Second bananas are the unsung heroes of art, whether it be film, books, television or music. They provide a much needed boost to the action, they take pressure off the leading actor or performer, even outshining them. Here are five that deserve recognition:
1) Tobias Fünke (Arrested Development)
Arrested Development had one of the best ensembles in comedy, and Tobias Fünke was the stand-out. I often felt like that show’s hilarity rested on him. His deeply-closeted homosexuality was one of the best running gags on the show, and every line that came out of his mouth was pure gold, filled with double-entendres and unintentional sexual innuendo. “I wouldn't mind kissing that man between the cheeks.” From his ridiculous quest to be an actor, to his impersonation of Mrs. Doubtfire, to the hair transplant that nearly killed him, Tobias was the biggest and best scene stealer of this great comedy.
2) Hudson (Aliens)
The biggest difference between Alien and Aliens isn’t just the plurality of monsters or kick-ass action scenes. Aliens departs from the original by adding a much-needed comic relief, and that takes the form of Bill Paxton’s hilarious goofball Pvt. Hudson. He makes this movie more fun to watch, going from a cocky asshole to a scared, stupid soldier out of his depth almost seamlessly. “Game over, man. Game over.”
3) Phife Dawg (A Tribe Called Quest)
ATCQ could have been a two-man show, with front-man Q-Tip spitting those laid-back rhymes and Ali Shaheed Mohammad behind the turntables dropping that jazzy beat, but Phife made it a trio, and his cocky, self-assured rhymes balanced out the Tipster’s smooth, velvety flow. It was evident from some of the lyrics that the man probably suffered from a Napoleon complex given his five-foot stature, but it made his rapping a force to be reckoned with, evidenced by his verses on such classics like “Check The Rhyme,” “Hot Sex,” and best of all “Electric Relaxation,” where he gave us all one of the best descriptors of the opposite sex: “I like ‘em brown, yellow, Puerto Rican and Haitian.” While his solo career fizzled, his contribution to Tribe and hip hop won’t ever be forgotten.
4) Shane (The Shield)
The Shield was supposed to be a one-man show, with Michael Chiklis’ Vic Mackey as the man we all love to hate, but it was his partner Shane Vendrell that stole the title, by taking some of the villainy away from Mackey and yet still being somewhat of a sympathetic character. In a way, he was the monster Mackey created, right from the first episode and their murder of fellow cop Terry Crowley. Shane’s arrogance and stupidity, coupled with Mackey’s quest for one final score, eventually led both men down dark paths, leading to arguably the best finale in TV history. *Spoiler below*
5) Cassidy (Preacher)
Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s comic series Preacher had so much going for it with the religious war between main protagonist Jesse Custer and God, but throw vampires in the mix?!? Well that’s just absurd. But surprisingly, it worked. Cassidy was sort of the Han Solo to Custer’s Luke Skywalker, more of a rogue and definitely not to be trusted. His backstory has some of the saddest and most fucked up shit in this very fucked up series, including performing fellatio on a dude for a drug fix, being buried alive, and being shot multiple times. Immortality is more a curse than a blessing, and for Cassidy, it sucks triple-fold.
"perhaps an attic I shall seek"