Worst fictional primetime couples in TV history?

[amybrickwallace]

No, reality shows don't count here - though some couples there are certainly toxic. I'll start the ball rolling.

 

Kelly Fox (Claire Carey) and Stuart Rosebrock (Kris Kamm), Coach - Those two were so completely mismatched that it was hard to believe that they'd ever go out together more than once, much less get married. Once they did marry, all they did was argue. Thank goodness the producers and writers realized that the characters who really worked were Hayden, Christine, Luther and Dauber (with Judy Watkins and Howard Burleigh as strong and funny recurring characters) and that Kelly/Stuart didn't add anything of substance to the proceedings. In fact, whenever the stories were focused on them, they dragged the show down. It was a very good thing that TPTB finally saw the light and broke them up, especially before they had any kids (shudder).

 

Next?

[Franko]

Joel and Maggie of Northern Exposure. Talk about your pairings that lasted past the expiration date! Or didn't, considering they couldn't even have sex as a genuine couple without causing guns to go off. Yes, it was that contrived. At its worse, the show seemed hellbent to make anyone watching loathe the concept of "Will They or Won't They?"

[Soapsuds]

JR and Cally on Dallas. Not really much to say except it seemed like a joke when they paired them and was done for laughs.

[DRW50]

 

Yes. Yes. Yes. They are one of the reasons I quit watching - so damn boring. 

 

Others:

 

Gary and Kate (Knots Landing) - They clearly had no idea what to do with Kate, so they put her in a relationship with a man old enough to be her father. This was not Paige and Greg, to say the least. It just showed how limited and empty the canvas was by the end of the show. 

 

Tom and Paige (KL) - Generally couples who are pushed as hot hot hot are not not not, and few establish it better than Paige and DIRTY COP! DIRTY COP! He was one of those late swarthy, smarmy late '80s/early '90s men who make you wonder just how big sex toy sales got in this era.

 

Abby and Michael York (KL) - Zero chemistry, and all for a story that Abby had no need for as a character. The only good thing about it was the flashbacks. 

 

McMurphy and Gerard Bernard (China Beach) - Again, awful chemistry, and he was every "brooding foreigner" cliche rolled into one, complete with a ridiculous ascot and various "secrets." Not only was this story dull, it also began my deep loathing of McMurphy, as this plot tipped her into a rampantly self-righteous Mary Sue hell that she never escaped from. 

 

Buffy and Riley (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - About as blatant an example of anti-chemistry as you can find anywhere. An oppressive, smug pairing, one that heralded the show's deep decline in its last four seasons. 

[Soapsuds]

+1

 

Gary and Kate was a big head scratcher and Michael York was just gross....he and Donna had zero chemistry.

 

LOL at the Tom stuff....LOLOL

 

 

Dallas

Bobby and April- I never cared for them.

[amybrickwallace]

Laura Winslow and Stefan Urquelle - Family Matters. Enough said?

[Faulkner]

Kitty and Robert; Kevin and Scotty; Justin and Rebecca (Brothers and Sisters) - Just deeply, deeply unlikable  characters and boring couples with repetitive and predictable problems. Such a bad show with a promising premise and good actors.

 

 

[te.]

Alison and Jake, Melrose Place: a couple that in theory had potential, but by the time they got around to it everyone was over it and they became basically islanded apart from the rest of the show in the worst relationship drama you'd never want to see.

[SoapDope]

Dallas.....Lucy & Mitch..Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Actually Lucy and any pairing she ever had. The same for Jenna Wade. I though she was boring. 

[KeMoLove]

Joey and Rachel on Friends

[Khan]

Actually, I feel like there were a lot of couples on MELROSE PLACE who could have qualified for being among the worst.  That show had wall-to-wall toxic people, ruining each other's lives.

 

Same goes for 90210.

 

To this day, I am grateful that they never had Stefan and Steve split permanently, so that Stefan could be with Laura, and Steve with Myra.  Even though I felt like that was EXACTLY what they wanted to do.

[ChitHappens]

 

I'm still scarred by this - should have canceled Dallas before this ever happened.  JR marrying that hick?  Such a traumatic experience...

 

 

[Khan]

I'm sorry, but the ONLY way to play J.R. and Cally's marriage -- hell, the only way to play Cally at all -- was for laughs.

[Soapsuds]

When Sue Ellen popped that balloon after catching JR and Cally and laughed....I thought my soap is gone. This is pure [!@#$%^&*] and the writers have run out of stories.

[YRBB]

 

 

It WAS played for laughs. Unfortunately, Cally also looked 15 married to a 60 year-old, and knowing Hagman was personally involved in the actress' casting makes it even more uncomfortable. That whole Hayleyville story (I am watching it now for the first time) was truly horrific beyond words. 

 

Lucy was great with Alan, Mickey, and Eddie. Mitch, not so much. The main issue with Lucy is that they turned her too much into a simpering heroine and Tilton didn't have the gravitas to keep herself relevant.