# "It's twins...and they're the same sex!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523 "2014-12-06T20:03:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/1 "2014-12-06T20:03:06Z")
It seems to me that, in most of the cases where someone on TV ends up having twins, it’s a boy and a girl. (Okay, the only two that I can think of off the top of my head are _Get Smart_ and _The Cosby Show_, which were 20 years apart, but it still seems to me to the “the rule” rather than “the exception”; maybe I am including already-born twins (e.g. _Rugrats_) and non-TV occurrences as well.) How many instances are there of TV families having twins (or more) where all of the children are the same sex? I can think of three: Mike’s three sons on _My Three Sons_, Mr. Kotter’s twin girls on _Welcome Back, Kotter_, and Ray’s twin sons on _Everybody Loves Raymond_. Of course, the first was in keeping with the show’s title, and the third is based on Ray Romano’s twin sons. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/2 "2014-12-06T20:25:28Z")
Robbie had the triplets. Mike was written out of the show and didn’t appear after his wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/3 "2014-12-06T20:27:46Z")
Full House is the first show that comes to my mind with twins, and they were both girls. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/4 "2014-12-06T20:42:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Full House is the first show that comes to my mind with twins, and they were both girls. Wasn’t that a single character played by twin actresses? They’re not even identical, it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/5 "2014-12-06T20:42:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Full House is the first show that comes to my mind with twins, and they were both girls. They were boys, unless there were two sets of twins on that show. Desperate Housewives had a set of twin boys. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/6 "2014-12-06T20:43:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Full House is the first show that comes to my mind with twins, and they were both girls. But the CHARACTER wasn’t twins. The actors who played her were. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/7 "2014-12-06T20:47:20Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > They were boys, unless there were two sets of twins on that show. > > Desperate Housewives had a set of twin boys. Right. Jesse and Becky had twin boys, Nicky and Alex. Also, the creepy twins on Seventh Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/8 "2014-12-06T20:58:50Z")
I completely forgot about Uncle Jesse’s haircut-neglected boys… ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/9 "2014-12-06T21:05:10Z")
_Sister Sister_ was about a set of twin sisters, and _The Suite Life of Zack and Cody_ is about twin boys. _The Patty Duke Show_ was of course about identical _cousins_, but Patty and Cathy’s fathers were twin brothers. Any show that’s done an “[evil twin](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilTwin)” or [twins-switching-places](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwinSwitch) story presumably featured identical twins…if the characters are actually siblings. It’s fairly common to have characters who are physical doubles (coincidental look-alikes, clones, alternate universe counterparts, etc.) but not actual twins, though. Here’s the full list of [twin-related TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwinTropes). On _Xena_ most of the major characters encountered look-alikes at some point, but these usually weren’t their actual siblings. However, Joxer turned out to be one of a set of identical triplets. There was also an episode that featured a set of identical twin sisters (one good and one evil), and another episode where the mythical twin brothers Castor and Pollux appeared. Not television, but if movies count then there’s any version of _The Parent Trap_ and Fred and George from the _Harry Potter_ series. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/10 "2014-12-06T21:06:48Z")
Probably because if you show identical twins, you’d almost need identical quads to play them. Most little kids on TV are played by twins, right? They want to reduce the working time for the kids, so they split the role. Identical quads are very, very rare. So it’s just easier to go with a set of twins that can’t be identical - boy/girl twins. StG ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/11 "2014-12-06T21:35:17Z")
Buffy and Jodie on _Family Affair_ were twins, boy and girl. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/12 "2014-12-06T22:36:43Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Not television, but if movies count then there’s any version of _The Parent Trap_ There were some direct to TV sequels to the original version, at least one of which had the Creel triplets (all girls) involved. One of them went on to appear in the last set of Saved By The Bell episodes (those weird ones without Kelly or Jesse), another of which went on to marry the infamous comic artist/writer Rob Liefeld. The Saved By The Bell connection is kinda weird, since that show originally was another show starring Haley Mills (star of the Parent Trap and its sequels) as Zack Morris’s teacher, Miss Bliss. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/13 "2014-12-06T22:39:09Z")
Maxwell Smart and 99 had twins late in the series. I think they were a boy and girl, though. And they didn’t do much. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/14 "2014-12-06T22:55:32Z")
Trevor and Tracey from **[Please Don’t Eat the Daisies](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058840/)**. Both male (played by Jeff and Joe Fithian). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/15 "2014-12-06T23:09:11Z")
Here are various lists of twins in television: [http://www.doubleupbooks.com/?page=shop/disp&pid=page\_twinstv&CLSN\_2646=1241833586264687c662c2fd13a27a6d](http://www.doubleupbooks.com/?page=shop/disp&pid=page_twinstv&CLSN_2646=1241833586264687c662c2fd13a27a6d) > **[TV Twins (and then some)](https://www.listal.com/list/tv-twins)** > > TV Twins (and then some) list [http://www.aoltv.com/2007/04/05/the-nine-most-teriffic-television-twins/](http://www.aoltv.com/2007/04/05/the-nine-most-teriffic-television-twins/) > **[Category:Fictional twins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fictional_twins)** > > Fictional pairs that are twins as well as single characters with a twin. > This category has the following 6 subcategories, out of 6 total. > The following 200 pages are in this category, out of approximately 254 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/16 "2014-12-07T18:27:59Z")
How can I have forgotten Phoebe and Ursula Buffay from _Friends_/_Mad About You_? Forgetting that _Friends_ ended with Monica and Chandler getting twins (one of each) is understandable. Phoebe also had her brother’s triplets: two girls and a boy. Another example of identical cousins are Samantha and Serena from _Bewitched_. Jeannie, from _I Dream of Jeannie_, had an evil twin named (drumroll please) Jeannie! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/17 "2014-12-07T18:59:40Z")
“Peanuts” and “The Simpsons” both have peripheral characters who are identical twin girls, but they are cartoons so using live actors isn’t an issue. The original “Degrassi (Junior) High”, which aired in the late 1980s, had identical twin characters (Heather and Erika) who were played by identical twins. They had cameo roles in the updated series. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/18 "2014-12-07T20:29:00Z")
[ul] [li]Carol Hathaway had twin girls on **ER** [/li][li]Charlotte King and Cooper Freedman had triplets on **Private Practice** , all girls[/li][li]I dunno the characters’ names, but over the summer one of the doctors on **Night Shift** and his wife had twin girls[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/19 "2014-12-07T21:02:49Z")
I suspect that this would be incredibly difficult to do an accurate count on, but I think that the number of twins on American television shows as a proportion of all characters is significantly greater than in real life. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523/20 "2014-12-07T21:04:06Z")
Does no one except me remember a '60s TV Western called _ **The Monroes** _? That was, I’m pretty sure, the first series to show real twins playing twins. > **[The Monroes (1966 TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monroes_(1966_TV_series))** > > The Monroes is a Western television series which originally aired on ABC during the 1966–67 season. > The series centered on five orphans trying to survive as a family on the frontier in the area around what is now Grand Teton National Park near Jackson, Wyoming. Their parents die in an accident in the first episode, and they try to carry on without them. > The orphans were helped by a Native American friend named Jim. Their neighbor was Major Mapoy, a British cattle baron who wanted the Monroes' ... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-twins-and-theyre-the-same-sex/706523.md?page=2)