Angie posted this meme earlier this week, and how could I resist? Compile a list of your top 10 favorite TV couples to share. These are in no particular order.
1. Josh & Donna, The West Wing
2. CJ & Danny, The West Wing
3. Bartlet & Abby, The West Wing
What West Wing fan didn’t feel all warm and fuzzy when Josh and Donna finally became a couple? I love watching the banter, the way they know each other so well, and the way neither lets the other get away with any crap. They can make each other laugh, and they are always there when needed. Josh is brilliant but arrogant, and a good friend; Donna is gullible yet savvy, smart, and can see right through him. A good tv couple, in my opinion, has loads of tension and what-if build-up. And two characters who challenge and complement each other.
And that’s why two more of my favorite couples also come from West Wing. CJ and Danny circle each other more obviously, maybe, than Josh and Donna, but the connection is still complex. And they are still two smart and funny people who get each other.
Then there’s the President and First Lady. Some of the best scenes in the show are when they’re fed up and yelling at each other, because it shows a strong relationship many years in, and with many problems and strains. They push each others buttons, but they, too, know that underneath everything is support and strength.
4. Veronica and Logan, Veronica Mars
This clip says it all, doesn’t it? Epic, volatile, dangerous, yet also vulnerable and sweet.
5. Rory & Jess, Gilmore Girls
Jess might be my favorite tv bad boy. He’s always been my favorite of Rory’s boys. He’s smart and is a reader, so can meet her on an intellectual level, but he challenges her goody-goody nature. And he just always kept coming back. In my mind, at the end of Gilmore Girls, Rory went off with Obama’s campaign, saw Jess during a stop in Philly, and they live happily ever after.
6. Ally McBeal & Larry, Ally McBeal
The favorite TV couple from the college years. Robert Downey, Jr. playing Larry completely won the hearts of me and my roommate. He and Ally are just so adorably crazy, in such compatible ways.
7. Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Scarecrow & Mrs. King
How can you not love an ’80s spy couple?
8. Roger & Joan, Mad Men
They’re funny, they’re challenging to each other, and they always know where the other stands. And who doesn’t love Joan?
Bromances. Sometimes the best couples are friendships rather than romances.
9. Seth & Ryan, The O. C.
I never really watched much of The O. C. because I couldn’t stand the girls. But every once and a while I’d turn it on and would be totally charmed by the friendship between Seth and Ryan. They’re hilarious, and such terrific friends.
10. Stefan & Damon, The Vampire Diaries
They so often make me laugh! I think their banter may be one of the main reasons I have gotten so into this show.
Tags: ally mcbeal, bromance, favorites, friendship, gilmore girls, love, meme, my undying love for west wing, relationships, Robert Downey Jr, romance, scarecrow & mrs. king, the oc, vampire diaries, Veroncia Mars, west wing
Ooh. Nice job with the West Wing hat trick! All three are superb. And Scarecrow and Mrs. King! I love Lee and Amanda. Watched it w/my mom, too. *happy*
love the fancy new digs, martha!
didnt you love how jesse became published?
i’m fairly certain he said it was a small press?
i don’t think he did vanity? =D
i would have included mulder and scully
and can’t remember their names in moonlighting.
As a “West Wing” fan, you will like this essay: http://www.jennycrusie.com/for-writers/essays/the-five-things-ive-learned-about-writing-romance-from-tv/
(Jennifer Crusie’s books are fantastic too — my very favorite adult-reading comfort food.)
But off the examples cited in the essay: I think all lists of great TV couples should include Buffy and either Spike or Angel. And Luke and Lorelei should be listed alongside Rory and Jess.