http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ProtagonistAndFriends

Protagonist and Friends

3 Following

Don't get too excited. The amount of time these "friends" have actually interacted can be counted on one hand.

A title that consists of the main character's name with "And Friends" or some variation^note e.g. "and company", "and his friends", "and pals", etc. attached to the end of it. This is commonly justified, as these type of shows are often adapted from more than one franchise (Garfield and Friends having Garfield and U.S. Acres, for example).

This is extremely common in children's shows and sitcoms, the latter usually being the Syndication Title.

A Sub-Trope of Character Title. May also sometimes overlap with Spotlight-Stealing Title. See also Artist and the Band.

There are 163 movies, TV shows, and episode titles with "and friends" in the title at IMDb.com.

Not to be confused with My Friends... and Zoidberg, which despite the name, is unrelated.

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Examples:

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    Advertising 

• Finn & Friends, mascots for Goldfish crackers.

    Anime & Manga 

• Baby Felix and Friends
• The fourth episode of Hetalia: The Beautiful World is called "Russia and Friends".
• Little Lulu and her Little Friends (shortened to just "Little Lulu" in English dubbed compilation movie).
• Tama & Friends

    Asian Animation 

• Chiro and Friends

    Comic Books 

• The Asterix book Obelix and Co..
• One Big Nate book is titled "Big Nate And Friends".
• Inverted by The Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, its follow-up The Lethal Foes of Spider-Man, and its much later successor, The Superior Foes of Spider-Man.
• Emmie & Friends. The series started with Invisible Emmie, making it also a case of Named After First Installment.
• Jughead and Friends is a spin-off of Archie Comics.
• In 1962, Gold Key Comics gave The Tasmanian Devil his own special issue book, titled The Tasmanian Devil and His Tasty Friends. The cover had Taz about to tuck into a giant hoagie with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Tweety in it.

    Fan Works 

• Referenced in Calvin & Hobbes: The Series, where Jaqueline notes that if the show gets any more Brainstorm-centered, it would have to be renamed "Dr. Brainstorm and Friends".

    Films — Animation 

• Oliver & Company, Disney's animated film very loosely based on Oliver Twist.

    Literature 

• Amelia Bedelia & Friends is a spinoff of the young Amelia Bedelia chapter books featuring the same basic style but as the title implies, with a greater emphasis on Amelia Bedelia's friends.
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? includes an in-universe example in the television show Buster Friendly and His Friendly Friends, a talk show presenting a philosophy counter to the empathy-based religion of Mercerism that most of humanity has embraced.
• Ella and Friends
• Swami and Friends
• There Is No Epic Loot Here, Only Puns: The chapter, "DEO! and Friends".

    Live-Action TV 

• Barney & Friends
• Carol Burnett and Friends, the Syndication Title of The Carol Burnett Show
  • Carol and Company, a short-lived Carol Burnett show post-Carol Burnett Show. An Anthology sitcom where the actors stayed the same from week to week but each episode's story & characters were completely different.
• Huckleberry Finn and His Friends
• Johnson and Friends
• Laverne & Shirley & Company, the Syndication Title of Laverne & Shirley
• Ray Rayner and his Friends
• Romper Room: Well, it's more like Show Title and Friends in this case, but this show was renamed Romper Room and Friends when it was revamped in 1981.
• Van Dyke and Company, a Dick Van Dyke variety show from the 1970s. Featured early TV appearance by Andy Kaufman.
• Whose Line Is It Anyway? parodied this as a rejected show title.
  "It's now time for Drew and Friend."

    Music 

• Although the Arthur cartoon has simply a Protagonist Title, the first music album release for the series was titled Arthur And Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD (or Tape).
• Blastoyz + Friends, an EP duo by Blastoyz which features collaborations with several other psytrance artists on every track.
• The Concert for Bangladesh was billed under “George Harrison and Friends”, as the former Beatle was both a headlining featured artist and had done most of the work organizing the event. This was also because some key performers including Bob Dylan and John Lennon didn’t confirm their involvement until nearly the last minute (Dylan performed but Lennon pulled out).
• Dionne Warwick's charity single version of "That's What Friends Are For," which also featured Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder, was billed as Dionne & Friends.

    Puppet Shows 

• Garfield Goose and Friend (later changed to ...and Friends). Garfield is a sockpuppet who thinks he's King of the United States, and his "friend" is real person Frazier Thomas, whom Garfield appointed Admiral of the Royal Navy and Prime Minister.
• Johnson and Friends
• The Noddy Shop had a VHS release called "Noddy and Friends", which was also a Working Title for the show.
• Sam and Friends, the Washington, D.C.-based show of the late '50s that launched the career of Jim Henson and The Muppets.

    Video Games 

• SpongeBob SquarePants and Friends, the PAL region name for the Nicktoons Unite! series of games. The title applied by THQ Japan to the game series, SpongeBob to Nakamatachi, translates to practically the same thing. By the fourth installment, THQ had renamed it to a similar albeit more formal name in all regions, SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom.

    Web Animation 

• Sonic And Friends

    Webcomics 

• Flying Man And Friends, which has a wide cast of characters.
• Solar System And Friends (also called Planetary Moe), which is about the Moe Anthropomorphisms of the solar system.

    Websites 

• On certain European versions of HBO Max, the hub for Hanna-Barbera content^note which also includes content related to Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery MGM Cartoons is branded as "Scooby-Doo and Friends".

    Web Videos 

• Baby Lamb & Friends
• Mitten Squad: "Halo 2: Part 22 | Rudolph and Friends"
• Mr Coat And Friends
• Charleyyy and Friends, a Show Within a Show from SuperMarioLogan.
• Vester and Friends, a low budget Puppet Show that features a cat named Vester who is the mayor of Vesterland.

    Western Animation 

• Amigo And Friends, known in Spanish as Cantinflas y Sus Amigos.
• Franklin has the CGI follow-up series, Franklin and Friends.
• Parodied in the Freakazoid! segment "Freakazoid and Friends" which lists through a number of allies and costars in the show (to the tune of the Animaniacs theme song), some of which aren't even real.
• In the late '70s, Hanna-Barbera syndicated several of its cartoon series under the title Fred Flintstone and Friends.
• Garfield and Friends. The first intro sequence had Garfield and the U.S. Acres characters battling for screen time.
• Holly Hobbie and Friends
• The first book adapted from material from the animated Llama Llama series is titled Llama Llama and Friends. This has led at least one source to incorrectly refer to the series itself as Llama Llama and Friends. This is wrong - the animated show is called simply Llama Llama.
• My Little Pony 'n Friends also used the above justification, adapting no less than four toy lines.
• Oscar and Friends, a New Zealand Stop Motion animated series.
• PB Bear And Friends
• Rocky & His Friends, the name of Rocky and Bullwinkle for its first two seasons.
• A Samurai Jack DVD was titled "Samurai Jack and Friends" Something of an odd title, given that most of the people who Jack met weren't exactly friendly.
• Parodied on The Simpsons when Bart mentions a short-lived Itchy & Scratchy & Friends Hour show and shows Lisa some of the "friends" made for it such as Disgruntled Goat, Uncle Ant, and Klu Klux Klam.
• South Park:
  • Parodied with the "Coon And Friends" gang, so-named because Cartman wants his superhero alter ego, The Coon, to get top billing. This came back to haunt him when he was kicked out of the club for his selfishness by the others, who still kept the name to piss him off for fun.
  • Also parodied with the Show Within a Show "Jesus and Pals", a show hosted by Jesus himself with was initially a staid and calm religious show that was later retooled into a trashy talk show thanks to a morally corrupt executive producer.
• Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends was an animated show in the '80s featuring the eponymous hero, Ice Man from X-Men, and Canon Immigrant Firestar, who would later move to the comics and join the New Warriors and The Avengers.
• Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (later just Thomas and Friends), adapted from The Railway Series and altered to make Thomas the Breakout Character.
• DVD releases of Walter Lantz cartoons are usually titled Woody Woodpecker and Friends.
• The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends adapted the books of Beatrix Potter, only a couple of which had Peter Rabbit in.
• Both versions of Yoo Hoo And Friends, as well as the franchise itself, does this.

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