Famous Duos
Famous Duos
[Caption above the panel:] Famous Duos in a nearby parallel universe
[A list with 24 duos with a gray “and" between the two names (in one case it is a “met") and three times there is a gray word before (once) or after (twice) the names. The list is centered with the “and" in the middle disregarding the length of the names on each side:]
Thelma and Hobbes When Harry met Bullwinkle Batman and Louise Antony and Robin Romeo and Butthead Bonnie and Ted 's excellent adventure Pinky and Clyde Simon and Goliath Beauty and Luigi Beavis and the Beast Rocky and Delilah Abbot and Cleopatra Dr. Jekyll and Ashley Olsen Samson and Pumbaa Butch Cassidy and Mr. Hyde Bill and Sally 's Bogus Journey David and Costello Sherlock Holmes and Silent Bob Jay and Dr. Watson Anna and the Brain Calvin and the King Timon and Garfunkel Mary-Kate and the Sundance Kid Mario and Juliet
Ranking (on 2016-02-28) of famous Duos Rank Duo Index 2 Batman and Robin 3 8 Holmes and Watson 18 11 Simon and Garfunkel 8 22 Thelma and Louise 1 23 Pinky and The Brain 7 24 Hall and Oates 26 Title text 31 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 15 35 Calvin and Hobbes 21 41 Jay and Silent Bob 19 46 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 13 71 Abbott and Costello 12 79 Beauty and the Beast 9 85 Antony and Cleopatra 4 99 Beavis and Butt-head 10 106 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen 23 110 Romeo and Juliet 5 206 Rocky and Bullwinkle 11 N/A When Harry Met Sally... 2 N/A Samson and Delilah 14 N/A Bill & Ted 16 N/A David and Goliath 17 N/A Anna and the King 20 N/A Timon and Pumbaa 22 N/A Mario and Luigi 24 N/A Siskel and Ebert 25 Title text

In popular culture (the term is loosely used in this case) there are many famous duos , such as Calvin & Hobbes (six-year-old boy and his toy tiger, from the cartoon strip with the same name) or David & Goliath (famous past King of Israel and giant, Biblical characters from the Book of Samuel in the Old Testament ). (See the trivia section regarding an on-line list of duos).
In this table, Randall describes a fictional parallel universe where the same names are used in different combinations — instead of Calvin, it is now Thelma (from the movie Thelma & Louise ) who is paired up with Hobbes, and Calvin is instead paired off with the King, from Anna and the King . In all cases the one mentioned first on the list is also mentioned first in our universe, so it is always of the form Calvin and the King, never Calvin and Anna. There are 24 duos, and all 48 partners are mentioned (they go through four cycles ). (In the title text of 1644: Stargazing from the week before this comic, there is an indirect reference to parallel universes/ multiverse ).
The humor of this comic comes from the ridiculousness of the pairings, and the reader's imagination of the stories that are created with the pairs. See the whole list of real duos as well as the list of alternative duos below, with more detailed explanations.
In the title text, alternative movie Romeo and Butt-Head is mentioned, the fifth entry on the list. This is a combination of the famous Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet and Beavis and Butt-Head . Romeo and Juliet has been filmed many times; most recently in Romeo + Juliet from 1996 with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the leading roles. Butt-Head is the less stupid one (of the very stupid duo) from the animated TV series Beavis and Butt-Head (and a film ). As Romeo and Juliet is one of the best known love stories and Butt-Head is one of the most disgusting teens ever depicted on the big screen (only overtaken by Beavis ), the combination could create disturbing pictures in people's heads (especially in the heads of anyone who may identify themselves with Juliet).
In the alternative universe, when this movie was released, it got the best possible review of two thumbs up from the critics Siskel and Oates . Gene Siskel was paired with Roger Ebert , when they reviewed movies as the famous duo Siskel and Ebert . They were widely known for the "thumbs up/thumbs down" review summaries, with their best combined review being Two Thumbs Up , one from each of them. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, they actually gave Beavis & Butthead Do America Two Thumbs Up .
In the alternative universe Siskel and his partner gives the film a (surprising) two thumbs up, but Ebert has been replaced with Oates. This is a reference to John Oates of Hall & Oates , a famous American musical duo from Philadelphia.
There also exists a comedy duo named Garfunkel and Oates , formed by Riki Lindhome and Kate Micucci, who chose the "Garfunkel and Oates" name by combining the second names from both Hall & Oates and Simon and Garfunkel (the latter duo is mentioned in the main comic). Although this exact combo would not be possible in the xkcd version, as the "real universe" combo takes the second names from two duos rather than the first name from one and the second name from another (as in this comic), there may definitely be a deliberate reference to this group as well which has taken the parallel universe idea into our universe.
[Caption above the panel:] Famous Duos in a nearby parallel universe
[A list with 24 duos with a gray “and" between the two names (in one case it is a “met") and three times there is a gray word before (once) or after (twice) the names. The list is centered with the “and" in the middle disregarding the length of the names on each side:]
Thelma and Hobbes When Harry met Bullwinkle Batman and Louise Antony and Robin Romeo and Butthead Bonnie and Ted 's excellent adventure Pinky and Clyde Simon and Goliath Beauty and Luigi Beavis and the Beast Rocky and Delilah Abbot and Cleopatra Dr. Jekyll and Ashley Olsen Samson and Pumbaa Butch Cassidy and Mr. Hyde Bill and Sally 's Bogus Journey David and Costello Sherlock Holmes and Silent Bob Jay and Dr. Watson Anna and the Brain Calvin and the King Timon and Garfunkel Mary-Kate and the Sundance Kid Mario and Juliet
Ranking (on 2016-02-28) of famous Duos Rank Duo Index 2 Batman and Robin 3 8 Holmes and Watson 18 11 Simon and Garfunkel 8 22 Thelma and Louise 1 23 Pinky and The Brain 7 24 Hall and Oates 26 Title text 31 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 15 35 Calvin and Hobbes 21 41 Jay and Silent Bob 19 46 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 13 71 Abbott and Costello 12 79 Beauty and the Beast 9 85 Antony and Cleopatra 4 99 Beavis and Butt-head 10 106 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen 23 110 Romeo and Juliet 5 206 Rocky and Bullwinkle 11 N/A When Harry Met Sally... 2 N/A Samson and Delilah 14 N/A Bill & Ted 16 N/A David and Goliath 17 N/A Anna and the King 20 N/A Timon and Pumbaa 22 N/A Mario and Luigi 24 N/A Siskel and Ebert 25 Title text
