There’s nothing like a good pair of twins. They have a psychic connection, secret languages and in the best cases, they wear matching outfits. If they don’t have matching outfits, they usually have complementary color palettes and/or patterns. In real life, twins can be creepy and have that weird twin thing going on, although I must say I’ve only known fairly normal sets of twins. But there’s always that thing wherein one catches a cold and the other sneezes, or one is arsonist and the other’s a fireman, or other weird stuff. In movies, books and television, twins are always enchanting. In no particular order, here are some of my favorites.

1) The Rugrats - Phil and Lil DeVille

They have amazing fashion sense, choosing to go with a duck motif, and have varied interests, such as ingesting worms and drinking toilet water. And their names rhyme not only with each other, but also with their last name. There is no better gift parents can give a child than a rhyming first name/last name combo.

2) Friends - Phoebe and Ursula Buffay

Phoebe and Ursula were so different, yet looked so alike. Ursula doesn’t wear pants, while Phoebe does, for example. Portrayed by Lisa Kudrow, these two twins did not get along. If Ursula wasn’t confusing crossover cast members from Mad About You, from whence she came, she was working under Phoebe’s name as a porn star, carelessly dating Phoebe’s friends and dumping them or tossing out their mother’s suicide note before Phoebe could read it. Some twins shouldn’t be twins, at all.

3) Beverly Hills, 90210 - Brandon and Brenda Walsh

To be honest, I only watched part of the first season of this show, and a few other random episodes from later seasons, but these two made quite an impression. Okay, so really Brenda made an impression. Brandon I mostly remember being kind of boring, and being not Dylan. But he was there for Brenda during her tough times – and I remember her having a lot of tough times. Though Brandon did have to deal with constantly fobbing off Andrea’s advances.

4) Harry Potter - The Weasley Twins

They’re redheads, they’re mischievous and they finish each other’s sentences and/or talk in unison. Fred and George might be my favorite twins on the list. They had adorable outfits – just look at those suits! They opened a joke shop. They busted out of Hogwarts and stuck it to Dolores. Also, they are wizards.

5) Sister, Sister  - Tia and Tamera 

So, these two didn’t even know they were twins until the first episode of the show! There’s nothing like a ‘twins separated at birth’ reunification moment. I used to watch Sister, Sister pretty much every afternoon to keep up with these zany twins. Tia and Tamera also sang their own theme song eventually. There’s nothing cooler than musical twins. I preferred these twins television offerings  to the more popular Olsen twins. After all, these two sisters are so cool they even have a reality show about being adult twins with successful careers/families.  Also, Sister, Sister had Jackée. I love Jackée.

6) Sweet Valley High - Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield

Another confession: I never read these books. I was too busy with The Babysitters Club and Saddle Club. All books about clubs, really. But this set of twins was definitely one of the first that popped to mind. They’re an iconic set of blondes, beloved by all. I also perused their book covers and they have the most amazing titles ever. Why was I not more strongly advised to read these? I blame society. You best be believing I’ll be hitting the library up to check these out post haste.

7) The Super Mario Bros. - Mario and Luigi

I didn’t even know these two were twins. But in fact, they are. These two work together to solve their problems, they rescue princesses and they have  the ability to gain super powers and even more super personalities. They manage to make overalls work and they both rock a mean moustache. One is short and round and one is tall and thin, so they complement each other perfectly. If I ever need rescuing, I hope these are the twins they call.

8 ) Twins - Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito

Arnold and Danny play twins. All I remember from this movie is when they go to the science lab they were made in and we find out Arnold was built to be the perfect specimen and Danny was just made of all the leftover crap. I also remember the theme song that was either in the actual movie in the credits or just played in commercials advertising the movie on TV. It was sung by a guy who sounded like Arnold, but I’m pretty sure wasn’t: “We’re brothers/Identical twins, as you can see/Why watch another movie?/When you can see two of me!” Why, indeed?

9) He-Man and She-Ra - Prince Adam and Prinecss Adora

 I might have to rethink demanding rescue by the Mario Bros. if He-Man and She-Ra are now on the list. I mean, we all know how I feel about She-Ra. Couple her with He-Man and we have another set of twins separated at birth, only to be reunited years later. But these twins have arch nemeses magic pets, making them just a little higher on the cool scale, in some respects.

10) The Simpsons - Patty and Selma

There’s nothing quite like growing into twin spinsters with serious cigarette habits who work at the DMV. They have common interests in that they’re obsessed with MacGyver and hate Homer. They have differing interests in that Patty loves the guys while Selma loves the ladies. They have an iguana named Jub Jub. And they went to Camp Land-A-Man. I wish I could’ve gone, too.  

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