15 Best TV Siblings to Ever Grace the Small Screen

Siblings are our first friends in life. But if you’re an only child, or you have a sibling (or siblings) that are a total disaster, TV siblings could be your only chance to savor the joys of having a built-in buddy.

These 15 sets of TV siblings made our lives brighter just by being in it. Let’s take a minute to thank these brothers and sisters from families of all kinds (traditional, blended, adopted) for all the memories.

1. The Bradys — Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marcia, Jan, and Cindy (The Brady Bunch)

The Bradys — brothers Greg, Peter, and Bobby, and sisters Marcia, Jan, and Cindy — were the epitome of a “blended family.” They showed America that the “face” of the modern nuclear family was changing and didn’t always fit neatly into a box.

Though the siblings certainly had their fair share of squabbles, their love for one another was undeniable.

2. The Simpsons — Bart, Lisa, and Maggie (The Simpsons)

Based on The Simpsons creator Matt Groening’s sisters (and himself), Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson have been cracking up audiences since 1989.

They’ve never “grown up” from their original ages and have changed with the times accordingly — making them just as relevant today as they were 35 years ago.

3. The Cosbys — Sondra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa, and Rudy (The Cosby Show)

Bill Cosby’s legacy has been irreparably tarnished by his off-screen antics. His impact on the 1980s, and on the television landscape as a whole, cannot be denied.

The Cosby Show featured an affluent Black family and their wonderful children, who were perfectly imperfect in every way.

4. The Tanners — DJ, Stephanie, and Michelle (Full House, Fuller House)

The Tanner sisters — Donna Jo (DJ), Stephanie, and Michelle — were first beamed into American households in 1987 thanks to the hit ABC sitcom, Full House. In that sitcom, the Tanner sisters were growing up before our very eyes, thanks to the careful guidance from their widowed father, Danny, their uncle Jesse, and the Tanner family friend Joey.

In 2016, a sequel series called Fuller House premiered on Netflix, and continued following the lives of DJ and Stephanie alongside their childhood friend, Kimmy Gibbler.

5. The Cranes — Frasier and Niles (Frasier)

Frasier was a spin-off of the wildly successful Cheers, and focused on the life of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane. In the series, he returns to his hometown of Seattle as a radio host, where he reconnects with his father.

Fraser also connects with his persnickety brother Niles, who is also a psychiatrist. The chemistry between the two earned the cast nearly 40 Primetime Emmys, a record they held until Game of Thrones surpassed them in 2016.

6. The Seavers — Mike, Carol, Ben, and Chrissy (Growing Pains)

The Seavers are an affluent family living in the real-life Long Island hamlet of Huntington, NY. Maggie, the matriarch, goes back to work as a reporter, leaving her psychologist husband Jason working from home and raising the children.

Naturally, rebellious Mike, bookish Carol, impressionable Ben, and baby Chrissy all give the patriarch a run for his money.

7. The Cleavers — Beaver and Wally (Leave It to Beaver)

Leave It to Beaver was a popular series that aired from 1957 to 1963. It focused on the fictional Cleaver family, which was a stereotypical 1950s TV family featuring a working father and a stay-at-home mother.

Beaver (a/k/a Theodore Cleaver) was stuck in a world that he didn’t understand and looked up to his brother Wally for much-needed guidance.

8. The Conners — Becky, Darlene, and DJ (Roseanne, the Conners)

The Conners were (and now, are) a stereotypical lower-working-class family that had its own share of travails stemming from poverty, food insecurity, and general instability.

Naturally, too, the Conner children — Rebecca a/k/a Becky, Darlene, and David Jacob a/k/a D.J. — are just as messed up as their parents. However, as siblings, they stick together no matter what, which makes them aspirational in a messed-up way.

9. The Salingers — Charlie, Bailey, Julia, Claudia, and Owen (Party of Five)

Party of Five was rebooted in 2020 and aired on Freeform. Though it only lasted for one season, the rebooted series focused on the Acosta children, who were stuck navigating the complexities of living in America after their parents get deported back to Mexico.

But the original Party of Five, which aired from 1994 to 2000 on Fox, showcased the lives of the Salinger siblings, who struggle with keeping it together after their parents perish in a car accident.

10. The Nelsons — David and Ricky (The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet)

The Nelsons were one of the original “showbiz families,” led by Oswald “Ozzie” and Harriet Nelson. Their sitcom, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, originated on the radio and became the longest-running live-action sitcom in television history until it was surpassed by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia in 2021.

The show focused on fictional settings for the Nelson family, and featured the warm, loving relationship between real-life brothers David and Eric (a/k/a “Ricky”).

11. The Banks/Smith Brother-Cousins — Will Smith and Carlton Banks (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)

Will Smith’s role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a modernized play on the Country Mouse trope, but his on-screen chemistry with Alfonso Ribiero (who played Carlton Banks) was legendary.

In the beginning, the pair were squaring off as contentious cousins from two different worlds. By the end of the series, the duo formed a brotherly bond.

12. The Pearsons — Kevin, Kate, and Randall (This Is US)

This is Us has apparently disappeared out of the collective pop culture consciousness without a trace, as though the show was a pandemic fever dream that ended when the outside reopened.

But at the height of the show’s popularity, the bond between Pearson twins Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Kate (Chrissy Metz) and adopted brother Randall (Sterling K. Brown in his breakthrough role) made viewers sob every Tuesday night.

13. The Roses — Alexis and David (Schitt’s Creek)

Alexis and David Rose were once spoiled rich kids. They had the world, and their parents’ bank accounts, at their feet. Then, the parents’ business manager swindles them out of their fortunes, relegating the once-wealthy family to a hotel in a dump of a town.

Such was the basis of the cult sitcom, Schitt’s Creek. Alexis and David are nothing if not dysfunctional, but they stick together no matter what.

14. The Johnsons — Zoey, Andre, Jack and Diane (Black-Ish)

One might consider Black-ish as a 21st century version of The Cosby Show. It followed the life of the Johnsons, an affluent Black family, and their children.

The oldest child, Zoey, becomes a self-assured adult. She’s joined by her equally precocious brothers Andre and Jack, and adorable sister Diane (who is Jack’s twin sister).

15. The Starks — Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon (Game of Thrones)

In the first season of Game of Thrones, the Stark children — Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon — had nothing if not tense relationships with one another. Sansa and Arya, especially, couldn’t seem to stop squabbling for five minutes.

By the conclusion of the series, the remaining Starks — Sansa, Arya, and Bran — had an unbreakable bond. They’d been through everything together, and they came out all the better for it.

Incidentally, this collective does not include Jon Snow because he was their cousin, not their illegitimate half-brother.