Favorite couples (past and present)

[DRW50]

"Shipping" has become more and more prominent in various primetime shows, as has the idea of playing up these relationships and manipulating fans of these relationships. But couples have been on TV from the very start, some better than others. I was wondering who some of your favorites have been.

Oddly enough I don't have any favorite couples from primetime soaps, and I rarely watched those shows for the romantic relationships. The closest might be Gary/Abby and Ben/Val on Knots Landing, but I always loved Abby (when she wasn't in dull stories).

Anyway, just off the top of my head:

McMurphy/Dr. Richard, China Beach - oh my, what a very sad relationship this was, especially since Colleen McMurphy was a raging self-righteous martyr who caused every man in existence to fall in love with her. Dana Delaney, somehow, had the best chemistry with Robert Picardo, in a relationship that involved very prickly personalities, years of longing, and melodramatic mistiming. In a show as realistic as China Beach tried to be, no one else could have pulled off scenarios like "almost kissing while singing 'Thanks for the Memories'" or "Almost run off for a new life together after they have to sing numbers from 'My Fair Lady' to each other for a theater production," but by God, they did. Unfortunately he had to return home when his ex-wife was killed, and they never had a chance. The relationship, like most of China Beach, soon collapsed into navel-gazing, depressing mawkishness, as Richard married a young nurse named Colleen and McMurphy spent a decade having a variety of nervous breakdowns until she married the very, very safe, loving, devoted, and dull Adam Arkin. But even at the end, when they met again, all it took was one look to remember what could have been.

Rory/Amy, Doctor Who - Doctor Who doesn't usually do love stories beyond one-episode wonders, or unfortunate sagas about how the nubile female companion is in love with the Doctor and lives for him above all else. Amy Pond started out the same way, throwing herself at an incredibly embarrassed Doctor, who solved the problem by inviting her somewhat awkward and incredibly geeky fiance, Rory Williams, to travel with them. The "triangle" amounted to just a crush on Amy's part, but Rory was always a little unsure of Amy's feelings. Amy knew she loved Rory, even if she sometimes didn't tell him. One early episode had the characters trapped in nightmares. In one of them, Amy and Rory were married, and he was killed. Amy completely shut down. When she asked the Doctor if they could wake up from the dream by killing themselves, if they would all be fine, including Rory. The Doctor said there was a good chance. She drove her truck into a wall. When they all did wake up, fine, Amy talked to Rory about what she'd done.

Rory: But...how did you know it was a dream?

Amy: I didn't.

Rory himself later "died" after taking a blast ray for the Doctor, and some time displacement weirdness meant a traumatized Amy forgot his existence. He eventually came back from the dead in ancient Rome, now as an Auton with no control over his own actions, no matter how much he fought it. He shot Amy...just as she remembered who he was and how much she loved him. Angst on angst. He then watched over her for 2,000 years while she recovered. Now both back to normal, they married, but a pregnant Amy was kidnapped. He tore the universe apart to find her.

My favorite episode was when another weird time flux meant she was trapped alone on some weird planet, having to constantly fight to survive, for 30 years. Rory found her; when she told him he must be upset that she had aged so much, he said he was only upset he hadn't been able to grow old with her. He also found the Amy who had just shown up on the planet, and wanted them both to return to the TARDIS with him. The Doctor knew this wasn't possible, and made sure the doors locked as soon as the young Amy and Rory were on board. Rory and OlderAmy tried to touch hands through the glass of the TARDIS window, as a heartbroken Rory knew she would soon fade into the darkness. This episode also had a wonderfully written speech which addressed the idea of Rory not being "hot" enough for someone as beautiful as Amy.

Amy and Rory stayed together through some other soap opera-ish crises, such as never really getting their child back, and Amy breaking up with Rory because she was now infertile and knew he wanted children. They quickly reconciled, and spent years traveling with the Doctor, until Rory was taken back into time. The laws of time said he had to die in the past, alone. Amy refused to accept this. When Rory decided to take the risk of rewriting time by jumping off a building, Amy decided to jump with him. They did change time, but Rory was still taken back. Amy realized there was a chance she could also go back, but she could never see the Doctor again. The Doctor begged her not to take the chance, to stay with him, but she made her final choice - Rory. They were together for the last 50 years of their lives. It's actually almost revolutionary - so many recent companions have stayed with the Doctor until they were literally ripped away from him, or until he broke their heart. Amy saw the Doctor as her best friend, but staying with him never even crossed her mind.

All of this sounds heavy and a little ridiculous, but there were also so many funny moments, crazy moments, sweet moments. Initially I thought Amy was annoying and aggressive and Rory was just one of those guys who would be weak to make the Doctor seem stronger, but they both blossomed as characters and became one of the real highlights of the show. Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillan had wonderful chemistry - they were the type of actors who just had to share a glance, and you felt it immediately. These clips don't do them justice, but you get a little glimpse.

Vinnie/Roger, Wiseguy

They may not have been a big romantic relationship (heavy implications aside), but you will rarely find such a blatant love story on any show. Vinnie met Roger while working undercover. Vinnie, who was still idealistic and a dreamer, was the only person who could ever tear apart and then rebuild someone like Roger, who had been used and abused by government agents and was completely dead inside. Vinnie cared so much, wanted to talk, wanted to remind Roger that you don't have to just be a thug for hire, you can have a heart. Against all he had thought himself to be, Roger began to believe in Vinnie and what Vinnie was saying. This relationship had so many superb moments of angst hell. My very favorite was when Roger had been given orders to kill Vinnie. They were in an elevator, Roger standing behind Vinnie. Roger began flashing back to when he'd enlisted, how he'd gone to Vietnam to be a hero. Roger couldn't do it. He couldn't kill Vinnie. When their bosses sent another thug to kill Vinnie, almost killing Vinnie's close friend Frank in the process, Roger tracked down the thug and murdered him.

Eventually Vinnie began to doubt Roger, who was still a very damaged and destructive man in many ways. But Roger gave up everything, risking his own life to testify against his superiors. There was an incredible scene where Roger finally confided the last of his pain to Vinnie, stripped emotionally bare, recounting the torture which had been inflicted on those he loved to make him complicit.

Roger then disappeared in a boat explosion. Vinnie, knowing that the government was going to smear Roger's name to ensure the higher ups would get away with their crimes, testified on Roger's behalf, telling people that Roger was a hero. He then resigned. The last scene of this story, one that would do any soap opera proud, was a depressed Vinnie walking down the street. He looked up, and on the other side of traffic was Roger, briefly out of hiding to look at him one last time, to thank him. A truck cut off Vinnie's view, and when he looked again, Roger was gone. Vinnie walked on, now smiling, knowing that Roger was still with him, and that he'd done the right thing.

[All My Shadows]

My #1 fave TV couple of all time would definitely be these two:

[AdelaideCate007]

and currently, I am all about:

[DRW50]

I would have saved myself time if I'd just put pictures

For classic couples I'd list 99 and Maxwell Smart, especially the first few seasons.

I also loved Carol and Shep on ER. Obviously they were just filler until she reunited with Doug (Carol/Doug were OK, just not my favorite), but they had fantastic chemistry. One of the few times that actors involved offscreen shared the same chemistry onscreen.

[AdelaideCate007]

I was trying to think of some classic couples, but I haven't seen a lot of pre-80s American TV (it wasn't readily available to me as a kid, but I'm catching up a lot now thanks to the internet and DVDs). I guess my favourite classic couple would have to be Darren and Samantha from Bewitched.

We should have a favourite soap couples thread- has there been one before? I can't remember.

[DRW50]

I think there have been a few favorite soap couple threads.

I'd love to hear your choices for shows that weren't American, if you had any.

[AdelaideCate007]

Shane and Angel on Home and Away

Vinne and Leah on Home and Away

Lachlan and Chloe on Home and Away (hmph- I'm still mad they killed off Chloe. I wish her daughter would show up to live with Irene)

I remember liking Mr. Fisher and Marilyn on Home and Away at the time, but that's a pairing that didn't seem to age very well

Karl and Susan on Neighbours- though I did like the time period where they broke up and he was with Izzy for a while (I didn't like the guy Susan got with though, even if that's how she ended up with Zeke and Rachel)

Scott and Charlene on Neighbours

Ricky and Bianca on Eastenders (not really this last go round, but back in the 90s when they were awesome)

Tim and Dawn on The Office

Lovejoy and Charlotte on Lovejoy (which was like my favourite programme when I was younger)

I'm sure I'll think of some more later

And since I know you're a big Doctor Who fan, this is my favourite Doctor and companion:

[DRW50]

Lovejoy was the caper show right? That aired on A&E sometimes.

I loved Donna with Ten, and just loved Donna period. She was a huge breath of fresh air, exactly what the show needed. She took me back to the companions of the old series. I can't watch any of her stories now, because of her exit, but I loved her.

[applcin]

They were never a couple on Mission:Impossible and more of a teaser couple on Space:1999 but I always enjoyed seeing these real-life then-spouses work with each other.

[I Am A Swede]

I've never been all that invested in couples, but a few comes to mind.

Nick and Kate on "Heartbeat".

For those of you who aren't familiar with this show, it took place in a small village (Aidensfield) in Yorkshire, England, during the 1960s. Nick and Kate were the lead characters when it started. He was a police officer, she was a doctor, and when the show started they had just relocated from London to Aidensfield. Sadly, Kate contracted leukaemia and died shortly after giving birth to a daughter. She had kept her illness a secret and put off getting treatment for fear it might hurt her child. (This was because the actress, Niamh Cusack, had become pregnant in real life and decided to leave the show.)

The show kept running for fourteen years after Kate's death, but it was never quite the same again after that, atleast not for me. Nick re-married and left the show as well a few years later.

This show is a prime example of a show that went on for too long. ITV should have ended it years before they did. When the end finally came it was a shadow of its former glory.

Richard and Marjorie on "Upstairs, Downstairs"

My favourite tv-show of all time, and yet another death that changed a show. When lady Marjorie Bellamy went down with the Titanic early in the third series, she left a void that still wasn't filled when the show ended. Richard and Marjorie were quite different in many ways, yet I never doubted that they loved and respected each other, even when Marjorie had an affair during the first series.

Richard and Hazel on "Upstairs, Downstairs"

These two were never a romantic couple (she was married to his son), yet they shared a special bond and were really far more suited for each other than Hazel and James. She died too though (an unfortunate trend among my favourite couples it seems) of the Spanish flu just at the end of World War I.

[SFK]

[Cheap21]

Angel and Cordelia, Angel

Riley and Buffy, BTVS

Jim and Pam, The Office

Zack and Kelly, Save by the Bell

Orson and Bree, Desperate Housewives

[quartermainefan]