Comet! Marcel! Newton! Beloved TV Pets Through the Years

1/14 SLIDES © ABC; NBC; Liam Daniel/Netflix; Abc/Viacom/Kobal/Shutterstock

The best TV costars! While human actors often get top billing in beloved TV comedies and dramas, it’s often their four-legged companions who steal the spotlight.

Comet, the lovable golden retriever on Full House, become one of the most iconic TV pets though he is far from the only animal companion the sitcom cast worked with on set.

“I’m sure being on Full House and being around so many animals [contributed to my love for them],” Candace Cameron Bure, who played eldest daughter D.J. Tanner on the series, told Today in December 2018. “More than just dogs, we had, like, a chimpanzee on the show and a donkey and a ferret and so much more!”

While the Tanner daughters — D.J., Stephanie and Michelle, played by Bure, Jodie Sweetin and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, respectively — loved their precious pooch, the Fuller House revival saw the old pup replaced with a new dog from the same bloodline. D.J. — a vet in the Netflix iteration — helped Comet Jr. deliver a litter of puppies in the February 2016 pilot, to which her second son, Max (Elias Harger), practically begged the family to adopt one of the canines. The family eventually took home Cosmo. However, nearly four years later, the dog who played Cosmo passed away after surgical complications.

“Our sweet boy Cosmo is now running around in doggy heaven,” the Christmas Contest actress wrote via Instagram in December 2019. “I imagine he’s playing with Comet  right now. Cosmo has been in Fuller House since the start and we are heartbroken that he passed away during surgery complications. You’ll be so missed love bug .”

While the Full House and Fuller House crew have since mourned the loss of their beloved TV companion, many other show stars have been equally fond of their own animal costars. Bridgerton enlisted a rambunctious corgi named Austin to portray Kate Sharma’s pooch, Newton.

“I’m really good with dogs, so he responded to me well,” Simone Ashley, who played Kate on the steamy regency hit, told Entertainment Weekly in February 2022. “He was a little bit sass and goes off and does his own thing, but I like to think when we were together, he listened to me. Whenever we would do a line run and Newton was there, he would just get in the middle of the circle and roll on his back and be like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ That was quite cute.”

She added: “One of the buildings we filmed at, there was pebbles on the driveway. I’d have him on the leash and he’d just be eating the stones and pooping out stones in between takes.”

While the Sex Education alum found a special bond with the pup while filming season 2 of the Netflix drama, her TV husband, Jonathan Bailey, did not feel the same.

“Austin played Newton and it’s a sterling, stunning performance, but do you know what? We didn’t get on,” the West End performer, who notably played Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, joked to the magazine. “He just loved the sausage and there’s nothing wrong with loving the sausage, but it was more the way we had to hold little crumbs of sausage in my hand to try and get him to jump in my lap. … It’s amazing that I got to work with him because he’s obviously going places, but we didn’t really click.”

Scroll below to see more of TV’s most beloved pets through the years:

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Comet, ‘Full House’

The Tanner family patriarch Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) begrudgingly allowed his three daughters to take care of the golden retriever when the show began airing in 1987.

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Marcel, ‘Friends’

Ross (David Schwimmer) developed a kinship with a white-headed capuchin monkey named Marcel during the sitcom’s first season. Marcel often accompanied the paleontologist when he made plans with his circle of friends, perched on his shoulder. Marcel’s antics even made him an instant movie star, appearing in the fictional Outbreak 2: The Virus Takes Manhattan.

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Newton, ‘Bridgerton’

The Sharma sisters (Kate and Edwina) bring their rambunctious pup to England with them for the social season. While Kate is a proud dog mom, Anthony is not as taken with the pooch as he was with his future bride.

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Eddie, ‘Frasier’

Martin Crane (John Mahoney) owned a Jack Russell Terrier throughout his tenure on Frasier, notably teaching him to understand many impressive commands including avoiding baths and gazing at the actors.

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Salem, ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’

After Melissa Joan Hart’s Sabrina Spellman discovers she’s a witch like her aunts Hilda and Zelda, she also learns their pet cat can talk! Salem Saberhagen, a former warlock, was sentenced by the Witches Council to spend 100 years as a feline after attempting to stage a coup. Salem often helped teach Sabrina how to use her magic, alongside some trademark sarcasm.

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Ghost, ‘Game of Thrones’

Jon Snow’s puppies! Kit Harington’s character on the HBO series raised a pack of six dire wolf puppies, including Ghost, an albino animal that was the runt of the litter.

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Gary, ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’

Sponges can have pets too! The Nickelodeon series introduced viewers to a quirky sponge who lived in a pineapple under the sea with his pet snail. While Gary can only say “Meow,” he’s never far from SpongeBob to provide support.

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Vincent, ‘Lost’

When Lost began, fans saw Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) and his fellow survivors stuck on the deserted island alongside beloved golden retriever Vincent. While the humans were eventually able to leave by the series’ end, Vincent remained in his new tropical home.

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Snoopy, ‘Peanuts’

Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang go on plenty of adventures with Snoopy, a black-and-white beagle.

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Stella, ‘Modern Family’

Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill) is a doting dog dad to a French bulldog though his wife, Gloria (Sofia Vergara) is less than impressed after it’s revealed that the pet likes to destroy most of her belongings.

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Backup, ‘Veronica Mars’

While Kristen Bell went on detective missions in Veronica Mars, she was often joined by the fiercely protective Backup, a loyal pit bull. While the beloved pup died ahead of the reunion movie in 2014, Veronica (and partner Logan Echolls) eventually adopted Pony prior to the Hulu miniseries in 2019.