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This is a blast from the past blog post, originally written on November 12, 2008. It’s about a character in the novel I’m currently writing (back then Sheila was the main character, but now she’s the MCs best friend, which is much better for the story).

Denny Crane and Sheila the Zombie Cheerleader

Have you ever wondered what TV, movie or book character your children’s book character is most like? Me neither, but last night while watching Boston Legal,* I realized that Sheila the Zombie Cheerleader is a lot like Denny Crane.** (Scary, huh?) We watched the Nov. 3rd show last night (we’re behind in our TV watching). There’s a great paintball fight between Alan Shore and Denny Crane, and that’s when I started to think about Sheila and Denny.

I’m a Boston Legal fan. It’s a zany, wacky, TV show that pushes boundaries and buttons. It really makes you think, while at the same time making you laugh at the absurdity of the characters on the show. Unfortunately, this is the last season for Boston Legal.

For those that know the show, you’re probably scratching your heads right now wondering why in the world I would compare my children’s book character to someone like Denny. For those of you that haven’t watched the show, Denny is a skirt-chasing lawyer with a huge ego that likes to get his own way and shoot at people when he doesn’t. Denny is also a loveable oddball that feels bad when people don’t like him or he gets left out and he’s very loyal to his friends. Oh, and Denny has “Mad Cow.” The show hasn’t made it clear exactly what “Mad Cow” is, but they’ve offered some hints and theories. It could be Alzheimer’s, actual Mad Cow Disease, or just Denny trying to get attention. Most likely it’s some combination of two or three of those things.

How Sheila the Zombie Cheerleader is Like Denny Crane:

< Denny loves to say his name really loud, “Denny Crane!”
+ Sheila loves to say, “Eat Your Brains!” which sounds a lot like “Denny Crane.”

< Denny is a skirt-chaser. He likes to flirt and loves it when women pay him attention.
+ Sheila loves to chase people and make them scream. She loves attention and hates being ignored.

< Denny likes to get his own way, and if he doesn’t, he shoots his gun.
+ Sheila likes to get her own way, and if she doesn’t, she threatens to eat your brains.

< Denny has “Mad Cow” and sometimes uses that as an excuse to do what he wants.
+ Sheila is a zombie and sometimes uses that as an excuse to do what she wants.

< Denny justifies his actions with irrational reasoning so people won’t know why he’s really doing things.
+ Sheila is afraid of lots of things, which seems irrational, but she has her reasons, and they’re good ones (usually). Most zombies aren’t afraid of anything.

< Despite all these things, you can’t help but like Denny Crane. He’s flawed, but he’s also human.
+ You can’t help liking Sheila, either. She’s flawed, but she’s as human as you can get, even if she is a zombie.

Who is your character like?

* The Boston Legal series is over – no new episodes ever. However you can watch reruns on a couple of channels! Check local TV listings.

** After this blog post, I realized that Sheila the Zombie Cheerleader is really the older, zombie version of 7 Comments on Are your characters like TV characters?, last added: 4/28/2010