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The turn of the century seems only moments ago to me, but it’s 2008 already. And I’ve been contemplating who is the TV romantic pairing of the decade.
In the seventies, we had Joanie and Chachi. In the eighties, we had Brendan and Molly in Wandin Valley. (Who didn’t bawl? Who?) Maybe Scott and Charlene were more your thing. Or, if you weren’t in Australia, maybe you switched on every week to agonise about whether Maddie Hayes and David Addison would ever get together. The nineties inflicted Ross and Rachel on us, though we closed with Buffy and Angel: things were already starting to look up.
So: who’s your current favourite for TV Pairing of the Noughties? They might be your OTP, or the couple you love to hate, or the couple whose shenanigans generated the most talk around the (virtual) watercooler. Here are a few candidates – both canon and non-canon. Vote, discuss, or add your own.
Doctor and Rose?
Captain Jack and Ianto?
Pam and Jim or Tim and Dawn?
Willow and Tara?
Buffy and Spike?
Meredith and McDreamy?
Starbuck and Apollo?
Adama and Roslin?
Kate and Sawyer?
Laura and Diver Dan?
Zoe and Wash?
David and Keith?
Servilia and Octavia?
J.D. and Eliot?
Amaar and Rayyan?
Sam and Annie?
Wilson and House?
Spike and Angel?
Denny and Alan?
Hiro and Ando?
John and Rodney?
Hoydenizen additions:
Logan and Veronica?
Lorelai and Luke?
JD and Turk?
Robin and Much?
Michelle and Tony?
Elizabeth and Mr Darcy?
Joey/Dawson?
Booth/Bones?
And another late addition.
Since it was such a major omission, I bring you a full songvid of the West Wing’s OT3, Josh/Sam/Donna:
So spill. Who’s your fave? Who do you think we’ll still be talking about in a decade or two?
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Are princesses bad for girls? 
BFTP: This is what we use it for 
Hoyden About Town 
1. For the 90s, gotta love Laura and Diver Dan. (Not Laura and Max, so ner, Max.)
2. OMG OMG I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU FORGOT *THE* TV COUPLE OF THE FIRST DECADE OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY:
Logan and Veronica – from the most awesome TV show of the decade – Veronica Mars.
3. I also think there are a few different couples you could take from the Gilmore Girls – my favourite pair being Lorelai and Luke.
4. Also, I ❤ Buffy and Spike. But only because of Spike.
For me personally, it’s gotta be Jack and Ianto, though not as an OTP (personally I consider Jack to have MTPs– “Many True Pairings”– although “pairings” is probably too limiting a word for him).
But more generally I think it’d have to be one of the BSG ships, or JD/Elliot, since those couples are far more well known.
You didn’t mention the pairing that will always define the 90s for me– Lois and Clark. 😛
The most important couple in Scrubs is JD and Turk, not JD and Eliot!
Ah yes, Buffy and Spike. Hendo is right, though, it’s only because of Spike. Willow and Tara has that tragic aspect, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Too many options!!!
Top five, though (especially for stimulating conversation between me and the significant other):
– Hiro and Ando
– Adama and Roslin
– House and Wilson
– Denny and Alan
– Servilia and Octavia
… Man, I have the most eclectic taste.
Buffy and Spike. Oh yes, Buffy and Spike.
And not just because of Spike. I actually thought SMG was perfect as Buffy.
Don’t get me wrong, SMG was very good at being Buffy – a role that was utterly necessary for lots of reasons – but for me it’s Spike that marks that ‘relationship’ as one of the TV greats. Although, I suppose it couldn’t have had that particular dynamic had she been an ordinary human character (or another vampire, for that matter).
A-hem.
Where is my Robin/Much from BBC’s Robin Hood? Their love is so Historically Inaccurate!
“I suppose it couldn’t have had that particular dynamic had she been an ordinary human character (or another vampire, for that matter).”
Of course it couldn’t! If she’d been an ordinary human, Spike could have dominated her. If she’d been another vamp, Spike wouldn’t have had the impetus to be good/get his soul back. There wouldn’t have been the dynamic of good/bad with the aspects of both in both of them.
Although I also liked the Spike/Drusilla relationship, truth be told.
I guess the kiss fight between Cap’n Jack and Marsters doesn’t really elevate them to a couple – shame.
I kind of like Skins when I remember to watch it so I’ll nominate Michelle and Tony.
It will always be Elizabeth (Jennifer Ehle) and Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) for me.
Someone else likes Roslin/Adama! Whee!
Buffy/Spike lost it for me at That Scene.
Would you believe I considered Lorelai/Luke and Veronica/Logan and discarded them? Mostly because I have this visceral ick reaction to Logan (though I quite liked him in Moonlight).
Why did I toss out Lorelai/Luke? I can’t quite remember. Possibly because it was so pedestrian and uninteresting when they got together, even at the moment when they got together. But for watercooler will-they-or-won’t-they talk, they should definitely qualify.
Robin Hood and Skins I don’t know, but I’ll search for a photo. (If you have one handy, please send it in).
JD/Turk and Elizabeth/Darcy should obviously have been there from the start.
OK, I’ve added the new couples – and another one that should have been there from the start. (If I’ve got your pairing wrong in a fandom I’m unfamiliar with, please let me know!)
They aren’t a couple yet, but Bones and Booth rock the URST.
Sigourney & Dr Rudi.
HOW did I forget Bones/Booth? That shall be rectified with all speed.
I’ve been casting my brain over The L Word, Desperate Housewives, Big Love, and Ugly Betty, but nothing grabs me.
The only ER couple that I think could qualify is Doug/Carol, and they were 90s. (Anyone for Carter/Greene, or is that just me?)
Does anyone have a My Name Is Earl ship?
That’s a big whoosh for me, Zarquon – do you have a favourite screencap?
Here. S & Dr R are on the right.
Darn it, it turns out the show started in 2001.
So it makes it in with a whole year to spare.
Starbuck and Apollo are awesome but Roslin and Adama have to win because their rel/ship seems like it would comfortably last years, but Starbuck and Apollo are way too volatile. (Battle Star Galactica thrills me, although I was disappointed that the second season was not quite as brilliant as the first I can’t wait for the third).
SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star: I know they started fairly well into the ’90s, but only hit their peak popularity in the ’00s.
Shouldn’t it just be Captain Jack and *insert name here*?
There’s definitely something very sweet about Roslin/Adama– definitely my favourite BSG ship.
Captain John/Poodle? 😀
Watching some early Buffy the other day, I was reminded of the cuteness of Willow/Oz.
And baroquestar was the first to remember The West Wing. I’ve added a Josh/Donna/Sam songvid to the post.
“Ladies, when I said we should get a room I meant one with linen!”
I have this theory that each decade produces an URST-based, two-person-investigative-team drama series that perfectly captures the zeitgeist of the decade. In the 60s it was The Avengers, in the 70s it was probably Cagney and Lacey (any other contenders?), in the 80s it was Moonlighting, in the 90s it was definitely The X Files, and for the noughties I think it’s Bones. What this ultimately means I do not pretend to know.
Jim and Pam obv!
Or maybe Caroline and Mac from Green Wing.
Hmm, perhaps that explains the difference for us, Lauredhel. I have a major crush on *both* Jason Dohring and Kristen Bell (Logan and Veronica).
Can’t believe I forgot Elizabeth and Darcy. Oh my.
Well, they are Nineties rather than Noughties. 1995 was the Ehle/Firth version.
Oh, deffo. Fab pair.
Homer and Marge Simpson- they’ve been together for over twenty years, and after numerous adventures and temptations, still love each other.
From the 90s – you must include Mulder and Scully. From the 00s, maybe Tony Soprano and Dr Jennifer Melfi.
That’s such a great photo of Robin & Much! ❤ One day, Robin will see Much’s true love for him, and stop pining after Guy. I believe it in my soul.
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1960s – Napoleon Solo & Ilya Kuriakin
1970s – Starsky & Hutch, Tony Curtis & Roger Moore in The Persuaders, original Starbuck & Apollo, Bodie & Doyle from The Professionals
(oh dear, so far so slash…)
1980s – Dempsey & Makepeace
1990s – Fitz & Panhandle from Cracker
Jane Eyre and Rochester from the 2006 BBC .
Also Sue Trinder and Maude Lilly from Fingersmith. Mmmmm.
i would choose mederith and derek(mc dreamy)………i also like amaar and rayyan, though they aren’t a couple, not yet that is