Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Nice Mean And In Between / Live-Action TV

Go To

Examples of Nice, Mean, and In-Between in Live-Action TV.

  • All in the Family: Edith is the motherly, warm-hearted one in contrast to her cranky, bigoted, Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist husband, Archie, who bickers with his son-in-law Michael (who can be opinionated but is nicer than Archie).
  • The three original judges for American Idol (Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Paula Abdul) were this.
    • Paula's the "nice" judge—she was the friendliest of the three and was generally the most supportive towards the contestants.
    • Simon's the "mean" judge—he was generally the most critical towards. However, Simon really isn't a bad guy and does mean in well in the long run—in fact, he's actually quite nice in real life.
    • Randy's the "in-between" judge—probably the best way to describe Randy when compared to Simon and Paula is that he's "firm but fair."
  • Arrowverse:
  • The three kids in The Bernie Mac Show. Bryanna is the nicest of the three, being a Cheerful Child who enjoys being around Bernie. Vanessa is the mean, being rather rude and disrespectful towards Bernie and even rebels against his demands on occasions. Jordan is in-between, as while he has his bratty moments as well, he's still more well-behaved and even looks up to Bernie as a father figure.
  • The Big Bang Theory:
    • Leonard is the nice one, Sheldon a grade-A vain and pompous genius, and Penny mediates with her sweetness, average intelligence, and occasionally bitchy tendencies.
    • In early seasons, Bernadette is nice (sweet and polite), Penny is mean (snarky and occasionally bitchy), and Amy is in-between (well-meaning but a bit of an annoying Attention Whore). In later seasons, Amy is nice (very patient with her boyfriend), Bernadette is mean (often a short-tempered Tiny Tyrannical Girl, and borderline Bitch in Sheep's Clothing), and Penny is in-between (laid-back but snarky and sometimes selfish).
    • Out of Penny's three main suitors of the show, we have Kind Hearted Simpleton Zack, brutish bully Kurt, and Leonard, who is a Nice Guy but also snarky and rude, especially towards Sheldon.
  • Blake's 7 starts off with this between the three main characters: Avon is cynical, arrogant, treacherous and willing to do whatever it takes to come off well, Blake is moralistic, a believer in the big picture and wants to accomplish his goals through the most reasonable means, and Jenna believes in ideals and doing what's right but is definitely willing to Shoot the Dog without thinking twice about it.
  • The three female members of the police department in Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Amy Santiago (nice), Gina Linetti (mean), and Rosa Diaz (in-between). Amy has her moments of being rather competitive and sometimes even a bit snide while focusing on a task, but she's generally a sweet, friendly and compassionate person who's pretty easy to get along with in spite of that. Gina is a narcissistic Alpha Bitch with delusions of grandeur and no real desire to do good for the people of Brooklyn, aside from the occasional Pet the Dog moment. Rosa is surly, short-tempered and sarcastic, but she's nevertheless loyal to her friends, always having their backs in whatever the situation and even giving them some good advice sometimes.
  • Charmed: Though all of them are heroic overall, the Charmed ones fit this in their personal lives.
    • Seasons 1-3: Phoebe (nice), Prue (mean), and Piper (in-between). Somewhat foreshadowed in their first, accidental use of their respective powers as adults: Prue nearly strangles a disrespectful boss (and ex-partner) through telekinesis, Piper uses her ability to freeze time to get ahead at work for her own self-interest but without harming anyone and after a premonition, Phoebe risks serious injuries throwing herself in front of a car to prevent rollerskating teenagers from getting run over.
    • Seasons 4-8: Paige (nice), Piper (mean), and Phoebe (in-between). Piper assumes the leadership role following Prue's death, and becomes angrier, snarkier, and more controlling over her loved ones. A roller-coaster relationship with a demon explores some of the darker aspects of Phoebe's personality. Young half-sister Paige is a social worker and (later) teacher, who tends to go out of her way to help people.
  • Chuck: The core team of spies consists of kind-hearted and emotionally open nerd Chuck Bartowski (nice), borderline psychopathic NSA agent John Casey (mean), and Sugar-and-Ice Personality CIA agent Sarah Walker (in-between).
  • Cinderella and the Four Knights: The three Kang cousins: affable airhead singer Seo-woo (nice), haughty snob Hyun-min (mean), and down-to-earth but aloof rebel Ji-woon (in-between). (Or, as their grandfather calls them, a good-for-nothing, a total player, and a thug.)
  • Control Z: Maria, Natalia and Isabela fit this. Maria (nice) is sympathetic with other students, Natalia (mean) is prone to insult and Isabela (in-between) is snobbish but has a friendly side.
  • From Cougar Town, People pleaser Jules is the nice one, critical Ellie is the mean one, and sweet but street smart Laurie is in between. Though in this case Jules is usually the mediator.
    • There's also sweet, dumb Bobby, sarcastic Grayson, and friendly but sometimes manipulative Andy.
  • Degrassi Junior High:
    • Out of the Zit Remedy trio, Snake is the Gentle Giant and good guy of the group (nice), Joey is a brash, egotistical schemer (mean), Wheels is more level-headed than Joey but can be moody (in-between). In some episodes of the later seasons, Joey and Wheels switch roles.
    • Often seen as a trio, we have innocent and friendly Naïve Everygirl Melanie (nice), snooty, rude, and abrasive Kathleen (mean), and polite but occasionally judgmental Soapbox Sadie Caitlin (in-between).
  • Dempsey and Makepeace: A quite dark example is shown amongst the trio of would-be bank-robbing teenagers in “No Surrender.” Rawlings is the nice, being noticeably more polite towards the hostages and visibly unnerved with how the events have spiralled out of control, to the point of getting through it by turning up the music in his headset and trying to disassociate from it, and at times seems to want to surrender but is too afraid of the others to do so. Levey is the mean, being presented as a vicious sociopath with a chip on his shoulder and an obsession with not being perceived as “a nobody,” who spends the episode chomping at the bit to hurt people, escalates the situation by flat-out randomly murdering a hostage to make the police take them seriously and taking a disturbing amount of glee out others being in his power. Leaving Ramsey as the in between, being the original mastermind behind the bank robbery, he initially comes across as a harsh criminal, only to quickly prove to be quite out of his depth, having never expected the events to escalate the way they did and clearly being uncomfortable with Levey’s violence and coming close to surrendering multiple times, only for him to go back to being smug and vindictive at the end when he’s convinced he has the upper hand again.
  • Derry Girls:
    • Erin's immediate family. Her father Gerry is the Only Sane Man (nice). Her grandfather Joe is cranky and bullying (mean). Her mother Mary is overbearing but harmless (in-between).
    • The protagonists themselves doubling up. James the Butt-Monkey would be Nice (occasionally sharing this with Orla the Cloud Cuckoo Lander who's only ever Innocently Insensitive at worst). Michelle the foul-mouthed Hard-Drinking Party Girl is mean. Erin and Claire are in-between — often self-serving but still well meaning.
  • Dexter:
    • Dexter's male co-workers: friendly Nice Guy Batista (nice), rude and abrasive Doakes (mean), and Lovable Sex Maniac Masuka (in-between). From season 3 onwards, Quinn replaces Doakes and can still qualify as the "mean" (being a toned-down expy of Doakes).
    • Main female characters in early seasons: sweet and naive Rita (nice), ruthless Bad Boss LaGuerta (mean), and good-natured but foul-mouthed Debra (in-between).
    • Out of Dexter's love interests (aside from Lila who was a villain and a Romantic False Lead), Rita is nice, Hannah is mean, and Lumen is in-between.
  • Some of the TARDIS teams in Doctor Who have fallen into this pattern:
    • The First Doctor (mean), Heartwarming Orphan Vicki (nice), and snarky but reliable Steven (in-between).
    • Later, the Fifth Doctor is the nice to bad-tempered Tegan (mean) and Minion with an F in Evil Turlough (in-between).
    • Recent incarnations of the Doctor himself make a sequential version of this: Twelve is mean, Eleven is nice, and Ten is in-between.
    • The original three also had this dynamic, forming a prototype for the different ways to portray the character: One is Mean, Two is Nice, Three is In Between.
  • Don't Hug Me I'm Scared gives us the innocent and friendly Yellow Guy (Nice), the Grumpy Old Man Duck (Mean), and the stoic and aloof but still well-meaning Red Guy (In Between).
  • Drake & Josh: Josh is a Nice Guy, Megan is a Bratty Half-Pint, and Drake is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Since this is a Sadist Show, Josh is also the Butt-Monkey (often thanks to Drake's or Megan's actions), Drake is usually pretty lucky (except when he is picked on by Megan), and Megan is always a Karma Houdini.
  • Everybody Hates Chris: The three main kids. Protagonist Chris, the kind Unlucky Everydude (Nice), Tonya, the obnoxious Bratty Half-Pint (Mean), and Drew, the calm, yet sometimes insensitive middle child (In-Between).
  • Of the three main priests from Father Ted, Dougal is a Kindhearted Simpleton, Jack is a violent, alcoholic Jerkass, and Ted is a greedy and selfish, but never actively malicious, Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • First Kill: There's Juliette, who's a sweetheart; Elinor, who enjoys killing people and got her twin brother exiled from the family for shits 'n giggles; and Oliver, who took Theo in and tells Juliet she doesn't have to live the way Elinor wants her to, but killed Ashley and Noah and apparently has some nasty surprises planned for Savannah.
  • Friends:
    • Out of the Green sisters, Rachel is nice (a former Spoiled Brat who becomes nice thanks to Character Development), Amy is mean (a rude and mean-spirited Spoiled Brat), and Jill is in-between (shallow Spoiled Brat, but less rude than Amy).
    • The three male leads: Joey (nice, charming Manchild), Chandler (mean, the snarkiest member of the ensemble), Ross (in-between, generally friendly but very neurotic).
    • The three female leads: Phoebe (nice, the friendliest of the three females), Monica (mean, the unofficial "mom" in the ensemble), Rachel (in-between, as stated above, a former spoiled brat that becomes nicer with time).
  • Game of Thrones:
    • Tywin Lannister's three children: Tyrion is the nicest of them and is sympathetic from the start. Cersei is a straight up villain. Jaime is initially an antagonist, but is then revealed to have Hidden Depths and makes something of a Heel–Face Turn.
    • Cersei's children: Tommen is nice to the point of being a complete pushover. Joffrey is cruel to the point of being a complete sociopath. Myrcella is sweet, but more assertive than Tommen.
    • Out of the Baratheon brothers, Renly is charming and carefree (nice), Stannis is very cold and unsociable (mean), and Robert is an obnoxious, drunken yet jovial Big Fun (in-between).
  • On Game Shakers, the rapper Double G and his bodyguards.
  • Gilligan's Island: Gilligan is the dumb, but nice one, The Professor is heavily prideful of his own intelligence, and The Skipper is a little nicer than The Professor; for he always loses his temper when facing Gilligan's incompetence, but he does show that he can be a nice guy every now and then.
  • Glee: Brittany is the dumb but sweet one, Santana is bitchy and cruel, and Quinn is in the middle.
  • Good Luck Charlie has the Duncan siblings: P.J., the oldest, is the lovable Cloudcuckoolander (nice), Gabe, the youngest (besides the titular Charlie), is the Bratty Half-Pint (mean), and Teddy, the middle child between the trio, is more level-headed than P.J. and nicer than Gabe (in-between).
  • Gossip Girl:
    • Out of the girls, Serena is nice (cheerful and friendly), Blair is mean (scheming Rich Bitch), and Jenny is in-between (the former innocent girl who Took a Level in Jerkass).
    • Out of the guys, Nate is nice (the nicest on the show), Chuck is mean (sleazy and ruthless), and Dan is in-between (nice but judgmental and secretly manipulative).
  • H₂O: Just Add Water initially has meek but kind Cleo as Nice, hot-tempered Deadpan Snarker Rikki as Mean, and bossy yet well-meaning Emma as In-Between. Occasionally Rikki and Emma will swap around, with Emma getting so bossy that she is condescending, and Rikki proving to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. When Bella joins the cast, she becomes the Nice, and Cleo becomes the In-Between.
    • Mako Mermaids: An H₂O Adventure: The original trio has the naïve and bubbly Sirena as the Nice, the Stepford Smiler Nixie as the Mean, and the cold-but-fair Lyla as the In-Between, though Nixie and Lyla swap around sometimes. Sirena remans the Nice for the second season, while the bullheaded Ondina takes over the Mean and Constantly Curious Mimmi takes over for In-Between. For the third season, Mimmi takes over the Nice, Weilan fills in for In-Between, and Ondina remains Mean.
  • House:
    • Wilson is the most caring and compassionate, Dr. Jerk House is clearly the mean one, and Cuddy is the no-nonsense boss and the mediator.
    • Out of House's original fellows, Cameron is the idealistic nice one, strict and stoic Foreman is the mean one (he hates not being so different from House), and Chase is in-between, as he went from House's Yes-Man to standing almost as an equal.
  • How I Met Your Mother:
    • The three main male characters, Gentle Giant Marshall is the nice one, Barney is a manipulative womanizer, and Ted is a romantic Nice Guy, but he has his jerk moments. Note that their motivations tend to similarly follow this trope. Marshall has been in love with the same woman since his college years, and he aspired to become a husband and family man since the early seasons. Barney is revealed in the last few seasons to have devoted much of his life to a complicated revenge scheme against a businessman who stole away his first love and broke his heart. Ted is revealed to have a history of bailing out of relationships, until the day he somehow decided that he has to find "The One" that he would settle down with. And this came with breaking up with several more women, under the excuse that they were not "The One".
    • The Wesleyan trio, Gentle Giant Marshall is still the nice one, Lily is the frequently manipulative Bitch in Sheep's Clothing chessmaster, and Ted is still the romantic Nice Guy who has his jerk moments.
  • iCarly: Carly is the nice one due to her being a Morality Pet to Sam, who happens to bully Freddie all the time. Freddie is the mediator, since he is nice to Carly while finding it hard to get along with her best friend who treats him with zero respect even while they are temporarily in a romantic relationship.
  • Interview with the Vampire (2022): The main vampire trio in Season 1. Lestat de Lioncourt is the mean one, being a self-centered abuser who is often very cruel even to those he likes, albeit with Pet the Dog moments mixed in, who disdains humanity and loves to mess with his prey before murdering them. Louis de Pointe du Lac is the comparatively nice one; genuinely kind to those he cares for and rarely goes out of his way to be cruel. He's also the only Vegetarian Vampire we've seen so far (albeit an on-off one, but he hasn't killed anyone in two decades by the time of the second interview), and he does have a guilty conscience for the humans he has killed. Claudia is in-between; she doesn't care about humans and eventually becomes a scheming Serial Killer, but she loves Louis and ultimately endures a lot for his sake, and even at her worst, she's still not as bad as Lestat.
  • The IT Crowd: Moss is the nice one (most of the time), Roy is rude and ill-tempered, and Jen is a bit nicer than Roy, but can be egotistical and shallow.
  • It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: In the core trio, Charlie is the nice (the closest thing the Gang has to a Token Good Teammate, if only by comparison), Dennis is the mean (the most sociopathic of the Gang), and Mac is the in-between (a jerk who can be arrogant but is still less manipulative and cruel than Dennis, and calls him out on his more sociopathic behavior).
  • Jessica Jones (2015): Idealistic, compassionate talk show host Trish Walker and pragmatic, Amoral Attorney Jeri Hogarth serve as foils to the snarky, morally-conflicted Jessica.
  • The last few episodes of Season 2 of Manifest have a trio of ruthless drug dealers who fit this dynamic. Jace, the hot-tempered leader, being the most willing to kill Cal, is clearly mean; Kory is the most neutral of the three, making him in-between; and Token Good Teammate Pete is nice, showing kindness to Cal by giving him a blanket after seeing that he's cold and ultimately cutting him loose while the other two are busy arguing.
  • The Middle:
    • The studious, inoffensive Brick and spirited, encouraging Sue; the vain, pompous, opinionated and tyrannical coolness policeman Axl, who cracks down on all "dorks", along with the distant stoic dad Mike; and the mother Frankie in the middle, who is quite fittingly the show's narrator.
    • Out of the three children only, we have cheerful Naïve Everygirl Sue (nice), lazy, sarcastic Big Brother Bully Axl (mean), and quiet loner Brick (in-between).
  • Rudy's Literal Split Personalities are this in Misfits. Rudy's 3 personalities embody Freud's 3 functions of the brain, with himself, the womanising and a slight Jerkass character as the ego and the in between, the sensitive, idealistic and compassionate Rudy 2 as the superego and the nice and Rudy 3, the violent psychopath and much bigger Jerkass as the Id and the mean. Rudy 1 and Rudy 2 have a troubled but close relationship while the two had to have Rudy 3 arrested, implying Rudy before the split was more in touch with his good side than with his bad.
  • Monarch: Legacy of Monsters: The Monarch trio who serve as the main characters in the 1950s half of the show's plot. Bill Randa, despite what he will later become, was ironically the sweetest and friendliest member of the bunch (Nice); Lee Shaw was a sardonic and confrontational Jerk with a Heart of Gold who believed that violence sometimes is the answer (Mean); and Dr. Keiko was more of a people person than Lee, but she was more standoffish and passive-aggressive than Bill, particularly where feelings that she was being judged on her gender were concerned (Inbetween).
  • The quads in Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn — the guy quads, in particular:
    • Nice: Nicky, the most innocent and gullible quad of all, the most stay-out-of-trouble quad dragged into the others' shenanigans
    • Mean: Ricky, the one known for being goody-two-shoes on the outside, but seeking to be the quad leader (rivaling Dawn), as well as highly impatient with the other quads for not taking things seriously the way he does
    • In-Between: Dicky, the most mischievous quad but extremely laid-back and sociable
  • The Office (US): Out of the main characters, we have:
    • Nice: Jim, in relative terms. He's not a saint but, despite his pranks on Dwight, he's the most pleasant and level-headed of the three.
    • Mean: Dwight, who is hostile and unfriendly most of the time, and often a malevolent Evil Genius towards his co-workers.
    • In-Between: Michael, who tries to be friendly but is perpetually selfish, obnoxious, and Innocently Insensitive, other than being an outright jerk to Toby.
  • Once Upon a Time:
    • The trio of villainesses known as the Queens of Darkness in Season 4. Maleficent would be the nice one — with entirely sympathetic motives wanting to be reunited with her daughter. Cruella would be the mean one — shown as irredeemably evil and actively wanting to be able to kill again. Ursula is in-between — willing to kill to get what she wants but ultimately getting redeemed and making amends for her actions.
    • Also in season 4 were the three princesses of Arendelle in flashback. Helga (nice) was unwaveringly loyal and supportive toward Ingrid, Ingrid (mean) became an embittered villainess, while Gerda (in-between), while well-intentioned, accidentally helped push Ingrid into villainy by branding her a monster and trapping her in the urn.
  • Orphan Black: Initially, the Clone Club consists of the trio of the impeccable and paranoid Allison, warm and gentle Cosima, and Hero with an F in Good Sarah. They later get their respective Character Development, though it barely shakes-up the dynamic.
  • Outnumbered: Out of the children, at least in the early seasons, Jake is the nice one, Ben is the biggest 'problem child' due to his constant lying, and Karen is in the middle.
  • Power Rangers Mystic Force: In the "It's a Wonderful Plot" episode Dark Wish, the villains create an alternate timeline in which the Rangers did not gain their magical powers, thus allowing the villains to take over the world. The Rangers then go to the Tribunal of Magic, a trio of magical entities who watch over all things magical, in hopes they will return them their magic. The Tribunal itself plays this trope straight, as they consist of a cynical unkind black robed member, a kindhearted idealist white robed member and a red robed member who is neither kind nor rude.
  • The 1996 BBC TV adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper portrays Prince Edward's sisters and cousin, all future Queens of England, in this manner. Elizabeth (nice) is a good-natured young woman who adores her brother and shows more willingness than the others to listen to and support him (and Tom Canty in his place). Mary (mean) comes across as scheming and sinister, has subtle designs on the throne herself, and fully condones the harsh miscarriages of justice that take place during the story. Jane Grey (in-between) seems generally well-intentioned, but not quite as compassionate as Elizabeth, and sometimes easily swayed by the harsh judgments and words of the less honourable characters.
  • Sam & Cat: Similarly to the Carly/Sam/Freddie trio from iCarly and the Cat/Jade/Tori trio from Victorious, Cat is the sweet, innocent, nice one, Sam is mean and aggressive, and Dice is the calm and collected in-between.
  • Saved by the Bell:
    • Out of the guys, Screech is nice (a quirky but well-meaning nerd), Zack is mean (a charming but manipulative schemer), and Slater is in-between (a bit of a hothead but ultimately a Lovable Jock).
    • Out of the girls, Kelly is nice (the sweet Girl Next Door), Lisa is mean (the Lovable Alpha Bitch who is often rude to Screech), and Jessie is in-between (the outspoken Go-Getter Girl).
  • S Club 7 in their TV series:
  • Scrubs:
    • Out of the three main guys, JD is nice (the most openly affectionate), Dr. Cox is mean (abrasive, always insults everyone), and Turk is in-between (easygoing but a bit brash and competitive).
    • Their respective love interests also fit the trope in the same role: Elliot is nice (when she was shy in early seasons, before she Took a Level in Jerkass), Jordan is mean (the female version of Dr. Cox), and Carla is in-between (bossy and stubborn, but also a caring Team Mom).
    • Out of the med students in season 9, optimistic Lucy is nice, the obnoxious jerk Cole is mean, and the aloof, mysterious Drew is in-between.
  • Seinfeld: The three main guys, lazy but friendly Cloudcuckoolander Kramer (nice), dishonest schemer George (mean), and indifferent Straight Man Jerry (in-between).
  • Star Trek:
  • The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Suite Life on Deck: Of the main characters, Cody is the more responsible sibling of the titular duo, making him the nice one, Zack is a sneaky and mischievous prankster, making him the mean one, and London meditates between the two, but this is mainly because of her stupidity.
  • Suits:
  • That '70s Show: Nerdy Eric and Fez are nice (only compared to the others, they have less jerkass moments); rude, conceited, Spoiled Brat Jackie and antisocial Jerkass Hyde are the most openly mean; Kelso (a shallow Brainless Beauty and Handsome Lech) and Donna (the Girl Next Door, who is often arrogant) are in-between.
  • In The Vampire Diaries, Elena is a nice, friendly Girl Next Door, Damon is a violent, dangerous vampire, and Stefan is a stoic, brooding vampire, who is much more reasonable than his brother Damon.
  • Victorious: Of the girls in the main group, there's the sweet Cloudcuckoolander Cat (Nice), Jade the Alpha Bitch (Mean), and Tori who is more level-headed than Cat and nicer than Jade (In-between).
  • The White Queen: Among the York brothers, Richard of Gloucester is the most gracious (Nice), George of Clarence is a Jerkass (Mean), and King Edward IV is the middle ground between the two of them (In-between).
  • Why Women Kill: The three leads are sweet, docile Beth Ann (nice), self-centered, hot-tempered Simone (mean), and headstrong, polite Taylor (in-between).
  • Wizards of Waverly Place has the Russo siblings: the responsible Justin is often the nice one (especially on the outside), while Max is often the more mischievous in-between; but they fit the lineup differently at their core (Alex always the same):
    • Nice: Max — the most naïve and easiest to get along with (even if mischievous like Alex)
    • Mean: Alex — Sneaky and mischievous Alex (grating mainly on Justin's nerves)
    • In-Between: Justin tending to remain responsible, but Not So Above It All; his impatience can even mean he trades spots with Alex in later seasons.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top