Fantasy Island Castaways: Celebrating 1,000 Posts with our Favorite TV Characters

This post is kind of a big deal here at MTVP. It’s our 1,000th. Yes, for those of you counting at home, that is over one million words about television. We wanted to do a little something to mark the occasion. Way back in 2009, to celebrate a mere 100 posts, we did a Desert Island Discs post, ranking season TV on DVD sets. It seemed appropriate to revisit that concept four years later. Tonight, we’re having a little fun contemplating which TV characters we’d most like to be stranded on a desert island with. There is personality, practicality, and sheer pretty to consider, and consider it all we did. Enjoy!

Sarah’s Picks

Ichabod Crane

For anyone who follows the blog, you will know my favorite freshman drama this season is Sleepy Hollow. Part of what makes the show so great is the character of Ichabod Crane. He’s witty and handsome and quite the scholar. There’s just something so endearing about the way he presents himself and the respect he shows to women. I would want him on a deserted island with me for the conversation and all of the little tidbits about history he could impart. And of course I would do my best to elicit those charming little reactions of his to modern marvels. Sun tan lotion anyone? Besides, he’s awfully pretty to look at. With his vast knowledge of things, he might even be helpful in finding a way off the island. At the very least he could recite things in various languages (much like Captain Renard from Grimm) and it would be a lovely way to pass the time.

Neal Caffrey

Who doesn’t love Neal Caffrey? He’s smooth, sexy and the epitome of charm. It doesn’t matter that he’s a con man and a thief. What can you steal from a deserted island anyway? Plus he looks great in a fedora. Not that he’d need one on a deserted island (well I suppose it would work as a makeshift fan), but you never know when you might get rescued and need a good hat. I’d keep Mr. Caffrey around for the eye candy factor sure (sue me!) but he’s also one of the more clever gents on the shows I watch. I have a feeling if given enough time, he could give MacGyver a run for his money and get us off the island. And that’s why I’d want him along. You let him sit a while coming up with a plan and more often than not, it would actually pan out. Besides, with his culture and class, he and Ichabod could have some intriguing discussions.

Jen’s Picks

Nick Miller

Yeah, Nick has his immature moments on “New Girl” that might make you think he’d be a bad choice to have around on an island. But have you seen the way he fixes things that are broken in the loft? It’s a cross between Rube Goldberg and MacGyver. Maybe even being on an island would provide the motivation for him to “fancy fix” a way home, or at least to make the stay more comfortable. Plus, his grumpy old man in his early 30’s shtick is charming, and he’s not exactly bad looking. And he would certainly keep his fellow castaways laughing. Nick blurting out randomness is only very rarely not funny. A deserted island seems like a place that probably needs some fun, and Nick, especially after feeling useful thanks to his “fancy fix” skills, can certainly bring the fun.

Jaye Tyler

She can be prickly and probably would have no actual desire to be helpful on a deserted island. She would probably also grumble quite a lot. Jaye does have a very keen sense of self-preservation, though, and she’s smart. She’s also intensely loyal to the people she cares about. All of these qualities would make the “Wonderfalls” star quite useful to have around on the island. Plus, she’s got the Muses. As long as we had something with an animal face on it in the wreckage, the Muses would probably tell Jaye exactly what to do to survive and eventually get home. It would be unnecessarily complicated, and Jaye would probably resist doing whatever it was at first, but eventually she’d cave, and we would all be going home.

And the grand finale…

The Tenth Doctor

We here at More TV, Please are confessed Whovians and unabashed Ten fangirls. So it's only fitting we'd want him along on our deserted island. He's exciting and fun with a great sense of adventure. Which is something you need on an island. And while he'd have a way to get us all off the island (which would probably negate Neal going all MacGyver) he wouldn't whisk us away too soon. He'd let us have a rollicking adventure or avert some whacky, timey-wimey crisis before spiriting us all home in the TARDIS. That’s how all of the Doctor’s best adventures happen, after all - by winding up somewhere unexpected. The best part of having the Doctor around would have to be the escape. Because how cool would it be to recreate the ending of "Journey's End" with all of us piloting the TARDIS in the way it is meant to be piloted?

With all of our picks on the island, we might not actually want to leave. Hanging out with these fabulous characters could be too thrilling to pass up. It could put the island on LOST to shame (one would hope we wouldn’t be hunted by polar bears or crazy scientists). Regardless of when (or how) we got off the island, it would be one interesting time. Lucky for us, we can hang with these fantastic characters any time we want thanks to DVRs and our rather ridiculously-sized TV on DVD collections. So here’s to MTVP’s first 1,000 posts. We look forward to bringing you more thoughtful posts on our favorite TV shows and the characters that populate them. And we hope to see you down the road in another 1,000 posts!