Best TV Couples That Never Coupled

[PsionTen]

For some reason, I was thinking about "Moonlighting" the other day and how the show basically fell apart after David Addison (Bruce Willis) and Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepard) hooked up, which made me think of all the other shows that basically started going downhill after the main characters eventually hooked up. And thinking about that gave me a newfound respect for all those shows that resisted the temptation to have their main characters hook up (Northern Exposure immediately comes to mind). Anyway this is my list of best tv couples that, for whatever reason, never got it together.

#1 -- Matt Dillon & Miss Kitty, "Gunsmoke."
(Yeah, it's old, but it lasted for 20 years and there was never so much as a kiss between these two and they had all kinds of sexual chemistry).

#2 -- Captain Jean-Luc Picard & Dr. Beverly Crusher, "ST:TNG"
(These two definitely wanted each other, pretty much admitted it on several episodes, but it never happened.)

#3 -- Col. Jack O'Neil & Capt. Samantha Carter, "Stargate SG-1"
(one of my favorite episodes was when Jack and Teal'c were stuck in a time loop and after the umpteenth loop Jack finally lets loose and kisses Carter)

#4 -- John Cage & Ally McBeal, "Ally McBeal."
(pretty much anyone who ever watched this show wanted the two oddballs of Cage & Fish to eventually get together.)

#5 -- Adrian Monk & Sharona Fleming, "Monk."
(I don't know why, but I always thought it was going to happen)

#6 -- Judge Amy Gray & Bruce Van Exel, "Judging Amy."
(If you've been watching this show from the beginning, then you know why I included them)

#7 -- Batman & Wonder Woman, "Justice League/Justice League Unlimited."
(This show can't be for kids, because there's all kinds relationships and sexual tensions going on ... Green Lantern/Hawkgirl, Green Arrow/Black Canary, Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman, Green Lantern/Vixen ... it's basically just a soap opera with some fights thrown in)

#8 -- Clark Kent & Chloe Sullivan, "Smallville"
(no one on this show has shown more love for CK than Chloe)

#9 -- Debra Barone & Robert Barone, "Everybody Loves Raymond"
(the writers of this show have been giving us hints about these two for years)

#10 -- Bevis & Buthead, "Bevis and Buthead"

 

[Elizar]

Beavis and Butthead...

 

[2aMageing]

#3 -- Col. Jack O'Neil & Capt. Samantha Carter, "Stargate SG-1"
(one of my favorite episodes was when Jack and Teal'c were stuck in a time loop and after the umpteenth loop Jack finally lets loose and kisses Carter)

THIS one has been pissing me off for quite the while......they are so into each other, and what is the excuse for staying apart.....military protocol......they are frickin black ops, hush hush, I'm sure they could bend that rule. The show could handle it, they would just be cool about it and not let it take over the show.....could even have added some nice extra dimensions to situations......grrrrrrrrr. Now what.....is she still hung up on that Ex-21 Jump Street kid??? PUHlease.......



And I used to watch Moonlighting way back when......frankly I wanted them to get together because they had reached the point where they were just annoying/boring the H..l out of me. The chemistry was killed by the yoyo of their relationship. It warn't the consumation that did the show in, it was all the waffling.......UGHlease.........

 

[GaribaldisHair]

Worst culprit in the "show falling apart after the leads hook up" department is Lois & Clark (or The New Adventures of Superman to us Brits).

The only saving grace was the period when there were two Lois Lane's, and therefore two Teri Hatchers, which can never be a bad thing!

 

[PillowRock]

Did Remington Steele and Laura Holt ever get together in the later years of the show?

Is it fair to count Malcolm Reynolds and Inara from Firefly? Or is that one not fair to count in the "never got together" category because the show was canceled after only half a season? How long would they have stayed apart? Will they get together in Serenity this fall? All of the same questions apply to Kaylee and Simon as well.

 

[GKarsEye]

I haven't watched these shows so I can't really comment, but one show where I completely lost interest after a couple "finally" hooked up as Frasier. That used to be the only sitcom besides Seinfeld I liked at all, but then when Daphne & Niles ran away from her wedding to that fat guy, the show started to stink up a storm. For some reason, even Frasier himself became intolerable to watch.

Moulder & Scully never hooked up except I think they did at the very end, but the show was already sucking for a couple of years.

 

[Elenopa]

How could you forget Susan and Marcus?

 

[Markas]

...or Lennier and Vir.

Spock and Chapel and Kirk and Rand come to mind.

 

[Recoil]

Harm and Mac on JAG come to mind...

 

[KoshFan]

Is it fair to count Malcolm Reynolds and Inara from Firefly? Or is that one not fair to count in the "never got together" category because the show was canceled after only half a season? How long would they have stayed apart? Will they get together in Serenity this fall? All of the same questions apply to Kaylee and Simon as well.

Not quite fair, I think... Simon and Kaylee would have kissed in the next few episodes, I think, they were darn close in Objects in Space. Given a little more time Joss would have satisfied our craving for vicarious smoochies in that category.

Mal and Inara... I don't know. Playing with the sexual tension is probably a little too much fun for Joss Whedon & Co.

Speaking of Joss, we could tack on Willow and Xander, although they did manage to kiss once.

 

[PillowRock]

Is it fair to count Malcolm Reynolds and Inara from Firefly? Or is that one not fair to count in the "never got together" category because the show was canceled after only half a season? How long would they have stayed apart? Will they get together in Serenity this fall? All of the same questions apply to Kaylee and Simon as well.

Not quite fair, I think... Simon and Kaylee would have kissed in the next few episodes, I think, they were darn close in Objects in Space. Given a little more time Joss would have satisfied our craving for vicarious smoochies in that category.

Yeah, I agree. Those two were not going to stay uncoupled for long; although it is possible that they may not have remained together long term.

Mal and Inara... I don't know. Playing with the sexual tension is probably a little too much fun for Joss Whedon & Co.

I also got the feeling that these two were going to stay in the sexual-tension-but-keeping-distance zone for much longer. Possibly even after they both knew how the other felt, like Picard and Crusher.

 

[2aMageing]

Did Remington Steele and Laura Holt ever get together in the later years of the show?

I don't recall any wedding episodes, THANK GOODNESS, but I feel pretty confident that I recall them being "together" well before the series wrapped. I wish I could recall a specific episode as an example, but like Scarecrow and Mrs. King, it has not been released on DVD yet and I don't have any episodes on tape......that I know of.



Now that I think about it........I recall a later episode where they are being heavily romantic and something from Steele's past comes up and creates drama, but certainly drama shaded by their new bond.......if I recall correctly........

 

[GKarsEye]

There was a character named Remmington Steele?

 

[Sindatur]

GKE, yeah, that's where Pierce Brosnan came from, he was Remington Steele. Well, actually Remington Steele didn't really exist. A female private eye wasn't getting enough business, so she made up a name Remington Steele for her Agency, and then Pierce Brosnan's character came along with a mysterious past, and she hired him to act the part of Remington Steele.

 

[PillowRock]

Pierce Brosnan's character came along with a mysterious past, and she hired him to act the part of Remington Steele.

Actually, he came along planning to steal what she (and her non-existant boss, Steele) had been hired to guard (jewels, I think). He figured out that Steele didn't really exist and assumed the role of Steele away from Holt in order to get close to the jewels. (Hence the "literally before I knew it" line of the opening credits narration.) I think it was more a matter of him just hanging around and keeping the role (during that pilot case he had ended up appearing on the TV news as Steele, so he was now recognized) than her ever actually saying "You're hired to be Remington Steele."

After the first season TPTB on the show unceremoniously dumped the other male assistant P.I. and the original secretary (both of whom had been with Holt before "Steele" arrived and therefore knew he wasn't really Steele) and brought in a new secretary who did not know that Steele wasn't Steele and basically thought he was God. I always preferred the original setup.

 

[2aMageing]

The "new" secretrary was, if I'm not mistaken, the same actress that currently plays Raymonds mom on Everybody Loves Raymond. On Remington Steele, she was Mildred Krebs, or some spelling like that.
I thought she added a decent sort of groupie aspect to the Steele Holt equation. Though she was not overly valuable in the more heavy drama I would say.

 

[PillowRock]

The "new" secretrary was, if I'm not mistaken, the same actress that currently plays Raymonds mom on Everybody Loves Raymond. On Remington Steele, she was Mildred Krebs, or some spelling like that.[/quoite]
Yes, I believe that you are correct.

I thought she added a decent sort of groupie aspect to the Steele Holt equation. Though she was not overly valuable in the more heavy drama I would say.

I don't even think that was very valuable in the lighter comedic portions of the show. I mean, the whole secretary worships "Steele" and irritates / frustrates Holt by say things like "Dearie, you should listen to the boss. He's the experianced detective." was cute ..... for an episode or two. As an ongoing schtick for several seasons it got old fast (for me, anyway). It was too much of a one-note, one-joke character. That's nothing against the performance. The woman is a talented actress (both comedic and dramatic). The character just wasn't designed with enough going on to maintain my interest.

I preferred the somewhat more complex dynamics and reactions of Murphy and what's-her-name the original secretary. I actually have more clear specific memories of moments with those two than with Mildred dispite Mildred having been on the show much longer (and dispite the fact that I can't remember the S1 secretary's name at the moment). All the Mildred stuff just blends together in my head.

Plus the S1 secretary was *much* hotter.