after you started dating that cynical bad boy you realized how sweet he really was. Ugh, my life is a trope.
This is Scooby Doo erasure.
The discussion over Scooby-Doo ended in the determination that Scooby is not the sidekick so much as Shaggy is, but really, it’s an ensemble effort.
I take it Snoopy fell into the same category.
How can you put Porkchop on the list, call out that he’s basically a copy of Snoopy, and leave Snoopy off the list entirely??
Scooby Doo is a protagonist with four human sidekicks. If you want to stump for Scrappy, you’re welcome to, but I’ll have no part of it.
I would say it is three human sidekicks. Scooby Doo and Shaggy are both equal partners.
Come to me cover me hold metogether we’ll break these chains of loveDon’t give up don’t give uptogether with my babybreak these chains of loveOh, you meant a different kind of erasure.
I always mean that kind of Erasure.
Wasn’t Hooch really the star as well?
What about Eddie from Frasier?
I have both a dogue de Bordeaux and a Great Dane. The Bodbeaux wins hands down. The ddB is the sidekick and best pal. The one that will sit on the couch and share a beer with you while you both debate the merits football versus hockey while working on your beer bellies. The Dane is like the needy significant other that texts you thousands of times a day and calls at 2 am to make sure you aren’t cheating. A Great Dane is a 200 pound super-annoying purse dog.
i agree to the ensamble establishment as mentioned but i do have to remind you the show itself is called scooby doo!
i would say it’s about scoob and shag but they had to have someone there to you know, make’em encounter spookies. else our bois would just be chilling and eating snacks all day long.
I’m sure there’s a message there somewhere but it was lost on me.
What about Sprocket from Fraggle Rock?
Annie is a shaggy-dog character? Are you saying the whole movie was a just a setup for the lines:
“Yesterday was plain awful”
“You can say that again”
“Yesterday was plain awful”
Remember, Ace the Bathound wears a mask to protect his secret identity as Bruce Wayne’s dog.
Shouldn’t he wear a mask on his butt so other dogs won’t know who he is?
Right???
I saw the headline and was all:”Let’s see what they say about Krypto.”
LOOK AT THAT GOOD BOY:
jerry lee, sick balls.
Martin Crane and Eddie would like a word???
Came here to say this.
Clearly the biggest omission.
It will be a very polite word over wine. Say 6:30 on the varanda I will open a Pinot Noir now.
Missing Shithead from The Jerk and Missile from Ghost Trick (GHOST TRICK IS POP CULTURE, DAMMIT).
“Whenever someone new comes, all I want to say is… WELCOME!” missile is best video game dog, you can’t change my mind
Hosehead!!!!! He’s the best.
What about Speak? He identifies as dog, what right do you have to call him anything else?
Speak! Speak is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. I cannot stop laughing when he is on screen.
How did Poochie the Hound not make this list…HOW!!!
I can only surmise that Poochie is 80% too awesome for these lame-o’s, dude…
Whenever Poochie is not in an Inventory, people should be asking, ‘Where’s Poochie’?
you win today’s interwebs! congrats!
I never win anything!
you did today!!! enjoy!!!
RIP Poochie. Taken out in his prime on his way back home.
No Snowy, are you even god damn serious
Leaving Snowy off the list is a crime against humanity.
Colonialist even.
Ah Milou, t’es un beau chien.
Who the hell is Snowy?edit: Nevermind I got it, it’s how English people call Milou.
I’m so glad that you put Porkchop on this list! Loved Doug
Dog is god spelled backward. Also Goliath is an anagram for tail hog.
No Bear from PoI?
Shaw only joined the team because of Bear
The goodest of boys. He knew when to be a friend and when to be a badass. And yes, sometimes those moments were one and the same.
One that is forgotten, but Mike the Dog as Matisse in “Down and Out In Beverly Hills”.
BEEFY from Little Nicky! Note how in the article they predicted it would be a smash 😀
https://www.petplace.com/article/dogs/just-for-fun/meet-adam-sandlers-tough-talking-sidekick-in-little-nicky/
It’s not Lockjaw’s fault that The Inhumans sucked. Who’s a good giant mutant dog? He is! He is! Still hoping he crosses over & maybe gets adopted by the Agents of SHIELD
All I want from live action Marvel now.
I know her show is ending, but if there is some way for Jessica Jones to still adopt Lockjaw I would do whatever is required of me to support that
thanks, now i’m reminded of how turner and hooch ends and my 7 year old self is devastated again.
This list includes a dog from a random Chuck Norris movie, but no Eddie from Frasier? For shame.
Who’s a good boy? Not the person who put together the list for leaving this loyal lil guy off
No mention of Backup from Veronica Mars? The shame.
This is a great list, but Dogmeat needs to be on it. Helping his human through a wasteland hellscape makes him a VERY good boy. Boomer from Fallout 5 would be great too!Reading the Babe entry compelled me to write: For all those out there who love dogs and have a lot of space, please consider adopting a Border Collie one day. Such great dogs. They require some work and a lot of exercise, but you will never find a more loyal, smart breed of dog. My Border Collie passed away decades ago, and I still miss her.
They require some work and a lot of exercise
That seems to be an understatement. Due to their intelligence, they have a reputation for needing constant stimulus and more work to train (as they can see through you).
Have you owned one? Because they require more work than many other dogs-which is what I was trying to say-but it is not some Herculean labor either. And the rewards far outweigh the problems-at least they did for me.
I’m appalled by the fact that not only is Chubbie Webbers not in the article but also that no one in the comments section has mentioned him either.
Where the fuck is Snoopy? Santa’s Little Helper? Where is Seymour?!
The timing of this post is really rubbing it in.
If they really couldn’t remove any other options, just add Eddie from Frasier in too and have an even 20! Like, I already have to handle Game of Thrones’ snubbing the best boy in Westeros, now I have to contend with the AV Club doing it too? SMDH. #JusticeforGhost
Eddie, or more accurately the Eddies, could definitely steal a scene (though I thought they sometimes lifted a leg on the Fourth Wall by seeming to relate more to a just-offscreen trainer than to the human characters).
The subtitled dog from BEGINNERS who hangs out with Ewan McGregor would be on my list.
Conspicuously absent from this list:K-9 (from Doctor Who)Krypto the SuperdogWonderdog (from the Super Friends)Eddie (from Frasier)LassieCujo
I thought this list was sweet until I realized that all of the live-action dogs on it are long, long dead.
Sometimes I think about the fact that every dog or cat that was alive when I was born and during my childhood is long dead.
How the hell is the pitbull #1 he is barely in the movie. What about Eddie from Fraiser or Duke from Bush’s Baked Beans
Staggering omission…
How is it that the Dug entry doesn’t feature his line that is the perfect distillation of dogdom and why we love them: “I have just met you, and I love you.”
I hid under your porch because I love you.
“Samantha”….. When Will Smith said that I fucking broke down in tears. My dog had just passed away that year and we had another dog who was looked just like Sam (who had a wonderful life and passed away last year at age 16) so thinking about his pain really got to me. What a great scene. That dog was a warrior. Man’s best friend is right. Should be changed to Human’s best friend.
Fuck you all half to death for leaving out Vincent. Who’s got a severed limb? Good boy. Who’s got a religious statue filled with heroin? Good boy.
No Santa’s Little Helper?
Where in the HELL is Bear from Person of Interest?
“pop culture” meaning TV and film? What about Pizza Dog from Hawkeye?
He is a miniature Buddha!
You just look at what you did, AV Club writers. Bad humans!
This list is invalidated due to its omission of Bear from Person of Interest. For shame!!
No Baxter? This mean list didn’t include Baxter!
So was there ever a John Wayne movie in which his dog was not named “Dog”?
Where the hell is Baxter
Really?!!??
Big omission! (solid dog post though)
BenjiWTAF people!
Dorothy makes it home anyway, vowing never to leave it again, and in the last shot of the movie, she’s still got the loyal Toto in her arms. And – as not a damn thing has changed in the real world, because in the movie Oz isn’t real – that very day Mrs. Gulch will come back, scoop up Toto and have him “destroyed”. After all, she has a legal paper from the sheriff!
It’s been said in the comments already, but I’m gonna say it again, Eddie from Frasier is a glowing omission.
Where’s Snoopy?
Where Gromit at?
NO SHITHEAD???
Come on, maaaan. He paid his dues:
Shithead not happy being rubbed against Navin’s nethers
DUDE, COME ON!!!
No Benji?!!!!FUCK.YOU.
i wrote a short children’s play where the nome king is transported to kansas by the same tornade that takes dorothy to oz & when dorothy returns home, he kidnaps her to force her to take him back to oz. the main character & hero of the play is toto!
The omission of Due South’s headstrong and courageous selectively deaf half-wolf, Diefenbaker, is *scandalous*. He lost his hearing saving his mountie partner on an ice floe! He has opinions about opera!
umm where the heck is eddie from frasier? or wishbone?
umm where the heck is eddie from frasier? or wishbone?
No Lockjaw? No Ace the Bat Hound? No Krypto? This list is nonsense.
It’s criminal that Murray from Mad About You is always left off these lists.
No love for Cheddar from Brooklyn 99?
Apparently pop culture means movies. Nothing from books? Oy from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower should be #1.
No love for Buck?
Eddie from Fraiser! He is the reason I adopted a Jack Russell Terrier!
SNOOPY!!!!!!!!!
What about Tequila from the 90’s HIT TV SHOW Tequila and Bonetti!?
No Eddie from Fraiser? For shame…
Ein, you bastards.
I never thought I’d see anything from “A Boy and His Dog” on any best list.
If there is ever a list for Best Wedding Scene, I would include it there, too.
Some of these are the best sidekick dogs that I remember watching when I was younger.
What!? No Rimshot!! 😛
Bronx. Came here for Bronx. I am sorely disappointed.
odie?!
Snowy.
Hagan from White God! C’mon, AV Club, do better!
Sorry, but this list is missing gaming’s greatest dog:and it’s second greatest dog:Therefore, this list is clearly invalid.
What about Gaspode the Wonder Dog (named for the famous Gaspode)?Pop culture doesn’t just mean visual media, ya know.
No Dog Dogmeath from Fallout? GTFOH with this list.
Where is Shithead? He might not be the best dog, but he certainly has the best name. And surely there was room for either Flash (Dukes of Hazard) or Fred (Smokey and the Bandit)
What about Shithead from The Jerk?
Where the hell’s Spunky from Rocko’s Modern Life!!!!
No Dreyfuss, from “Empty Nest”?
Sherman.
Not even an honorable mention for Falkor? I know he’s a “luck dragon”, but come on. It’s a giant flying dog.
No Eddie from Fraiser?
Hooch is by far the best
Reasons our favourite media-dogo isn’t on the list:
Too many good bois (and gurls) to choose from.
comment-section fills voids i didnt remember i had.
Where is Ein of Cowboy Bebop!?!
Hooch is the best. That is all.
i hated will smith’s i am legend, reason being, i cant stand him. and it wasnt a good movie. but i lost it when she died. i can count on one hand how many times i’ve cried watching a movie and that’s definitely one of them.
now do an updated list showing how many of these dogs are long dead.
Jack.
included with others menitoned, particularly Bear, I’d add Diefenbaker from due South.
I remember watching Turner & Hooch for the first time when I was 8 or 9 years old. The ending WRECKED me. Also, Tom Hanks in that movie speaks to how great he truly is as an actor.