From ‘The Bear’ to ‘Ted Lasso,’ fans are in deep debate over shipping TV characters

TJ Macias
·6 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

From Sam and Diane, to Ross and Rachel, to Walter White and his blue meth, characters being shipped together because the actors brim with undeniable chemistry is nothing new in the television world.

But as generations shift, more people would rather see TV producers explore different paths when it comes to pairing up characters like … well, maybe don’t.

The latest debate has fans expressing a fantasy about two of the main characters on the Hulu series “The Bear,” with Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and his restaurant business partner Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) taking their respect and extremely tight emotional connection to the next level and tossing in some romance.

And yes, there’s even the hashtag with the portmanteau #SydCarmy.

And then there’s the the other side of the spectrum, one where fans are arguing that people can be friends without dipping their toe in love town or rather, swan-diving into it head first.

Of course this isn’t the only show that’s created the hot button topic online when it comes to a series that wasn’t meant to be built around romance.

Recently, Apple dropped the last season of the popular sports/lighthearted comedy “Ted Lasso,” which revolves around a recently separated Midwestern college football coach who moves out of the country to coach a struggling soccer team in the UK. Fans immediately started shipping the two main characters, Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and his boss, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), while others blatantly said, “Oh, no thank you, please.”

The LGBTQ community often has been shut out when it comes to valid representation on television, and “shipping” has become part of gay culture, according to SDLGBTN. But often, when two queer characters finally find happiness, one character is written off the show in some tragic way (looking at you, Season 4 of “Killing Eve”). Shipping hard has become necessary, whether it becomes a reality or not.

The topic is certainly gaining traction, especially after “Stranger Things” actor Maya Hawke spoke strongly against her character, Robin, who is gay, having a steady girlfriend on the Netflix thriller, to Yahoo Entertainment.

“I don’t know. I feel mixed about it,” Hawke said when asked if she’s happy to see her character find love in the final season. “I feel that it’s both a great thing, but I also love characters where their love life is not the center of their existence. That friendship with Steve is so special. And friendships have been carrying me through my life. I think they’re really important and they deserve their airtime.”

This seemed to set Twitter on fire.

The shipping debate likely will gain more steam as producers and writers explore their favorite characters. At least all the Jon Snow and his aunt shipping on “Game of Thrones” is good and dead in the past.

Kelsea Ballerini to Pink: Performers keep getting pelted with stuff. What’s going on?

Ready to lose it? There’s more than 1 version of ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ in theaters