Shipper Wars: Favorite And Least Favorite TV Couples

[mstaken]

Are there TV couples who make you swoon while others make you reach for your remote?! Are there pairings who you thought had great chemistry as friends who turned out to disappoint you as a couple or, conversely, couples you wouldn't have expected to care about who you ended up adoring? Would-be pairings who weren't ever an actual couple but should have been?! Romantic relationships are often the least interesting (and most annoying!) facet of many shows for me, but this is still always a fun topic to chat about :) 

 

I just started watching Medium---yes, a mere decade or so late----and can already say with confidence that Allison and Joe are on that sadly short list of TV pairings who I absolutely adore. They're loving and connected  without being unrealistically idyllic. From their very first scene, I just found myself completely and totally buying them as a married couple who was (*gasp*) still genuinely in love! 

 

I absolutely loved The Office's Jim and Pam, albeit mostly before they became a bona fide couple. While I found them kind of dull and smug once they got together, as someone who's weary of the 'wildly incompatible opposites who can't even get along for five minutes at a time are actually total soulmates!" trope, I loved that they had so much commonality and connection.

 

 Oh, and speaking of 'wildly incompatible opposites who can't even get along for five minutes at a time are actually total soulmates!", I ended up loathing the (in my very unpopular opinion!) chemistry-deficient, depressingly joyless pairing of Luke and Lorelai on Gilmore Girls.

 

I do think Veronica and Logan on Veronica Mars had physical chemistry, but pretty much everything else about them was infuriating and exhausting to me, and I would have loved both characters a whole lot more if they'd remained compelling 'frenemies.'

 

As a general rule, love triangles make all three points of said triangle less likable and interesting to me. Needless to say, this has turned me off to a sad number of shows! 

 

There are a bunch more, but I'd love to hear other people's thoughts!  

[ElleryAnne]

love triangles make all three points of said triangle less likable and interesting

Ditto.

 

In general, badly-done romantic storylines make me run away screaming from the TV faster than anything else.  They usually end up either destroying a character I like by making them OOC, or they get in the way of a pairing with better chemistry which doesn't include the designated romantic partner but would be way more interesting.

 

Least favorites:

Clark and Lana (Smallville) - A decade later, and they're still the first names that come to mind when I see a Least Favorite Couple category.  Annoying with a side of angst.  And this in a show where you could almost pull any two names out of a hat and create a pairing with chemistry.

 

House and Cuddy (House)  - Love 'em separately, hate them together.  Killed the show for me.

 

Mulder and Scully (X-Files) - Love 'em separately, hate them together.  I know I'm alone in this, but I feel like the souls were sucked out of them when they were made an official couple.  

 

 

Favorite couples: 

Wash and Zoe (Firefly) - Loved their chemistry and the fact that they were so completely themselves with each other.

 

Dharma and Greg (Dharma and Greg) - same as above.  Also, they're adorable.  Almost too much so.

 

 

Couples I'm surprised I love:

Lassiter and Marlowe (Psych) - I adore Lassie, but I was afraid the show wouldn't do justice to giving him a new love interest so many seasons in.  I'm glad I was wrong.

 

Scott and Kira (Teen Wolf) - I didn't expect to like "the new girl" as a new love interest, but I do.  And she had some big shoes to fill.

 

Hardison and Parker (Leverage) - I have major love for Hardison, but it took me awhile to like Parker.  I think this is one of the rare occasions where the romantic undercurrent worked so well it made me like her more.

 

 

Wish they were a couple but they're not:

Stiles and Derek (Teen Wolf) - But I swear, I'm not one of the ones who haunt them at public appearances.

 

Veronica and Piz (Veronica Mars) - You know how they say there's probably not more than one person who thinks Veronica and Piz would make a good couple?  I'm that girl.

 

Lionel Luther and Martha Kent (Smallville) - there was so much chemistry and potential there.  Even when Jonathan was alive, there was potential for a really good triangle, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've ever found love triangles interesting.  

Edited May 10, 2014 by ElleryAnne

[mstaken]

Veronica and Piz (Veronica Mars) - You know how they say there's probably not more than one person who thinks Veronica and Piz would make a good couple?  I'm that girl.

 

I'm the second! But heaven forbid the genuinely nice guy who Veronica actually liked, trusted and seemed truly happy around be chosen over the semi-sociopath with whom she has a (IMO, of course) grossly dysfunctional dynamic that continually brings out the worst of both of them. I'm not the hugest Kristen Bell fan, but I had so much respect for her for once noting that she didn't think Veronica realistically would or should date Logan...though I can understand why some fans were irked by that, and that one went over about as well as one might expect ;)  

 

But I swear, I'm not one of the ones who haunt them at public appearances.

 

Oh, so THAT'S where I recognize you from! ;) (Just kidding, of course...though you did just remind me to give Teen Wolf a try!) 

 

Lassiter and Marlowe (Psych)

 

I liked Lassiter/Marlowe well enough, though some odd part of me was always half-hoping for a Juliette/Lassiter pairing....in part because I really disliked the irksome, perpetual manchild Shawn paired with Juliette and think Juliette/Lassie would have been far more enjoyable and interesting.

 

While I liked Rory/Jess's chemistry on Gilmore Girls, I was always intrigued by the prospect of a Jess/Paris pairing. Have I mentioned that I have odd taste?! ;) 

 

I forgot to mention above that one of the reasons I've fallen so quickly and deeply for Medium's Joe/Allison is that we were spared the prolonged will they/won't/they/get-on-with-it! nonsense and all the tiresome, contrived obstacles that writers resort when trying (often inexplicably) to keep couples apart for the first several seasons. 

[ElleryAnne]

some odd part of me was always half-hoping for a Juliette/Lassiter pairing

 

 

Early on, I also thought Juliet and Lassiter would be an interesting couple.  Later, I liked them better as friends, because they were one of the rare examples of a male/female relationship based on mutual trust and respect that evolved into a real friendship without writer-imposed sexual tension.  But either way, they had some of the best scenes in the show together.  (That moment when he hugs her at the top of the clock tower in the S4 finale makes me cry every time I see it.)

 

And I never liked Juliet with Shawn.  I loved Abigail with Shawn (there's another UO) but I also think she was smart to break up with him, because he's an idiot. 

 

I forgot to mention above that one of the reasons I've fallen so quickly and deeply for Medium's Joe/Allison is that we were spared the prolonged will they/won't/they/get-on-with-it! nonsense and all the tiresome, contrived obstacles that writers resort when trying (often inexplicably) to keep couples apart for the first several seasons.

 

 

This, absolutely.  That's a part of my D&G love, too.  My rule of thumb is that if the characters don't get together within a couple of years of knowing each other (in their time or mine, whichever comes first), then I'm done with shipping them.  I'm not waiting until S7 for them to board that train. 

[Wilowy]

Vincent and Catherine! Romantic love and intense connection borne out of horrible tragedy. A Shakespearian hero, tall and strong with a poet's heart (never mind he's a different species - we don't care!) and a strong, successful career woman who fights injustice and corruption from within the legal system even though she could just be a spoiled princess in a tower somewhere.

 

My swoony young heart went bananas for these two, and it was something of a cultural phenomenon at the time. Written and created by George R.R. Martin! 

 

[ElleryAnne]

Vincent and Catherine! Romantic love and intense connection borne out of horrible tragedy. A Shakespearian hero, tall and strong with a poet's heart (never mind he's a different species - we don't care!) and a strong, successful career woman who fights injustice and corruption from within the legal system even though she could just be a spoiled princess in a tower somewhere.

 

 

Aw, Vincent and Catherine.  Very elegant and romantic story-telling.   It was one of the first shows to rip my heart out and smash it to pieces on the floor when I was a kid. There is no S3 of B&tB in my universe.

[CleoCaesar]

My favorite:

 

1. Monica and Chandler on Friends. Just straight-up adorable, functional, the ideal couple in an ideal situation (best friends simultaneously fall in love with each other).

2. Helen and Joe on Wings. The proto-Mondler.

3. Veronica and Logan on Veronica Mars. Angsty chemistry is kind of my thing.

4. Lorelai and Christopher on Gilmore Girls. Happy, sexy chemistry galore. It was just a pleasure seeing them banter and match wits, and he fit so well into the Gilmore life and world. The writers set up idiotic roadblocks like his girlfriend getting pregnant to keep them from getting together. Meanwhile the guy who she ended up with was in her life for years and years and never asked her out because...reasons? Crappy writing.

 

My least favorite:

 

1. "The chemistry-deficient, depressingly joyless pairing of Luke and Lorelai on Gilmore Girls" (mstaken). Just horrible. A perpetually surly, angry, violent, humorless misanthrope barely tolerates vivacious, funny, cheerful woman - sooo romantic!

2. Literally any couple on a Shonda Rimes show. Emotional abuse isn't hot and romantic. Neither is adultery.

3. Sheldon and Amy on The Big Bang Theory. He treats her like crap, she just takes it.

[Wilowy]

Aw, Vincent and Catherine.  Very elegant and romantic story-telling.   It was one of the first shows to rip my heart out and smash it to pieces on the floor when I was a kid. There is no S3 of B&tB in my universe.

 

Nope. NO season 3 here either! 

[mstaken]

Just horrible. A perpetually surly, angry, violent, humorless misanthrope barely tolerates vivacious, funny, cheerful woman - sooo romantic!

 

Ha! Wait, so you don't find a scarily temperamental, relentlessly bitter man who's bizarrely passive-aggressive in every single one of his relationships, hides long lost daughters from his "fiance", flies into a petulant, raging tantrum at the slightest provocation (or no provocation at all), has no interests and enthusiasms of his own and makes it a point to mock and squash everyone else's for no apparent reason, brags about never reading (a minor offense, I realize, but a huge turnoff to me!), routinely freezes people out like a child without allowing them to explain themselves after even the most MINOR transgressions but never, ever utters the words "I'm sorry" even after behaving far worse, and is just generally the worst communicator and conversationalist on the entire planet to be your romantic ideal? And you don't find the fact that he and Lorelai had less than NOTHING in common, seemed to irritate and baffle each other at every turn, couldn't go a few minutes without bickering, looked utterly miserable even while they were allegedly together and seemed so physically repulsed that they could barely manage to exchange chaste pecks on the cheek without cringing to indicate that they're soulmates? I don't relate! ;)

 

 

 

Literally any couple on a Shonda Rimes show. Emotional abuse isn't hot and romantic. Neither is adultery.

 

Amen! I saw two episodes of Scandal and, while I totally see why many people think Olivia and Fitz have chemistry, I was utterly appalled by their "relationship." And I didn't find it edgy, compelling or even 'hot' like I gather we're supposed to...just gross. (As always, of course, mileage varies!) 

 

 

 

My rule of thumb is that if the characters don't get together within a couple of years of knowing each other (in their time or mine, whichever comes first), then I'm done with shipping them.  I'm not waiting until S7 for them to board that train.

 

Exactly! And throwing a boatload of irritating, contrived 'obstacles' doesn't heighten my excitement over the couple finally getting together; it's more likely to make me think 'ugh, whatever, if they have THIS many problems and conflicts before even dating, they probably shouldn't even bother. That ship---lame pun intended--- has sailed.'

 

Buffy:

 

I hated Xander and Anya, who often barely seemed to tolerate each other or have any connection beyond a mutual fondness for sex, and their coupling made both characters far less likable to me. 

 

Like cleaocaesar, I do sometimes fall for the angst-drenched star-crossed types, which is why Buffy/Angel was my first TV 'ship. They don't hold up as well for me with rewatch and I kind of can't stand the actor who plays Angel, but they'll always hold a special place in my weird little heart :) 

Edited May 10, 2014 by mstaken

[CleoCaesar]

Ha! Wait, so you don't find a scarily temperamental, relentlessly bitter man who's bizarrely passive-aggressive in every single one of his relationships, hides long lost daughters from his "fiance", flies into a petulant, raging tantrum at the slightest provocation (or no provocation at all), has no interests and enthusiasms of his own and makes it a point to mock and squash everyone else's for no apparent reason, brags about never reading (a minor offense, I realize, but a huge turnoff to me!), routinely freezes people out like a child without allowing them to explain themselves after even the most MINOR transgressions but never, ever utters the words "I'm sorry" even after behaving far worse, and is just generally the worst communicator and conversationalist on the entire planet to be your romantic ideal? And you don't find the fact that he and Lorelai had less than NOTHING in common, seemed to irritate and baffle each other at every turn, couldn't go a few minutes without bickering, looked utterly miserable even while they were allegedly together and seemed so physically repulsed that they could barely manage to exchange chaste pecks on the cheek without cringing to indicate that they're soulmates? I don't relate! ;)

 

Oh but he's so hot, what with that greasy baseball cap and blank, humorless stare. When asked by his girlfriend's father what his hobbies are, he can't think of a single one and has to surreptitiously ask the golf caddy to name a hobby. And he can't come up with a single book title. And yeah, he'll keep quiet about a daughter he has for two months and won't tell his fiancee until she finds out herself.

 

It's all very attractive. A very rootable couple.

 

 

Amen! I saw two episodes of Scandal and, while I totally see why many people think Olivia and Fitz have chemistry, I was utterly appalled by their "relationship." And I didn't find it edgy, compelling or even 'hot' like I gather we're supposed to...just gross. (As always, of course, mileage varies!)

 

Add in the fact that they have literally the same conversation in every other episode. Oh I love you, oh we can't be together, I'll leave my wife, no you won't because you're president, I love you, I want to make jam in Vermont with you, I'll leave my wife, no you won't... Three seasons of this. Stay away. It never gets any better.

Edited May 10, 2014 by CleoCaesar

[BellaLugosi]

I feel like I am among friends with the Luke/Lorelei talk, I never understood the love for that couple. She deserved so much better than him. SO much. I was relaly hoping she'd end up with Chris.  I also couldn't stand Rory/Jess either. 

 

I loved Joe and Alison from Medium, I think they are my favorite TV couple. I loved Jim and Pam too, other than that stuff towards the end where Jim was keeping secrets from her and they were teasing like she might have an affair. I thought that was way out of character for both. Booth and Brennan are a great couple, even if we were cheated out actually seeing them get together. 

 

HATED the Scandal couple, that's why I couldn't keep watching. Star crossed lovers but oops, one is married. To me, they might as well have put horns on the wife and angel wings on Olivia, she was so perfect and the wife was pure evil. It's just so stupid. House and Cuddy - awful. When he drove his car into her house, I quit watching. Mulder and Scully - you are not alone. 

 

I guess I am so annoyed that a man and a woman can never just be friends.  Even if there's no chemistry as a couple, or if the couple doesn't make sense, they still have to be thrown together. 

 

There's also a couple who didn't end up together, but I always hear people wishing that they did, Elliot and Olivia on Law and Order: SVU. Just no.

[maraleia]

My favorite couples are The Fosters Stef and Lena Adams Foster and Friday Night Lights Coach and Tami Taylor because they communicate with each other close to 100 percent of the time and the shows depict them as couples that you would find down the street.

[Wilowy]

Eric and Tami Taylor are the new Huxtables. Everyone loves them, roots for them, and aspires to be like them. I love that the show never went the cheap tropey route with these two, and kept them always in love (though not without speed bumps) and honestly committed to their life together. 

 

[Chas411]

Best: Jackie and Hyde on That 70's Show. I'm still bitter about the ending.

 

Worst: Lucas and Peyton on One Tree Hill. She was so pathetic and desperate when it came to him and he spent too much time being ~conflicted about his feelings for me to believe he really loved her. I think he just settled for her because no other girl wanted him because Peyton was always passive aggressively lying in wait.

[Wilowy]

YAY this thread! I'd forgotten it was here!

 

Well now, as some of you will nod knowingly, I must put Spencer Reid and Jennifer Jareau of Criminal Minds here because they are my crackship (and I have the stories written to prove it). There should be no Will, Henry should be Spencer's, and that "Red-skins?" game should have been the start of a destiny fulfilled. LOVE THEMMMM! (sings)

 

 

 

[mstaken]

I think crime dramas are the best for inspiring crackships: you know just enough about the characters to have a good idea of how they interact and what their basic characteristics are, but there's also so much left to subjective interpretation and our imaginations. 

 

I used to never even have a crackship, but recently I've fallen head over heels in love with Criminal Minds' never-ever-ever-gonna-happen-even-if-she-were-still-on-the-show Prentiss/Rossi. I have absolutely no idea why, but somehow they just work for me: the right balance of commonality along with a few complementary differences, this certain way they have of interacting and that inexplicable I-just-GET-you connection that, granted, is somewhat up for viewer interpretation :) I don't even mind the age gap, which is only 15 years...so not, like, a Hugh Hefner situation here. In some weird way, crackships are a lot more fun for me than ones that become a TV reality---as noted above, there's so much left to the imagination, and the writers don't get the chance to crush our fun fantasies of what is and could have been by ruining their relationship onscreen!  

Edited May 27, 2014 by mstaken

[Wilowy]

I would love to think that if the writers gave us Spence/JJ canon, that I would be so incredibly pleased and happy with what they did that no ruining could possibly take place. 

 

Hey, a girl can dream! ;)

 

By the way, I'm available for consult on that very topic! :D

[idiotwaltz]

 

In some weird way, crackships are a lot more fun for me than ones that become a TV reality---as noted above, there's so much left to the imagination, and the writers don't get the chance to crush our fun fantasies of what is and could have been by ruining their relationship onscreen!

 

I hadn't thought about it this way, but you make a good point: CRACKSHIPS WILL NEVER GET JOSSED! 

 

One of my favorite TV couples would be Burt and Virginia Chance on Raising Hope. They've been together since they were 16, and they're still crazy in love and supportive of each other. 

 

As for least favorites, i swear Luke and Lorelai brought out the very worst in each other. Same goes for Barney and Robin from HIMYM. Those two made a better BroTP than OTP. 

[mstaken]

One of my favorite TV couples would be Burt and Virginia Chance on Raising Hope

 

I can't believe I forgot to mention them before now! I think they were easily one of the best relationships ever depicted on TV: two imperfect people utterly perfect for each other. 

 

 

 

As for least favorites, i swear Luke and Lorelai brought out the very worst in each other

 

Amen, sister friend :) 

 

I hated Kate/Sawyer from LOST. They, too, seemed to bring out the worst in each other IMO. Unlike Luke/Lorelai, I do think they at least had some physical/romantic chemistry, but for me their dynamic was annoyingly dysfunctional in a Logan/Veronica-ish sort of way :) 

Edited May 28, 2014 by mstaken

[kermitmissesjim]

Favorites: Coach and Tami Taylor

Luke and Grace (Joan of Arcadia)

Brenda and Dylan (I know.)

Oz and Willow

Burt and Virginia

Roseanne and Dan

Least favorites: Chuck and Sarah

Joey and Rachel

Riggins and Lila

Howard and Bernadette

Dylan and Toni

[The Crazed Spruce]

Am I the only one who thinks that Booth and Brennan from Bones make a horrible couple?  Granted, I haven't seen this past season, or about half of the previous one, but for the year and a half I've watched them together, they bicker constantly, shown affection for each other maybe a dozen times (if that), and I could count the number of times they've kissed on one hand without using my thumb.  Maybe it's because they held off too long before pulling the trigger on the relationship, or maybe it's because they hooked up off-screen, or it might be that the first hint that they'd ever been together was when she announced that he knocked her up, but they came across to me like two actors of limited range who can't stand to be in the same room together forced to pretend to be a couple.

[Anna Yolei]

I saw two episodes of Scandal and, while I totally see why many people think Olivia and Fitz have chemistry, I was utterly appalled by their "relationship." And I didn't find it edgy, compelling or even 'hot' like I gather we're supposed to...just gross. (As always, of course, mileage varies!)

I see the chemistry, but after season 3 I couldn't care less if they end up together and even the attempt to add layers to the triangke with Mellie's backstory to make her more sympathetic was just so damn heavyhanded. And the B613 crap took over the premise of crisis management and the hot black guy left, so I have fuck all to tune in for next season.

That said, if Olivia comes back to DC next year wth McDreamy Jake's baby in tow, I will be a happy shipper (mostly because I'm batting .000 on ships I like becoming endgame).

Edited June 1, 2014 by Anna Yolei

[andromeda331]

Best
Lassiter and Marlowe (Psych)
Hardison and Parker (Leverage)
Sophie and Nate
Burt and Mary Campbell (SOAP)

Peter and Elizabeth (White Collar)

Snow White and Charming (Once Upon a Time) 

 

Worst
Carrie and Big, I never liked them individually and hated them together, also including Carrie and Big and Olivia and Fritz, even

Rory and Dean and any couple lovers once they hit adultery, liked said by others I have never understood why I should be rooting for a couple who are cheating or how that's romantic. 

Shawn and Juliet mostly about Shawn never grows up, he constantly acts like a child. 

Lorelai and Luke & Lorelai and Christopher. I think they both treated Lorelai like crap and I think she deserves someone better then

both of them. 

Kate and Sawyer & Kate and Jack 

[Pickles Aplenty]

I both love and hate Sam and Diane from Cheers.  That's probably the only time I've gone from rooting for a couple to wishing the plague on them episode to episode, or even just moment to moment.  Maddening, but definitely memorable.

 

My all-time favorite couple?  Homer and Marge.  They're so sweet in so many ways, I can't help but love them.  Also, Fry and Leela from Futurama, though I got tired of their on-again off-again thing towards series' end.

Edited June 1, 2014 by Billina

[DiamondDoll]

Best:

- Danny/Amber - H50. I really love the dynamic. She's a little mysterious but obviously very into Danny and cares about him a lot. I hope we see more of them next season.

- Castle/Beckett. I still love the chemistry between them, despite the crappy writing.

- House/Cameron. I think they wasted a huge opportunity with Hameron. The first season with them dancing around each other is perfect.

- Dan/Blar - GG. I know, very unpopular but I liked how Dan was with her. He was supportive, he loved her and he didn't expect her to change. I thought they complemented each other beautifully. LM and PB were magic together.

- Auggie/Annie - Covert Affairs. Their relationship is the heart of the show for me.

 

Worst:

- Steve/Cath - H50. It's a glorified booty call. Steve is a jerk with her and Cath is a shrilly Mary Sue. I hope she's gone for good.

- Hook/Emma - OUAT. Just no. They can try to white-wash him all they like but Hook will never be a good guy. EVER!

- Damon/Elena/Stefan - Vampire Diaries. This triangle has eaten the show alive. Damon is more interesting away from her and so is Stefan.

[ElleryAnne]

My all-time favorite couple?  Homer and Marge.  They're so sweet in so many ways, I can't help but love them.

 

 

Love 'em.  She loves him in spite of all his flaws, and he loves her so much he barely notices if she has any flaws at all.

[Geeni]

Ross/Rachel is one of the worst couples to grace TV. Ever. Even worse than Rachel/Joey (which I agree was terrible but would have at least made sense if it had happened earlier in the series than it did).

 

 

My all-time favorite couple?  Homer and Marge.  They're so sweet in so many ways, I can't help but love them.

 

Yes! I love them.

 

On a similar note, another great couple is Bob/Linda from Bob's Burgers, they're so realistic and play off each other so well. 

Edited June 1, 2014 by Geeni

[spaceytraci1208]

I love Red & Kitty from That 70's Show ...I love that they acknowledge each others' imperfections and love each other through all of it.

[Athena]

Shipping happens to me easily and it actually helps make me watch a show. I do watch some shows for acting and chemistry. You get attached to the point where you can ignore a lot of bad things on the show if you still have characters together, but only so much. When the writing affects your ship, it can be bad. I think we've all had ships that have been ruined by contrived writing (cheating, love triangles, parents, death, etc). I've been able to get over cheating for many of the ships (Emmett/Bay, Jackie/Hyde, Wade/Zoe ) even.

 

The one ship that was utterly ruined for me and resulted me in hating the characters whenever they were together was Gossip Girl's Chuck/Blair. I rewatched some of the earlier seasons where they even had a good period, but the writers torpedoed it with the hotel trade plot.

[AntiBeeSpray]

ElleryAnne wrote:

 

Mulder and Scully (X-Files) - Love 'em separately, hate them together.  I know I'm alone in this, but I feel like the souls were sucked out of them when they were made an official couple.  

 

 

 

How do you think that was so?

 

The only thing I didn't like about it was Whiny Scully and Mulder being a jerk once he found out that Scully was pregnant. The whole 'Who's the daddy' bs drove me nuts tbh and was just disrespectful to the characters. I don't mind them together tbh, they did a good job keeping the love/spark alive in IWTB and I think they'd do so in a third movie if there ever is one.

 

Over 20 years now, and there's still chemistry... on and off screen. Damn.

Edited June 12, 2014 by AntiBeeSpray

[ruby24]

Frasier and Lilith Crane. I LOVED them on Cheers and every time she showed up on Frasier they were still great and hilarious together. I always thought he should have ended up with her in the end

[ElleryAnne]

Mulder and Scully (X-Files) - Love 'em separately, hate them together.  I know I'm alone in this, but I feel like the souls were sucked out of them when they were made an official couple. 

 

How do you think that was so?

 

 

Oh, where to begin?  The pregnancy storyline was a big part of it.  I thought that entire concept was a bad idea, poorly executed.  Scully lost her edge and personality and just became a whining shell of her former awesomeness, Mulder was a prick.  The explanation for the pregnancy was so convoluted it made the rest of the mythos look like an exquisitely performed mathematical equation.  If I look at early-seasons Scully and Mulder vs. S8+ Mulder and Scully, I barely recognize them.  And it's not due to character growth, but just to reshaping them to fit them into a storyline that should never have been.

 

But even aside from that, I was annoyed at the show for pushing them into the obligatory lead-male-plus-lead-female romance.  For several seasons, Chris Carter had been swearing up and down that Mulder and Scully would not get together.  I liked that.  I liked the idea that, FINALLY, a show was able to build a relationship between the male and female leads that allowed a close relationship that developed a depth of love and trust but with a platonic foundation.  I would have been fine with either or both characters finding another romantic partner, and the show keeping the unique aspects of their friendship intact.  But instead, CC gave in and sent Mulder and Scully down Trope Road and spoiled something that was, IMO, special.  I thought it was interesting last year at HeroComplex when CC stated that M&S shouldn't have been made a couple.  I think he just felt that after so many seasons, it was expected. 

 

Also, I simply don't think Mulder is good enough for Scully.  He expects her to buy into his theories, but on the rare occasions her religious beliefs come into play, he brushes them aside as irrelevant.  And later, he never seems all that committed to her or the baby.  Given how much he seemed to care about her in previous seasons, it seems like the turn towards MulderandScully4evaomg! really brought out the worst in Mulder.  And not the best in Scully.

 

But I know that's an unpopular opinion.  I hate - flames on the side of my face hate - that they were made a couple, because I loved both characters and the show so much before that happened.  And I try to see what everyone else likes in that relationship, I really do.  But I just don't see it.

 

Sorry.  Long answer.  I now return you to your regularly-scheduled topic.

[Aquarius]

ElleryAnne, I completely agree with all you say re: Scully and Mulder. I hated that the show went there, after having celebrated so long that here was a man and a woman who could be friends, true friends, without the inevitable Twu Wuv forming. I thought if any series could avoid the stereotype, it would be the X-Files. But no. Unattached members of the opposite sex simply cannot remain good friends, unless one or more of them is gay.

[ShadowHunter]

Worst- I hated Dawson and Joey. It just felt like such misery to me. Lets be honest Dawson's real true love was films and being a director. 

 

Best- I loved Pacey and Joey. The episode in Season 6 that is just the two of them trapped in the K-Mart is one of the best things that happened in the entire series. I am still glad to this day that she ended up with Pacey. 

[Enero]

Add me to the list of folks who hated Mulder/Scully as a couple. I’ll admit, Duchovny and Anderson smoldered, but I NEVER wanted to see them take it there. But they did, and in the worst way possible. The Immaculate Conception and the stories that followed were just awful. Scully was never the same afterwards and Mulder became insufferable.

 

Other’s I hate…

Fitz and Olivia – They were so hot in the beginning, but that quickly turned to disgust. Fitz is a wimpy punk who uses Olivia for sex any chance he gets, and she just becomes pathetic around him. I think if they ever got their chance to have the life they claim to want together, it would never work. She’d finally see him for what he’s not and get bored with having to tell him how to do every.single.thing. He’d end up finding another young hot thing to screw and their relationship would implode within a year.

Carrie and Mr. Big – It started off okay I guess, but seemed to go downhill from there. The worst being when he left her at the altar. I was too through with him and them at that point and was furious when Carrie accepted his apology for stomping on her heart for the umpteenth time and married him.

Fargo and Holly – Argh. They had to be the worst couple to grace the face of Eureka. Horrible couple. They had zero chemistry. Fargo’s lightning speed soul-mate romance with her made my head spin, then his obsession with getting her back for an entire season was unbearable. Her appearance and their relationship was one of many reasons why Eureka IMO completely lost it’s edge and ultimately got cancelled.

 

Loved…

Max and Liz (Roswell -Season One) – The chemistry between Appleby and Behr was soulful, everything you want to see in a teen romance. The slow burn of their relationship was very well done. Though the relationship went to hell in a hand basket the following season. I will always love what this couple was in the first season of the show.

Pacey and Joey (Dawson’s Creek)– I never expected to get on this train. Actually I didn’t even watch Dawson’s Creek until I seen a preview for Cinderella Story, the episode where Pacey and Joey first kiss. I was hooked on them ever since. They were another couple that went to the dogs after the initial hook up, but they were wonderful in Season 3 and a portion of Season 4. I liked the fact that both characters actually did grow up while together. They supported each other (especially Pacey to Joey) and respected each other. They could be serious, but also had a lot of fun together. I always enjoyed their banter, even when they weren’t a couple. Their interactions never seemed forced, which gave the impression that they were truly connecting. This was another couple who had a wonderful slow burn and an awesome pay off.

John and Cameron (The Sarah Connor Chronicles)– I know I’m the only one, but I really liked the potential of these two. They never became a couple, and honestly I don’t know if I wanted them to go all the way there. But the characters had such chemistry, it was undeniable. Whatever it was that was growing between them I thoroughly enjoyed and wanted to see more.

 

Buffy and Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)– Loved the push, pull, forbidden love story that grew between them. I was heartbroken when they had that one night together then all went to hell, almost literally when Angel turned evil after they made love, which in the end led to him moving away. They definitely gave new meaning to star-crossed lovers and I loved every minute of it.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Enero

[blugirlami21]

Love:

Max and Liz (Roswell) My otp, the best chemistry I've seen in a TV couple.

Melissa and Jim (Ghost Whisperer) I love how sweet they are together. Jim is so understanding and supportive of Melinda's gift.

Peyton and Lucas (One Tree Hill) I just thought they understood each other really well and they were mostly always there for each other no matter who they were with

Buffy and Angel (Btvs) The best forbidden romance. I don't know how anyone could watch I Will Remember You and not want them to be together

Hate:

Willow and Tara (Btvs)

I just hated how it pushed Oz and Willow aside like it was nothing and I hated the person Willow became while she was with Tara

Damon and Elena (The Vampire Diaries) There is so much wrong there it can't all be listed

[Athena]

Max and Liz from Roswell were a good ship in S1, but S3 and S3 really ruined it. Ugh. I do agree the actors had a ton of chemistry.

 

Pacey/Joey were probably one of the best things about Dawson's Creek for me. I could never get behind the vacuum that was Dawson/Joey. Dawson didn't seem to have chemistry with anyone.

[Danny Franks]

A few I'm not keen on:

 

Shawn & Juliet - Psych - Because he's lying to her. He has from the beginning. I've not watched a whole of this show, because it's kind of meh, but from what I have seen, it never seems to have been made an issue for them as a couple that Shawn is a fraud, which is weird because Juliet seemed to be about the only person who actually believed he was genuine. That might have changed, by now, but I just found it icky.

 

Buffy & Spike - Did I just say "icky"? Multiply that by a thousand. Buffy getting her deathwish rocks off on Spike's cold boner, Spike only refraining from killing her and her friends because of a chip in his head. But then he falls in love with her (despite having no soul) and gets resouled, which Buffy never really seems to appreciate, because it might just be something that's about him, and not about her. And she ain't got time for that shit.

 

Ross & Rachel - Probably my first experience of a couple that took over a show. God, they were unbearable, from start to finish. I never even understood why Rachel liked him in the first place. They treated other people like crap (Julie, Bonnie, Emily, that guy Mark, the girl Ross slept with while they were On A Break!), they were boring together, they were far more fun apart. And what crowned it all was when the writers just flung them back together again, right at the end, to appease 'shippers. 

[blugirlami21]

That's interesting that you say season 3 ruined it for you, Athena.  I leave that to season two was much worse for them.  I dunno Shawn and Juliet didn't bother me that much because Shawn was lying to everyone not just her but he does tell her in the end and there was major fallout because of it so it works out imo.

Edited June 14, 2014 by blugirlami21

[Athena]

That's interesting that you say season 3 ruined it for you, Athena.  I leave that to season two was much worse for them.  I dunno Shawn and Juliet didn't bother me that much because Shawn was lying to everyone not just her but he does tell her in the end and there was major fallout because of it so it works out imo.

 

Yes, I do agree that in many ways S2 was worse, but the show had reached a point of no return for the ship. I couldn't get into it in S3 and the ending just left me dissatisfied because so much had happened. It's like the writers tried to take back Tess and everything in S2, but I couldn't forget it so it was bad for me to watch them try to salvage it. It felt the actors had largely given up on the show; it felt like they were phoning it in at times. The spark wasn't there anymore.

 

I was discussing this show with someone else earlier in the year and we both sorta cringed when we remembered how it got after S1. I have not seen it since the original airings though.

[Boots]

I really liked Jimmy and Christine on  Yes Dear. Only speaking about their relationship with each other, not with puss and the shrew. 

[Anna Yolei]

Having rewatched True Blood, I loved Lafayette's relationship with Jesus and Jessica/Hoyt were my two fave combos.

Pretty much any Sookie-centric relationship usually loses my interest, but the one with Eric was the least irritating.

[blueray]

 

While I liked Rory/Jess's chemistry on Gilmore Girls, I was always intrigued by the prospect of a Jess/Paris pairing. Have I mentioned that I have odd taste?! ;) 

I always thought that Paris and Jess would have made an interesting couple too. Especially when Paris helped Rory lie to Dean about them all having dinner. It seemed so legit that it almost could have been true. The two did flirt a little.

 

Couples I liked:

 

Luke and Lorieli: great to see two friends finally realize they both want more.

 

Connor and Abby: While their show (Primeval) didn't have a lot of episodes, their relationship became the heart of the show and continued to be one of the reasons I continued to watch.

 

Sawyer and Juliet (Lost): I loved them together and wish we got to see more of them together. And obviously that she lived.

 

Didn't like:

 

Lana and Clark: by the end of season 5, I hated Lana to the point I wished Lex killed her. That way their would be no horrible continued relationship. That everyone knows was doomed to end at some point. And by season 8 (or 9?) the writters realized "oh crap they can't actually end up together" so threw in something stupid to keep them apart for good.

 

Sookie and Bill: they were expremely boring and while not the major reason for me to stop watching True Blood they didn't help.

Edited June 16, 2014 by blueray

[jah1986]

John Crichton and Aeryn sun Farscape. It wasn't always pretty or easy but at the end of the day they loved each other and there wasn't all that will they or won't they nonsense.

 

I did not love Tim Riggins and Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights, but I loved Eric and Tami.

 

The less said about Smallville the better. I really hated Lana but I didn't love Clark and Lois either so there you go.

[Minneapple]

Favorites:

 

Coach and Mrs. Coach on Friday Night Lights. Was there ever any question?

 

Scott/Kira on Teen Wolf. Soooo adorable.

 

Michael/Nikita on Nikita. Yeah, they got a little wonky in season three, but they were one of the couples who got together and stayed together. For that I was grateful. There was never any question that they loved each other or that there would be some bullshit love triangles with them.

 

Least faves:

 

Ross/Rachel on Friends. By the end I didn't care any more.

 

Luke and Lorelai on Gilmore Girls. Much better as friends. Their friendship was lovely. They went from really KNOWING each other to hiding stupid secrets like long-lost daughters from each other.

 

Veronica/Logan on Veronica Mars. They were better as frenemies. And I hated Logan by the end of the series. I might have hated him in the movie, but he was scrubbed free of the personality that had made him LOGAN and was instead made into Veronica's Perfect Boyfriend. So instead he was just boring rather than hateworthy.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Minneapple

[Kromm]

1.) Hate ANY coupling on a Procedural Crime Show. All of them.  Always.  Keep it out of the office, dillholes (I'm talking to the showrunners)  SO many examples.  Jane and Lisbon on The Mentalist is only the most recent of them, but we could also talk about Grissom and Sara on CSI, or dozens of other older examples.  Note that I do not equate something like "Castle" to this, because Castle isn't really  a cop, and the whole show is more of a romantic comedy merged with a old-timey pre-procedural detective show than a modern procedural.  Not that I like how Castle and Beckett's relationship got played out, but at least in THEORY it wasn't inherently a bad idea--the way EVERY straight procedural inter-office romance is.  And if it's a relationship on a straight procedural that's NOT inter-office?  It's STILL probably a bad idea, because it detracts from the core things of what a procedural should be about.

 

2.) I don't inherently mind "fated" couples, like Clark Kent/Lois Lane or Green Arrow/Some Person In A Black Canary Mask, I just think there's the burden of great casting they often let us down on.  Such couples are FINE, just screen test the HELL out of the chemistry beforehand.

 

3.) The Moonlighting Problem can be real, but overreacting to it has actually done MORE damage over the years than the problem itself.   Plot a realistic relationship arc at PILOT time. Be flexible on it, since you can't be sure how long your show will have, but stick to the basics.  Have some trap doors if you need to change things up to accommodate a changed schedule, but don't rely on people doing stupid unforgivable stuff then later insist they get back together.  Deal with marriage as it's own set of hazards--not necessarily the end of the story--but also not some idiotic inherent temporary state either.  Pray you don't unexpectedly have a key cast member leave or die, because lets face it... that one's hard to plan for. 

[blugirlami21]

I am like the total opposite, I always want the partners to get together, lol.  It's so cliche but I can't help it, I want them together.  Even shows I don't watch like The Mentalist for example, I just know that Jane and Lisbon should be together.  Some others:

 

Peter and Olivia (Fringe) Great chemistry, a very satisfying pairing

Elliot and Liv (Law and Order SVU) It was clearly there, too bad he got back together with has wife and had a thirteenth child

Morgan and Garcia (Criminal Minds) I'm still giving the show the side eye for saying they have a sibling relationship, please.

Castle and Beckett

Booth and Brennan

 

I did hate House and Cuddy (House) I could not stand Cuddy

Lois and Clark (Smallville) I thought Lois was a terrible character and match for Clark

and Rory and Logan (Gilmore Girls) I hated Logan so much.  He made Rory such an unlikeable character and I never felt like she recovered from it.

[Anna Yolei]

Star Trek-wise, my favorite would have to be Kira and Odo of DS9. Just great chem all around, and being together didn't detract from the other as human(oid....ish, in Odo's case) beings.

The worst is a toss up between Worf/Dax and Tucker/T'Pol. The latter is a product of a general lack of vision for Enterprise, while the former seems to make a 180 to Worf to make the pairing fit 'cuz Dax was a Klingon ambassador in her previous life, so um. On the other hand, Curzon stopped getting storylines after that happened, so there's a plus.

[ParadoxLost]

On the Star Trek front {and I feel like I should be ashamed} I really like Troi/Riker TNG and Paris/Torres Voyager.

 

I loved Monica and Chandler on Friends.  It was in no small part because of all the other character's reactions to finding out. "I have to tell someone." - Joey

[Kromm]

I am like the total opposite, I always want the partners to get together, lol.  It's so cliche but I can't help it, I want them together.  Even shows I don't watch like The Mentalist for example, I just know that Jane and Lisbon should be together.  Some others:

 

Peter and Olivia (Fringe) Great chemistry, a very satisfying pairing

Elliot and Liv (Law and Order SVU) It was clearly there, too bad he got back together with has wife and had a thirteenth child

Morgan and Garcia (Criminal Minds) I'm still giving the show the side eye for saying they have a sibling relationship, please.

Castle and Beckett

Booth and Brennan

Neither Castle nor Bones are really procedurals (at most they're romantic comedies merged with light procedurals), so I can't really count them with my "rule".  Neither was Fringe (plus Peter wasn't a cop/Fed--at most we can count him as an outside consultant--and the times when Olivia WAS paired with a fellow law enforcement person were kind of low points--although given how badly it turned out you can't say she didn't suffer for the choice).

 

On The Mentalist, even though Jane also isn't actually a Fed, I found it terrible mostly  because it was so predictable, so badly done, and in fact flew in the face of another cast member who had that actual kind of chemistry with him from her first appearance (and who was teased as still a good potential even as recent as a handful of episodes before Jisbon was locked down).  The writing seemed to change tracks from one girl to another fairly rapidly, in fact.  And unlike lets say.. Castle and Beckett, the vibe between Jane and Lisbon, from Day 1 hadn't been semi-romantic teasing, it had been more of a clear buddy relationship.