Man’s Best Friend
From the ubiquitous sitcom family dog to the faithful friends who brought tears to our eyes in dramas, there are a whole lot of canine stars who’ve graced our TV screens. We’ve brought the best of the good boys together—did your favorite make the list?
Comet, Full House
Comet might be the dog that launched the adoption of hundreds of golden retrievers in the 1990s. He joined the cast of Full House during season 3, when a dog gave birth in the Tanner family backyard. Comet was always there to offer a little comic relief.
The only episode actually filmed on location in San Francisco actually featured Comet getting loose and going off on an adventure on his own.
Apollo And Zeus, Magnum PI
Apollo and Zeus were well-trained Dobermanns who appeared in the crime drama Magnum PI, starring Tom Selleck, which ran for eight years in the 1980s. The “lads,” as they were called, were owned by Selleck’s character’s foil and eventual friend, Jonathan Higgins.
Tiger, The Brady Bunch
When it comes to the battle of cats vs dogs, dogs won out on The Brady Bunch. In the first episode of the series, Tiger is introduced as the boys’ dog, whereas the girls have a cat named Fluffy. Well, after that first episode, Fluffy never appeared again. Though Tiger didn’t necessarily fare better.
The first dog who played Tiger passed away early during filming. Afterward, the show only featured Tiger when it was necessary to the plot. Speaking of…
ABC, The Brady Bunch (1969-1974)
Backup, Veronica Mars
Backup made frequent appearances during the first season of Veronica Mars, often helping defend his tiny blonde owner from the many henchmen of Neptune, California. Much like Tiger, he was replaced at some point, and much like Tiger, he made fewer and fewer appearances as the seasons wore on.
The CW, Veronica Mars (2004-2007)
Lassie, Lassie
Lassie had a long career before she ever appeared on TV screens. She was the character in a novel and a series of MGM films. The owner of Pal, the dog who starred in those films, bought the name and trademark from MGM and then worked on developing Lassie, the TV series. Over the next 19 years, a succession of Pal’s descendants starred as the ever-loyal dog.
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Queequeg, The X-Files
Queequeg, a sweet Pomeranian rescued by Dana Scully in The X-Files, was named after the character from Moby Dick, which helped him fit right in with Scully and her father, who called each other Starbuck and Ahab, respectively. Sadly, the show saw him eaten by an alligator a year later.
Hobo, The Littlest Hobo
What Lassie was to one generation, Hobo was to another. Just saying the show’s title makes the theme song play on repeat in our heads. Essentially, Hobo, the so-called “ownerless dog” wandered around, helping others and making friends along the way.
The original version of the show was essentially a promotional tool for dog trainer Chuck Eisemann, who worked with the many canine stars of the show, and the 1979 Canadian reboot ran for six seasons.
CTV, The Littlest Hobo (1963-1985)
Eddie, Frasier
Eddie took what people expected from the “loyal companion” stereotype of sitcom dogs and turned it on its head. Eddie acted as a fantastic foil to Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier Crane both on screen and off—the Eddie character was so popular that Grammer was said to resent the attention he got, even telling The Washington Post, “He’s not an actor! He’s a dog!"
Bet you read that in Frasier’s voice…
Bullet, The Roy Rogers Show
It takes a lot of animal star power to match up to Trigger, Roy Rogers’ famous horse, but Bullet the “Wonder Dog,” had what it took. The Roy Rogers Show was wildly popular during its run in the 1950s, and art imitated life, as Bullet went home as the family pet of stars Rogers and his wife Dale Evans when the cameras went down.
NBC, The Roy Rogers Show (1951-1957)
Murray, Mad About You
Murray was a classic sitcom family pet with a big personality. The Collie-Shepherd mix was just as much a part of Paul and Jamie Buchman’s lives as any other friend or family member—he was there when they met, and years later when they had baby Mabel. Murray was adorable, if a little dumb, and was twice voted as TV Guide’s Most Popular Dog.
NBC, Mad About You (1992-2019)
Rin Tin Tin, The Adventures Of Rin Tin Tin
Lassie wasn’t the only dog dominating TV screens in 1954. The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin debuted the same year, capitalizing on the popularity of the real Rin Tin Tin, a dog who’d starred in adventure films and had originally been rescued from a WWI battlefield.
Though the real Rinty passed away in 1932, the 1954 TV show starred his descendent, Rin Tin Tin IV—and a host of other similar German Shepherds.
ABC, The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin (1954-1959)
Cheddar, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
What’s more delightful than a Pembroke Welsh Corgi? Hearing Captain Holt, played by the late, great Andre Braugher, talk about Cheddar, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi he shared with his on-screen husband, Kevin.
Though we do have to give a runner-up trophy to Diaz’s yellow lab Arlo.
NBC, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021)
Asta, The Thin Man
Every crossword fan knows “Asta,” the canine star of the The Thin Man TV series. The show centered around married couple Nick and Nora Charles, private investigators who solve crimes. Their dog Asta was a wire-haired terrier who often played a part in the plot—as evidenced by his presence in promo materials for the show.
After the original Thin Man series of films from the 30s, the breed became wildly popular—so popular, in fact, they became overbred.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wikimedia Commons
Barkley, Sesame Street
Barkley may not get as much love as Elmo or Snuffleupagus, but he’s been an adorable addition to the show since his debut in 1978, when he was originally called Woof Woof. Unlike many other characters, he’s not anthropomorphized like other characters, and only communicates through barks and yelps.
Sesame Workshop, Sesame Street (1969-)
Number One, Picard
It’s hard to pick just one dog from Star Trek. We almost picked the Alfa 177 canine from the original series—yes, the one who looks like a family dog dressed up as a unicorn for Halloween. But ultimately we settled on Number One from Picard as a shout out to Patrick Stewart and his advocacy for rescue dogs.
Paramount+, Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023)
Dog, Columbo
The canine who would become Columbo’s best friend first appeared in a season 2 episode of the series, and was eventually given the ever-so-creative name “Dog”. The classic Basset hound personality—intelligent, stubborn, occasionally prone to howling—was a perfect match for the TV detective.
K9, Doctor Who
It couldn’t be a list of TV dogs without K9, the robotic canine companion to various Doctors throughout the long-running British sci-fi series. The BBC first tried to give K9 his own spin-off in 1981, airing the pilot K-9 And Company, but it didn’t pick it up. In 2010, Channel 5 came up with K9, a series about the robot dog that mixed computer animation and live action, which aired for one season.
Wishbone, Wishbone
Wishbone only aired for two seasons, but it made a big impact on a whole generation of kids. In the series, Wishbone is a well-read Jack Russell terrier who often sees parallels between the real-life problems his owner Joe and Joe’s friends face and classic literature, with Soccer-as-Wishbone portraying characters like Tom Sawyer, Oliver Twist, and Sherlock Holmes.
Rowlf, The Muppet Show
Unlike Sesame Street’s Barkley, The Muppet Show’s Rowlf could talk—and he could play piano! Laid-back Rowlf frequently cracked deadpan jokes, and many of Jim Henson’s friends and colleagues claimed he was the character who was closest to Henson’s demeanor.
The Muppets Studio, The Muppet Show (1976-)
Vincent, Lost
The only canine survivor of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, Vincent was young Walt’s dog, who comes along for the ride when Michael has to collect his son after Walt’s mother passes away. Vincent later keeps company with other survivors through various attacks and time shifts—and according to one fan theory (spoiler alert), Vincent is the only confirmed survivor of the plane crash.
Buster, The Wonder Years
Everyone remembers Buster, the beloved and loyal brown and white beagle who’s there for all of Kevin’s life’s landmarks on The Wonder Years, right? Well, Buster may have been an integral part of the Arnold family, but he actually only appeared on four episodes of the show.
ABC, The Wonder Years (1988-1993)
