The last time I remember really falling for a fictional character was Claire in Generation X.

I do that all the time...maybe I'm just susceptible.

me too, erika. maybe we're just loose with our affections. heh.

Not that Ms. Beesley is other than lovable, I should say. And I'm glad she's not dressing as downtrodden as in previous seasons.

I get TV crushes all the time, much like regular crushes, but I don't often want to pull them out of the television and marry them.

Polter-Cow makes posting here easy - I don't have to type the words.

I don't think funny, supportive, pretty-but-real girls are portrayed a lot on TV these days. Lots of sultry femme fatales and clueless bimbos, but not more well-rounded women.

If women are funny, supportive, etc, they are often moms and wives, so not available.

Definitely, Robin. Also -- and this may just be me being dense, but I can't think of many examples of characters like Jim. Ie a bloke who isn't The Lead, who isn't A Dick, who is Basically A Good Guy, who struggles with the relationship with his Best Friend yada.

The whole thing, for me, works because it feels like I've actually seen these characters form a relationship on screen over a number of years. Not because it was That Plot Time. Not because it was unlikely Shake Up The Relationships Time. I may be babbling.

What P-C said! Pam makes me want to snatch her out of the TV so that we could elope to Massachusetts and get married. Just ignore the pesky details about both of us being straight and Pam being fictional, and we're all set.

I get TV crushes all the time, but most of the time, it's "Oh, you poor fucked-up yet hot-like-burning woobie! Let me console your deep, deep angst with my lovin'," YET I'd run screeeeaming to the other direction if Tom Quinn, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce or Logan Echolls came knocking at my door, because I don't want them contaminating my placid life with their fucked-up-edness (not to mention the high mortality rate of whoever happens to be around them.)

Not so with Pam. I want her to be my best friend so that we could go shopping or talk about boys *and* I also want to marry her, circumstances permitting.

In total agreement with Vonnie et al. One of the things I love best about Pam is that she calls her mom for advice and leans on her for support. I feel like that's pretty rare for adult women on TV, and it just makes her all the more real to me.

Speaking of comedy featuring real, lovable, approachable female characters, I'm watching the Vicar of Dibly.

It epitomizes what I adore about British tv, where the ethic is generally that the characters should be interesting, dimensional and mostly normal in appearance. Bless 'em.