# First fictional crush **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2026, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342 "2026-08-14T19:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/161 "2026-08-20T16:40:27Z")
Many late 70s examples for me also…not sure exactly who was first… Tia from Escape to Witch Mountain Jana of the Jungle from Electric Company Isis from the Shazam/Isis power hour Valerie Bertinelli from One Day at a Time ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/162 "2026-08-20T20:59:47Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Valerie Bertinelli from One Day at a Time She once ‘liked’ one of my Tweets. Made me very happy for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2026, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/163 "2026-08-20T21:41:43Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Valerie Bertinelli from One Day at a Time I much preferred her with the longer hair-when she cut it and went all coiffed she kind of lost me. A colleague of my physician father’s had 2 daughters who very closely resembled both her and Mackenzie Phillips-yes I was a bit attracted to the one who looked like VB… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/164 "2026-08-22T02:19:30Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Here’s Shari’s 1958 NBC [screen test](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXua5ZH7-Dg&t=1s). Totes adorbs. Did you know she also cowrote, with her husband, a [not-very-good _Star Trek_ episode?](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lights_of_Zetar_(episode)) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/165 "2026-08-22T02:28:36Z")
That’s not _Turnabout Intruder_ bad, but I definitely lost a boatload of respect for Scotty in that episode. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/166 "2026-08-22T03:41:56Z")
I knew, but decided not to mention it out of respect for Shari. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/167 "2026-08-22T04:19:03Z")
I did _not_ know that. But most folks probably don’t know that Shari started out as a talented [professional dancer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcKzTbFSGFE&t=1s), so I’m willing to forgive her for not exactly being **Isaac Asimov** when it came to science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/168 "2026-08-22T04:35:10Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > But most folks probably don’t know that Shari started out as a talented [professional dancer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcKzTbFSGFE&t=1s), so I’m willing to forgive her for not exactly being **Isaac Asimov** when it came to science fiction. Yeah, and I never heard of Asimov being a professional dancer! ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/169 "2026-08-22T04:43:09Z")
True, but I believe his unpublished sequel was _I, Robot Dancer._ ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/170 "2026-08-22T04:53:35Z")
How do you feel about Kathy Keeton? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/171 "2026-08-22T05:03:06Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > How do you feel about Kathy Keeton?  Idk - how was she with hand puppets? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/172 "2026-08-22T05:25:19Z")
In 5th grade I think I fell in love with Harriet the Spy (book; movie came eons later). I thought she was amazing and unstoppable but she was also vulnerable and I wanted to take care of her when everyone read her journal without permission and all her friends turned against her. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/173 "2026-08-22T05:49:20Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Laurie Partridge (Susan Dey), in _The Partridge Family_. There was a girl in my high school homeroom who was a dead ringer for Susan Dey. I spent half of my Freshman year lusting after her. There’s a episode of _ **The Partridge Family** _ in which Susan and Shirley Jones are modeling their new hot pants costumes in front of a wall of mirrors. That one scene was enough to light my rockets, yessiree! 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/174 "2026-08-22T06:29:08Z")
[Shari Lewis - a jazz number (1964)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQpV-ahGj7s) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/175 "2026-08-22T07:33:26Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m rather surprised by the people who remember their first fictional crush. I couldn’t really say who was first for me, but there have been a lot of contenders mentioned in this thread so far. Yeah it’s kind of hard to pinpoint when I started to get “funny feelings” about characters I used to see on TV as a kid. Also hard trying to separate out actual “crushes” vs just noticing attractive female characters. And do I make a separate category for actual “age appropriate” vs “older women” crushes and “cartoon crushes”? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/176 "2026-08-23T22:17:20Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Go watch three episodes of _Totally Spies_ . > You ll find out. Nah. You might get confused with whichever fetish they put in that particular episode. The show is widely known to do so, with people wondering if it could possibly not be intentional. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342/177 "2026-08-29T00:40:42Z")
I was almost too embarrassed to post… My first fictional crush was Egon Spengler, from the Ghostbusters cartoon. I was also very fond of Luigi (yes, of the Mario brothers). I still tend to find certain (adult!) cartoon and video game characters to be attractive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-fictional-crush/1032342.md?page=8)