History WithFriendsLikeThese / LiveActionTV

** In "Ebbtide VI: The Wrath of Stan" Dorothy winds up in court for inadvertently running a slum with Stan (they had inherited the building, Dorothy was not interested in running it, but Stan blackmailed her into co-owning by threatening to kick out her elderly uncle). During the episode, the three other main characters not only show a shocking indifference to Dorothy's problem (she could easily go to jail for being accidentally tied to the slum) but in fact do several things that make Dorothy look even guiltier - Sophia deliberately makes the court hate her by telling them she put her into a nursing home (which the show treats as a terrible thing for some reason), Rose tries to make Dorthy look guiltier to spice up the story for her consumer advocate job, and Blanche is easily swayed into incriminating Dorothy after the sleazy prosecutor flirts with her.

* The gang of friends in Britcom ''Series/{{Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps}}'', but most noticeably Louise, who is vapid, vain, and downright nasty -- she has no redeeming features whatsoever. The others frequently comment on how much they dislike her, so why is she still there?

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Occasionally Phoebe and Rachel towards Chandler. They often mock him and his relationship with Monica despite knowing he's an InsecureLoveInterest. (This includes introducing Monica's "soulmate" ''right in front of him''.) It's implied they're [[GreenEyedMonster just jealous]], as they're mostly single while he and Monica have an unbelievably happy relationship. Plus they normally treat him badly only when Monica isn't around because, given how much she cares about Chandler and her hyper-protective personality, she'd probably kick their asses if they hurt him.

** In general, the other's poor treatment of Dorothy really makes one wonder why she puts up with them at all.

** The Trio from Season 6. They repeatedly try to throw each other under the rug to save themselves, can't agree on if their crimes are/aren't too evil, and sometimes end up creating problems for themselves with their infighting.

** The Trio from Season 6. They repeatedly try to throw each other under the rug to save themselves, and sometimes end up creating problems for themselves with their infighting.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had the Scooby Gang and Faith. After her FaceHeelTurn, they give her a WeUsedToBeFriends speech (Buffy and Willow in particular), and yet never seem to realize that their idea of friendship was to lie to her, go behind her back, betray her trust, and most damning of all, let her live in a dump of a motel room that could be (and was) attacked by vampires. And despite all of that, Faith still wanted at least one of them to try and get her to come back.

* Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer had the Scooby Gang and Faith. After her FaceHeelTurn, they give her a WeUsedToBeFriends speech (Buffy and Willow in particular), and yet never seem to realize that their idea of friendship was to lie to her, go behind her back, betray her trust, and most damning of all, let her live in a dump of a motel room that could be (and was) attacked by vampires. And despite all of that, Faith still wanted at least one of them to try and get her to come back.
* The classic example occurs in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' in the close friendship between Mr. Spock and Dr. [=McCoy=]. When someone asks Kirk whether Spock and [=McCoy=] are best friends or bitter enemies, Kirk - with great insight - answers, "I don't think even they know." Later on, when Spock is allowed to invite his closest companions, he asks [=McCoy=] as well as Kirk to join him. Dr. [=McCoy=] is clearly touched by the honor.
* ''Series/FriendOrFoe'': This game show, which aired on [[Creator/{{GSN}} Game Show Network]] in the early 2000s, was built on this trope. Simply put, teams of two contestants each worked together to answer questions and earn cash. At the end of each elimination round, assuming the last-place team had earned any cash, the team that was being eliminated got to decide whether they wanted to split their earnings ... but the catch was they made their decision separately, setting up the trope. If they wanted to split, they said "Friend," but if they wanted to keep all the money for themselves, they marked "Foe." Thus, one contestant saying "Friend" and the other marking "Foe" meant only the contestant who chose "Foe" kept the money ... thus fitting the "backstabbing" aspect of this trope. (Incidentally, the team split the money 50-50 for a double "Friend" and lost everything on a double "Foe.")
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': Several episodes, most notably "Everyone Can't Be George Washington," where Peter merely feels this way after his classmates learn he's ''portraying'' Benedict Arnold, and thus assume he's sympathizing with a traitor, in a school play about UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington.

* House and the entire hospital in ''Series/{{House}}'', but especially House and Wilson. The HoYay crowd will claim this is actually TheMasochismTango at work. The dynamics are thus: "House is a jerk, his team puts up with him because he's da boss, and Cuddy just doesn't seem to have a backbone." Then there's Wilson, the mousy-looking NiceGuy cancer doctor, to whom House is an unrepentant bully: stealing his food, interrupting his meetings with outrageous claims, pulling pranks on him. Then comes an episode where Wilson says, proudly, that House is his best friend. [[{{Beat}} * beat* ]] [=LOL, WUT?=] (It is worth pointing out that unlike the other characters, [[NiceGuy Dr. Wilson]] gives as good as he gets, and it's heavily implied that they both enjoy their pranks a lot; it's the rest of the world that just doesn't get them.)
** As seen in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYFd9wxCgck this video]], it's pretty obvious Wilson enjoys pulling pranks on House as well.
** This is briefly subverted in the episodes immediately following [[spoiler:Amber's death]]. House's seeming insensitivity to Wilson's pain and ducking his responsibility for what happened lead Wilson to tell him, "We're not friends, House. I'm not sure we ever were."
* Jimmy and Spinner on ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' are supposed to be best friends, but in every single episode where they are featured, they play ghastly pranks on each other -- and somehow forgive each other after a few episodes. The writers finally took this one to its dark extreme, leaving the friendship imperiled (and the audience hanging) ''far'' longer than usual after one prank left its victim in a wheelchair.
* Dr Cox and JD from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', though this is also rather one-sided.
* The entire cast of ''Series/TheYoungOnes''. When their first house is destroyed, they take it for granted that they will continue to live together in the next house. A conscious choice, not just accident. There's also an episode where Vyvyan introduces them to his mother, referring to Mike and Neil as friends (and Rick as "a complete bastard I know").
* The two characters in ''Series/{{Bottom}}''. Previously played almost identically by the same two actors who were also two of ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' in ''Series/FilthyRichAndCatflap'' and ''Series/TheComicStripPresents'' episode "Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door''.
* Hyde to Eric in ''Series/That70sShow'' (one-sided), and to Kelso, whose {{Jerkass}} tendencies are at least as strong as Hyde's own. In one episode Kelso takes the gang out to eat but plans to skip out on the check. One by one, everyone leaves, until Donna and Eric are stuck paying the bill. They get their "friends" back by [[spoiler:making them "special" brownies with laxatives in them]].

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** In the earlier seasons Clark and Lex make a big deal of how important their friendship is while lying to each other, accusing each other of various crimes (often without cause or evidence of any kind), and making pointed remarks about each other's psychological and relationship problems. How much of this is planned building on their [[Franchise/{{Superman}} later]] [[ForegoneConclusion relationship]] is an exercise left up to the viewer.
** In the later seasons Oliver fills in for Lex. They practically do nothing but argue about this and that and in the season eight finale [[spoiler:''Oliver shoots Clark in the back with a kryptonite dart'']]. It's a long story.
* The crew of ''Moya'' on ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', who in the first season alone alternately try to kill each other, sell each other out, steal from each other, beat each other up, and in one particularly painful and memorable case (because unlike many of the others, they were under no duress) they succeed in ''dismembering one of the crew so they can sell the limb they take''. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal He got better]], but still... Oh, and their hobby seems to be finding new [[FantasticRacism speciesist]] ways to insult each other. Even Zhaan and Crichton, the nicest of the crew, won’t hesitate to sell other crewmates up the river if it benefits them.
** The subtitle of one multi-part season two arc is even ''called'' "With Friends Like These," and involves the crew of Moya throwing together an assault team of a Tavloid (Tav''lek''), a Sheeyang, a Vocarian Bloodtracker, and Zenetan Pirates (all of whom served as antagonists during the series's first season) to knock over a [[MorallyBankruptBanker Shadow Depository]], kill Scorpius, and rescue D'Argo's son.
* Sometimes Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson from ''Series/StargateSG1'' fall under this trope.
-->'''Jack''': You're going to miss me.\\
'''Daniel''': The belittling comments, the rude remarks, the pointless arguments...\\
'''Jack''': You're going to miss Carter and Teal'c.

* Hardly an episode of ''Series/WorldsDumbest'' passes before any of the panelists reminds one of the celebrity commentators about the events that caused their public disgrace among other things they'd rather forget.
* Mark and Jeremy from ''Series/PeepShow'' screw each other over pretty much once per episode. Jeremy is the usual culprit, but Mark has had his moments.
* The gang of friends in Britcom ''Series/{{Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps}}'', but most noticeably Louise, who is vapid, vain, and downright nasty -- she has no redeeming features whatsoever. The others frequently comment on how much they dislike her, so why is she still there?
* ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'': The four Imagin, who spend every episode fighting.
* This is the entire concept behind ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}''. Maddie (Cybill Shepherd) and David (Bruce Willis) spent the entire series bickering.
* Vorenus and Pullo from ''Series/{{Rome}}''. Just a few examples: Vorenus kicking Pullo to the curb claiming he is dead to him, the two of them beating each other up to the point of falling off a balcony, insults on the other one's quality of character.
* Commander Shran in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. Although arrogant, militant, and speciesist (his favourite nickname for Captain Archer is "pinkskin", and he loathes Vulcans and Tellarites) he has a strong sense of personal obligation and provides more practical help than humanity's Vulcan allies during the Xindi crisis.
%%* Sonny from ''Series/SonnyWithAChance'' with both Tawni and Chad.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Occasionally Phoebe and Rachel towards Chandler. They often mock him and his relationship with Monica despite knowing he's an InsecureLoveInterest. (This includes introducing Monica's "soulmate" ''right in front of him''.) It's implied they're [[GreenEyedMonster just jealous]], as they're mostly single while he and Monica have an unbelievably happy relationship. Plus they normally treat him badly only when Monica isn't around because, given how much she cares about Chandler and her hyper-protective personality, she'd probably kick their asses if they hurt him.
* Every main character/the Gang in ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia''. They constantly sabotage each other with dangerous stunts and yet they're still close enough to do things like make a board game to play together, have regular movie nights, and sing a capella every once in a while.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** Barney Stinson to everyone else. Barney is a pretty [[JerkAss assholish]], selfish, {{manipulative| bastard}}, abusive, and generally crappy friend as well when things are good and the consequences aren't serious. However, you can always count on him whenever when the shit hits the fan (see: Marshall and Lily's breakup, Ted's car accident, Robin's deportation).
** When Marshall is finally ready to move on after his breakup with Lily, Barney offers to be his wingman, which consists of [[WhatTheHellHero picking up every girl that showed an interest in Marshall]]. It's hinted later on that he did this because he wanted [[ShipperOnDeck him to get back together with Lily.]]
* On ''Series/GossipGirl'' neither Serena nor Nate seem to be able to decide whether Chuck is their great friend or their annoying enemy. Usually they complain about him until they need something, in which case they go straight to him. The ironic thing is, Chuck is always loyal to Nate. Nate is however a pretty lousy best friend. At one point he temporarily called off their friendship because Chuck sold his club Victrola in order to get money to lend Nate's mother so they could keep their home. Nate is also the guy who got back together with his ex Blair, knowing full well she's the only girl Chuck has ever loved and then proceeded to go to Chuck and whine about how Blair hasn't changed and he doesn't like who she is.

* Series/{{Merlin|2008}} and Arthur tend to be like this. They bicker and insult each other, but when it comes to it, they do care for each other. Though probably they wouldn't admit it.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'':
** Even though the four main characters hang out only with each other they snark each other constantly; George Costanza, in particular, is more pitied and tolerated than liked. By the last season, the antagonistic rapport between the main characters has deepened into mutual contempt, culminating in the final scene of the four in jail, complaining about trivialities and each other.
** When Elaine starts dating "Bizarro-Jerry", who has a much healthier and normal relationship with his George and Kramer like friends, she finds the dynamic creepy and fails to fit it.
* ''Series/ICarly'':
** Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson. She tends to use him as her personal punching bag, often beating on him or attacking his self-esteem. Though they constantly go head-to-head, they have a few moments that show they do care for each other as friends, like in the episodes "iKiss", and "iReunite With Missy". And in the early episodes, the answer to the question "Why does Freddie put up with Sam?" is [[GirlNextDoor Carly]].
** Also, Sam and Gibby.
** Thanks to a bit of FridgeLogic, Carly can be this to Freddie at times. Given that she has humiliated him on camera, enables Sam's abuse towards him (To the point where she thinks it's cute that she no longer hits him in the face), and played with his feelings for her on more than one occasion. As this [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7269054/1/iWould_Have_Pounded_Him_Silly fanfic]] points out, Carly has treated guys who have actually wronged her in the past better than she does Freddie.

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': Most of the time, Sherlock and John are sarcastic with each other, and Sherlock also locked his friend in a place, and left him stranded in Brixton but said that John was his only friend. John refers to Sherlock as his friend in a stressful moment in the episode "[[Recap/SherlockS02E03TheReichenbachFall The Reichenbach Fall]]".
%%* Lucille Bluth and Lucille Austero from ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''. If family members count as friends, '''everyone''' from ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''.

* In ''Series/TheLeague'', Ruxin will do just about anything to his friends to improve his position in their fantasy football league.
* On ''Series/TopGear'', the three presenters can go from laughing like old chums to legitimately trying to kill one another in the span of seconds. For Instance:
** James coming after Jeremy with a machete after Jeremy rear-ended him on the most dangerous road [[CatchPhrase ... in the world.]] This was after he'd been rear-ended (on purpose) several times on the previous leg of the journey.
** Jeremy throwing away Richard's targa roof in the middle of a snowstorm in the Alps after Richard drove over his drum kit. Jeremy followed this up by forcing Richard to drive faster to make Richard colder.
** Perhaps this trope is best epitomized by the "Get the Others Shot or Arrested" challenge from the America special. They came disturbingly close to succeeding, too.
* The cast of ''Series/{{Jackass}}'' are ''assholes'' to each other, pulling horrible and violent pranks on each other all the time. None of them really mind for too long, largely because they are a gang of sadomasochists.
%%* Series/DrakeAndJosh.
* ''Series/TheFerals''. They smack each other upside the head and insult each other at a moment's notice. But break down a have a tearful goodbye when it looks like they'll have to split up.
* The four main characters in ''Series/WillAndGrace'' (Will, Grace, Karen, & Jack) treat each other horribly, despite apparently being each other's [=BFFs=].

* Mickey Pearce towards Rodney Trotter on ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses''.
** At some point in the series, Del will be such a manipulative and dangerous friend to Boycie, Trigger, Denzil, and Mike that it is any wonder that they like him at all (and despite everything, we see in ''Sickness and Health'' when they thought that he might be dying that they do). Highlights include narrowly escaping an exploding bus, poisoning them with toxic waste, strong-arming Denzil to hand over his redundancy money, and burning Mike's head with an electric paint stripper that he passed off as a hairdryer. Boycie is the only one who comes close to also being this trope. In one early episode, the man was perfectly willing to take absolutely everything that the Trotters owned over a game of cards that he was cheating in.
* Jay and Will from ''Series/TheInbetweeners''. The dynamics are like this among the four main characters: Will and Simon are best friends, and Jay and Neil are best friends. Will and Simon both consider Neil a friend in the end due to him being generally nice though his [[TheDitz stupidity]] often annoys them. Simon and Jay often seem to hate each other, but they have been friends for 13 years, so in the end, they have some grudging respect for each other and sticks together due to simply having known each other for so long. However, Will - the newcomer to the group - and Jay have basically nothing in common. 98 % of their interaction consists of them insulting each other (even interrupting each other's conversations to do it), and Jay trying to get Will in trouble. Jay has a very, very few PetTheDog moments towards Will that ''may'' suggest they're really VitriolicBestBuds deep down, but most of the time they are this trope.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'':
** In "A Message from Charity", Charity Payne tells her best friend Ursula Miller what she has learned of the future through her telepathic contact with Peter Wood. Ursula then brings Charity's claims to the attention of Squire Jonas Hacker and Charity is accused of being a witch.
** In "Dead Run", it's implied that Johnny's company of truck drivers are like this.
** In "The Last Defender of Camelot", Lancelot considers Myth/{{Merlin}} to be his friend from their days at Camelot together 1,000 years earlier. However, Merlin proves himself to be untrustworthy almost as soon as he awakens from his long sleep as he plans to [[HumanSacrifice sacrifice]] Tom and shape the world to his vision.
** In "Cat and Mouse", Andrea Moffatt's co-worker Elaine, [[EmbarrassingNickname who calls her "the Mouse" behind her back]], comes to the conclusion that sex is involved when Andrea goes from dowdy to chipper over the course of a few days. She bides her time and waits until Andrea leaves her house so that she can see for herself. She and Guillaume de Marchaux have sex in the 20 minutes that Andrea is gone, which is exactly what Elaine hoped would happen.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Supposedly, Oliver and Laurel have been close friends for over half their lives. In reality, especially starting in Season 2, Oliver treats Laurel very poorly. Despite claiming to support her during her DescentIntoAddiction arc, he actually offers very little support and ultimately throws her struggles with addiction in her face more than once; but conversely offers no support or compliment regarding her [[RecoveredAddict sobriety]]. Having cheated on her with her sister Sara prior to the start of the series, the two start dating again in Season 2 and seem to expect her to accept it and support it (even though she's clearly still in love with him). He lets multiple people join his team and offers them training, but ''very'' harshly refuses to train her despite her asking. Even after she joins his team, he spends his time telling her she needs more training...while refusing to really train her. She even comments on his refusal to [[DudeWheresMyRespect treat her with respect]] one more than once occasion. He occasionally seems aware of his poor treatment of her (it is repeatedly indicated he believes [[InsecureLoveInterest that he is not good enough for her]]), but continues to do so. They actually seem to be slowly patching things up in the tail end of Season 4, [[spoiler:but then she gets killed, and no one bothers to resurrect her. Which also may count as an example of this]].

* PlayedForLaughs (like everything else) in ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho''. In an episode, Quico shows off a bottle of soda pop to El Chavo, to make him angry, and then this exchange ensues:
-->'''Chavo''': And I don't hit you just because good people should love their enemies.
-->'''Quico''': But I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend.
-->'''Chavo''': [[ExactWords Should have said it before!]] ''(punches Quico out and takes his soda)''
* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'': This is Frank Pembleton and Tim Bayliss's relationship in a nutshell. Bayliss is Pembleton's OnlyFriend and the two have a close bond, but Pembleton always treats Bayliss like shit, constantly belittling and criticizing him for whatever he does that Frank doesn't like.
--> '''Bayliss:''' You're my best friend.\\
'''Pembleton:''' What am I supposed to say now, that you're ''my'' best friend? I don't have best friends.
* Eddie Haskell from ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'' is the living embodiment of this trope combined with ToxicFriendInfluence. Anything bad that he does causes a conflict or an issue for Beaver and Wally in whatever episode they are in. The same applies for Beaver's friends Larry Mundello and Whitey.

* This pretty much defines [[TheGoodShepherd Father]] [[NiceGuy Mukada]] and [[ButtMonkey Miguel]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Alvarez]]'s relationship in ''Series/{{Oz}}''. Mukada is pretty much Alvarez's OnlyFriend and works tirelessly to help him, which Alvarez rewards by taking him hostage ''twice'' and [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency not beating the shit out of him when he interrupts a gang meeting to check on him.]] In turn, Mukada repeatedly and unhesitatingly calls Alvarez out on his bullshit and actively forces him into being TheAtoner.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Supposedly, Oliver and Laurel have been close friends for over half their lives. In reality, especially starting in Season 2, Oliver treats Laurel very poorly. Despite claiming to support her during her DescentIntoAddiction arc, he actually offers very little support and ultimately throws her struggles with addiction in her face more than once; but conversely offers no support or compliment regarding her [[RecoveredAddict sobriety]]. Having cheated on her with her sister Sara prior to the start of the series, the two start dating again in Season 2 and seem to expect her to accept it and support it (even though she's clearly still in love with him). He lets multiple people join his team and offers them training, but ''very'' harshly refuses to train her despite her asking. Even after she joins his team, he spends his time telling her she needs more training...while refusing to really train her. She even comments on his refusal to [[DudeWheresMyRespect treat her with respect]] one more than once occasion. He occasionally seems aware of his poor treatment of her (it is repeatedly indicated he believes [[InsecureLoveInterest that he is not good enough for her]]), but continues to do so. They actually seem to be slowly patching things up in the tail end of Season 4, [[spoiler:but then she gets StuffedIntoTheFridge, and no one bothers to resurrect her. Which also may count as an example of this]].

-->Quico: But I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend.
-->Chavo: [[ExactWords Should have said it before!]] ''(punches Quico out and takes his soda)''

* This pretty much defines [[TheGoodShepherd Father]] [[NiceGuy Mukada]] and [[ButtMonkey Miguel]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Alvarez]]'s relationship in ''Series/{{Oz}}''. Mukada is pretty much Alvarez's OnlyFriend and works tirelessly to help him, which Alvarez rewards by taking him hostage ''twice'' and [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency not beating the shit out of him when he interrupts a gang meeting to check on him.]] In turn, Mukada repeatedly and unhesitatingly calls Alvarez out on his bullshit and actively forces him into being TheAtoner.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Supposedly, Oliver and Laurel have been close friends for over half their lives. In reality, especially starting in Season 2, Oliver treats Laurel very poorly. Despite claiming to support her during her DescentIntoAddiction arc, he actually offers very little support and ultimately throws her struggles with addiction in her face more than once; but conversely offers no support or compliment regarding her [[RecoveredAddict sobriety]]. Having cheated on her with her sister Sara prior to the start of the series, the two start dating again in Season 2 and seem to expect her to accept it and support it (even though she's clearly still in love with him). He lets multiple people join his team and offers them training, but ''very'' harshly refuses to train her despite her asking. Even after she joins his team, he spends his time telling her she needs more training...while refusing to really train her. She even comments on his refusal to [[DudeWheresMyRespect treat her with respect]] one more than once occasion. He occasionally seems aware of his poor treatment of her (it is repeatedly indicated he believes [[InsecureLoveInterest that he is not good enough for her]]), but continues to do so. They actually seem to be slowly patching things up in the tail end of Season 4, [[spoiler:but then she gets StuffedIntoTheFridge, and no one bothers to resurrect her. Which also may count as an example of this]].