TV’s ALL-Time Favorite Couples – TheTwoCents Staff Picks

Valentines Day – candy hearts, cardboard cards and an ocean-full of chocolates and roses.

The day brings thoughts of love, marriage, and even longing for someone you never got. For some others – it’s a day we’d all just as soon ignore.

However, here at TheTwoCents we are celebrating the love! The love of TV couples that is. Our staff has picked our 10 favorite TV Couples of all time! These aren’t necessarily the BEST in TV History, but they are our favorites. Tomorrow we shall list the reader’s favorites. Chime in below on what you think about our picks!

#10
Kevin Arnold & Winnie Cooper
The Wonder Years
Fred Savage & Danica McKellar
Can you remember your first kiss? Most people can recall their own, but for those of us with a TV in 1988, we remember another lip lock as well. We remember the magical innocence of Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper’s first kiss. Sitting on a rock under a tree, silently mourning her brother’s death in Vietnam, Kevin puts his coat over her shoulders, they lean in, and… the simplest, purest, most innocent first kiss to the background strains of Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman.” (watch video)
Although their junior high and high school relationship would never run smoothly, there was always trueness to their affection that resonated with the audience, young and old. In a non traditional sitcom twist, they were together at the series finale’s end, but not in the epilogue. They would not marry and grow old together, but they would always remain friends. There’s would always remain a youthful love, cherished in innocence and memory by the characters and viewers alike.
Karen Belgrad, TwoCents Reviewer
karenbelgrad@thetwocentscorp.com

#9
Homer & Marge Simpson
The Simpsons
Dan Castellaneta & Julie Kavner
What can be said about a couple that has been married 21 years and then some? A lot, actually. Homer, while a buffoon who keeps his eyes on the pie, knows he is one thing above all else: lucky. He has gone to great lengths to show his love for Marge, both when he sees that she’s down or that he’s done something to test her patience (again). Whether he has thoughtfully made a deal with mob boss/legitimate business man Fat Tony to help Marge’s pretzel business or he lets legendary and gigantic catfish General Sherman go free after catching the fish while on a marriage retreat weekend just to show that he values Marge more than anything, Homer loves Marge. Even that talking dog Homer saw after eating insanely hot chili peppers knew it. The dog sent Homer looking for his soul mate and, eventually, Homer realized he’d already found her in Marge.
For her part, Marge has had options, including prom date-turned-software millionaire Arnie Ziff and has always returned to Homer. How can she resist acts of love including when Homer shows her he kept his half of the rock from when they first met as kids at summer camp.
Ryan O, TwoCents Reviewer
ryano@thetwocentscorp.com

#8
Veronica Mars & Logan Echolls
Veronica Mars
Kristen Bell & Jason Dohring
I’m not usually a fan of on again/off again relationships, but I’m willing to make an exception for these two. I like this couple because they forced each other to grow up. Our perfect heroine was made to confront her assumptions about Logan, and Logan was pushed to act like a man.
I always thought Logan was a stand up guy (most of the time) and when he messed up it was usually for the right reasons. They both carried huge heaps of baggage but that load was made lighter when they were together.
It wasn’t a perfect shiny happy relationship, but for Logan and Veronica it reflected more of what I think real life is like for young people who are discovering love while still figuring out who they are as people. Unfortunately for all us, Veronica Mars was canceled too soon to see where this relationship would end up, but while we had them, it was all good.
Rachel M, TwoCents Reviewer
rachelm@thetwocentscorp.com

#7
Joey Potter & Pacey Witter
Dawson’s Creek
Katie Holmes & Joshua Jackson
For a show called Dawson’s Creek, Joey and Pacey sure got a lot of the love. Why Pacey/Joey over Dawson/Joey? Simple: They were a lot more fun. Their love/hate relationship was full of sparks from the first time we saw Pacey’s swamp monster grab her damsel in distress in Dawson’s movie. (And understandably so, since Katie Holmes and Josh Jackson actually dated while filming the first season.) When Pacey realized he was falling for her in Season 3, their interactions were all about showing the other side of the normally carefree screw-up Pacey that he was willing to give her: pure dedicated romance. But not so much so that he would put up with her indecision about him forever.
Now, maybe it’s because I was a P/J fan and thought Dawson was a whiny narcissist, but nothing Dawson and Joey ever did could compare to all the P/J moments of the third season. They had a clandestine affair, he bought a wall for her to paint, he remembered everything important to her, he never let her off easy when it came to figuring out her feelings, and finally they sailed off into the sunset together and enjoyed a perfect season-long relationship. After manufacturing reasons to keep them apart and making us endure the awful college years, it came time to wrap up the show. And even the writers who started off with Dawson the protagonist knew where Joey had to end up in her constant fight between angsty childhood infatuation and real mature love – and she chose Pacey.
Theresa, Staff Writer
theresa@thetwocentscorp.com

#6
Fox Mulder & Dana Scully
The X-Files
David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson
Before Bones and Booth, before House and Cuddy, before Jim and Pam, the King and Queen of a magical land called Will They Or Won’t They were a couple of misfits from the FBI.
In the fall of 1993, we met the wide-eyed, devoutly Catholic yet painfully skeptical doctor-turned-FBI-agent Dana Scully, and the eccentric, porn-addicted, sunflower seed-popping Fox “Spooky” Mulder. Working together on unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena labeled by the FBI as”x files” (a precursor to Fringe Division), Scully’s skepticism grounded Mulder’s rashness, and his ability to look beyond the normal tempered her absolute trust in science. Yin and Yang if ever there was.
Through nine seasons, two movies, the loss of several family members, a handful of alien abductions, a bout with cancer, a touch of time-travel, one run-in with a creepy inbred family, a baby, a guy who smoked a lot, and a slew of amazing guest stars and creatures, Mulder and Scully learned to “trust no one”… but each other.
Rachel, Sr. Managing Editor
rachel@thetwocentscorp.com

#5
Lorelai Gilmore & Luke Danes
Gilmore Girls
Lauren Graham & Scott Patterson
It is no surprise at all that Luke and Lorelai made it onto the list of the best television couples of all time! I have always been a supporter of the Luke and Lorelai relationship, and even though the show has been over for almost 3 years now, I’m still a supporter of the two of them. From the first season of Gilmore Girls until the first kiss at the end of season 4, any person watching the show could obviously see the sexual tension between these two characters.
Everyone was rooting for the two of them to get together, both viewers and characters on the show (more specifically, those living in Stars Hollow). It was evident that a relationship would eventually blossom, and at the opening of the Dragonfly Inn, we got our first glimpse of their love. The passionate kiss (you know the one…the one that was interrupted by Kirk’s naked body) left viewers only wanting more. Season 5 of Gilmore Girls was filled with their love for each other, and the love that viewers and townspeople had for them, and when the season ended with a marriage proposal, WOW!
Season 6 changed everything. It was filled with ups and downs for this amazing couple, and ended with the demise of their relationship. The final season of the show was an entire season of being apart until the last 3 episode, with the infamous Lorelai serenade, and Luke’s over-the-top party for Rory. The kiss they share within the last 5 minutes of the show will forever go down in history, and left fans of the show and their relationship in a happy place, with hope for the future.
Congrats Luke and Lorelai for leaving a lasting impression on the world, and for showing that love is possible.
Faye, Senior Reviewer
faye@thetwocentscorp.com

#4
Jack & Kate & Sawyer
LOST
Matthew Fox & Evangeline Lilly & Josh Holloway
Poor Kate Austen – as if being trapped on a mysterious island with a man-eating smoke monster wasn’t enough, she’s having relationship troubles to boot. Should she choose Sawyer – the reformed bad boy with daddy issues? Or Jack, the spinal surgeon-turned-Lostie-leader (incidentally also with major daddy issues)? Whether you’re on Team Jack or Team Sawyer, it’s impossible to deny that Lost’s best love triangle has provided some incredible moments—from Sawyer conning Kate for a kiss in Season 1 and their steamy tryst while captive in New Otherton to Jack and Kate’s off-island engagement and their bonding in the series premiere as she stitched up his wounds (who knew triage could be sexy?).
Kate bounces back and forth between the two like a fickle little ping pong ball, stirring plenty of online debate between the “jaters” and the “skaters.” As we enter Lost’s final season and the triangle is still in full effect, the question remains: who will Kate choose?
Meg, TwoCents Reviewer
meg@thetwocentscorp.com

#3
Cliff & Clair Huxtable
The Cosby Show
Bill Cosby & Phylicia Rashad
In a world of on-again, off-again, will-they-or-won’t-they TV couples, one might not immediately think of Cliff and Clair Huxtable. Where’s the drama? Where’s the angst? The answer? There isn’t any…and that’s what makes them so fabulous.
Cliff and Clair represent an island of calm in the crazy world around them: with two demanding careers, five adventuresome children, and the other demands of life, they still managed to stay madly in love with each other. Whatever else happened, that love was never in doubt, and it served as the foundation of everything they did. Whether it was Clair pretending to be a patient and making an appointment so she could have an hour alone with her husband, or Cliff painstakingly re-creating Clair’s senior prom, these two never ran out of creative ways to express their love for each other, and their sense of humor and ability to roll with life’s punches never failed to inspire me.
Although perhaps idealized, Cliff and Clair were by no means perfect, and the show never hesitated to show their flaws, although, in a sitcom setting, these were usually more devices for humor rather than drama. But in a world that’s got too much drama already, Cliff and Clair are role models, both back then and today. As a child in the ‘80s, I saw their marriage as one of (fortunately, many) examples of what I wanted mine to be, and now, as a wife and mother, I still find myself occasionally thinking back to their example and hoping that my marriage can inspire my kids just as Cliff and Clair’s inspired their brood. Romance, humor, and ingenuity seem to be the key, and that’s why I still love the Huxtables, even after all these years.
Amanda, Senior Reviewer
amanda@thetwocentscorp.com

#2
Ross Geller & Rachel Green
Friends
David Schwimmer & Jennifer Aniston
I could write an entire novel about Ross and Rachel and their on-off romance. Who can forget their first kiss in Central Perk? When I Googled images for “Ross & Rachel,” that was the most common picture. Ross knocking on the door, Rachel looking so upset but still unlocks the door and lets him in and everyone applauds when they kiss.
But over the ten seasons of Friends, their relationship had ups and downs. The infamous “we were on a break” and their first date at the Planetarium under the stars are still two of my favorite episodes. They dated other people, Ross married other people (although, his second marriage didn’t last that long considering he said Rachel’s name at the alter), they even accidentally married each other on a trip to Vegas (it was annulled) and had a baby together.
In the end (literally, the last episode), they professed their love for each other and hopefully lived happily ever after. To quote Phoebe, “he’s her lobster.”
Farrah Kaye, Associate Editor
farrah@thetwocentscorp.com

#1
Jim Halpert & Pam Beesly
The Office
John Krasinski & Jenna Fischer
There’s no way you could put together a list of greatest TV couples without a little Office romance! From the first time we saw Jim Halpert and Pam Beasley, we knew they were meant for each other. Sure, there were obstacles (Pam’s engagement, Jim’s move to a new branch, all little things of course), but those rough roads always led back to JAM.
Jim’s hidden crush on his best friend stretched over seasons of viewer frustration, while Pam stuck with Roy. But after Jim’s Casino Night confessions and Pam’s campfire revelations, the pair finally realized that they were perfect together.
Now married and getting ready for Baby Halpert, the two are the definition of why sometimes “Just Friends” just won’t work. Plus, Prince Charming fantasies aside, Jim having bought Pam’s engagement ring before their first date is definitely every receptionist’s dream come true!
Katie, TwoCents Reviewer
katie@thetwocentscorp.com

That’s our list! The Readers’ list will come out tomorrow, but what did you think of our list? Too modern? Not enough classic TV? Let us know your TwoCents in the comments below!