List of What I Like About You characters
The following is a list of characters from the American TV series What I Like About You. The main characters are two sisters who live together in New York City, played by Amanda Bynes and Jennie Garth, who are polar opposites. In 2002, Teen People said that a distinctive aspect of the show was that "These characters aren't afraid to go the extra mile for a laugh."
Tyler sisters
Holly Tyler
Holly Anne Tyler is an unpredictable, somewhat in-your-face teenage girl who is high-spirited and spunky and has a tendency to impulsively do whatever pops into her head, regardless of the consequences. She unwittingly and unintentionally causes chaos despite usually having good intentions, but gradually becomes more mature as the series progressed. At the beginning of the series, Holly's father accepts a job in Japan, but agrees to allow Holly to stay with her older, more sophisticated, sister Val. Due to their contrasting personalities, she manages to turn Val's neat and orderly life upside down and inside out from the moment she first moves into her sister's apartment. The sisters manage to resolve their differences in order to live together and Holly becomes very dependent on Val to offer advice and to help her out of trouble.During the series, Holly goes through several jobs. After a brief and extremely unsuccessful stint working at Jeff's restaurant, she finds work at a copy shop through her friend Gary. Subsequently, Val gets Holly a job at Harper & Diggs as a mail girl, where she remains until Val quits to open her own public relations firm. Holly eventually finds a stable job as a music manager, though the decision coincides with her decision to drop out of college, which becomes a longstanding issue in her family.
Holly goes through several romantic relationships throughout the series. She dates her first love, Henry Gibson, for nearly a year, but her feelings for Vince complicate matters, and the two break up. Although after the breakup, Holly begins to question whether she made the right decision to break up with Henry so soon. She fluctuates between both Henry and Vince, never fully committing to either of them, while maintaining feelings for both just as she leaves on a summer internship to Paris. While the three decide to wait until Holly returns from Paris before she chooses who she wants to be with, she unexpectedly returns from Europe with Ben, a British musician, as her new boyfriend under the mistaken impression that both Vince and Henry have moved on. She remains with Ben for six months until she accidentally responds to Ben's comment of loving her with "I love you, Vince." Realizing that she loves Vince, Holly and Ben break up.
After getting advice from Henry and several mishaps, Holly manages to confess her feelings to Vince and the two become a couple. Their relationship is strained when Vince gets a job from an ex-girlfriend, Robyn, who intends to pursue Vince romantically. They break up when Vince does not believe Holly and he accepts a job offer in Chicago, even after learning that Holly was right about Robyn. However, under the impression that they would not see one another again, Vince returns in the show's final episode and professes his love for Holly, uniting them once again. Holly was born in 1986 and is 16 at the start of the show and 20 at the end.
Val Tyler
Valerie "Val" Kelly Meladeo is Holly's older sister, a young woman who expects everything to run exactly as planned to the last detail and takes all her responsibilities seriously. As a result, she can become stressed and frustrated very easily, particularly by Holly's impulsive behavior. Despite her uptight nature, she and Holly are very close and Holly often encourages Val to take more risks, to varying degrees of success. Initially, Val works for a public relations firm called Harper & Diggs. However, after becoming dissatisfied when her role in the company, she starts her own PR company with her co-worker and friend, Lauren. When their company falls through due to Lauren's irresponsibility, the two start a successful bakery, where Gary eventually works.Like Holly, Val goes through several relationships in the series. Her first boyfriend during the series was Jeff, whom she dated for a year until he revealed that he didn't want to get married. After their breakup, Val develops feelings for her boss Vic, though nothing happens between the two. However, she does end up having mixed feelings about her new boss Peter, but before a relationship could develop between the two, Peter leaves for Italy and disappears with no explanation. Val is later reunited with Rick, her old high school boyfriend who is engaged to Julie, a woman who had nothing in common with him. The day of Rick and Julie's wedding, Rick bails from the ceremony, realizing he has feelings for Val. Val and Rick become engaged, only to cancel the wedding after discovering Rick has commitment fears. Afterwards, Val starts developing feelings for her old high school fling, a plumber named Todd.
Just as Val starts to get over Rick, she learns that Rick and Julie got married after all and becomes severely depressed and recklessly goes out partying all night. After a drunken night in Atlantic City, she dreams that she married the plumber only to wake up and learn that she had actually married Vic instead. Fearful of getting hurt again, Val refuses to accept being married to him, despite being attracted to him. She eventually accepts the sincerity of his love for her and reciprocates his feelings for her. After learning their original marriage was not valid since the officiant who married them was not licensed, they marry for real in the company of family and friends in the series finale.
Val was born in 1976, making her 10 years older than Holly. She is around 26 at the start of the series and 30 by the end.
Supporting characters
Gary Thorpe
Gary Johann Thorpe is Holly's best friend throughout the series, eventually becoming best friends and roommates with Vince. He has a close relationship with his mother. Initially portrayed somewhat of a plain-clothes and dimwitted geek, even having unusual conspiracy theories such as that the pyramids are spaceships and that Stonehenge was one rock with many mirrors, Gary is known for being devoted to his friends and providing surprisingly, though bluntly delivered, insightful advice. Throughout the series, he becomes cooler and, like Holly, a more mature and capable individual. Aside from Holly and Val, Gary is the only other character to appear in all seasons of the show.Gary goes through several jobs in the series, the first being an employee at a copy store where he finds Holly a job. Subsequently, Gary finds work as a salesperson at a clothing store and is eventually hired as an employee at Val and Lauren's bakery. Because of his business major and dedication to his job, Val promotes him to become the bakery's manager, much to Lauren's ire.
The beginning of the series hints that Gary had a slight crush on Val, indicated by actions such as visiting Val's home when he knew Holly wasn't there. His first serious girlfriend is Jill, the assistant to a millionaire businessman. The two date for a year, only for Jill to leave for Paris; Gary later learns that she lied about Paris just to break up with him. During the course of the series, Gary had mixed feelings about Tina, both hating and being attracted to her at times. This back and forth culminated in a kiss, shocking them both. The two decided to keep things the way they were between them, but when Tina began dating a police officer, Rubin, Gary showed signs of jealousy. In the series finale, Gary finally admits that he's in love with Tina and is sad now that it is too late to be with her, but it turns out that Tina feels the same way about him and the two end up kissing and get together at the end.
Vince
Vince is a laid-back and attractive bike messenger who becomes friends with Holly towards the end of the first season and eventually becomes her love interest and boyfriend. He has taken care of himself since he was seventeen and lives in his own apartment, which he later shares with Gary, Henry, and Ben. Vince is on bad terms with his father and turned to his grandfather for support in their family. The two shared a close relationship and Vince was upset when his grandfather died. While Vince is not very perceptive, he is dedicated to his friends and generally understanding. However, he is known for having many previous girlfriends, much to Holly's discomfort in their relationship.Shortly after meeting him, Holly begins to develop unwanted romantic feelings for Vince, even though she is dating Henry. Unaware of Holly's feelings for him, Vince becomes friends with Henry, which eventually strains the relationship between all three of them when Vince learns of Holly's feelings and begins to reciprocate. After Holly and Henry break up and Henry finds a new girlfriend, Holly attempts to pursue a relationship with Vince, but is disappointed to learn he was seeing other girls while he was waiting for her, and could not guarantee that a relationship between Holly and him would work out. When Vince hears that Holly receives an opportunity for a summer internship in Paris, he kisses her, but she rejects him and decides to go back to Henry. Vince surprises Holly by showing up on the plane, and the two spend some time together in Paris off-screen.
At the beginning of Season 3, Vince and Henry are in competition with each other for Holly, but are disappointed to discover after her summer internship in Paris that she has returned with a new boyfriend, Ben. Not wanting to make her feel guilty, Vince tells Holly he cannot commit to a relationship and he is happy for her. While keeping his feelings for Holly hidden, Vince's womanizing ways wane overtime, as he is often oblivious when girls hit on him. Vince attempts to get together with Holly after she breaks up with Ben. However, after learning he slept with Tina on the night before Val's wedding to Rick, she furiously refuses him and has difficulty forgiving him. Holly's wavering feelings and their constant arguments drive Vince to take a summer job in Florida, where Holly follows him and confesses her feelings. They become a couple, strained only when Vince's new boss and ex-girlfriend Robyn tries to steal him away. Oblivious and unwilling to believe Holly's story about Robyn's intentions, they break up. Vince decides to take a job in Chicago, even after learning that Holly was right about Robyn, but changes his mind and reconciles with Holly at Val's wedding.