Top Ten TV Couples

Before I begin, let me just say that this is dedicated to the love of my life.  I certainly would not be able to write 3,000 plus words on the subject of love without her.

Since it is the day/week of romance it is now time to revisit my top ten couples list.  I’ve made some changes as I’ve recognized romances I’ve overlooked and had the opportunity to watch shows that contained new ones.  As much as I don’t watch TV primarily to vicariously live through others romance, it is an important part of what TV can do.  Of course that is when TV is doing it well.  There are countless examples of romances portrayed on TV that lacked any real chemistry.  In some cases, like with Cheers the chemistry was there, but the execution became cumbersome.  People loved the back and forth of Sam and Diane, but the “will they won’t they” aspect became so crushing to the rest of the show that when they got together it became anti-climactic.  That’s not a great end result, even if it worked so well early.  Unfortunately the “will they won’t they” is often the bane of good TV.  Between that and the inevitable coupling of male and female leads, it is a wonder that there are as many successes as there are.  When it works the romance feels natural.  The actors have a good chemistry and there coupling is a celebration.  Sure, they may have some speed bumps on the way, but in the end what is on TV reflects a quality relationship that exists in real life.  After all, love is a beautiful thing, and it should be presented as thus.

I like this picture

10.  Olivia and Peter – Fringe

I was dubious on this relationship at first.  When Fringe begins Olivia is facing the death of the man she loved, who is most certainly not Peter.  Peter isn’t that fully developed of a character and doesn’t come off as a romantic lead.  Their chemistry was completely non-existent.  As they show progressed and evolved the characters evolved with it.  In the second season finale there was finally some heat being produced between the two characters and things lifted off from there.  It is almost weird to watch the first season and a half of Fringe and compare it to any other episodes in the series run.  It is in some ways a completely different show.  This romance is just one example.  Early on they were colleagues and in later episodes they were soul mates.  At some point the extent of their soul mate status is delved further into when more of their past was revealed.  I think what ultimately appeals to me about this relationship is that it differs from most male/female romances.  Olivia is more intense, while Peter is more emotionally aware.  The flipping of roles definitely subtle and there is no attempt for some sort of social commentary.  It is just an interesting dynamic that isn’t normally presented.

I always enjoyed how Joey looked 50% disturbed 50% turned on

9.  Pacey and Joey – Dawson’s Creek

Hey its Josh Jackson again.  I must find him dreamy or something.  There aren’t a whole lot of reasons to watch Dawson’s Creek, but they relationship between Pacey and Joey is one of them.  Most of DC revolves around shallow relationships and plots that don’t really end up going anywhere.  The major exception that that rule was how much care the writers put into coupling Pacey and Joey.  This was a big deal for them because the series was set up to have Dawson, the titular character, and Joey end up together.  The problem with Dawson was is that Dawson was a boring character.  Uh, he liked film and was a pretty nice guy.  Yawn.  Pacey on the other hand was a little rougher around the edges and had way more in common with Joey who also was from humble beginnings.  As Pacey began to realize that he had feelings for Joey, the writers did a very unlike Dawson’s Creek thing, and gave things a chance to play out over time.  Pacey was conflicted and felt he was betraying his best friend, but also had to work on convincing Joey that she felt the same way.  After many episodes devoted to his efforts, as well as an annoying cameo by Jonathan Lipnicki, things culminated in a roadside kiss.  It was a payoff that was well earned.  Of course after  a while the writers got bored with showing a functional relationship between two people that cared about each other and found a reason to break them up.  In the series finale, which played like an afternoon school special on dealing with the loss of a loved one, Joey had to choose between Dawson and Pacey.  While I’m sure it was tempting for the writers to saddle her with boring Dawson, they instead paired her with someone that was well suited for her.

The hat is covering the Marshall’s “haircut”

8.  Marshall and Lily -How I Met Your Mother

Back in the days when How I Met Your Mother was cranking out good episodes instead of prolonging actual meeting of the mother, Marshall and Lilly were one of the stronger parts of the show.  They were introduced as being in love, and despite a small hiccup, they continued to be in love.  They had a great wedding episode, plenty of sentimental moments along the way, and most importantly lots of humor.  Lately things have been tough for everyone on the show, but their relationship seems stale.  They’ve had Marvin, their baby, but many of their stories have seemed isolated from the rest of the group.  Granted that is realistic when a couple has a child, but things were even worse before Marvin, when 90% of their stories revolved around trying to get pregnant.  I think this is symptomatic of how the show has stalled creatively as it has desperately tried to push back the date that the mother is introduced.  That isn’t on the actors, as both Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan are incredibly talented, but I do feel Hannigan is kind of going through the motions at this point.  Despite my issues with the show currently, I still have fond memories of them as a couple, and are relieved that it remains a given that these two won’t be divorcing or having affairs.

So much better than a suit

7.  April and Andy – Parks and Recreation

Last year I was excited about where things were going with April and Andy as a couple.  I was totally charmed by the two of them.  They make a weird sort of sense.  Andy not exactly educated or brilliant, but is fun and kind.  April doesn’t really like people, but Andy’s goofiness brings her to life.  They also share a maturity level that makes for great comic fodder as they try to get through life as a married couple, despite really being teenagers in a lot of ways.  Their wedding remains my favorite of any TV wedding.  It came out of blue for the characters on the show as well as the audience.  They invited people to a party and just got married.  It was fun, it was a celebration, and lacked all the stiff formality of most weddings fictional or otherwise.  In a recent episode mentions to Reggie Wayne (the WR for the Indianapolis Colts) that he got married while wearing a replica of his jersey.  Yes, that did happen.  Since the wedding their relationship has continued to be fun to watch and in many ways inspiring for its joyful innocence.

Scott Patterson = Man’s man

6.  Luke and Lorelei – Gilmore Girls

It was clear from the pilot episode that Luke and Lorelei would have some romantic encounter at some point in the series.  On the surface their relationship was perfectly friendly with a hint of flirtation, but it was the stolen glances between the two that really set up their interest in each other.  And the jealously.  There was lots of that.  In case the glances were too subtle whenever one of the two would start dating someone else there was loads of jealousy.  Eventually the two did get together.  It was as natural transition from friend to couple as I’ve seen.  At other points they weren’t ready to take it to the next step with each other, but once they were, it happened.  I enjoyed watching them as a couple.  Luke was always firmly on Lorelei’s side in a way nobody else had been.  Then the urge to drive a wedge between the two became irresistible for the writers and a daughter of Luke’s who had never met was manufactured out of the ether.  It was one of the uglier sides of Lorelei as she drifted away from Luke because he wanted to get to know his daughter.  In the final season a new writing team took over as contract terms could not be met with the show’s creator Amy Sherman.  Perhaps Sherman was just planning a wrinkle in the relationship that was going to be solved early in the final season.  We will never know.  The new team abruptly split the two up and the final season was a bit of a disaster.  In the finale there were hints that the relationship between the two wasn’t dead for good.  Between that, blaming the new team for bungling the final season, and the enjoyment of watching them as a couple they make my top ten.

I respect the hair on Ben Browder’s arms

5.  John and Aeryn – Farscape

Farscape is a show that takes some getting acclimated to.  Often episodes jump right in and start where a normal second act would be, and the tone of each episode can range from completely silly to deadly serious.  It is kind of hard to track until you get the right rhythm down.  Underneath all that is a more familiar story.  One in which the power of love between two people completely changing them and making them better.  In the case of John, this meant coming to terms with no longer being a citizen of earth, but a adventurer in the larger universe.  In the case of Aeryn it meant completely transforming herself from an emotionless soldier, to a woman.  Particularly in the latter case it is compelling to watch.  As brought up before TV is at its best when it uses its amount of storytelling time to develop things at a slower pace.  Aeryn didn’t fall head over heels for John right away, how could she?  She can’t even experience full emotion at the beginning of the series.  It took time for her to become a fully aware person before that was possible.  In the case of Farscape she had to fall in love with John twice, after he was split into two identical versions of himself and the crew was split off.  Her range of emotion from finally falling in love, to dealing with the grief of loss, to finding love again was a true pleasure to behold.

Could you hand me a Shasta while your down there?

4.  Jim and Pam – The Office

What made The Office appealing to me was never just the Michael Scott schtick.  At times that was funny and at times it was hard to watch.  Jim and Pam gave the show some heart.  Things began with Jim being clearly interested in his office mate over at the secretaries desk.  This was thwarted because Pam was engaged to a not so great guy.  The Office maybe even went a little far in portraying him as a awful human being.  I’m not sure that he needed to be so bad for me to be ok with them eventually coming together.  It did make a brilliant move of having Jim transfer for a while, when it seemed clear they were not going to be around.  He couldn’t handle working along side her every day if they couldn’t have a relationship.  Eventually things came together and it was always pleasant to watch.  What made their relationship even better was how it progressed.  Them getting married wasn’t a fly by night event, it was developed.  Then raising a family came.  All those were treated with great joy.  I’ve dropped this in my rankings because after Michael Scott ceased to be on The Office this couple was supposed to take lead.  The show hasn’t been nearly as good and that is in part because the writers haven’t been able to make this relationship feel as special when the spotlight was thrust upon it.  That and there are some new entries that trump it.

A rare moment of relaxation

3.  Sawyer and Juliet – Lost

It was a complete oversight that I failed to include this couple in last year’s post.  Maybe it was that they are only together for a single season, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a great season of them together.  Juliet was initially introduced as a romantic interest for Jack, among other things.  It seemed as if maybe those two would couple up while Sawyer and Kate would get together.  Then a monkey wrench got thrown into what seemed to be the case, as Lost often did, and Jack and Kate left the other two behind on the island.  Not only were they left behind, but they were also thrown into the past.  Picking things up after those left behind had integrated into their new time and place, Sawyer and Juliet had become a couple.  It was a new side for Sawyer who was the consummate bad boy.  After several seasons of fighting off personal demons and causing trouble amongst those who crashed in the plane, Sawyer seemed to be relaxed and comfortable as himself.  This was largely due to finding something less chaotic than the love triangle involving Jack and Kate.  He seemed at home.  Likewise with Juliet, who had been brought to the island under false pretenses and forced to do the bidding of Ben, whom she despised.  She seemed to have found a home as well and comfort in Sawyer.  What initially was revealed as a surprise, soon came to make sense.  Nothing was more heartbreaking than Sawyer’s response to the tragedy that befell Juliet.  Nor was anything more satisfying than it being called back when they met again in the series finale.

A final kiss for the final scene

2.  Chuck and Sarah – Chuck

Would it be totally corny if I said these two made me believe in love again?  Yes it would, and it isn’t entirely accurate either.  In a way I do feel a little bit of that as this was the first time when watching a TV show that I became deeply invested in a couple’s happiness.  Maybe it made me believe that a love story could be a focal point of a series and play as great from beginning to end.  I think this can be attributed to the writers of Chuck willing to break with convention in how TV relationships need to be dealt with.  They quickly saw the chemistry between the actors/characters on screen and expedited how fast they were planning on pursuing the romantic angle.  Then after drawing the two apart because it seemed premature to get the two together officially (at least according to standard operating procedure) they reinvigorated the series by having them couple up.  The initial episodes after them getting together were an example of how fun and romantic a TV show can be.  Contrasted with the not so fun of having them drift apart, it seemed clear that the rest of the series would be about their relationship.  Just like all the great romances I’m writing about it was a transformative love.  Sarah stopped being the emotionless spy who could only focus on the task at hand and Chuck grew into a more confident and capable person/spy.  The final episode leaves things up in the air, after emotionally disemboweling the viewer by having Sarah’s memory wiped, but it strongly hints that of course those two will always find each other.

Good back rubs are the foundation of a successful marriage

1.  Eric and Tami – Friday Night Lights

When a TV show is working it is because it is presenting a familiar reality in an entertaining package.  In some cases that involves space ships and sparring with monsters.  In this case it means Texas football.  Unlike most of the couples on the list (Marshall and Lily being the other exception), these two don’t forge a relationship over the course of the series.  In the pilot episode they are married and have been for some time.  There isn’t that excitement of two people falling for each other, instead this makes my top spot because it deals with the romance of a couple working through life as a unit.  There were definitely fights and disagreements over the course of the series.  Sometimes with one person being much more wrong than the other.  The Taylors always knew that they would be together and instead of focusing on winning the argument (more in a long term sense than a short term), they worked on making their lives work together.  While the falling in love part of a relationship is exciting, whether you are viewing or participating in the act, nothing is more romantic to me than a couple still having that love as they grow and face challenges.  I can easily state that I’ve never seen anything close to the match how this married couple was portrayed.

Honorable Mentions

JD and Elliot – Scrubs

While I like this couple there was more than enough struggle in this relationship for it to beat out others.

Logan and Veronica – Veronica Mars

I think this relationship is example of great fire, but without any sustainability.  At times Logan seems almost abusive, and that probably doesn’t need to be in my top ten.

CJ and Danny – The West Wing

They have a cute and fun relationship, but it is such a minor part of the series that I felt it warranted inclusion.

Jimmy and Sabrina – Raising Hope

The episode where they got together was touching and one of the most romantic I’ve ever seen.  They just haven’t been a couple long enough to make the list, but definitely a couple I’ll enjoy watching.

Sydney and Vaughn – Alias

They are definitely meant for each other, but their relationship is almost never any fun.  It is always being harrowed by circumstance and the forces of evil.

Felicity and Ben – Felicity

This probably would have made my list by the writers bungled this one.  Felicity randomly slept with another guy for inexplicable reasons and the final episodes of the series involved some fantasy where she had really been with Noel the whole time.  Maybe I was just dreaming that they did that for a few episodes.  I must have hit my head and imagined it.

John and Cameron – Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Did I find a potential relationship between a teenager and a robot intriguing?  Yes I did.  Nothing was ever consummated before the series ended, so that was a huge disappointment.

Seth and Summer – The OC

This had some fun moments, but the writers of The OC (and probably the majority of the audience) had to keep the relationship mill turning.  They couldn’t leave anything alone and this was a casualty.

The Top 100 Favorite Shows of All Time 70-61

Since it is fun to rank things I’ve compiled my top 100 favorite shows.  Put simply, the criteria I use is that higher ranked shows are shows I’d rather watch than lower ranked shows.  I’ve tried to pull from a variety of different types of TV including reality shows, sports, and documentary series.  Everything did air on TV at one point and all of it gave me some degree of pleasure.  Usually I do these five at a time, but that would last forever, so I’m going to release my list in intervals of ten.  As always, I want to make it clear as with any of my lists that I’m listing “favorite” shows.  In no way am I arguing that my 100th ranked show is better than The Honeymooners.  I’m sure that show was important, but I didn’t watch it and all I’m saying is I’d probably enjoy watching anything on this list over anything not on it.

I also want to disclaim at this point that there were a number of shows left out for a variety of reasons.  Six Feet Under and The Sopranos were both shows I watched but didn’t love as much as most people.  Breaking Bad and Mad Men I haven’t watched enough of to decide how much I like those shows.  Louie would have made this list had I started watching it when I compiled it.  There are a few others things I just plain missed like ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series.  The point of this is to be a dynamic and changing list.  In a year I will update everything.  There should be a lot of movement of things coming and going, rising and falling.

A fine collection of comic talent

70.  Raising Hope (2010-current)

Perhaps my favorite thing about this show is that despite being a comedy that takes place in the middle of the country featuring “white trash” characters, it is completely respectful of those same characters.  Despite it being a little crazy who Hope comes into the lives of the Chance family, the show is mostly down to earth.  It has some appropriate moments of comedic license, but the driving thrust of the show is how a quirky family interacts with each other.  As good as Lucas Neff is as the lead character, Martha Plimpton and Garrett Dillahunt who play his parents steal the show.  They put a very likeable face on poor, not so educated parents.  It seems like creator Greg Garcia was working progressively towards doing some great work, and this may be it.

 

A decent romance had they not sabotaged it to generate plot

69.  Felicity (1998-2002)

You know how annoying it is when people talk about how Jazz musicians are great not for the notes they play, but the ones they don’t?  Felicity is kind of like that for TV shows.  The premise pretty much works itself out by the end of the pilot and then there is literally nothing to drive the plot.  Felicity chases Ben to NYU and meets some new people.  Nothing else of import happens and there are four seasons to fill.  The show was so devoid of plot that creator JJ Abrams made Alias after realizing that writing Felicity would be way easier if she was secretly a spy.  So why do I like this show?  The cast is excellent and the writers do everything they possibly can to turn this into something vaguely interesting.  Without anything obvious to move the story along or fill time (some examples might be court cases, criminal cases, medical cases, etc.) it is admirable the work they did to make the show watchable.

 

Jay and Silent Bob beating up Charles Barkley, one of many random moments

68.  Clerks: The Animated Series (2000)

This didn’t last so long, but man was it funny.  Clerks was never the most serious of movies, but it was somewhat real.  The animated series chose to completely disregard any sort of reality and completely take advantage of the animated medium.  It also gave Jeff Anderson’s Randal a true opportunity to shine as a loud mouthed anarchist of sorts.  The show was so silly Dante and Randal were pitted against a super-villain Leonardo Leonardo as voiced by Alec Baldwin.  The show was so inventive that it has a clip show as its second episode.  I implore anyone who hasn’t seen this to get on it now, hell you can even borrow my copy of the DVD.  Unfortunately only 6 episodes were ever created, which is truly a shame.  It still serves effectively to pull out once a year for a brief marathon of laughs.  I wonder if this show had come about when cable networks are as strong with original programming as they are now if it would have found a better home.  It is far better than any adult swim cartoons I’ve ever seen.

 

Sarah Connor consistently brandishes firearms

67.  Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-2009)

Nothing pleases me more than when a TV shows successfully takes a good movie premise and turns it into a viable TV series.  Wait, I’m actually trying to think of other good examples.  Hmmm… I hated Stargate the TV show and Firefly turned into a movie not the other way around.  Ok, nothing pleases me more when I get to see more Terminator in any form.  This show was for from perfect, but I was pleased to see more of this story and the weird relationship between Summer Glau’s Terminator and Thomas Dekker’s John Connor was the good kind of icky.  The action was quite good as well.  I even liked when Brian Austen Green showed up, so that is high praise.  On the other hand casting Shirley Manson was one of the worst decisions ever.  Her performance was one of the worst I have ever seen.

 

Random comedy moment

66.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-current)

When I first saw this show it blew my mind how completely craven it could be.  At the time nobody was willing to mine the depths of humanity for humor that the always sunny crowd was.  After a strong first year it was decided by the network that they needed a bigger name to grow the audience, fortunately that was Danny Devito and things continued to run smoothly.  This remains a funny show, but I did stop watching recently because the jokes seemed to be of the same tone episode after episode.  Despite that this was clearly one of the more inspired sitcoms in TV history.

 

The two main characters played well off each other

65.  Rome (2005-2007)

I had ridiculously high expectations when I heard that HBO was doing a period piece set in Rome.  For the most part my expectations were met, although there were never enough episodes to set this series up as an all time great.  The first season works as a telling of the betrayal of Julius Caesar from the eyes of two soldiers.  The combination of glimpsing in on everyday Roman life and the politics surrounding Caesar’s demise served well to flesh out what Rome would have been like.  In many ways this was a more careful examination of the Roman experience than what Gladiator did as a film.  I particularly enjoyed Ciarán Hinds work as Caesar, but the cast as a whole was excellent.  The lesson as always is that whenever a story takes place in a different place or time than America it is smart to just hire British actors.  They are just better for the most part.

 

A show about a radio host, lets hope it is as good as “Go On”

64.  Frasier (1993-2004)

Spinning off a series from one of my least favorite characters from Cheers would have seemed like a tough sell, but it turned out that giving Frasier his own world made far more sense then having him sit at a Boston bar.  Buttressed by strong performance from David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney, Kelsey Grammer was able to excel as the prissy and effete psychologist.  Having him be a popular radio personality added a nice wrinkle to the story.  I never got too into the will they won’t they story between Niles and Daphne, and certainly cared less that they got together long after I stopped watching.  The success of the series to me, was always the family dynamic between the masculine father and the two effeminate sons.  Oh yeah, the dog was pretty cool too.

 

 

Evidence that the sketches sucked

63.  Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-2007)

There were lots of problems with Aaron Sorkin’s follow up to The West Wing that have been documented ad nauseum.  Most notably it was a behind the scenes look at a Saturday Night Live type sketch comedy show that wasn’t really funny.  While that hurt the show’s credibility when it touted the people behind it as geniuses, it didn’t totally ruin the series for me.  Here’s the thing, SNL is rarely that funny either, the only different is that Sorkin’s view of sketch comedy seemed to be alien to this planet, whereas SNL just consistently misses the mark.  What Stuido 60 has over SNL is the trademark snappy dialogue from Sorkin and a bevy of strong performers to deliver it.  Another issue was that the romances were fairly uninteresting and complicated by Amanda Peet’s surprise pregnancy.  Still, it had enough good moments that it is worth mentioning.  Admittedly the show was a disappointment, but that was based on lofty expectations.  Stripping those expectations away I just see a good TV show that has some high highs and some fatal flaws.

Suits on a beach, looks more fun that it is

62.  The OC (2003-2007)

In an era of my life when I wasn’t watching a whole lot of TV I started to see promos where square jawed 25 year old playing a teenager shouted “Welcome to the OC, bitch!”  For some reason that had me sold and I convinced all my roommates that this was something we needed to watch.  Sure it was completely cheesy at times, but within that layer of cheese was some quality TV.  The first season focused on the proverbial outsider, Ryan, who was entering the ultimate insider world of Newport Beach’s elite.  At the core of everything that happened I always enjoyed the perspective of this the most.  A million shows have done the insider/outsider dynamic, but usually to far less success (see Revenge as an example of that failing).  Beyond that were some strong performances by Peter Gallagher and Adam Brody.  Both were funny, and Gallagher still ranks as an all time great dad.  Melinda Clarke also played the heel to perfection, as did Alan Dale.  For me the show was ultimately doomed for me because soap opera drama is not my favorite thing, by a long shot, and the pace with which the plot moved was far too abrupt.  If this show and Felicity combined its strengths it would have been a great show indeed, but the breakneck pace with which people slept together/picked up drug habits/completely changed their personality was a little much for me.  That being said, when the show was doing things right, it was doing them quite well.

I like that they are wearing a suit and tie underneath the jump suit

61.  Penn & Teller’s Bull Sh*t (2003-2010)

These guys are known first as magicians, as they should be, but they are also big time skeptics.  To be a skeptic is a way of life, in which everything is questioned, especially those things that are assumed to be true.  This show was an opportunity for a couple of smart guys and a staff of researchers to investigate those “truths” and find out the real deal behind them.  Some targets were easy like alien abductees and all things new age, but some were things that challenged my beliefs like recycling, Mother Theresa, and the Dalai Lama.  Since I mention it I should follow with some small explanation.  Recycling – some is great, recycling paper products creates pollutants and uses a lot of energy.  Mother Theresa – Complicated, but not as kind hearted presented.  Dalai Lama – Head of the ruling class of priests in Tibet, apparently the lower class didn’t have it so hot when the Lama was in charge.  Those are just a few examples, but ultimately the show is an entertaining look at controversial subjects.  I’m not sure the point is to agree with everything that is presented (especially since the show admittedly benefits from having control of the editing and who comes on camera) but thinking hard about what is assumed to be true is a good thing.

Top Ten Favorite Recurring Characters 10 – 6

The big advantage TV has over movies is that there is way more screen time to tell stories.  That allows for producers to bring in actors as guest stars, and if they fit in well with the show, have them reprise their role.  Often times these characters will sign on to be series regulars, and start appearing in the opening credits.  Sometimes there are characters that simply come and go as needed.  These are some of my favorite examples of recurring characters.  All brought a dynamic to the show that it otherwise lacked thanks to the efforts of the actors.

Not to be confused with Uncle Sam

10.  Richard Coad – Robert Patrick Benedict – Felicity

Felicity was hardly a brilliant show.  Mostly that had to do with a premise that was designed to be a film, that got stretched out into four seasons of TV.  The concept was that Felicity (Keri Russell) would chase Ben (Scott Speedman) to NYU after high school, only to get caught in a love triangle with (Scott Foley).  By the end of the pilot many of those issues had been addressed, so the writing really had no obvious mechanism to drive the plot.  The plot devolved quickly into the fine cast sleeping with each other multiple times throughout the years.  Beyond that fray was always Richard Coad.  He was the comic relief of sorts (there were a couple) who was outside of the group enough to remain unsullied.  Actor Robert Benedict always brought a much needed energy to whoever he was acting with, in most cases good comic actors, buried under the weight of melodrama.

The best damn news team in NYC

9.  Alexis Denisof – Sandy Rivers – How I Met Your Mother

Denisof got the job because his wife, Alyson Hanigan is one of the stars of the show.  This wasn’t just nepotism though as Denisof is one of the finest working TV actors, who sadly has not been in nearly enough things lately.  Sandy Rivers is the horny and dim newsman who often plays opposite of Robin.  Every time he shows up there is sure to be laughter as he stumbles through awkward attempts to hit on women, with perfectly groomed (almost plastic looking) hair and a spray on tan face.  Despite being completely one dimensional as a character, he keeps on getting invited back because he is sure to nail a liner.  Maybe the key is that he hasn’t been over utilized.  Other characters (most notably Ted) have become boring over time, whereas Sandy always leave you wanting more.

Puddy was a simple man

8.  David Puddy – Patrick Warburton – Seinfeld

Puddy showed up in the latter, underrated years of Seinfeld.  By then they show had already made its cultural impact and was heavily in syndication, but what was lost was that it was never funnier.  Puddy was Elaine’s off an on boyfriend.  Warburton was an unknown.  Now he’s famous for his deadpan line delivery and large physique, but it was brand new at the time.  There are few things funnier than him wearing that fur coat with zero irony.

This guy scares the crap out of me

7.  Number Two (Leoben Conoy) – Callum Keith Rennie – Battlestar Galactica

Of all the Cylons he was my favorite.  Mostly because he was legitimately scary.  I love Dean Stockwell, but I didn’t exactly feel menace dripping off his character.  Tricia Helfer was fantastic, but was a main part of the cast.  Some of the other cylons that showed up periodically seemed somewhat flat.  Rennie brought a masculine energy to the role that occassionally veered into the animalistic.  The work he did when Starbuck was imprisoned was perhaps the most disturbing part of the series.

Bob and Frank on the job

6.  Det. Bob Giebelhouse – Stephen James Lang – Millennium

Some guys just have a knack for timing.  Stephen James Lang is far from a household name, but his ability to bring some small bit of levity to an otherwise bleak show earns him great respect from me.  The writers must have liked it to because he went from essentially an extra, to having a sizeable role in several episodes.  Bob Bletcher was supposed to be the cop that Frank Black was friends with.  Fortunately Lance Henriksen who played Frank, hated Bill Smitrovitch who played Bletcher.  This was good because the Bletcher character was completely flat.  Enter Giebelhouse and enter a few jokes.  The show never was supposed to be a comedy, but a joke here and there to break up the tension was sorely needed.

Didn’t Make the Top Ten Couples List (Couples Edition)

When doing research I came across a bunch of other people’s lists.  Some of these couples showed up on other lists, but I didn’t really have interest in putting them on mine.

You can check out my other couple related posts on couples who didn’t make the list (show edition), honorable mentions, the top 5, and of course the rest of the top ten.

And they immediately cancelled the show after the end of this scene

Sam and Diane – Cheers

We can thanks these two for setting an annoying template that most shows religiously adhere to.  Two opposites bicker, are attracted, but go through a “will they, won’t they” routine for years, and the show supposedly ends when they finally do get together.  If you have a bad show that is true.  Cheers is a really good show actually, but the other shows that copy this template are not.  If the show only has that one dynamic working for it, then yes, it is over.  Cheers for example, had lots of other good things happening, so I’m not convinced that it would have been in any trouble had the relationship had been consumated sooner.  I much prefer to see not only the build up to a relationship, but also how it functions as it comes across challenges.  If relationships were so boring, I’m guessing there wouldn’t be so many long term ones in real life, so why in the world would it not be interesting to watch an honest depiction of one on TV?  I’m giving poor Sam and Diane my wrath here partly unfairly, but I still found there romance to be among the least interesting things about Cheers.

Felicity and Ben – Felicity

This one had lots of potential.  Felicity follows Ben to NYU, and ultimately gets him.  However one or the other of them is always trying to sabotage the relationship, and just as soon as it seems they have it figured out, they tack on an ending where they split, but maybe could get back together?  That question mark indicates a skeptical eyebrow raise on my part.  This is an example of the writer’s having little else to write about than break ups.

Pete and Ellen – The Adventures of Pete and Pete

This is a positive reason for not making it to the list.  They are build up as romantic interests, eventually go out, the date goes badly, and they decide they are better friends.  Which they in fact are.

He looked the part, but acting... not so much

Donna and James – Twin Peaks

James Marshall really is a horrific actor.  His portrayal of a tough guy, who is in love with the best friend of his murdered girlfriend is about as grating as any performance I’ve seen.  It makes watching an otherwise, (mostly) great show, kind of unpleasant.

Dexter and Rita – Dexter

They have some nice moments, but he is a sociopathic killer who can never really love her.  The fact that she is convinced otherwise says more about how screwed up she is, rather than how great their love is.  I had no problem with Rita as a character, but lets be honest about what this relationship really was.  More evidence that this wasn’t a great romance that it was a relief when she was finally killed off, even though I love Julie Benz as an actor.

Danny and Jordan – Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Thanks to Amanda Peet getting pregnant midseason, we got treated to a rushed plotline of Danny falling in love, winning her heart, and offering to raise her child.  If it hadn’t so happened fast, and felt synthesized instead of organic, there could have been something there.  Unfortunately Studio 60 was as much mess as it was good, so it didn’t earn a second season to build any kind of relationship.

Jeff and Annie – Community

The writers have a bit of a problem on their hands.  They’ve discovered that Jeff has more chemistry with Annie than Britta, but are relunctant to have a guy date a girl nearly half his age.  So far it has been played for awkward comedy, but it really seems like they have no clue how to make this work and not be creepy.

Frank and Catherine – Millennium

They are married and have a kid, and boy did it piss off Frank when Catherine died from a horrible disease in the middle of the woods.   They didn’t really seem like much of a couple though.  Frank got along better with his daughter, but he’s a bit too intense to let loose and be emotionally available in a relationship.

Tobias and Lindsey – Arrested Development

This was never intended to be the paragon of romanticism, but between their intimacy issues and Tobias probably being gay (not too mention Lindsey being too selfish to care about anybody but her) this is a classic marriage of convenience, not love.  Yet, it still might be the best relationship depicted in the show.

Top Ten Favorite Thanksgiving Episodes

In celebration of the holiday I’ll quickly run through some of my favorite Thanksgiving Day episodes.  Thanksgiving is often depicted in these shows because it comes near the end of the first half of the season, and sometimes it fills in if the show doesn’t do a Christmas themed episode.  It also is a chance to bring the cast all together and either have a good or bad time, depending on where the plots of the shows are headed.

10.  Thanksgiving Day Massacre – Ned and Stacey

This doesn’t particularly stand out any more or less than a normal Ned and Stacey episode, but Thomas Haden Church’s great relationship with Stacey is always a lot of fun.  The marriage is fake, and his good husband routine gets under her skin in genuinely funny way.

9.  My Day Off – Scrubs

One of the early scrubs episodes, a little before the show hit its stride.  It didn’t have a pervasive Thanksgiving day theme, but the coldness of Elliot’s hands on the patients was a good gag.

8.  Here Comes My Girl – Cougar Town

This is around where this show stopped being about “cougars”, a truly terrible idea for a show, and started to be about a group of funny people who hang out.  Grayson stopped being the antagonistic neighbor and moved into love interest territory, which has led to a fun relationship to watch.

7.  Hungry Man – Dexter

Dexter having Thanksgiving with the Trinity killer and his family was delightfully awkward.  Not so surprisingly when the head of the household likes to kill three people periodically the family is a little screwed up.

6.  Thanksgiving – Felicity

This brought everyone together for a Thanksgiving meal in the dorm.  It also brought Jennifer Garner to the TV set as Noel’s girlfriend Hannah.  This brought a little more tension to the group than usual, and since the entire purpose of the show was to have relationship tension, that’s a good thing.

5.  Chuck Vs. The Nemesis – Chuck

I think this episode was a turning point for the show in its first season, as it opened the series up to the bigger plotlines involving government conspiracies and the danger the intersect brought Chuck.  I enjoyed when Bryce (Matt Bomer) showed up on Chuck, and it become a reasonable obstacle in the way of Chuck and Sarah’s relationship.

4.  A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving – The Gilmore Girls

Boy do I like some girly shows, both Felicity and this on the same list.  I’ll have to man up and see if the UFC ever does any holiday themed matches.  The Gilmore’s have multiple Thanksgiving’s to attend, all very different.  The Korean being sparse and religious.  Jackson’s and Sookie involving Jackson’s crazy family and a deep frier.  The Emily Gilmore traditional, but cold Thanksgiving.  And finally, the Luke simple and untraditional Thanksgiving.  One of the funnier episodes they did, especially with Jackson’s crazy family.

3.  Slapsgiving – How I Met Your Mother

HIMYM has actually a pretty strong record of Thanksgiving shows.  Perhaps the creators like the holiday as much as I do.  This was the best as it involved one of the more successful running gags from Slap Bet.  Marshall is allowed to slap Barney a certain number of times, but he doesn’t know when he will be struck.  The holiday is announced as one of those days.

2.  Shibboleth – The West Wing

A successful episode in blending the serious with the silly.  CJs having to deal with picking which turkey to pardon played for great comedy during the course of the episode.  On the serious side, we get to see President Bartlett’s religious side as he deals with some Christian refugees from China, hoping for sanctuary in the US.

1.  Pangs – Buffy The Vampire Slayer

This is a great episode (good work as usual from Jane Espenson) that really does weave Thanksgiving into the plot.  At the groundbreaking of the new cultural center Xander falls into an ancient Chumash ruin, releasing spirits of the warriors.  He is also immediately infected with syphilis, which is always funny.  Willow feels that Thanksgiving is a sham holiday and doesn’t treat the natives with enough respect, which she debates with Giles.  Buffy just wants everyone to have a good time.  Spike also shows up, defanged, and looking for a place to crash.  As the warrior spirits descend on Buffy’s Thanksgiving hilarity ensues.  I’ll just some things up with a quote from Spike to Willow, regarding the necessity of removing the spirits that are trying to kill them.

Spike – You won. All right? You came in and you killed them and you took their land. That’s what conquering nations do. It’s what Caesar did, and he’s not goin’ around saying, “I came, I conquered, I felt really bad about it.” The history of the world is not people making friends. You had better weapons, and you massacred them. End of story.

Have a great holiday.