Blame Zach Galifianakis for all the bearded sidekicks on TV

SOMETIMES the line between hero and zero is razor-thin.

Or so it seems on television, where unshaven sidekicks - popularly known as Bearded Best Friends - have lately become a must-have accessory for sitcom leading men.

For this we can probably blame Zach Galifianakis, whose characters in "The Hangover" and HBO's "Bored to Death" blazed a trail for his hairy brethren.

In some ways, it's just a replay of the old Rhoda-Mary dynamic, where "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" had Valerie Harper playing a character who was presented as funnier but just enough less attractive than her best friend, Mary, to make it clear whose name was on the show.

In real life, Harper was a knockout (and eventually earned her own spinoff, "Rhoda"). And although "the Rhoda" continued to pop up now and then (think Rosie O'Donnell in "Sleepless in Seattle"), sitcoms today are as likely to put the wisecracking women who might once have played "best friends" in the lead (Mindy Kaling. "The Mindy Project," Cristela Alonzo, "Cristela") and let the sidekicks fall where they may. So, what's up with the men?

FX's "Louie" can get away with a beard (not to mention a balding head), but then star Louis C.K. also writes and directs his show and, despite an impressive lineup of guest stars, largely functions as his own sidekick.

And "Louie" tends to be the exception to most rules, including the one that says that stars shave, sidekicks don't.

"It's strange that I keep seeing me on different TV shows," said actor Zack Pearlman during a news conference this summer for Fox's "Mulaney," in which Pearlman plays the bearded Andre, one of a number of sidekicks to the boyish John Mulaney, who in certain lights doesn't look old enough to shave.

Henry Zebrowski, whose character in NBC's "A to Z" also contrasts with a clean-shaven leading man (Ben Feldman), credits Seth Rogen for the trend (although, like Louis C.K., the "Knocked Up" star has managed to take his best-friend beard along for the ride as a leading man).

"A beard shows that you think about the famous beards of history. Paul Bunyan, the . . . Bounty guy," Zebrowski joked to reporters this summer when one asked about the beard trend.

"Powerful beards create a mystery," he added, "You don't know what the chin looks like. I think I've auditioned for every part that involves having the body being described as a duffle bag that exists, so this was great that this worked, because it said 'handsome' in the character description, so I felt flattered."

NBC has opened the door to other bearded actors, including "Daily Show" veteran Al Madrigal, who plays leading man David Walton's best friend in "About a Boy," and John Gemberling ("Broad City"), who's the BFF of Ken Marino's character in "Marry Me."

This summer on FX, we had comedian Brett Gelman as the recently divorced friend of star Nat Faxon's character in "Married," and Desmin Borges as the PTSD-suffering veteran who becomes roomates with star Chris Geere in the delightfully twisted rom-com "You're the Worst."

Meanwhile, out here in the real world, beards are . . . growing.

At least so says the New York Post, which recently reported that "formerly clean-cut workers are now growing beards - and proudly wearing them to work."

For evidence, the Post cited reports that sales of nondisposable razors were dropping, quoting JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst John Faucher as attributing the reduction to "increased interest in facial hair."

The TV comedy world remains, for the moment, largely unimpressed.

So, if you're looking to be the leading man in your own life - and that life happens to take place on a soundstage where people with big cameras follow you around - a close shave's probably still your best friend.

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