TV Romance

Hey folks,

Inspired by conversations with my buddy Brad, (who is mildly obsessed with the TV show Chuck and its Chuck-Sarah relationship,) as well as the mounting effects of Lost's impending demise, and a disturbing lack of my own personal life (keep reading and prepare to be unsurprised by my lack of a love life)- I decided to devise a list of the 25 most romantic TV couplings. This was no small task because while I do not watch many romance shows, I have watched hundreds of different shows in my lifetime as an avid viewer. Before you ask me: 'who cares?,' let me answer 'I don't care who cares.' I like TV, I like lists and I like romance, particularly in the context and the guise of non-romance. So, if you are interested, feel free to read on...

Before I begin, let me use Lost as my example of a non-romance romance: the love triangle/quadrangle on Lost, which is a show that can be categorized under various genres, including a sci-fi or action-type show, has several strong romance angles that might make the list. Notably this Lost romance angle reminds me a lot of the love triangle/quadrangle on Dawson's Creek (a teen angst drama.) One of the female characters dies, and the truth is revealed that it has always really been a love triangle (and in the end, two of them probably end up together while one of them has another dream fulfilled like maybe Jack gets to meet Spielberg...) Regardless, below is my list of TV show relationships with a brief explanation of each.

Additionally, while the attributes of a good romance cannot be verbally explained by a television voyeur such as myself, and it can only be determined on an ad-hoc basis ("I'll know it when I see it,") but it has to "feel real." Some core components of this 'realistic romance' include: some degree of symmetry of interest, continuing courtship, and relationship interests, concerns and chemistry that are relatable to the audience (i.e. ME) even if the circumstances surrounding the relationship are totally un-relatable.

The order is subject to review and change.

Thus, here are the top 25, in no particular order, except from 25th best to the best:

25) Dawson's Creek- love triangle-quadrangle between Dawson Leery, Joey Potter, Pacey Witter (and Jen Lindley)- As mentioned above, this is a teen drama. But, unlike Shannon Daugherty and Luke Perry, the base of this show is a series of romances between various kids and each other and kids and their dreams. I'm reluctant to put any of these individual romances on the list, but I don't mind putting all of them on as a single unit. The show had a strong first season and an... interesting ending, but fumbled with all the in-between seasons.

24) Malcolm in the Middle- Hal and Lois- From the first episode, nothing about this show was normal. It is a unique vision of the world through a child's eyes, which is demonstrated by a terrifyingly overbearing mother, an apathetic father and brothers who seemingly always have an apparently malevolent vendetta against one another. And from this child's perspective, we see the father, who is apathetic about everything else in life, has one great love, and that is his wife. He is a hapless romantic, and his romance is so overpowering that he makes his wife, the hapless unromantic, accept and appreciate romance.

23) Seinfeld- Jerry Seinfeld and Elaine Benes- I will write more about this in a future blog, but the friendship/relationship based on humor was more like the relationships I am familiar with than the others on this list.

22) Greek- Casey Cartwright and Cappie- I think of this show as a continuation of the Apatow instant classic, Freaks and Geeks and refer to this show as Geeks and Greeks. The best part of this show is the religious character Dale and how he deals with Cappie and Calvin, but again the heart of the show is a college romance. While the college experience was not like mine, the fraternities were not like mine, the pre-law experience was not like mine, and the friendships and romances were not like mine, I feel like every part of the show was mildly like my experience (only better... and more vivid.)

21) Family Matters: Carl and Harriet Winslow This was a fantastic relationship that has long been overshadowed by the Steve Urkel dynamic and the Urkel-Laura will they/won't they question. The answer was that they shouldn't, but don't be distracted by that fake romance. The parental romance was the best part of the show. Carl and Harriet really cared about each other and their kids who were always involved in Brady Bunch hi-jinx. Actually, most of the show was pretty stupid, but you could feel the love in this particular relationship, so it is list-worthy.

20) Scrubs- Dr. John "JD" Dorian and Dr. Elliot Reid- Although the best relationship on the show was JD and Turk and the most sane romance on the show was Turk and Carla, the drama of JD and Elliot was Ross and Rachel-lite. The show faltered rapidly after the first few seasons when JD was no longer self-conscious about his eccentricities, and became a caricature of himself. Nevertheless, a few seasons of strong romance compounded by a strong ending to the JD saga at Sacred Heart makes this a list-worthy romance.

19) Sex and the City- Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big- It was a classic romance: she was a material girl and he had mad money. Let the puns ensue. That is a gross oversimplification of the show, I know, but apart from having good chemistry and both of them being modern trendy people, what do we really know about them that would make us think this is actually a good romance? Actually, the problem is we hardly know anything about Big, other than he is rich, cheats on women and likes Carrie. But, the show does a good job of stressing the chemistry between them and I appreciate that, so it does belong on this list. The show itself was okay and it may have been great if I appreciated fashion... but I don't, so it was occasionally good and occasionally bad.

18) Californication- Hank Moody and his semi-faithful relationship with the "Karen" of his dreams- The show had a remarkably well-written first season. He adored Karen for how she made him feel about himself. He adored her because she was the dream of stability and the mother to his daughter ("baby-mama" as the show refers to it.) But after the first season, it became increasingly difficult to understand why Hank wants Karen to be his special someone. Considering he has his choice of so many other women, why choose this woman to torment him and complicate his life, as opposed to some other woman who could do so more (or less) effectively. Still the dialog is strong and Duchovny thrives in this type of role (see below, The X Files.)

17) Cheers- Sam Malone and Diane Chambers- Sam was always ribbing Diane, while Diane continued to look down at Sam, but there was usually an air of flirtation and chemistry. It was the classic modern courtship, two people meet at a bar, or at work, and after teasing each other relentlessly, they fall for each other. Classic... sort of.

16) Chuck- Chuck Bartowski and Sarah Walker- As I mentioned, my friend is mildly obsessed with the show and this relationship, and with good reason. The romance is textured and layered and hidden behind deception and/or humor. There is something special there, whether the show ends or not. Either way, I hope they can create a satisfactory resolution that rings true to the characters.

15) The X Files- Agent Dana Scully and Agent Fox Mulder- They joke about their relationship all the time and the fanboys still talk about the two of them, like the show did not end ten years ago, but there is a reason for it. Among the writers' many talents on this show, was the ability to dangle possibilities before its viewers. They dangled this one for years- very effectively.

14) The Wonder Years- Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper- It's a classic childhood romance. I will spare you the spoilers, but it's a classic childhood romance.

13) Big Love- Bill and Barb Hendrix- Sure, Bill is married to a lot of women, but he only has a grand romance with one of them. Without giving away too much, the premise of the show is that while Bill believes in the principle, (which is a tenet of Mormonism that includes polygamy,) he only agreed to it because on Barb's death bed, she wanted him to marry and have more children. Barb survived and the show is about them dealing with polygamy and growing family in a mature and loving way.

12) The Cosby Show- Dr. Cliff and Claire Huxtable- Similar to Roseanne, and similar to the subsequent Everybody Loves Raymond, the couple often tried to ignore the kids because of how much they care about each other. Of course a lot of the best scenes are with Cosby feigning apathy towards the kids for a laugh, but the show had a tremendous amount of heart to go along with the laughter.

11) Roseanne- Roseanne and Dan Connor- In a comedy partially written by Joss Whedon, we would expect nothing less than great romance. While the kids are often ignored, and the couple is often at odds, there is a tremendous rapport between the two and whenever the tone and volume quieted, you could almost feel real love between them. Roseanne and Sam Kennison were the anticipated leads of the show Married with Children, which would have been fascinating, but would have made us miss out on this great dynamic.

10) Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman- Lois Lane and Clark Kent- Admittedly, this show is actually a romance, so it's not totally fair to have it compete with a lot of the other shows on this list, which are mostly not romances. (Unfortunately it must have been tough to market a TV show about romance to Superman fans or a TV show about Superman to romance fans.) The show appealed to me in that I was a dorky kid (ala Clark) who always felt I had a lot to offer (ala Superman,) if I could just show what I was capable of. Clark, who is instantly enraptured by Lois, slowly tries to prove he's worthy of her without ever revealing too much of himself in order to protect himself. I also had an enormous crush on Teri Hatcher (she's still super hot, but I don't watch Desperate Housewives.)

9) Saved by the Bell- Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski- I'm not sure anything about this romance can be referred to as true. But, Kelly is the girl next door and Zack goes out of his way, by conniving, wooing, tricking, cooing and manipulating his way into her heart. This only worked because as bad as he was, (in every episode,) not only was she equally good, but he almost always managed to legitimately atone for his deceitful antics. And plus, I watched most of this when I was young, so I feel a sense of nostalgia for this romance.

8) Six Feet Under- David Fisher and Keith Charles- In a show filled with tormented romances and torrid passion, this relationship provided a bedrock, a foundation and a shining example for all the other relationships. Their relationship was exciting because of all the outside circumstances, but it was strong because of these two mostly wholesome characters (a policeman and an altar boy.)

7) Lost- Desmond Hume and Penelope Widmore- Lost does the intense longing of love more efficiently than anyone else, see the rapid build up of Richard Alpert and wife or Hurley and Libby or Sawyer and Juliet or Faraday and Charlotte and etc... but it often has trouble with the longer term romances like Kate with anyone or Jin and Sun and their prolonged separation. The one notable exception there is consistently excellent: Desmond and Penny. It's touching that they always want to get back together, but unlike a lot of other relationships on this show and others that do the separated longing so well, you can tell how much they actually appreciate each other when they are together. In their downtime, hanging out in the apartment or their boat, or talking about daddy issues or job woes or the purpose of their lives, they connect. Tonight's episode is a Desmond and Penny episode, so you know what to expect.

6) Bones- Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan and Agent Sealy Booth- This is the most effective way to have a slow developing romance: FBI Agent who is all heart teaches scientist who is all brain how to love. Sure, the show is not a romance, per se, but if you've seen a few episodes of this show, you would know exactly what I'm talking about.

5) Friends- Ross Geller and Rachel Green- It's a classic tale of a guy loving a girl his whole life. She was the pretty girl next door who barely noticed him. When they meet again as adults, the show followed the romantic comedy formula to perfection. Guy likes girl. Girl is oblivious to guy... until guy finds other girl. Then, girl is interested, so guy drops other girl. The couple struggles through seasons of boredom and fights and crap before ending up together. What's more real than that? In all seriousness, the first few seasons of this show were legitimately very good because of the heart of the show: Ross and Rachel and I have no doubt that Ricky Gervais used this in The Office (mainly because I heard him say so in an interview.) Even though a lot of this show and their relationship and break-up and relationship was not good, this relationship is the standard bearer for modern TV comedy relationships. (P.S. People forget that Ross was not annoying in the first couple of seasons and he was in fact, my favorite character during that time span when the show was good.)

3-4) The Office- Pam Beesly and Jim Halpert and The Office- Tim Canterbury and Dawn Tinsley, which I dare say was equally good, though there was less of it. The British show mastered the art of office flirtation and longing looks of the forbidden fruit, while the American version bore out that longing to successful fruition. Basically, the American version copied the British version, but then added what the two of them are like in a relationship.

2) Pushing Daisies- A boy named Ned and a girl named Chuck- This is one of the few romances I have ever watched and it is a supernatural romance powered by a dominating romantic storyline/premise. Boy loves girl and loses girl. Boy and girl reconnect as grown-ups and fall in love, but... they can never touch (hence emotional intimacy) and tons of secrets (hence tribulations that may drive them closer together or further apart.) The show was booted too early without a satisfactory conclusion, but it was spectacularly beautiful while it lasted.

1) Friday Night Lights- Coach Eric and Tami Taylor- Even though, I'm a full season behind on this show, no show has ever created a relationship dynamic this effectively. How this couple deals with every day problems is a testament to great writing and better acting (particularly Connie Britton.) This marital relationship is the main reason this show that's not about football and is mostly a teen drama is so powerful.... (well, this relationship along occasionally powerful performances by the students.)


Additionally, here are some new shows and up and coming romances that may yet find their niche in romance.

- Modern Family- very funny and touching show, though I am not sure if romance will win the day.

- Community- very funny show, though I am not sure romance will win the day.

- Parenthood- very touching show, though I am not sure romance will win the day.

- Glee- Will and Emma might yet be a good romance like the pilot episode suggested.

- Caprica- Like its predecessor Battlestar Galactica (this show is set in the past) romance and beauty peppers the screen, but like it's predecessor, there is not one particular romance to key in on.

- Psych- Juliet and Shawn are finally finding their stride and this soon might become worthy of being on the list. However, similarly to Scrubs, the romance is a secondary relationship to Shawn's friendship relationship/dependency with Gus.

- Better Off Ted: had two fascinating relationships involving Ted that never really had a chance to blossom.

- True Blood- Sookie is played by a great actress in a sensual setting involving sensual vampires. It's a matter of time before some relationship on this show makes the list.

- My Boys- If Jordan Spiro had a leading man in the show, this would probably be on or near the list.

- Justified- If Timothy Olyphant gets a leading lady in the show, this will probably go on or near the list.

- Fringe- Peter and Olivia are a few years away from being Scully and Mulder.

- Men of a Certain Age- Andre Brauer is a great actor and he breathes life into his marital relationship.

- Sons of Tuscon- Sock is a powerful and gross mess of comedy. If the teacher thing continues, there might be a strong "screwball" romance there.

- Parks and Recreation- Part of the reason this show is the most improved show on TV is the blossoming relationship between Andy and April.

- Castle- Nick Castle and Kate Beckett- This is just a tour de force performance by Nathan Fillion where his personality overwhelms the mediocrity of the rest of the show and both the show and the romance becomes great. I expect this romance to be on the list some day soon as Beckett is slowly improving.


Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

Dexter- Dexter Morgan and his TV sister, Debra Morgan (who are married in real life) have some creepily awesome TV chemistry, and that's saying a lot considering they are not actually romantically involved in the show and that the show is crazy creepy without this non-romance angle. (Notably, the characters are not blood related in the show, and blood is key to the show.)

- Sliders- before they let Jerry O'Connell's love interest go.

- The Pretender- Jared and Parker- she chased him. He ran.

- How I Met Your Mother- Ted and ?

- House- House and Cuddy should be up there, but they downplay the relationship too much.

- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia- if they worked at it a little, they could have 1 or 2 relationships up there. But, they don't on purpose and it works for them. In a way, this show reminds me a lot of South Park, even though it is much much less clever, but also funnier and un-animated.

- Mad Men- I want to put this on the list, but I can't. Who would I put there? Don and Betty Draper? Pass.

- Futurama- Philip Frye and Turanga Leela. Other shows animated shows like Homer and Marge or Peter and Lois have one party consistently trashing the other. Here, the romance is evident and the moments the montages are genuinely moving in an otherwise funny show. This belongs on the list if there was space. Welcome back.

- Extras- Ricky Gervais creates another American style romance with Andy and Maggie mimicking Jerry and Elaine and doing a very good job at it.

- Firefly- this show did romance very well, so it's tough to rank which is best and the multiple romances confuse the issue of which romance is best, particularly since there were so few episodes. I guess, I'd go with Mal and Inara in a classic love-hate, push/pull romance. I've watched many episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and could tell Whedon had great TV romance skills, but I didn't watch enough of it to say that Buffy and Angel or Willow and Dawn were couples that belong on this list.

Wings- Joe and Helen in a harmless comedy with lots of talent and a sweet romance.

Coupling- a poor man's Ross and Rachel, though they did the actual relationship better than Ross and Rachel did.

Sarah Connor Chronicles- John Connor and River Tam-bot. The show was cancelled, probably because the show was inexplicably expensive and the time travel/alternate reality plot-follies made the show unnecessarily onerous to follow. But, John Connor and Summer Glau as a Terminator, that was sweet.

I Love Lucy- Ricky and Lucy Ricardo. Slapstick comedian with a good straight man. On the show, he evened her out.

Gossip Girl- Chuck Bass and Blaire Waldorf. 'Nuff said.

Night Court- Judge Harry Stone and Christine made the plot compelling as well as harmlessly funny.

Arrested Development- George Michael Bluth and Maeby Funke and the forbidden comedic fruit of incestuous romance.

Then, of course, there are other relationships that could make the list if the list of acceptable romances expanded like: 24's Jack Bauer and his righteous fury or The Wire's Omar Little and his freaky whistle or MacGyver and his paper clip bombs, or Smallville's Lex Luthor and himself or similarly Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper and himself. The list can go on and on. But, I'll stop right there.

I'm positive that I left TV relationships off the list, even among those that I have seen, so please feel free to comment or blurt out a tirade against me and my overly simplistic list and views.

All the best,
Papa Bear (ME)