Tuesday, February 14, 2006
My favorite TV couples
It’s Valentine’s Day and romance is on my mind. I started thinking about some of my favorite couples from some of my favorite shows from the past and present. So my Valentines Day gift to you is a list of my favorite TV couples.
Dewayne and Whitley [Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy]…A Different World, 1987-1993. When the show began, Denise Huxtable was the main character, and Dewayne Wayne had a crush on her. Whitley Gilbert was just that snooty Southern girl who annoyed Denise. Near the end of the first season Dewayne and Denise go out on a date. Whitley who had loaned Dewayne the money for the date, barges in on them because she’s depressed about spending the summer at home with her mother. Instead of kicking Whitley to the curb, Dewayne takes the time to comfort her. In that scene we saw the chemistry these two actors had. That chemistry would make them the stars of the show after Lisa Bonet left and make them one of my favorite TV couples. It was nice seeing an average good guy like Dewayne end of with the campus beauty.
Mulder and Scully [David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson]…The X-Files, 1993-2002. Yeah they were battling a massive alien conspiracy, (which I still haven’t figured out yet), and were confronting all sorts of supernatural occurrences, but the biggest mystery Mulder and Scully had to confront was the heart. These two very hot people who spent nearly every waking hour together (when Scully wasn’t being abducted, or Mulder was out chasing a lead by himself and having to be rescued by Scully later) could never admit how they felt about each other. We of course knew, but we didn’t actually get any official confirmation until Season 8 (which I pretend doesn’t exist; don’t look at me that way). Nothing says love like kissing while holding your possibly alien baby.
Kevin and Winnie [Fred Savage and Danica McKellar]…The Wonder Years, 1988-1993. Who can forget their first love? The first time you actually liked a girl, and did everything in your power not to let anyone know. Sitting there daydreaming about her. Doing anything you could to be close to her without making it appear obvious (of course it was to everyone). Finally getting up the courage to tell her you like her and to your relieve and happiness finding out she likes you too. If you’re older you date and you find out a lot about them and yourself. Eventually comes the break-up and you’re sure you won’t survive it until the next love of your life appears. But sometimes, that first love is more than a crush, and your relationship is deeper than you could ever imagine. That was Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper. It was great for a show to take young love seriously and let us reminisce about our own.
Xena and Gabrielle [Lucy Lawless and Renée O’Connor]…Xena: Warrior Princess, 1995-2001. It started off as a hero/sidekick relationship. The sidekick admires and adores the hero, while the hero protects and tolerates the sidekick. The relationship developed into a strong friendship, with the hero beginning to treat the sidekick as an equal. Soon fans began to speculate that it was more than just friendship. They were brave, loyal, loving to each other, and they also shared baths. Every little thing they did began to be scrutinized like it was passages from the Dead Sea Scrolls and we were given a lot of clever scenes to scrutinize. The emotions between them were too intense just to be friends. The chemistry between the two actresses added fire to the subtext. This was the first time we saw a relationship between women played out like this on TV and the producers of the show weren’t trying to squash what we thought we were seeing. Xena and Gabrielle were the classic romantic couple and we wanted them to be together.
Remington Steele and Laura Holt [Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist]…Remington Steele, 1982-1987. Like a lot of relationships, this one was build on a lie. There really wasn’t a Remington Steele, just a charming rogue who was impersonating him. You could understand why Laura didn’t want to get involved with him. Then again it’s easy to see why she would. The charming rogue was actually a good man who sometimes did live in a bit of a fantasy world but who actually cared for Laura. They both had walls build up against having a relationship with anyone, Steele not knowing who he really was and Laura with her father abandonment issues. Still a lot of relationships have barriers like this and it was fun watching Mr. Steele and Miss Holt break through theirs.
Tim and Dawn [Martin Freeman and Lucy Davis]…The Office, 2001-2003. Jim and Pam [John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer]…The Office, 2005-????. I loved the original version of The Office when I first watched it on BBC America. Aside from the brilliant Ricky Gervaise as David Brent, I loved The Office U.K. because of Tim and Dawn. They gave this show its heart. Haven’t we seen someone we like in a relationship with someone totally unsuitable for them. We fall into the friendship zone with them and are afraid to say anything least we lose even that. You can sense the other person might have feelings for you but they’re just as afraid as you are. Not a lot of fun is it? So when I heard that NBC was going to do an Americanized version of The Office, I thought it was going to be a complete disaster. Because of my initial feelings about the show, it took me awhile to warm up to the show. Thanks to My Name is Earl I started watching it regularly and now I’m a big fan. One of the reasons for it is the relationship between Jim and Pam, the American version of Tim and Dawn. John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer have done a fantastic job of making the relationship their own. NBC didn’t screw it up, now that’s a miracle.
Steed and Mrs. Peel [Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg]…The Avengers, 1965-1967. Before there was a Warrior Princess named Xena, a Vampire Slayer named Buffy, or a spy named Sydney, there was a beautiful badass British agent named Emma Peel. Her partner was the urbane and witty John Steed. Watching those two together, you found yourself wanting to be British. Mrs. Peel was one of the first truly liberated women on TV and she and Steed treated each other as equals (even though who are we kidding, Mrs. Peel was far superior). The two had great chemistry together and truly cared for each other, but they never made it romantic (or at least we never saw it, don’t forget they were spies). Too make matters worse Mr. Peel reappeared from the jungles of Africa or wherever he was loss and Mrs. Peel left the show. I wish something had eaten Mr. Peel.
John and Aeryn [Ben Browder and Claudia Black]…Farscape, 1999-2003. It was a show set in space with Puppets! How could you take it seriously? You could once you started watching it. One of the best Science Fiction series of all time and one of the most romantic shows ever on TV. You could thanks John Crichton and Officer Aeryn Sun for that. John was an American astronaut lost in space and Aeryn was the beautiful alien who John would fall in love with. Aeryn was a trip, sure she looked human and had all the girl parts, but she was still an alien and didn’t see things the way John did. Aeryn was a soldier and she thought John was an inferior being. Eventually the two grew to respect each other and to trust their lives with the other. Once they got through all the women are from Venus men are from Mars (or in this case Earth) crap, the two fell in love. So basically it’s like any love story, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets back girl. The obstacles they had to face might be more than the one’s you’ve faced, like having Scorpius breathing down your neck. John and Aeryn prove that love is universal.
Carla and Turk [Judy Reyes and Donald Faison]…Scrubs, 2001-????. I love Scrubs, one of the best comedies of this decade. The show can be so surreal and the characters can be so quirky, that if the show wasn’t grounded, it could just become stupid and silly. One of the ways the show is grounded is through the relationship of Carla and Turk. Instead of giving us one of those insufferable are they or aren’t they relationships, they have given us a stable relationship that isn’t dull. They are both wacky in their own way, but they don’t let that come between them. It’s easy to root for Carla and Turk, and its actually entertaining watching a couple act like a couple.
Joan and Adam [Amber Tamblyn and Chris Marquette] and Luke and Grace [Michael Welch and Becky Wahlstrom]…Joan of Arcadia, 2003-2005. It was about a teenage girl who talked to God with God being the one who initiated the conversation. It was also about her family and friends, and how she dealt with it all. Two of her new best friends were Adam Rove and Grace Polk. Adam was this shy weird guy who everyone thought was a stoner. Grace was this tough androgynous girl who everyone assumed was a lesbian. Joan found out that in realty Adam was a sensitive artist still grieving over his deceased mother while Grace was a smart, non-conformist, who might like the right man if he came along. Strangely he did in the form of Joan’s science geek brother Luke. It would seem like a strange pairing and Grace fought against it, but she soon realized Luke wasn’t really a geek, just passionate about science and in trying to be true to himself, something Grace was trying to be too. It didn’t hurt he was also a great kisser. Adam and Joan developed a much deeper connection. In a way they probably grew too close and dependent on each other, but that’s what made their relationship so intriguing to watch. They weren’t your typical teenage couple (or maybe they were). They had broken up because of Adam’s cheating by the end of season 2, and if CBS weren’t being run by Satan, we could have seen how their relationship would have developed. As I like to say every Friday at 7 p.m., damn you Les Moonves.
Dewayne and Whitley [Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy]…A Different World, 1987-1993. When the show began, Denise Huxtable was the main character, and Dewayne Wayne had a crush on her. Whitley Gilbert was just that snooty Southern girl who annoyed Denise. Near the end of the first season Dewayne and Denise go out on a date. Whitley who had loaned Dewayne the money for the date, barges in on them because she’s depressed about spending the summer at home with her mother. Instead of kicking Whitley to the curb, Dewayne takes the time to comfort her. In that scene we saw the chemistry these two actors had. That chemistry would make them the stars of the show after Lisa Bonet left and make them one of my favorite TV couples. It was nice seeing an average good guy like Dewayne end of with the campus beauty.
Mulder and Scully [David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson]…The X-Files, 1993-2002. Yeah they were battling a massive alien conspiracy, (which I still haven’t figured out yet), and were confronting all sorts of supernatural occurrences, but the biggest mystery Mulder and Scully had to confront was the heart. These two very hot people who spent nearly every waking hour together (when Scully wasn’t being abducted, or Mulder was out chasing a lead by himself and having to be rescued by Scully later) could never admit how they felt about each other. We of course knew, but we didn’t actually get any official confirmation until Season 8 (which I pretend doesn’t exist; don’t look at me that way). Nothing says love like kissing while holding your possibly alien baby.
Kevin and Winnie [Fred Savage and Danica McKellar]…The Wonder Years, 1988-1993. Who can forget their first love? The first time you actually liked a girl, and did everything in your power not to let anyone know. Sitting there daydreaming about her. Doing anything you could to be close to her without making it appear obvious (of course it was to everyone). Finally getting up the courage to tell her you like her and to your relieve and happiness finding out she likes you too. If you’re older you date and you find out a lot about them and yourself. Eventually comes the break-up and you’re sure you won’t survive it until the next love of your life appears. But sometimes, that first love is more than a crush, and your relationship is deeper than you could ever imagine. That was Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper. It was great for a show to take young love seriously and let us reminisce about our own.
Xena and Gabrielle [Lucy Lawless and Renée O’Connor]…Xena: Warrior Princess, 1995-2001. It started off as a hero/sidekick relationship. The sidekick admires and adores the hero, while the hero protects and tolerates the sidekick. The relationship developed into a strong friendship, with the hero beginning to treat the sidekick as an equal. Soon fans began to speculate that it was more than just friendship. They were brave, loyal, loving to each other, and they also shared baths. Every little thing they did began to be scrutinized like it was passages from the Dead Sea Scrolls and we were given a lot of clever scenes to scrutinize. The emotions between them were too intense just to be friends. The chemistry between the two actresses added fire to the subtext. This was the first time we saw a relationship between women played out like this on TV and the producers of the show weren’t trying to squash what we thought we were seeing. Xena and Gabrielle were the classic romantic couple and we wanted them to be together.
Remington Steele and Laura Holt [Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist]…Remington Steele, 1982-1987. Like a lot of relationships, this one was build on a lie. There really wasn’t a Remington Steele, just a charming rogue who was impersonating him. You could understand why Laura didn’t want to get involved with him. Then again it’s easy to see why she would. The charming rogue was actually a good man who sometimes did live in a bit of a fantasy world but who actually cared for Laura. They both had walls build up against having a relationship with anyone, Steele not knowing who he really was and Laura with her father abandonment issues. Still a lot of relationships have barriers like this and it was fun watching Mr. Steele and Miss Holt break through theirs.
Tim and Dawn [Martin Freeman and Lucy Davis]…The Office, 2001-2003. Jim and Pam [John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer]…The Office, 2005-????. I loved the original version of The Office when I first watched it on BBC America. Aside from the brilliant Ricky Gervaise as David Brent, I loved The Office U.K. because of Tim and Dawn. They gave this show its heart. Haven’t we seen someone we like in a relationship with someone totally unsuitable for them. We fall into the friendship zone with them and are afraid to say anything least we lose even that. You can sense the other person might have feelings for you but they’re just as afraid as you are. Not a lot of fun is it? So when I heard that NBC was going to do an Americanized version of The Office, I thought it was going to be a complete disaster. Because of my initial feelings about the show, it took me awhile to warm up to the show. Thanks to My Name is Earl I started watching it regularly and now I’m a big fan. One of the reasons for it is the relationship between Jim and Pam, the American version of Tim and Dawn. John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer have done a fantastic job of making the relationship their own. NBC didn’t screw it up, now that’s a miracle.
Steed and Mrs. Peel [Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg]…The Avengers, 1965-1967. Before there was a Warrior Princess named Xena, a Vampire Slayer named Buffy, or a spy named Sydney, there was a beautiful badass British agent named Emma Peel. Her partner was the urbane and witty John Steed. Watching those two together, you found yourself wanting to be British. Mrs. Peel was one of the first truly liberated women on TV and she and Steed treated each other as equals (even though who are we kidding, Mrs. Peel was far superior). The two had great chemistry together and truly cared for each other, but they never made it romantic (or at least we never saw it, don’t forget they were spies). Too make matters worse Mr. Peel reappeared from the jungles of Africa or wherever he was loss and Mrs. Peel left the show. I wish something had eaten Mr. Peel.
John and Aeryn [Ben Browder and Claudia Black]…Farscape, 1999-2003. It was a show set in space with Puppets! How could you take it seriously? You could once you started watching it. One of the best Science Fiction series of all time and one of the most romantic shows ever on TV. You could thanks John Crichton and Officer Aeryn Sun for that. John was an American astronaut lost in space and Aeryn was the beautiful alien who John would fall in love with. Aeryn was a trip, sure she looked human and had all the girl parts, but she was still an alien and didn’t see things the way John did. Aeryn was a soldier and she thought John was an inferior being. Eventually the two grew to respect each other and to trust their lives with the other. Once they got through all the women are from Venus men are from Mars (or in this case Earth) crap, the two fell in love. So basically it’s like any love story, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets back girl. The obstacles they had to face might be more than the one’s you’ve faced, like having Scorpius breathing down your neck. John and Aeryn prove that love is universal.
Carla and Turk [Judy Reyes and Donald Faison]…Scrubs, 2001-????. I love Scrubs, one of the best comedies of this decade. The show can be so surreal and the characters can be so quirky, that if the show wasn’t grounded, it could just become stupid and silly. One of the ways the show is grounded is through the relationship of Carla and Turk. Instead of giving us one of those insufferable are they or aren’t they relationships, they have given us a stable relationship that isn’t dull. They are both wacky in their own way, but they don’t let that come between them. It’s easy to root for Carla and Turk, and its actually entertaining watching a couple act like a couple.
Joan and Adam [Amber Tamblyn and Chris Marquette] and Luke and Grace [Michael Welch and Becky Wahlstrom]…Joan of Arcadia, 2003-2005. It was about a teenage girl who talked to God with God being the one who initiated the conversation. It was also about her family and friends, and how she dealt with it all. Two of her new best friends were Adam Rove and Grace Polk. Adam was this shy weird guy who everyone thought was a stoner. Grace was this tough androgynous girl who everyone assumed was a lesbian. Joan found out that in realty Adam was a sensitive artist still grieving over his deceased mother while Grace was a smart, non-conformist, who might like the right man if he came along. Strangely he did in the form of Joan’s science geek brother Luke. It would seem like a strange pairing and Grace fought against it, but she soon realized Luke wasn’t really a geek, just passionate about science and in trying to be true to himself, something Grace was trying to be too. It didn’t hurt he was also a great kisser. Adam and Joan developed a much deeper connection. In a way they probably grew too close and dependent on each other, but that’s what made their relationship so intriguing to watch. They weren’t your typical teenage couple (or maybe they were). They had broken up because of Adam’s cheating by the end of season 2, and if CBS weren’t being run by Satan, we could have seen how their relationship would have developed. As I like to say every Friday at 7 p.m., damn you Les Moonves.
