Have you ever been watching television and think to yourself “I wish (insert character name here) was my friend?”

Am I just weird for having thought that many times through all these 50-plus years of TV watching? Because when I was a kid, I remember wishing that Dancing Bear from “Captain Kangaroo” was my friend.

He didn’t talk but he sure liked to dance. Mr. Moose was kind of mean and Bunny Rabbit was adorable, but Dancing Bear was pure fun.

Not human? Child me didn’t think there was a difference between people and animals. Old person me now knows in many ways, animals too often are better.

And that’s not to say wonderful real-life friends ever were lacking. In that area, my life has been truly blessed. It’s just now and again, someone on TV captured my attention.

A few years after my preschool “Captain Kangroo” stage, it was Buffy from “Family Affair” who seemed like a great potential friend. She had a cool doll – Mrs. Beasley – and a twin brother.

My siblings were a bit older so having a brother the same age seemed rather awesome.

A lot of my real-life friends probably disagreed with that back in those elementary school days.

Junior high era me wanted “The Partridge Family’s” Keith Partridge as more than a friend: I wanted him to be my boyfriend. Me and about 10 million other young American women. Keith was cute and sweet and in my young teen eyes, oh so dreamy.

Imagine how exciting it was to interview the actor who played him, David Cassidy, in 2011 when he was coming to the Upper Peninsula for a concert date.

He was as nice as can be on the telephone and super sweet when we met – my good friend and fellow Partridge-lover Deb Pascoe was there, too, and said the 11-year-old her was jumping for joy.

Cassidy’s subsequent brushes with drunk driving charges and other personal issues have made me sad. Wish he knew how much he has meant to so many people all these years. Nothing like that first crush even if the object of it is only accessible by TV.

Teen me wanted to be friends with Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Heck, I wanted to be Mary Richards but in reality probably have been more Rhoda in my life.

Fans of “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” recognize the thought behind the previous paragraph.

Through the years, there have been a few characters who have made me laugh especially loud and that is a criteria for friendship for me. Deborah Barone from “Everybody Loves Raymond,” Phoebe Buffay from “Friends” and any Gilda Radner portrayed character on “Saturday Night Live” immediately come to mind.

And when I watch “Ellen,” it makes me want to hang out with her. Which is what we actually are all doing when we tune in and that’s what makes her talk show so popular, in my opinion. She is genuinely a people-person and that shines through. And she’s real!

Someday, it would be awesome to have Ellen DeGeneres come to hang out with me and my friends as we listen to a great Marquette-area band. Maybe I should invite her to have a pure Upper Peninsula experience …

Editor’s note: Renee Prusi can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 240.