Lane Kim (Keiko Agena)
Gilmore Girls

I remember watching Gilmore Girls in high school and forging an instant connection with Rory's best friend, Lane. As a first-generation American, I could utterly sympathize with the overbearing religious mother, the excruciatingly high family expectations, and the subsequent refuge found in extremely loud ''rebellious'' music. The show stretched her woes a bit for comic relief, but Lane's travails navigating her way through two very different cultures mirrored my own experience in so many ways. I couldn't stop cheering when Adam Brody showed up as Lane's undercover lover, or when her dream of joining a rock & roll band came true. She might be married and in the family way now, but I can say I knew her before all that, and we were friends from the start. — Sophia Asare